If food was one of the 5 Love Languages, it would definitely be one of mine!

I love food. Except seafood. That can stay in the sea.

But other than that, yes, please! I love to eat but I also love to cook and bake.

(I have people tell me all the time, ‘I’m not sure where you are but I know what you’re eating!’ because of all the photos of food I post on social media. Or just scroll back through my Instagram posts — so much food! And cat photos…but I now have a separate page for those!)

Although, I am definitely more of a simplistic cook. I don’t like recipes that take 17 ingredients, 12 of which you’ll likely never use again, or ones that use three different pans and four bowls.

My crock pot is one of my favorite kitchen appliances. Especially since it’s a big one that used to belong to my grandmother! One pot meals for the win!

Who doesn’t love a good crock pot?? — *Who doesn’t love a good* *crock pot*??

And when I find a great recipe, I’m happy to share, not only because I love giving others great recipes that could save them time and taste delicious, but because as I’ve worked with clients on their budget over the years, the one category that always ends up being the largest or the one that is consistently overspent, is dining out. So, if this is you too, you’re not alone!

Let me say that again – You. Are. Not. Alone!

Our society makes it sooo easy to spend money dining out. Especially now with apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats! And let’s face it – we are all busy and don’t always feel like cooking after a day of work and running all over creation for extracurricular activities.

But it doesn’t have to be hard! With a little planning and some easy, yet delicious recipes, you too can trim that dining out category!

So, here’s to sharing some recipes that will satisfy not only your taste buds but perhaps your wallet as well!

PS – one of my biggest pet peeves is insanely long blog posts that give the author’s entire life story of the last week with 10,000 ads that take freaking forever to load until you fiiiinallly get to the recipe. So, I promise that will never be my type of recipe blog post!! (This one being a slight exception…but still fairly short comparatively!) I will just give you my commentary as it applies to the recipe!!

Here we go!

I found this recipe about a year ago on Pinterest when we were all in quarantine mode and baking bread! It has now become my go to bread recipe – one bowl, one pan and I don’t even have to knead the dough if I’m not feeling like it on the particular day.

One Hour Bread Recipe
(Seriously, one hour start to finish!)

1 ½ cups warm water (105° - 110°F)

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon active dry yeast (Yes, it’s a lot but that’s what makes the recipe so quick!)

1 ½ teaspoons salt (Do no omit this! It will be very bland otherwise)

3 ½ - 4 ½ cups all purpose flour

Combine water, honey and yeast in mixing bowl (I usually put the salt in now too, just so I don’t forget it!)
Let sit about 5 minutes, or until foamy.
Add flour and salt (if not already added)
Mix until well combined. A stand mixer with a dough hook would be ideal but I just use a wooden spoon and a little elbow grease!
Dump dough into a pan or baking sheet. I’ve used everything from my pizza stone, to a cookie sheet to a Pyrex dish – they all work! If you feel up for it, you can shape the dough into a nice-looking loaf. I usually go with the artesian look so I don’t even have to get my hands dirty!
Let rest for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 400°F. (You can let it go longer if you want, the bread will just be a bit fluffier!)
Bake for around 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Sometimes I find it takes a bit longer, depending on the vessel I’ve used (pizza stone takes a little longer than just a baking sheet).
Enjoy with salted butter! If you haven’t tasted the difference between salted and unsalted butter (especially when it comes to warm from the oven bread) I highly recommend doing a side-by-side comparison! I never really understood why people even bothered with buttering bread (I grew up with unsalted!) because I didn’t feel like it added much. But trust me – I can now tell when butter isn’t salted!!