The Best Healthy Chicken Spaghetti

18 Replies

A glass pan with healthy chicken spaghetti in it

Healthy chicken spaghetti? Is it even possible? If you grew up eating the classic version of this dish, you might find yourself wondering.

Honestly, it wasn’t until a few years ago that I first ate this dish. My siblings were in town visiting and a friend had us over for supper. My brother loved the chicken spaghetti they made. Of course we got the recipe. Her recipe (and I discovered all the typical chicken spaghetti recipes) contains Velveeta and cream of chicken soup.

Cream soups were something my mom never had in the house growing up. In fact, the only time I remember her using cream soup was for beef stroganoff. Velveeta cheese my mom bought once a year to make cheese dip. So neither ingredient have ever been a part of my pantry either.

I decided to try and make this Mexican Spaghetti using ingredients I keep on hand while keeping the recipe almost as simple as the original.

The experiment was a success! This is my recipe for healthy chicken spaghetti without using any velveeta or canned cream soup. Score.

Such a easy meal and it makes a ton – perfect for eating again a day or two later. This would also be a great dish to bring to a church potluck. Serve with salad or veggies of your choice. The most recent time we had it with sauteed zucchini and carrot & celery sticks.

close up of a glass pan filled with baked healthy chicken spaghetti

A couple of comments:

  • Use whatever type of noodles you like – spelt, wheat, brown rice, or gluten free. (These pictures are with brown rice pasta)
  • If you don’t have access to Rotel (a can of diced tomatoes and green chilis), you can make your own! I’ve done it a couple of times. The Humbled Homemaker has instructions here. I like to use some jalapenos and to roast and peel the peppers before I chop them. (I also de-seed the jalapenos)
  • If you or someone in your house doesn’t care for cream cheese, you can’t even tell it’s in the recipe. It just adds a little extra creaminess and depth of flavor. My husband doesn’t like cream cheese and he doesn’t even know it’s in this dish. So be sure to add it!
  • If you don’t have half and half or cream, you can use milk. In these pictures I used 2 cups of whole milk and decreased the stock to 1 cup.
  • Arrowroot. If that’s something that you don’t have on hand, you can substitute cornstarch or try using flour. I’ve even made this with tapioca flour (I used 2 1/2 tablespoons).

Horizontal picture of a pan of baked healthy chicken spaghetti

Healthy Chicken Spaghetti

5.0 from 2 reviews
Print
Chicken Spaghetti (without Velveeta and Canned Soup)
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 8-10
 
Ingredients
  • 16 ounces noodles
  • 1-2 cups diced onion (I used two)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 can Rotel or 1 cup homemade (regular or mild)
  • 2 cup chicken broth
  • 1 t. salt
  • 1 cup cream or half and half
  • 1 Tablespoon arrowroot powder
  • 2 ounces cream cheese
  • 2 cup diced cooked chicken
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar (can use more)
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook noodles to al dente. Drain.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet or a soup pot, saute the onions. Add garlic and cook until tender.
  3. Add Rotel, chicken broth, and salt and bring to a simmer.
  4. Mix the arrowroot powder in the cream and stir into mixture in the pan.
  5. Add the cream cheese and gently heat the mixture and stir to melt the cream cheese and let the arrowroot powder thicken.
  6. After thickened, stir in 1 cup of shredded cheese and the chicken.
  7. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Add the cooked noodles to the pot and stir to combine.
  9. Pour into a 9x13 pan (it will be full) and top with the remainder of the cheese.
  10. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

This recipe was originally published May 15, 2014. Updated comments and pictures May 2, 2019.

 

A spoon of healthy chicken spaghetti being taking from the baking dishtwo pictures are healthy chicken spaghetti in a 9x13 panscoop of mexican spaghetti being taken from the baking dishChicken Spaghetti without Velveeta or cream of chicken soup! Yay! We love this and the leftovers are awesome.

Comprehensive List of Basic Kitchen Needs

23 Replies

wooden spoons and a whisk on top of a towel for a list of must have kitchen items

How do you know what to purchase for your kitchen when you are first starting out – what those must have kitchen items are? How do you know if a kitchen gadget is really worth buying and taking up space in your kitchen? Don’t worry, I’m going to make your life easier with this list of basic kitchen needs.

Affiliate links are used in this post. You can see this disclosure page for more info.

The Kitchen Essentials List You Need to Have

When my husband I were first married we lived in a duplex with a small kitchen. I had no pantry to store excess tools and appliances.

As you move into bigger homes, you have a little more leeway with what you can have in your kitchen. Today, I want to give you a list of the most important items for your kitchen – the must have kitchen items list. Obviously, if you are someone who doesn’t cook you will be able to eliminate several of things things.

After being married over 12 years, these are the kitchen tools I use on a weekly (if not more frequently) basis. Everyone of them except for the first three items under the possible baking essentials list.

If you have a little extra room in your house, I highly recommend you check out the list of my Favorite Kitchen Tools and my Favorite Kitchen Appliances! Not everything on those lists I would consider essentials, but they are all things I love and use on a regular basis!

wooden spoons with black handles on a towel for a list of must have kitchen items

Basic Kitchen Needs List:

Cooking Kitchen Essentials

  • Vegetable Peeler – Don’t get the cheapest one out there. They hurt your hand and break much sooner.
  • Box Cheese Grater – I don’t buy grated cheese so I use this any time I need grated cheese. I also use it to grate carrots for egg rolls, fried rice, etc.
  • Soup Ladle – There not another great option for dishing up broth-y soups.
  • Slotted Spoon
  • Non Slotted Spoon
  • Can Opener – Buy a decent can opener. They cheap ones are a pain. I have this one. My sister has this one and says it is amazing.
  • Kitchen Shears or a Pizza Cutter –  I have a pizza wheel with a handle. I’ve had super cheap ones and the one we have now is middle of the road. It definitely cuts much easier. You can also just skip the pizza cutter and use the shears for pizza along with a myriad of other things.
  • Colander – I have a smaller mesh one and a larger pasta one
  • Cutting Boards – I recommend two large ones (one for veggies & bread and one for meat) and a small size one. I’m needing to replace my full sized cutting boards, so I don’t have specific recommendations for these. My mini sized one is from Pampered Chef, though, and I like it.
  • Food Storage Containers – I love my Pyrex set! The perk of having glass is that you can use them in the microwave and they can double as food prep dishes. I also have a set of decent plastic ones that I like. I’ve found that having some mini containers (4 and 8 ounces) has been really useful!
  • Good Knives. Start with just a couple decent knives. A bread knife, a paring knife, and one or 2 chef’s knives.
  • Good Pots and Pans. Start with an 8 and 10 inch skillet, 1 sauce pot, and a stockpot. You can add to your stash after you know what else you will use. I’d recommend stainless steel for your sauce pot and stockpot at least. Your skillets you’ll have to decide on stainless, non-stick, cast iron, ceramic etc.
  • Silicone Spatula You need this! Great for making cookies or things like scraping out pots and bowls or the last of the peanut butter. Mine is from Pampered Chef and it’s amazing.
  • Pancake Flipper Considering my kids are pancake fans, we use this multiple times a week.
  • Mini Serving Spatula These are the perfect size for brownies and bar desserts. I used mine tonight for lasagna too.
  • Blender – This may or may not be an essential. I mainly use mine for smoothies, oat flour, and salsa. (I’d suggest looking for a great deal on a Vitamix or Blendtec.)

Possible Kitchen Essentials:

  • Potato Masher – If you make mashed potatoes or a lot of your own refried beans, this becomes an essential! If not, try without one for a while. I have one of the ones with holes in the masher part but I could see how the ones with the wavy metal base would be easier to clean. Haven’t tried that kind though.
  • Pasta Fork – This is only an essential if you use spaghetti or fettuccine noodles. If you use elbow, penne etc you could just use the slotted or unslotted spoons.
  • Whisk – If you aren’t sure if you’d use it, do without. You can purchase one later.
  • Ice Cream Scoop – This is an essential in our home. If you don’t eat ice cream frequently you can use a sturdy regular spoon. My favorite scoop came from Bed Bath and Beyond but they no longer sell it.
  • Microplane You can get by without this by using your knife for mincing garlic and the small side of your box cheese grater for zesting lemon peel, but I do find myself using the microplane frequently.

Baking Kitchen Essentials

  • Airbake Cookie Sheets – Love these! Perfect for cookies, rolls, breadsticks. Get the lighter colored ones.
  • Cooling Racks I think this one looks nice. If you are short on counter top space, check out the stackable ones.
  • Mini Muffin Tins – This is the pan I have. I prefer having 2 12 cup pans over 1 24. I recommend mini over regular sized ones because they make the perfect sized muffins for kids and when you bring muffins or cupcakes to a function a lot of the time people won’t finish an entire regular sized one and it always makes me a little sad when food I’ve made gets tossed. They are also great size for appetizers
  • 9×13 and a 8 or 9 Inch Square Pan – I use these all the time. I actually have 2 of each. Unless you know you’ll be using them a lots start with one of each. All of mine are glass (Pyrex) but you might consider getting one set in glass and one in metal. The metal ones are great for taking places – no worrying about breakage! I also recommend that you buy the ones that come with lids.
  • Measuring Spoons – If you are going to cook or bake at all you’ll want a set, maybe even two. Don’t buy a cheap set. I recommend metal over plastic and prefer a set that included 1/8 of a teaspoon.
  • Measuring Cups – The same as the spoons. These are essentials. If you are a baker, you might want two. Don’t buy a cheap set. I have had plastics ones, and they have accidentally been melted. I also have a cheap set of stainless steel ones and the handles are falling off less than a year later (they just happen to be the first set that currently appears on this link).
  • Liquid Measuring Cups – I have a set that comes with a 1, 2, and 4 cup. The ones that that are angled and you can read standing up make things a little easier but I haven’t seen them in glass. A basic set is fine, no need to spend extra on this.
  • Glass and Metal Mixing Bowls – Get a variety of sizes. Our largest one gets used for tossing big batches of popcorn with butter or making pancakes for a herd. The middle sized one is great for cookies and muffins. The small ones are good for whisking an egg or two. One of my metal bowls nestles perfectly into a saucepan for a double boiler.
  • Stand Mixer  – If you aren’t a baker, you can skip this one but I use my KitchenAid 1-3 times each week. It definitely makes kneading dough a lot easier. Don’t get anything small than the 5 quart one.

Possible Baking Essentials:

  • Pie Pan – You  may or may not want this depending on how many pies you want. It can also fill in for a cheesecake pan like in this recipe. Honestly, I use mine maybe once a year.
  • Jelly Roll Pan – We use this for oven fries or roasting veggies. Mine is an old uncoated one. This gets used on a regular basis.
  • Pastry Brush – If you don’t do much baking, you won’t need this. Most often ours gets used for brushing the butter on top of breadsticks. I use one with natural bristles. If you get a cheap one, the bristles fall out way sooner so be sure to read reviews and don’t by the cheap ones. Some people love the silicone brushes.
  • Rolling Pin –  I have a traditional rolling pin and a pizza and pastry roller that I love! Do you make pizza, sugar roll out cookies, or tortillas? Then this will be a must. If not try without and on the rare occasion you need a rolling pin try using a bottle.
  • Bread Pan – This is an essential if you are going to make homemade bread. Otherwise you can just use the muffin tins for quick breads. If you really want bread pans for quick breads I love this size. Otherwise I use stainless steel bread pans for my yeast bread.
  • Wooden Spoon – this is another item you can do without, but I use mine frequently for stirring sourdough, making cookies, etc. One is plenty.

Other Kitchen Items:

  • Silverware – In my opinion there is no need to buy silverware that is $50 a setting. One the other had, don’t buy the the cheap stuff. It bends easily, tarnishes, and hurts your hand. We purchased a middle of the road set that we really liked from Bed Bath and Beyond. Using one of their 20% off coupons made it a great purchase. A service for 12 cost under $200.
  • Dinnerware – Fine china was something that I didn’t want. When you are in a small house you most likely won’t have space for storing plates that seldom get used. I love corelle. They are thin and won’t take up a lot of space in the cabinet.
  • Glasses – If you are limited on space, make sure your glasses will stack otherwise they will take up a lot of space. Ours came from Ikea and they work great. Next time we’ll most likely purchase something a tiny bit thinner.
  • Hot Pads and Trivets – One or two trivets would be plenty. Hot pads or kitchen towels could always fill in on the occasion you need more. You will want at least 2 hot pads.
  • Wash Clothes and Dish Towels – Enough to get you through to the next wash day. I dislike drying my dishes with the cheap microfiber towels. Look for something that will absorb the water easily.

Don’t forget to hop over to the Favorite Kitchen Tools List and my Favorite Appliances List for more fun kitchen tools! (You’ll also get to hear about my all time favorite appliance. You might be surprised. A total splurge item, but I love it. The kids do too. 😉 )

What items do you consider kitchen essentials?

wooden spoons and a whisk with words top kitchen essentials

 

Kitchen Essentials! The list of must haves for every kitchen. Great for making wedding registries or updating your own kitchen!

Originally published April 1, 2014. Updated list and graphics April 30, 2019.

Whole Wheat Apple Pancakes

14 Replies

whole wheat apple pancakes stacked on a plate with a bowl of apples next to them

Anyone else have kids who LOVE eating pancakes? I think my family would be okay with a rotation of pancakes and waffles for breakfast everyday of the year. In fact, they frequently make an appearance as an easy weekend lunch too. Today, I have a recipe for whole wheat apple pancakes to switch things up a bit. They are still super easy and if you want to use good old all purpose flour, you can. 😉

[If you want a wonderful, fluffy buttermilk pancake recipe, you need to try this one! Or if waffles are more your thing, I have the easiest sourdough waffle recipe here.]

Whole Wheat Apple Pancakes

This apple pancake recipe is fairly standard recipe but with the addition of some cinnamon (yum) and grated apples!

If you prefer chopped apples, go for it. I find taking a couple washed apples, with the peels still on, to a box cheese grater is the quickest way to get it done. If your apples are super large, you might only need one. I ended up using 1 1/2 apples (my 3 year old gladly helped me out by eating the remaining half).

My girls love these pancakes topped with maple syrup. I recommend making extra and keeping them in the freezer to a fast weekday breakfast. Reheat in the toaster or microwave. Yum!

These whole wheat apple pancakes are also the perfect thing to use up those bruised or slightly past their prime apples. You know, those ones your kids refuse to eat. What they don’t know won’t hurt them. 😉

I know this calls for whole wheat flour (and it’s definitely a great recipe to use it in) but as I mentioned earlier you can definitely sub all purpose flour. If you do choose to use whole wheat flour in this apple pancake recipe, I highly recommend using the soft white variety! It really does make a big difference.

I have young kids, so I don’t make huge pancakes (I know all the other moms out there understand that philosophy) and I got 12 pancakes out of 1 batch.

This batter is fairy thick so I spread the batter out slightly after placing it on the preheated skillet.

One more tip before we get to the recipe.

When you are baking with fruit, or other ingredients that add moisture, you often have to turn down the temperature and cook slightly longer to ensure no doughy middles or overcooked exteriors. These really do pretty well but I keep an I on how quickly they are cooking because no one likes a burnt pancake.

close up shot of whole wheat apple pancakes stacked on a plate with a bowl of apples next to them

Apple Pancake Recipe

Print
Whole Wheat Apple Pancakes
Serves: 6-8
 
Ingredients
  • 2½ cups flour (I used white whole wheat)
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar (I used sucanat)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or apple pie or pumpkin pie spice)
  • 2 cups milk
  • ¼ cup butter, melted
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 cups grated apples (I left the skins on)
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cinnamon.
  2. In a small bowl whisk eggs, milk, melted butter, and vanilla.
  3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir gently. (I just use a fork.)
  4. Fold in the grated apples.
  5. Cook pancakes over medium heat (or slightly lower).
  6. Top with butter and maple syrup.

This post for whole wheat apple pancakes was originally published November 17, 2013. 

whole wheat apple pancakes stacked on a plate with a bowl of apples next to them

 

Easy and healthy apple pancakes! Freeze well too.

How to Set Financial Goals

13 Replies

Notebook and pens laying on the table and words saying how to set financial goals
Do you ever struggle with follow through? Setting financial goals sounds like a great idea, but sometimes it can be difficult to actually accomplish those goals. I want to help you out with some simple tips for how to set financial goals AND actually accomplish them.

One of the big financial goals we set several years ago was paying off our house. It felt huge and a little scary, a little exciting, and a lot “I can’t believe we are doing this”!

Since we achieved that milestone 3 years ago, a lot of our financial goals have been house projects and of course the always the need to put aside money for things like “new” vehicles when the time comes.

If you need help coming up with financial goals you could set, here is a great list of ideas!

I’ve found have a goal and a plan to be key actually getting things done. If you don’t have a budget you need to start there, because I really do think a budget is a key to financial success.

Now, I’m going to share some great suggestions to help you with setting financial goals for your family. I’ll also share some of the process we went through when deciding to pay off our mortgage early.

How to Set Financial Goals:

1. Discuss the Options

Sit down with your spouse and discuss big saving projects you have or any debts that you need to pay off.

Mortgage, loans, car funds, remodeling projects, college funds, retirement fund, emergency fund, investment opportunities, and travel are all ideas to get you started. (For a more extensive list, check out this post.)

2. Pick a project

Let me give you a recommendation here.

If you don’t have an emergency fund, start there! Dave Ramsey says $1,000 but I’d highly recommend $2,000.

If you have an emergency fun be sure to tackle any debt (besides your mortgage) next.

After you both of those things are done, look at bulking up your emergency fund to 3-6 months of basic living expenses before you move on to paying of your mortgage or other savings goals.

We were debt free with the exception of our mortgage. We had recently purchased a new to us mini van and still had a little money in a car fund that we continued slowly adding to in case our other vehicle needed replaced (with an inexpensive vehicle).

Our emergency fun was fully funded emergency funded and we have no known major expenses coming our way. Yes, our retirement fund and kids’ college accounts could have also use more but we went for paying off the mortgage knowing that not having that would free up more money to budget with each month.

3. Look at the Numbers

Start crunching numbers!

  • What is the total dollar amount needed?
  • Rework your budget or find a side job and see what money you can throw at it.
  • When do you think you can have your goal accomplished?

When we knew paying off the house was a huge goal of ours, I spent some time looking at the numbers.

Seeing how much time we had left paying off the house as is and then seeing when we’d be done if we put all of my paychecks and extra money towards it was motivating.

Seeing the numbers and looking at dates on the calendar made it seem real and possible!

4. Pick a Start Date

It can be easy to get stuck in the planning stage! Don’t do that. Move through the first 3 steps quickly and then pick a start date! 

Decide when you are going to start and just do it!

Big goals are hard (and often seem scary). Sometimes you just have to make yourself go for it. Maybe you will start today, maybe it will be one Monday, or maybe the first of the month. Don’t put it off more than that or it’s easy to start losing motivation.

stack of $100 bills and graphic for how to set financial goals

5. Know it Will Be Hard

It’s not going to always be easy. It wouldn’t be a BIG GOAL if it was always easy.

Expect challenges, prepare yourself for them, know it’s not going to last forever, and commit to it 100%! Realize there will have to be sacrifices. You will have to say no to a lot of things. Prepare for this ahead of time and realize it’s okay.

6. Have an End

As you are setting your financial goals, be sure to have an end date!

Goals are hard to keep tackling when those hard moments happen if there is no end in site.

You can have two types of ends:

  • time (a date in the future when you’ll be finished)
  • dollar amount

When we paid off our mortgage, I knew both. I knew how approximately how many months it would take to pay off our mortgage and I also saw the dollar amount owed decrease each month.

7. Celebrate the Milestones

Saving up $10,000, $25,000, or $100,000 is daunting! Sometimes, even the thought of $1,000 is overwhelming.

It might seem like you’ll never get there.

To help keep the end in site and the momentum going, break your goal down and celebrate the mile markers along the way.

It doesn’t have to be anything big (you are on a budget after all).

Do something your family would enjoy that doesn’t cost much (or any) money.

8. Visual Reminders

Keep the goal in front of you! Don’t shove it in the back of your mind where you will forget it.

  • Make a paper chain with one ring for every thousand dollars. When you put in $1,000, remove a chain.
  • Draw in outline of whatever you are saving for or paying off and section it into parts. Divide your total needed by the number of parts on your outline and color in a section each time you reach that amount.

Having even simple visual reminders and being able to see the progress can keep you motivated!

9. Plan a Party

Plan something fun that you want to do when your goal is 100% met!

  • Go out to your favorite restaurant
  • Take a day trip to the zoo or amusement park
  • Buy everyone’s favorite foods at the grocery store that haven’t made the budget cut the last year.

Make it fun and something to look forward to. When we payed off our house the kids were just turned 5, almost 3, and I was 9 months pregnant. I was all about keeping things simple. My family loves pizza, so we celebrated with homemade pizza with pepperoni in the shape of a house and a cookie cake the kids helped decorate with a house made from sprinkles. Super simple and cheap but my young kids though it was the neatest thing ever.

Don’t expect it to be easy, but with these 9 steps on how to set financial goals you can select a goals and start tackling it with confidence!

I’m cheering you on. I’ll never forget that moment we sent that last payment and again when it was posted on our lender’s website that we owed $0!

Do you have any tips for successfully setting financial goals? What goals that you are trying to nail this year?

Pens and notebook with words on top for how to set financial goals

How to set financial goals (and succeed at them)!!! Great tips that will help you decide what to set and keep you motivated! (Paying off the house is our BIG goal right now!)

 

You might also want to check out these posts:10 super easy ways to drastically lower your grocery budget! I've saved thousands of dollars doing these over the years. GREAT ideas!

The Secret to Financial Success! Sitting down and doing this as a couple and actually following through as made a world of difference. You'll want to start today!

Financial goals can be scary and exciting! This year we are focusing on paying off our house - here's how we are doing it!

5 steps to go from surviving to thriving

 Linking up to these fun parties!

How to set financial goals (and succeed at them)!!! Great tips that will help you decide what to set and keep you motivated! (Paying off the house is our BIG goal right now!)

Easy English Muffin Bread Recipe

Leave a reply

Row of sliced english muffin bread

Do yourself a favor and add this English muffin bread recipe to your repertoire! Bake up a few loaves, slice, toast, butter and enjoy! We love having this with soups and for breakfast. You can turn it into breakfast sandwiches, serve along side eggs, or simply enjoy spread with your choice of toppings.

Affiliate links are used in our posts. See the disclosure page for more information.

I’ve made traditional English muffins before and they are delicious but I’m all about saving steps and therefore saving time! Those minutes add up when we are taking care of our kiddos and trying to get all the things done. That’s where this bread comes it. English muffins without the shaping, griddling, flipping and all that.

Side note, have you ever wondered where English muffins came from? I was curious so I Googled. Wikipedia says that there were references to English muffins as early as 1850. But English muffins were “officially” invented in New York by a man who moved there from England and started his own bakery! This man was Samuel Bath Thomas. Ever heard of Thomas English muffins? Yep, that’s him!

Now, back to this English muffin bread recipe!

This recipe has ingredients you should have on hand. Flour, yeast, sugar, salt, milk, water, and baking soda (to help with the holes in the bread).

This dough is very sticky, it will not be like a traditional bread dough, so don’t add too much flour! You dump it into the pans and spread the dough out.

English muffin bread batter in the pans

See the stickiness of that dough?!

You will need to make sure you have prepared your pans properly, besides you need cornmeal for the traditional English muffin look! I used my USA pans (this set of 4 mini pans), spread with a little butter and sprinkled the bottom and sides with cornmeal. If you want, you could also sprinkle a little on the top before baking.

I like making this in 4 small loaf pans, but you could also do it in 2 regular sized ones. If you don’t use USA pans be sure you butter and cornmeal really well!
A great thing about this English muffin bread is that it comes together quickly! Hooray! I pull out my stand mixer and use the paddle attachment but the dough is soft enough that you can easily make it in a large mixing bowl using a wooden spoon.

Let’s get to the recipe! I hope you enjoy this as much as we do. Be sure to check out this recipe for Homemade French Bread as well – you will love it!

Sliced English muffin bread on a cutting board

English Muffin Bread

Print
English Muffin Bread Recipe
 
Ingredients
  • 5½ cups flour
  • 2 pkgs. yeast (1½ tablespoons)
  • 1 T. sugar
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • 2 c. milk
  • ½ c. water
Instructions
  1. Measure 3 c. of flour, yeast, salt, sugar, soda into large bowl or stand mixer and mix. Have 2½ additional cups of flour ready.
  2. Heat liquids in pan on stove to 120-125 degrees.
  3. Add hot liquids to yeast/flour mixture. Beat vigorously with wooden spoon until mixture is very smooth, elastic, about 5 minutes or in the mixer using the paddle attachment for 3 minutes.
  4. Add remaining flour, continue beating until smooth. Divide into equal parts.
  5. Grease 2 pans and sprinkle with cornmeal. Put dough in pans. Pat top of loaves smooth with floured hands as well as you can. Let rise 45 minutes. (Covering with a tea towel - no plastic wrap because this dough is sticky!)
  6. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.
  7. You can divide the dough into 4 parts and bake in 4 smaller pans - what I like to do, or use 2 regular sized bread pans.

Slice english muffin bread and a partial loaf sitting on a cutting board