Bread maker - attempt number 3

This one looks like a loaf of bread!  I had to add quite a lot more water, and then the dough formed a ball which shook the machine until it fell onto the floor!  It's still a little bit denser than shop-bought bread, but I like it!

Bread maker - attempt number 1 & 2

We got a breadmaker for Christmas and tried it out for the first time yesterday.  We started off with the smallest loaf (1 lb) and the results were not a success!

From the bottom, when turned out of the tin, it looked a bit like bread, except for all the unmixed flour.

But the right way up, it didn't look so much like any loaf I've ever seen!

A lot of the flour got stuck in the corners of the tin and not mixed in.
When 'sliced', there were a few good bits, but also some very doughy bits.

This morning I tried a medium sized loaf (1.5 lb) and sifted the flour, then made sure there was no water around the sides of the pan for the flour to stick to.  The flour mixed in much better, but the dough was very crumbly so I added a bit more water.  It appears to have risen better than attempt 1 and tastes much more even!  But it's still a little dense.

Filling up my freezer!

I'm finding it very satisfying at the moment to cook huge meals, eat one portion and freeze the other portions individually (usually 3 extra portions). It's the Easter holidays at the moment, so I have plenty of time to cook during the evenings. During term time, I get home late and usually rely on ready meals. It seems pointless cooking for one person (I usually cook when Andy comes over) and I don't like having to eat the same meal the next day. I also don't have the time / energy to do fiddly jobs like finely chopping chillies, garlic and ginger.

So this week I've been cooking - Bolognese sauce, lamb tagine, lamb curry, chicken satay and beef suffatina alla Romana (almost all involving tinned tomatoes, you might notice!) - and freezing it in individual bags. This way, all I need to do is get something out to defrost in the morning, then cook up some pasta / rice / cous cous and reheat the sauce. And I know I'll be getting a home-cooked, healthy meal which will be much better for me than bland ready meals full of preservatives. All the meals I've cooked contain onion, tinned tomatoes and at least one other vegetable so I'll get a few portions of vegetables in each plus a decent amount of protein from the meat.

My only slight problem is a lack of freezer space (only a very small freezer compartment in my fridge), but I reckon I can get 15 bags of sauce in there if I roll them up and pack them efficiently! It's very satisfying to watch my freezer filling up day-by-day and see all the delicious meals I have to look forward to over the next few weeks!