Favorite finds- December!

My friend Lesley does a favorite finds segment on her Blog. I thought I would share some of my favorites for December.
Lees' brothers family gave us this great Cuisinart ice cream/ sorbet maker. We did not know life could be so good. We had an old hand me down one from my sister that we were thankful for but it took a ton of ice and salt and leaked like crazy so you have to use it outside. This one has a freezer bowl. In 20 minutes you can have great ice cream. Lee and I are trying to eat healthier and are excited to try out some of the whole fruit sorbet recipes.

My next one is the good old Dye Grabber. I have told a ton of people about this but, I am mentioning it again. I use these with every color wash load. I got Keaton a great color striped sweater early fall. He has only worn it twice to church so this was the first time I washed it. I was worried with the light and dark stripes that they would bleed on each other and make the sweater look bad. Once again thanks to the trusty dye grabber we are good to go.

The last thing is a great fresh bread recipe. It is from my cousin Heidi. All things from Heidi are good. This one is so easy and with the oatmeal I think it is a little healthier then white bread. I have tried a bit of wheat for the flour too and it is good! This recipe is one of those "bake 2 loaves, one to eat right away and one to use later" I wouldn't call it the lowest in calories, but it sure is good! It's measurements are for a Bosch mixer that makes 4-6 loaves. If you have a Kitchen Aid, just half the recipe.

6 cups hot water

6 cups rolled oats (quick will work too)

1&1/4 cups brown sugar

2/3 cups oil

2 Tbsp Dough enhancer (if you have it)

2 Tbsp Salt

2 Tbsp Vital Gluten

2 Tbsp Powdered Milk

2 Tbsp yeast

10-12 cups white flour

Pour hot water into bowl, add everything except the flour. (Let cool a little if the water is too hot for the yeast. ) Add 5 cups of flour and start mixing. Continue adding flour until dough pulls easily away from the sides of the bowl. You will use somewhere between 10 and 14 cups of flour (I think). Do not over mix. As soon as dough is "baby bottom soft" it's ready (not sticky but not elastic either.) Oil your hands and divide dough.I put this into 4 loaf pans, but it depends on the size pans you have. If they are all 9x5, you'll probably only use 3.I do not let my dough rise before I put it into the pans, I just mix, put it in the pans and then let it rise (30-45 minutes....or whenever I remember that I'm making bread and I need to put it in the oven.) Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

ENJOY!