No Kneading Simple Bread Recipe — crystal lee williams

Anyone within the hurricane's radar did this. I'm sure of it. You and your friends, or you and your loved ones decided to do this to ensure that everyone was safe. Whether it lasted one day or endured throughout the duration of Hurricane Harvey and even going strong now as some are starting to (literally) place their feet on solid ground again. I'm positive that most of us at some point were a part of a group text message.

My first group text message started over a week ago. Wednesday, August 23rd, my sister gathered us in a group text message and immediately began sharing pictures of empty shelves and overflowing grocery carts warning us to prepare because Harvey was coming.

Did I heed to the warning? Umm... no. We didn't shop until Friday afternoon. No water. No eggs.

NO BREAD.

Google "empty bread isle" and all those images you see were our reality. By Friday, August 25th, my husband and I had half a loaf of bread on our baker's rack. When you're hunkered down in your home for five days, well, at least when I am hunkered down in my home for five days, I tend to stress eat. It keeps me busy. So that half of a loaf was gone by Friday night. Two people.

NO BREAD.

Sunday night came around and I was desperate. We both were. So my husband and I braved the rain and puddles to ventured out to the Wal-Mart down the street from us. It was closed. We tried Kroger, closed too. From the car I cried out on Facebook like many of us did "Any grocery stores open in Katy?" the comments came rushing in. Even then, no luck.

Monday (8/28) afternoon, a church member text me saying the kindest words one could say given the circumstances...

"Hey, just seeing if you guys need anything from the store."
(They must have seen my Facebook post from the night before.)

"Breaaaaad!" was my exact response. I also asked for milk but the bread was what I really wanted.

Not even a second later they replied, "no bread". To which I questioned "Do they have yeast?" and followed with the remark, "I'm fixing to bake my own bread if I have to!"

So I did.

And I'm sharing it with you because if you ever find yourself in a situation where there is a shortness of bread (which, by the way, I pray you never do) you should know how to bake your own bread.

Hurricane Harvey forced me to learn how to bake bread. Now, it's your turn.

I found this recipe on Pinterest and happy to share that I can file this one away in my #PinterestWin category. (Click here to read about my baking #PinterestFail.) Lindsay is the blogger that aided me to my first homemade bread! The recipe in her blog post titled Miracle No Knead Bread truly did turn out to be a form of a miracle during Hurricane Harvey.

It's simple. Four ingredients: flour, salt, instant yeast (from the church member's grocery trip) and room temperature water.

I had more whole wheat flour in my pantry than all-purpose but the recipe is doable with either. Whole wheat flour will make your bread more dense, but it was still oh-so-delicious.

Anyhow, I did as she said to in her recipe. After mixing the ingredients in a large bowl you are asked to cover it with plastic wrap (I had none so I used a plastic Kroger bag) and let it rest for 12 - 18 hrs. I let it rest over night. The next morning I woke up to take on the final step. No kneading necessary. You just carefully remove it from the bowl, place it on a well floured, hard surface and shape it into a ball with flour on the sides.

After that you place it on parchment paper. Oh, and by the way, you are doing all this while your enamel coated cast iron dutch oven is in the oven (with the top on) to heat at 450 for 30 minutes. Back to the parchment paper... I had none. Another thing I improvised. I floured the heck out of the bottom of my rounded dough and just placed it as is in the dutch oven and said a little prayer. The recipe instructs you to let it bake in the dutch oven for 30 minutes covered and 15 uncovered. Waiting is the hardest part. But it was worth it!

I said another little prayer, cut it open and marveled at the air pockets! (Whole wheat flour produces less air pockets, so I would have been happy just to see one!) I buttered that bad boy up and gave it a taste!

It was delicious and to say I felt accomplished is an understatement. I made bread. I did it. I made it. We needed it and there it was, right in front of me. I felt like a BOSS!

A homemade bread recipe I prepared with my own two hands was baked into a gorgeous loaf of whole wheat bread that nourished my body and in a way, also nourished my weary, burdened and anxious soul.

See, the truth is, Hurricane Harvey was scary. We saw flood waters rise and wondered if we'd wake up to water in our home. These 5 days seemed so long and honestly, like one big giant day. Sunday night my husband and I had little sleep due to the discovery of a roof leak and later found even more in the attic.

Many, I mean MANY had it far worse. Some, dear friends and loved ones of ours. Our hearts continue to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice. We mourn with those with big losses and celebrate the good things, big or small.

Now here we are, almost a week later and there is still no bread. My family group text shared with me today that their side of town has a hard time keeping shelves stocked as hundreds of people are back out in stores shopping for what they've been without for at least 5 days.

So my friends, lets keep praying and if we must, start baking! Learn to make your own bread and share this with anyone who could use it.