Things to Make an LDS Woman’s Life Easier-easy home made bread and Pumpkin Cookies

I’m sure every LDS Mother out there is busy.  I’ve never know one not to be.  And so when I look at my lifestyle or lack thereof, I just assume that every other mother in my ward is going through the same thing.  My husband and I own and opperate an LDS Online Gift Store.  This take up a great deal of my time.  But one of the reasons we decided to do this was so that most of my work time would be spent in our home.  You see like most typical LDS Families,  we have a lot of kids.  We have six kids.  The oldest right now is a Sr. in High School, and the youngest is three years old and not potty trained.  He refuses to go even though he knows how.  He does however give the best hugs and smiles the biggest smiles.

My husband is a computer programmer and works outside the home.  We also put together LDS Temple Trips about 3-4 times a year.  This is a lot of work, but it’s very rewarding.  My oldest kids have been able to visit many LDS Church History sites that we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.  And as importantly, they have been able to associate with such wonderful people.  A lot of the people who travel with us are grandparents and their example of faith and love to the Lord has touched the lives of the girls.  In order for the girls to go with us, they have to handle luggage, be really, really,really really good and serve others instead of expecting my husband and I to take care of them.  The people who go with us have enriched our lives in so many ways that it is worth every effort.

The problem is, I don’t have much time to cook now days.  I used to love it.  So I’ve found some great things that make my life easier.  For gifts, I shop online.  Even clothing can be found online.  I found some modest shirts for my girls that work great.  I also foundd a few really easy tried and true recipies.  Let me share two with you:

Home made Bread: I Like to do this in a large bowl with a good strong wooden spoon.  That way I have less dishes to do.

7 Cups of Flour (I like to use wheat flour)

5 Cups of really HOT water

Mix this together completely, then ADD

1 1/2 Tablespoons Salt

2/3 Cups Sugar

1/4 Cup cooking oil

Stir this in with the other ingedients competely, The ADD

2 Tablespoons of Yeast

Sprinkle the yeast over the dough and then stir it in.  The dough should still be nice and warm from the Hot Water.  Let it sit for a few minutes while you clean off the counter. 

Then Cup by Cup add between 4-6 cups of white flour.  After the first 3 cups you might want to sprinkle a little flour on the counter, pour the dough out and start using your hands instead of the spoon.  Make a nice firm dough ball.  Then, cover the ball with the bowl you were using.  This needs to be a really big bowl.  When the dough doubles in size, sprinkle a little more flour on it and knead it as little as you have to.  The more you touch it, the more flour it will take to get it un-sticky.  Don’t over knead because all that flour will make your bread heavy.  Now you have really good bread dough.  I don’t like to use large bread pans, they never bake evenly in my oven.  I use smaller loaf pans at 350 degrees, or you can make breadsticks, rolls or a braid. 

The best part is that your house smells great when you bake it and your husband and kids are happy when they eat it.

The next recipie is for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Just mix the following in a really large bowl.

1 Large can Pumpkin

2 Cups Brown Sugar

2 Tsp Vanilla

2 Eggs

1 tsp nutmeg

2tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Baking Powder

2 tsp Baking Soda (make sure there are no lumps)

1 Cup cooking oil

Mix this together really well.  When it’s mixed good, add

4 Cups of Flour  but add it and stir it in 1 cup at a time.  When this is all mixed together, add

1 package of Chocolate Chips.  Milk Chocolate are my kids favorite but it tastes good with semi-sweet.

Make 1-2 inch blobs of dough on a sprayed cookie sheet and bake them at 350 degrees.  Depending on your oven it could take 8-15 minutes a tray.  When the cookies are firm to the touch and there is a little color on the bottom they are done.  They’re good hot, but better when they are cold.  You can taste the pumpkin better when they’re cooled down.

One of the reasons I’m putting these two recipies on my blog is so I don’t loose them.  These are keepers.