Homemade Wheat Bread

Since I decided to kick out all of the horrible, poisonous food in our lives and focus entirely on natural, clean foods instead - I've been doing a lot of cooking. There have been mornings that I've gotten up at 6:30 just to spend an hour making breakfast before my husband goes to work and nights (like last night) that I spend 2 to 3 hours in the kitchen working on dinner and other food preparations.
There is a kind of therapy that comes with making your own food, especially from scratch, and you learn to really appreciate it for all it's worth when you start from nothing and work your way up.
I've cut most breads out of my own diet completely, but I was still buying a loaf of whole wheat bread from the store almost once a week. It was okay, but I knew that I wanted to tackle the project of making my own despite the fact that I had never made real bread before. Sure, I'd made 'dessert' breads out of bananas that were about to go bad, but I had never kneaded and waited and smelled the delicious product of homemade bread on my own before.
All of the recipes I found were pretty similar and they were all pretty easy too, so I decided last night would be the perfect time to give it my best shot. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was and the delicious product in the end...well, it was SO worth it. {I will warn you, this bread is super easy to make but it takes a total of almost 3 hours to put all together and bake. While I was waiting for it to rise, I would busy myself with other things: it's a leave it and just come back to it type of thing.}
What you will need: 1 3/4 cups of warm water 3 cups of wheat flour 2 tsp of yeast 1 tsp of salt 3 tbsp of honey 2 tbsp of olive oil 4 tbsp of oats
Step One: Mix the flour, yeast and water together in a small bowl. Let it sit to rise for about 30 minutes or until it has about doubled in size. {check on the laundry, do 30 minutes of yoga, read the little one a book}
Step Two: Add 2 tbsp of honey, the olive oil and salt to the dough and knead until the dough is sticky. Let it sit for another 30 minutes so it can get it's rise-thing on again. {start your dinner preparations, flirt with the mister, give the kiddo a quick bath}
Step Three: Go ahead and knead that baby again and then throw it into it's loaf pan and allow it to rise for another 30 minutes. I just lightly oiled my pan with olive oil because I swear when I think something won't stick...it always does! Go ahead and mix your oats with your honey and set them aside to be spread over your loaf. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. {eat, read a few chapters in your book, blog about how dang long it takes for this bread to rise}
Step Four: Spread your honey and oats mixture over the top of your loaf and throw it into the oven for 40 minutes. {enjoy that wonderful smell, relax, swoon over the newest bachelor}
Step Five: Pull your wonderful creation out of the oven and ENJOY. I promise it will be worth it, especially if you smear a little natural peanut butter over that fresh, hot piece for dessert. SO GOOD.
I hope you will enjoy!
Nutrients per 5/8-inch slice: Calories: 80, Total fat: 1.75 g, Sat. fat: 0.25 g, Carbs: 15 g, Fiber: 2.5 g, Sugars: 7 g, Protein: 1.5 g, Sodium: 26 mg, Cholesterol: 0 mg