Staff of Life – Taco/Cheddar Bread

Ah, the smell of baking bread. There is nothing like it. I have been known to bake bread overnight just so I can have that wonderful aroma to wake up to in the morning. And driving by a bakery, it is a wonder I haven’t crashed more than once since I tend to close my eyes and sigh at the very waft of fresh bread in the air. Of course, knowing WHEN the bread factory is actually baking bread is a fun fact and an excuse to drive down their road. But I digress…

So going to try a new bread because I am making Crock Pot Chile tonight. Needed something besides crackers to go with it. And not in the mood for cornbread (altho’ Dories Corn Muffins would go perfectly with this as other TWDers suggested a couple of weeks ago.)

Taco Cheddar Bread
1 Cup + 2 Tbl water
3 cups bread flour
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 Tbl Taco Seasoning (Dry Package or home made)
1 Tbl sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
Package yeast.

As usual I used my bread machine to make the dough. When processed (?) remove and let rise on pizza stone for about 2 hours until doubled in size. Bake until golden brown (about 20/25 minutes) at 375 degrees

There is more to this story.

I am using Jennifer’s recipe from Cooking for Comfort. Jennifer’s chili recipe is super simple and since it is crock pot cooked you can multi-task all day long….

Jennifer’s Slow Cooker Chili
1 lb ground beef
1 onion (diced or chunks)
1 pepper (I use green)(diced or chunks)(I left this out as Hubs doesn’t like)
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
2-29 ounce cans of tomato sauce
2 (14 or so ounces)cans of beans (you can use light or dark kidney beans, pinto beans, any beans you choose)
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 packet of chili seasoning mix (hot or mild, depends on your preference)


Brown ground beef with onion and pepper, add garlic at last minute. Drain and put in slow cooker. Pour tomato sauce and beans into slow cooker. Add sugar and chili seasoning mix into slow cooker, stir until combined. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Garnish with tortilla chips, grated onion, cheddar cheese. Enjoy! (This chili freezes well.)

I am also tired of buying Taco Seasoning, so tried one I had (source???) in my notebook for a while.

* 2 tsp. chili powder (up to 2Tbl. depending on your tastes
* 1.5 tsp. paprika
* 1 tsp. onion powder
* 1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
* 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
* 1/2 tsp. oregano
* dash of ground cayenne pepper to taste, depending on how hot you like it
* freshly ground black pepper to taste

So, how was it. I liked the bread. Once I put out the fire and turned on my other oven. What? Wait! What did she say? Yeah! Yeah! You read it right. Once I put out the fire….. Seems when I turned the oven on to preheat to bake the bread, someone uh, somehow… Okay, fine I had put a plastic bowl in the oven because company was coming and I just wanted to get it out of site. Yes, I forgot it. Turned on the oven. Next thing I know the kitchen is full of smoke and the oven is ON FIRE. Yes, on fire. Did you know plastic actually burns – very well. It was like I had a wood burning stove. Flames rising high. Good thing there is a bottom in the oven because I have a wood floor in the kitchen. Sorry, no pics. Was trying too hard to put out the fire. Fire Extinguisher – the ultimate kitchen gadget. Windows open. Door open, Fans on full force. So then I had to bake the bread elsewhere. Stone doesn’t fit in convectionHad to transfer it to a smaller pan. And as you can see it DEFLATED when I tried to move it. **SIGH** So I let it sit a spell, baked it, and it came out better than I expected. Needed more flavoring, but not bad bread. Would be good toasted.