Manna From Heaven

I really do feel like the bread we are eating now is heaven sent. So often in my life I have found that if I need something, I send positive thoughts out there into the universe and it usually turns up on my doorstep. As part of our back to basics/frugality plan, bread became a hot topic. If we need a large quantity we make it ourselves but there is only two of us in this nest most of the time so I thought a bread maker might be the go.

I didn't want to spend a lot of money because we may not like it or be motivated to use it and the novelty might ware off and we would have an expensive appliance hanging around....like my espresso maker.

So we did a bit of research and looked around and ummmed and ....

This bread maker turned up at the local thrift shop for $10. It had been electrically checked and looking inside I could see that it seemed seldom used. Depending on how you look at it, this could have two interpretations; it's going to give us a few months of bread at least OR "see...I told you these are gimmicks and people only use them a couple of times"

Naturally I brought it home and cleaned it again and honestly it is hardly used. I went on line to check for an appropriate recipe/quantity mix for this particular model (there was no instruction book with it) and the buttons on the top were all pretty self explanatory. We did have a heart stopping moment the first time because the lights were on but nothing happened but it was just "warming" the ingredients for the first 5 mins.

We've used this baby flat out, sometimes twice a day and we make our Friday pizza dough this way too and have done bread rolls for a dinner party using the dough function. While its probably not big enough for large families, we find it just right. It had paid for itself in the first week and everything else is a bonus.  We are saving so much money and know what we are eating without any additives. There is so much more less mess too. No flour on the floor or sticky dough stuck to benches. While bread made by hand is the ideal, this appliance does fit our lifestyle. Your initial research and recommendations from friends will give you an idea of reliable brands to look for. Also check to see how much a replacement bread pan costs for the machine as that could be a factor. Do check thrift shops, there are lots of reasons why people donate things. Maybe the previous bread maker owners were moving inter state and didn't want to cart it. Maybe it was too small for their family. For whatever reason, it has been God sent for us and who could not feel blessed with fortunes like this in life. It re-affirms for me that I am on my right path.