BD, is your banana bread a yeast bread? My version of banana bread is a quick bread, more like a cake than a yeast loaf. No, I meant a plain white loaf with yeast, whether it be a light and fluffy sandwich type loaf or a more rustic kind of french or italian bread, the only difference is that those basic recipes use packaged yeast rather than depending on sourdough as leavening. Sourdough can be rather temperamental... Here's a farmhouse white that I've been making since I was 7 (nearly 50 years). It was the recipe my Grandmother used before that, so it's been around a long time. It's slightly sweet, rich and eggy, makes magnificent cinnamon rolls. BREAD (GRANDMAâÂÂS RECIPE) 1/3 cup sugar 1 cup milk 1/3 cup butter 2 eggs 1 pkg yeast 1 tsp salt 4 ��" 4 1/2 cups flour Mix milk, butter and sugar, heat until butter melts and liquid is very warm. Add eggs, then beat in flour, salt and yeast until stiff dough forms. Turn onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 7 ��" 8 minutes. Turn dough into greased bowl and let rise in warm place until double. Punch down dough, shape into loaves or dinner rolls and let rise again. Bake at 350 until done (25 - 30 minutes for loaves, 12-15 minutes for dinner rolls) Makes 1 large or two small loaves or 18 dinner rolls If you'd prefer a plain white loaf, very basic, you can't go wrong with Julia Child's French Bread. If you like the long and involved instructions, there are bread tutorials in the FAQ section here. They mostly make my eyes glaze over but that's just me, others like the very detailed approach. Annie

Great ideas, everyone! I knew about corn starch for sauces... but had no clue what to do about soups or gravies that call for flour. I'm very interested in the potato flakes substitute and will definitely give that a try. One of my favorite soups to make is Julia Child's French Onion Soup... strange to think about substituting potato flakes for the flour. Do you substitute equal amounts? CJ's idea about building your own Cup4Cup substitute is great and I'll forward that to my gluten free friend, and check out the site for myself. Thanks for the wonderful ideas. Equipped with these, I'll invite my friend and her husband to dinner.... I've delayed too long, because I just didn't know how to get around the thickener issue. P.S. I have purchased many of the "weird" ingredients listed above -- xanthem gum, etc... because I baked this friend a couple of loaves of gluten free bread for a Christmas present, using the recipe provided by Healthy Breads in 5 Minutes a Day. The breads were excellent, and I was amazed.... but they certainly required very different ingredients -- all of which I was able to purchase at my local health store to make the bread. I'll check the ingredients of Bob's potato flour to see if I can use that. Another great suggestion! Thank you everyone!!

Colleen, Here is the recipe for Julia Child's French Baguettes. On my days off each week, I usually make a double batch of this bread dough. The dough goes into the fridge after it's first rise and is left for two to three days. This long cold fermentation develops more flavour and texture in the bread and makes the perfect dough for a pizza crust. Thin crust with a light,airy, chewy rim. How I Make My Pizza Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table French Baguette =============== Julia Child 1 package dry active yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons) 3 1/2 cups unbleached flour (bread flour) (NOTE: I use 4 cups) 2 1/4 tsp salt 1 1/3 cups cold water plus 1/3 or so additional water Place the flour, yeast and salt in the bowl of the food process. Pulse to mix. Add 1 1/3 cups of water and process until the dough comes together. If the dough doesn't form a ball, add a little of the extra water. Process for about 60 seconds, turn off machine and let dough rest for 5 minutes. Turn on the machine again and rotate the dough about 30 times under the cover, and then remove it to a lightly floured work surface. it should be fairly smooth and quite firm. Let the dough rest for 2 minutes and then knead roughly and vigorously. The final dough should not stick to your hands as you knead (although it will stick if you pinch and hold a piece); it should be smooth and elastic and, when you hold it up between your hands and stretch it down, it should hold together smoothly. Preliminary rise - 40 to 60 minutes at around 75F. Place the dough into a clean dry bowl, (do not grease the bowl), cover with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place free from drafts. (note the French do not grease the bowl because they believe the dough needs a seat to push up from). This first rise is sufficient when the dough has definitely started to rise and is about 1 1/2 times its original volume. Deflating: Turn the dough onto your lightly floured work surface roughly and firmly pat and push it out into a 14 inch rectangle. Fold one of the long sides over toward the middle, and the other long side over to cover it, making a 3 layer cushion. Repeat the operation. This important step redistributes the yeast throughout the dough, for a strong second rise. Return the dough smooth side up the bowl; cover with plastic wrap and again set to rise. Final rise in the bowl - about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or longer. The bread should be 2 1/2 to 3 times its original bulk. It is the amount of rise that is important here, not the timing. To Shape, Cut the dough in half. Set one piece aside and cover with a towel. On a lightly floured work surface pat the dough into a 14 inch rectangle, squaring it up as evenly as you can. Fold the rectangle of dough in half lengthwise and using the heel of your hand, firmly press the edges together whether they meet. Seat well. Pound the dough flat. Now repeat - patting the dough out again and folding it over and sealing the edges. Pinch the edges well and Rotate the dough so that the sealed edge in on the bottom. Repeat with second piece of dough. Cover with plastic wrap or loosely with a towel and let rise to more than double again at about 75°f. Place stone in oven and Preheat oven to 450°F. Slash three long cuts into the loaves and place on the hot stone. Immediately toss a number of ice cubes on to the bottom on the oven to create steam. Bake until bread is golden and has an interior temp of 200°F. Takes about 30 minutes. Making Dough in a Mixer or by Hand When you are making dough in an electric mixer with a dough hook, proceed in the same general way with the rests indicated, and finish by hand. or mix the dough by hand in a bowl, turn out on a work surface, and start the kneading by lifting it up with a scraper and slapping it down roughly for several minutes until it has body. Let it rest several minutes and then proceed to knead. This is the recipe I use as a basic outline. I use it more as a guideline. I have a Magic Mill that I use to do most of the kneading. I still like to finish kneading by hand.

laceyvail- It sounds like you have done an excellent job maximizing the space available - no small feat (pun intended :-). We live in a 1,372 sq. ft. home, but the basement makes a big difference compared to your space challenges. My mills (and I have a number of them) would be a priority - even if I had to stash them behind the sofa or a chair along with buckets or #10 cans of grains/seeds/beans, but this is how we've lived for 43-years of marriage. There's a great little book by Cindi Van Bibber "No Wheat Grinder Wheat Recipes". The recipes are made with cooked wheat "base" and you blend it in a high-speed blender (see link below) to make things like cakes, cookies, breads/cereals, main dishes, meat dishes, desserts, salads and side dishes. But that's another appliance there may not be space for in a small abode. But if you have a Vitamix, it can be used to grind grain into flour, and used to make coconut milk or nut milk. I use the pulp left from making coconut milk to make coconut flour and the pulp from almond milk to make almond flour for making gluten-free baked goods. Even a small coffee/spice mill can be used to mill grain, especially the softer grains. When I do Home Food Storage Classes, we always have lively discussions about where to find storage space for enough food for a year. Having lived in a 2-bedroom, 10'X50' mobile home when we were first married and had our first child, I was able to accumulate 6-months worth of food (so we were never "starving" college students), and I learned how to maximize space. Our best friends were Mormons and they taught us the value of food storage - which paid dividends over the years. Creative solutions: -Shallow shelves up the backs and sides of closets, or the space next to the doors on the inside (wide enough for canned goods). -Raising all beds to accommodate storage underneath. -Making a side table for your bedroom or living room out of a steel or plastic trash can topping it with a round piece of plywood a round tablecloth. Add a round sheet of tempered glass or plexiglass on the top of the tablecloth to keep it clean. Store things inside you don't need frequently - such as off-season clothing, holiday decorations, etc. -Build narrow shelves (the depth of quart canning jars works well) beside a window to the wall corner, and cover them floor-to-ceiling with matching or contrasting window coverings, which makes the window look larger while hiding all your canned goods. -Under and behind sofas -Window seats with storage inside. -Bench seat at the end of the bed with storage inside. -Shelves, close to the ceiling, around the perimeter of a room. Cover it with a pretty valance if you don't want the items to be seen. -One clever mother disassembled her children's bed frames and stacked boxes of canned freeze-dried and dried food like powdered milk, grain, seeds, beans, etc. (6 #10 cans per box), and topped the boxes with a simple dust ruffle she made from a sheet, and put the mattress on top. This mother had an incredible food rotation system in order to make it work well. BTW - there is enough space in the footprint of a single bed for enough food for one person for 1-year. With people eating Reese's Puff Cereal made with 27 ingredients, Cheez Whiz - 27 ingredients, Nutri-Grain Strawberry Yogurt Bars - 56 ingredients, Morning Star Farms Chick'n Nuggets - 59 ingredients, KFC Chicken Pot Pie - more than 100 ingredients, and calling it "food", really aren't concerned with nutrition or food quality and what is now being called "death by fork". -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Cindi's Lifestyle Treasures - Books