Homemade Bread and Freezer Jam

I love homemade bread. I usually make bread every Sunday. I usually make wheat bread. So it's kind of heavy, but it holds up well when making sandwiches and when you drench it in honey!

My kids won't eat homemade bread! J.D. calls it fake bread and asks for the store bought. So I thought I would make a couple of loafs of white bread and see if I could trick them into eating it, because it is still healthier than what you get at the store. No such luck! This was really good bread, but I prefer my wheat bread. This is well worth trying though. Mine came out a little too fluffy, it wouldn't even hold up to putting butter on it, but I did add dough enhancer, which it did not call for, so that may have been it. Anyway if you feel adventurous go ahead and try to make some up. The jam is absolutely divine and my kids did like the jam, alot!!

Basic White Bread Recipe:

1 & 1/4 cups warm water

1 Tbsp. yeast

2 Tbsp. Canola Oil

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsps. salt (I never add salt to my baked goods, but it calls for it)

3 to 3 1/2 cups white flour or ground white wheat

Add sugar to warm water. Add yeast and let sit until bubbles. (If you use SAF Yeast you can just add yeast with dry ingredients). Add oil, salt, and 2 cups of flour to yeast mixture. Mix by hand or by mixer for 5 - 10 minutes adding a little flour at a time until dough is light and pliable. Make sure dough is a little sticky rather than dry! Place in a covered bowl in a warm place until dough has doubled in bulk. After this rising, punch down and form dough into desired size. Let rise again until double in bulk and bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes until light brown. This recipe will make 1 loaf.

Strawberry Freezer Jam:

5 cups diced, uncrushed fresh strawberries (I used frozen ones that I let thaw and it turned out)

2 cups sugar

3 Tbsp. clear jel

1 pkg. unsweetened strawberry Kool-aid

1/2 cup light Karo syrup

Mix sugar, Instant Clear Jel and Kool-aid well. Add to washed and diced berries. Put in Karo syrup and stir until well blended. put into containers and freeze.