{Living Simply 2013}
At the start of this year, I asked what you have done, are doing and/or hope to do to live more simply in 2013. I will be featuring a different response in the upcoming weeks/months so we can all learn from each other. Feel free to email me at simplylife1@gmail.com or leave a comment on this post with your response to be featured (you don’t need a blog to participate)! Here are the previous posts: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
The next response is from Colleen from What’s Baking in the Barbershop, who said: I have been working on trying to be more “unplugged” and spend less time on my phone, computer, etc.
This was definitely a repeated theme in the comments and it’s so true. So much of our days are linked to technology, whether it’s for work, personal enjoyment or just managing your day-to-day responsibilities. What I always find most shocking is how after a week vacation, when I haven’t checked my email or read the news, I can “catch-up” from a entire week’s worth of “technology” in usually only an hour or two. Whereas if I were checking those same things daily, the time spent would far exceed that. It’s in these moments that I typically see how much excess “screen” time I spend.
Buuuut yes, I know that a week on vacation also don’t require checking email and responding promptly to phone calls and messages (I hope!). While I love my “unplugged” time completely away from all electronics, I also know living this way just isn’t realistic today. It’s a tricky balance to find and looks different for everyone.
My husband and I have found one of the best ways to ensure we’re at least “unplugged” in small moments throughout the day, is to not even give ourselves the option. We both still don’t have smartphones and we don’t own a T.V. While this may be crazy to some, to us, it’s a great way to force us to be at least slightly more mindful of our “screen time.” Don’t get me wrong, I still sit in front of a computer most of the day (and I don’t even want to think about how many hours I’ve spent on this blog!), but I find that simply not giving myself the option is sometimes the best way to continue being intentional about having “unplugged” time.
One other way that I find the forces me to be more in the moment, and completely unplugged, is when my hands are full of flour and dough! 
Seriously though, there is just something so soothing about braiding a loaf of fresh dough and seeing what a few simple ingredients like flour and water can produce. It’s the perfect way to unwind, unplug from all electronics for a moment and create the perfect food to share.
Whole Wheat Challah Bread
by
Adapted from Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
Keywords: bake bread
Ingredients (2 loaves)
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tbs. yeast (1 packet)
- 1/2 tbs. salt
- 1/8 cup vital wheat gluten
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
- 1/8 cup oil
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 large eggs (1 egg with the white and yolk separated)
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- Sesame seeds, optional (you could also use poppy seeds)
Instructions
1. Whisk together flours, yeast, salt and vital wheat gluten. Add in liquid ingredients (using 1 full egg and ONLY egg yoke from other egg) and mix together without kneading (using a spoon or paddle attachment for a stand-mixer).
2. Cover with a cloth and allow dough to rest at room temperature for about 2 hours.
3. Separate dough into two equal pieces. You can use the dough immediately or refrigerate and use up to 5 days.
4. Shape dough into a ball. Cut into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece out until it makes a long rope, about 3/4 inch thick. Repeat with remaining two pieces.
5. Braid the dough by taking left strand and placing over center piece, then taking right strand and folding over center piece. Repeat until loaf is braided. Pinch ends together.
6. Place dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or cooking spray, or on a silicone mat. Cover loosely with cloth or plastic wrap and all dough to rest for 40 minutes (or 90 minutes if using refrigerated dough).
7. Thirty minutes before baking time, preheat oven to 350 degrees with cooking stone in the oven, if using.
8. Just before baking, brush reserved egg white over top of dough. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
9. Bake on cookie sheet or cooking stone for about 30-35 minutes, until golden brown. Serve and enjoy!
~How do you “unplug”?
