Installing Our Pandemic Home Gym

Did you install a home gym this past year, too? Apparently home gyms are a trending topic in the blogosphere. So, I thought I'd share our new home gym.

Here's my Yoga Mat. Oh, does that look like carpet to you, too? Hmmm. . . The brand of my yoga mat is Stainmaster. I highly recommend it -- very versatile, cushioned, and warm in the winter.

And here's my new Personal Trainer. He comes two to three times a week. He's a stickler for me doing everything just right. He really puts me through my paces. If you're in the market for your own personal trainer, I can highly recommend Mr. Tube, Mr. Y. Tube. Great guy and great workouts.

Nothing but the best is my motto. I wanted a state-of-the-art Sound System in our new Home Gym. I like to listen to mi Tunes when I'm working out.

Here's my Weight Bench. You're right, it's a little low. I think I need to adjust the height or something.

And here's my Vertical Climber. Yeah, they carpeted that piece of equipment, too. Go figure.

We also installed an Indoor Track. Here, let me take you around for a lap. It's just a single lane track. We tried making this a double lane track, but I kept having to do Hurdles.

We'll start on one of the curves of the wooden portion of the track. Wood is a popular surface for indoor tracks, much more comfortable to walk or run on than concrete. 

As we move onto the eastern straight, you'll notice the surface changes to a highly desirable synthetic. Many outdoor tracks are paved with synthetic rubber. We've chosen a vinyl tile for our synthetic straight.

And around the other curve we go.

The western straight is extra cushioned with some sort of natural fiber. It has a similar texture to what the manufacturer of my yoga mat used, but I think prettier. Pretty matters when you're working out in your home gym.

And here we are back on the wooden curve.

After a good workout, I head on over to the Juice Bar. The Juicerista seems to have stepped away from the bar just now. I'll pour my own glass of juice. What? I have to wash my glass, too? Did the Dishwashers go on strike again?

And that's my Pandemic Home Gym.

All of this "fancy" equipment and personnel is worthless if you don't have one last thing --  motivation. Now here's something real that I can share that is providing some motivation for me. My favorite aspect of my new-to-me smartphone is the step-counter. I keep my phone in a pocket all day and frequently check my steps for the day. Seeing my steps tracked gives me just the push I need to take another quick walk or do a few flights of stairs. And this isn't just me, The American Journal of Medicine published an article which demonstrated that fitness devices do indeed add a layer of motivation for individuals.

Another truth, I got serious about fitness and health last spring. Getting older tends to increase motivation to take care of one's health. 

I'm just poking fun of the folks who are wealthy enough to install expensive exercise equipment and pay for personnel to help them work out. Actually, I'm very glad for them and for their fortune. They're keeping some people employed and that's a good thing. It is nice to know that exercise can also be free, using what we have right here at home.

(Giving objects capitalized titles make them seem more official, doesn't it?)

My Recent Vacuum Purchase Experience and My Criteria for Selecting a Shark

photo:Target.com

Shark Navigator Swivel Pro Pet Upright Vacuum with Self-Cleaning Brush Roll ZU51

In the spring of 2020, our 2005 Bissell Healthy Home quit. We kept our carpets "clean" with our 2010 Electrolux stick-vac, which is really designed for hard surface cleaning and inadequate for carpets.

Being in the midst of the spring lockdown, I needed to do all of my shopping online. I've been bitten by poor customer service in the past at some local stores when making returns of purchases. So, I limited my online shopping options to sites that also had nearby brick-and-mortar stores where I would feel comfortable should I need to return the vacuum within the store return policy. 

After researching several brands, I was most intrigued by Kirby, Dyson, and Shark.

Kirby's are known for their durability. In comparison reviews, Kirby comes out on top in more categories than any other brand. However, they're on the expensive side and very heavy, at about 35 pounds for the Kirby Sentra Upright. 

Dyson is the current popular choice for vacuums. They're lightweight, about 15 pounds on average, maneuverable, and are known for superior suction. Note, some users report that the suction on some models is too strong for some carpeting types. And, it's on the pricier side (the Dyson Ball Animal 2 retails for about $500 at Bed, Bath & Beyond.) Overall, Dyson gets a lot of favorable reviews.

Shark was barely on my radar when I began researching vacuums. Barely on my radar. I knew Target carried Shark. If I had to buy any product with the idea that I might need to use customer service for returns, Target would be my go-to store for hassle-free returns. Other than that, almost all of my knowledge of the Shark brand came after checking Target's website.

Why I chose this brand and model 

I went with the Shark Navigator Swivel Pro Pet Upright (whew, that won't be a catchy name).The top three selling features (for me) of this model were the self-cleaning brush roll, positive customer reviews of the suction power, and the machine is very lightweight. In addition, the price was less than half that of a comparable Dyson, and a fraction of that of Kirby.

Here's my experience with our Shark

I made the purchase from Target on November 10, 2020 and it arrived on November 11, 2020 -- free next-day delivery. It was $179, on sale. (reg price $229) I've now had the Shark for about 2 months.

The Pros

After 2 solid months of use, there have been
zero hairs trapped on the brush roll.

The brush roll really is self-cleaning. Here's the underside -- no hair. This is fantastic. Between my two daughters and I, we shed a lot of hair. When a vacuum's brush roll gets covered with hair, the vacuum loses suction and the brush doesn't lift the carpet, leading to poor cleaning.

to the left is our 2005 Bissell, to the right is the 2020 Shark

The vacuum is very light. I have a two-story house, so I drag a vacuum up and down stairs twice a week. Our old Bissell was heavy, weighing in around 25 pounds, and awkward to move from one floor to the other. The Shark is remarkably lighter, weighing under 15 pounds. 

Sorry to be gross -- this is what the Shark picks up
each time from 1 bedroom plus 1 office,
with 3 to 4 days between vacuuming.
Really, we're not dirty people.

For such a small and lightweight vacuum, this one has a lot of suction. We went over 5 months without a working, full-sized vacuum, using only the stick-vac on carpets. I vacuumed 3 days per week for the first 2 weeks of having the Shark and was amazed at how good our 25-year old white carpeting looked after those first 2 weeks. The great suction on the Shark pulled the carpet fibers up -- fluffing matted sections -- and pulled out so much dirt. **

One of the selling features of Dyson vacuums are their swivel capabilities. Well, this Shark also has a swivel, making it very maneuverable. The Shark slides further under furniture than my previous vacuum and turns corners with ease.

The switch for changing between hard floors and carpeting is easily accessible, within reach on the left side without needing to bend all the way over. Some full-size vacuums require bending almost to the floor to change from carpet to hard surface.

**To note: bagless vacuums need their filters cleaned/changed regularly to maintain peak suction. The Shark has a sponge-like foam filter that needs cleaning every 3 months. Shark recommends rinsing the foam filter in cold water and gently squeezing, then air-drying for 24 hours before placing back on the vacuum. According to the owner manual, detergents can cause the foam to break down prematurely.

The Cons

The cord comes out of a spot on the lower part of the vacuum, so I constantly run over it. There's a cord hook higher up on the side, but it really doesn't hold the cord. The photo on the top of this page is Target's photo and is misleading for where the cord is attached to the machine. That photo shows the cord in the cord clip. My experience -- I have to hang onto the cord the entire time I'm vacuuming. This is a minor issue and something I'll eventually get used to.

The dust container is pretty small and needs emptying twice if I'm vacuuming the whole house, once if I'm only doing the downstairs. Again, I think this is a small issue.

The cord is short, about 25 feet, meaning I have to unplug and replug more often when vacuuming the entire house.

The attachments were somewhat awkward to use at first. I've since adjusted. The model only came with a basic brush plus a crevice tool, with the option of either a long wand or a short handle. My previous vacuum had a powered brush that really cleaned the carpeted stairs well.

I have no idea how long this vacuum will last for us. With our last vacuum, when I took it in for a repair at 7 years old, the repairman said it was junk and was surprised it had lasted so long. After that one repair, we were able to squeeze 8 more years of service from that machine. Sometimes a person just gets lucky, and sometimes a person gets very unlucky.  What I can say about my own purchasing is that I abhor junk appliances that fall apart long before their time. I do research and select products that should last many years. I also won't over-pay just to have the trendy brand. What I'm saying is this was a thought-out purchase decision. I based my selection on quality of the brand, customer reviews, special features (like the self-cleaning brush roll), price, and access to a local storefront in case of return.

My overall user experience so far -- I was surprised at how clean the Shark got my carpet. It keeps pulling up more and more dust. My old vacuum just wasn't doing a very good job in comparison. After the first week, I told my daughters that they were going to love how clean and new their bedroom carpet would look, and indeed they did!

One final thought. I've discovered that I like vacuuming. After all of these years, this chore is no longer "a chore." A lightweight vacuum that makes older carpet look pretty good has changed my opinion of this one job of housework.

How Shopping In-Person Skews Your Perception of What Your Store Carries (and what you can do to change that)

How grocery stores stock their shelve and bins is part common sense and part marketing. The common sense part is rather obvious. Stores keep all of their frozen foods in one central location while all of their fresh foods in another. Foods are grouped by their storage needs. 

The other part for how stores stock their shelves and bins is marketing. You think you are seeing the complete selection the store has to offer, but marketing tricks us into primarily seeing the products that stores and manufacturers want us to see. The slogan "eye level is buy level" aptly applies here. Big brands negotiate with stores in order to garner that desirable eye-level portion for all of the departments. This section is highly visible to both shoppers and children riding in their parent's cart. It makes sense that products with the largest profit margin (and lowest value for dollar spent) would be placed in this section.

Shoppers typically view products on their own eye level and then down from there. Most of us know that the bottom shelf is typically the "value" section. This is where stores place house brand versions of less-flashy products. Think about dry cereal. Kellogg's Cornflakes are often placed just below eye level because this cereal doesn't have as much appeal to children and it has a rather slim profit margin compared to other cereals in the Kellogg's line. To find a house brand of cornflakes (the value alternative to more expensive dry breakfast cereals), one often looks on the bottom shelf. The bottom shelf is also where oversize bags of flour, sugar, rice, and beans are located -- all items considered "value" by savvy shoppers.

According to Small Business Trends, the top shelf is the least visible shelf to consumers. Grocery stores take one of two tacks on how to use this space. Some stores use the top shelf for the most expensive gourmet items, while other stores use this space for discounted items or house brands of lower stock items (products for which a store carries less stock -- at Walmart, an example would be Great Value canned Asparagus). 

As I switched over to online shopping (for curbside pickup) this past spring, I had a stunning revelation. Online grocery store shopping has not caught up with the tactics of in-store manufacturer product placement. You find a small amount of product placement on sites like Amazon, with "sponsored" products featured near the top of "results" pages. Yet when I search for an item on Walmart's website for curbside pickup, the default listing is "relevance". So, if I search "broccoli" on WM's site, the first item is Great Value frozen broccoli cuts, the least expensive (cost per pound) way for me to buy broccoli. When I search broccoli for curbside at my local Fred Meyer, the first item to show up is again the least expensive way for me to buy broccoli in their store this week. I will add, Fred Meyer has added "featured" items, which don't relate to my product search, that I suspect are just like Amazon's "sponsored" products, products/brands that pay to have their items placed in high view of the consumer when shopping online. I also searched broccoli at my local Safeway (another grocery chain). And again, one of the least expensive forms of broccoli appeared in the first space on the results page.

With this knowledge of a relative lack of product placement for online grocery shopping, we can shop for greatest value with fewer distractions and easier cost comparisons, without the need to adjust our view. 

Using online shopping tools to their best advantage

Checking frozen, fresh, and canned for different forms of same food

The search feature is invaluable. Being able to shop several departments or aisles of a store simultaneously is a game-changer for finding the best value for product categories. When searching "sweet potatoes",  the results page showed items from fresh produce, canned vegetables, and frozen vegetables. Unit pricing for each form is provided so I can quickly assess which I want to add to my cart. In the event that unit pricing isn't uniform (some priced per pound, others per ounce), the calculator on whatever device I'm using makes quick work of calculating best value. I am able to shop several different "aisles" all at the same time. 

Eliminating impulse buys made easy

In addition, I'm not impulse shopping at the checkout, on aisle end caps, or by eye-level placement of products. I realized the other day that I haven't bought Tic Tacs in almost a year! I also haven't bought any tempting bakery goods in this same period. It's hard to say how much I've saved by eliminating impulse shopping, but I do know that I've eliminated buying items that are mostly frivolous or expensive versions of something I could make at home.

Making smarter substitution choices by taking my time

You've probably experienced the following scenario. You plan a meal and the ingredients that you will need for it, only to get to the grocery store and discover they are completely out of the value version of one of the ingredients. In the heat of the moment, with other shoppers crowding around, perhaps on an empty stomach or overstimulated by all of the noise right around you, you have to make a quick decision on how you'll solve this dilemma. Product placement of the premium brand lures you into grabbing that item and popping it into your cart so that you can move on with the rest of your shopping. By filling my cart online, I get an idea beforehand which items are currently out of stock and I can take my time while still at home to rework my meal plan and/or list. I don't know about you, but I tend to make smarter choices when I'm still at home in the peace and quiet of my own private space.

Spending is completely in my control

As I add items to my order, the store's website keeps a running tab for me. I keep an eye on this, keeping me within my spending limit. I can review what I've added to my cart and remove quantity or items, if I feel I'm over spending. I can't tell you how many times I've been literally shocked by the total at the checkout when shopping in-person. I go in to pick up a few items, then I add an extra one or two of this and pick-up that other great deal or two, and before I know it, I've completely filled the cart! With online cart-filling, I watch the totals on the website as I add items to my virtual cart.

For those of us who are now shopping entirely online, we're learning all of this with each shopping experience.

One other tip for ordering online for pickup. If you're comfortable getting pick-up orders from more than one store in a week, try filling two or more virtual carts at different stores, shopping the best deals from each store. It's far easier to do pick-ups than in-person shopping at a couple of stores. You're only out the extra time and gas to grab that extra trunk load. 

And if you're still shopping in-person, here's my tip for you: Put together your shopping list from your store's website, filling a virtual cart as you make your list. (But don't check-out.) You may find forms of foods on your lists that are found in multiple sections of the store that you might overlook otherwise. For example, you can find ground turkey, hamburger patties, or chicken in both the freezer section as well as the fresh meat department, benefitting from best prices and the luck of availability of one option over another. You'll also be able to track your spending as you put items into a virtual cart and make those last-minute substitutions for items that are out of stock, all from the comfort of your quiet home. At the end of your virtual shopping exercise/making your list, screen capture your cart or write it down, then cancel your cart before an order is placed. 

For my family's groceries, utilizing my stores' websites for groceries has yielded big savings and turned up options that I didn't even know were available. I've been very pleasantly surprised to find a huge variety in frozen fruits and vegetables, variety that I never noticed before, because in the store, it was outside of my eye-level view.

Happy shopping and saving, friends!

When Frugality and Green Living Intersect

I went on a little treasure hunt of sorts yesterday. As I was cleaning up the kitchen in the morning, I marveled at all of the single-use items that are made sturdily enough to squeeze out a second, third, fourth or more use. Manufacturers expect these items to be used once then thrown away. I like to make a game of reusing as many packaging items as I can. Beyond quirky fun, it just makes good sense. Less overall is produced, less goes into the landfill -- we save a small amount of money and we do a bit of good toward a cleaner planet.

And so, I was inspired to look around the house for the different single-purpose items that have become multi-use in our household. Come along on my treasure hunt!

While I would never reuse bathroom tissue, I would reuse the tube that is at the center of the roll to corral electric cords.

And while I'd never suggest reusing facial tissues, I do use the box as a plastic bag dispenser. 

Speaking of plastic bags, this is what got me started on my treasure hunt. I wash and reuse those thin plastic grocery bags, hanging them on the laundry rack to dry. I use these bags to cover bowls and dishes, wrap loaves of homemade bread, and then, finally, when I'm truly done with them, as garbage bags in the waste bins around the house.

We get many uses out of each sheet of foil. There was a time when buying a new box of aluminum foil would have meant I couldn't buy a food item that week for my family. I began washing and reusing foil until it simply fell apart. The sheet here has seen it's share of lasagnas, turkeys, and hams. Foil is one of the easier kitchen disposables to actually wash with soap and water.

I wrap heads of cabbage and lettuce from the grocery store in a paper towel inside of a plastic bag to prevent trapped moisture, leading to mold and decay. When I bring a new head of greens into the kitchen fridge for use, I add the barely used paper towel to my stack for cleaning up greasy pans and draining pan-fried foods. I'm grocery shopping once every three weeks to a month right now. So, I buy enough heads of greens to last three to four weeks, storing them wrapped in a paper towel and plastic bag in the garage fridge until they're needed.

Also for draining fried foods, I save paper packaging that flour, sugar, and cornmeal are bagged in. I keep the flattened bags in a cupboard near the stove, handy for tearing off the amount of bag that I need when cooking.

We get multiple uses from birthday candles. I wash and save them for the next special occasion.

Glass bottles from commercial single serving juice make great water and drink bottles filled at home.

Plastic food containers with screw top lids are perfect for dry storage.

I reuse gently used plastic cling wrap for wrapping other foods or covering a bowl.

Parchment paper used for baking dry foods, like cookies or breads, can be reused a few times until it becomes brittle.

Washing freezer bags for reuse is a common practice.

We also reuse bags that foods come packaged in, such as candy, cracker, tortilla, cereal, and powdered sugar bags. With a rubber band, twist tie, or bread clip, we use these food bags just like sandwich bags. And yes, we save and reuse rubber bands, twist ties, and bread bag clips, keeping them in a small dish in the cupboard near my cooking area.

We save and wash plastic flatware that comes with take-out or samples. Then when we take a picnic lunch to the park or beach, we have some non-breakable forks, knives, and spoons. Of course, we bring them back home with us to wash and reuse again and again. Those tiny sample spoons and forks are the perfect size for condiments and pickles when picnicking.

I save good-condition pieces of used gift wrap for future wrapping and craft projects. The red truck and Christmas tree wrap is calling out to my crafty side.

You know those used spiral-bound notebooks from school or courses? Often times, back sides of pages don't get used. I use these notebook leftovers for making lists and plans. I don't throw away a notebook until I have filled every side of every page.

I can afford a new box of aluminum foil, new plastic baggies, and a new personal water bottle. However, I feel it just makes common sense to reuse the single-use containers, packaging, and items that I already have, when it is possible and sanitary to do so. As I said before, it saves us a little bit of change and I know it's the right thing to do.

Scratch Creamy Ranch Dressing Made Easy

Good morning, friends!

This past Friday, we were discussing salads. Christine H. wrote me to explain how she makes her favorite dressing. I wanted to share a portion of her email, today (with her approval, of course).

Christine described her quick and easy method of making ranch dressing from scratch, using basic ingredients.

"My favorite dressing is creamy ranch.  This is a basic base of mayo thinned to appropriate consistency using heavy cream (whole milk causes the mayo to be too thin to coat the veg).  Add in the salad dressing mirepoix:  onion powder, garlic powder, and dill[weed].  Turn it into peppercorn ranch with the addition of black pepper.  Turn it into parmesan ranch with the addition of parmesan.  Add in a few flakes of red pepper for some kick. 

Add all ingredients into the bowl you plan to eat the salad in and do a quick stir -  no extra dishes dirtied.  I don’t measure when I cook, so shake seasonings to an amount that experience tells me I like.  The whole process takes fewer than 30 second, so probably is faster than walking to the fridge to get out a commercial brand of bottled dressing, shaking it up, pour, then back to replace it in the fridge." 

She adds, "You can make ranch dip if you use just enough cream to thin to dipping consistency.  I like raw vegetables just fine, but prefer them sparked up by the flavor of ranch."

Two aspects of Christine's description stood out to me:

1) she uses basic ingredients that many of us may have on hand, making several variations of ranch dressing.

2) her method doesn't dirty any extra bowls, or really spoons either. Her dressing could be mixed with the fork she intends to use to eat with. I can appreciate the simplicity of her cooking-style.

This might be a great use for the leftover whipping cream from the recent holidays. I seem to always have a few tablespoons at the bottom of the carton that I need to use up. I love that someone else has figured out for me that heavy cream will work, whereas milk thins the dressing too much.

Christine follows a method that I use when making family-size salads. I make the dressing in the bottom of the serving bowl before adding any other ingredients. I'd not thought to do this for my personal lunch salads. I'm going to remember this the next time I want a creamy dressing.

Thank you, Christine!

Do you have a favorite salad dressing that you make from scratch?

Making Budget Foods and Recipes More User-Friendly: No-Knead, 2-Hour Bread

Pane veloce veloce -- Quick, Quick Bread -- a fast & easy no-knead bread

I realize that many of you, friends, who read here regularly are veterans at frugal cooking. You've been making rice and beans, bean soup, or yeast breads for decades. Maybe you learned how to prepare these budget-friendly foods from your mom or dad. Or maybe you are self-taught and have been at this for such a long time that you really don't need people like me to tell you how to knead dough or soak beans.

However, some of us have different backgrounds and circumstances.

Recently, a friend of mine made a wise observation. She noted that a lot of folks weren't raised learning basic frugal cooking skills. Instead, in their family homes of origin, a lot of foods that they consumed were what we'd recognize as convenience foods, such as boxed meal helpers. There's nothing at all wrong with that scenario. However, they now find themselves (through no fault of their own) on a very limited budget, unemployed or forced into early retirement due to this pandemic. Here's the problem: good people -- people who have always paid their bills on time, taken care of themselves financially, worked hard at their jobs -- are now out of work. Unemployment really doesn't pay all that well. Yes, there have been some limited bonus payments. Yet, there are people who are struggling financially right now and are looking for help so that they can help themselves.

Basic frugal foods made easy

For the next few Saturdays or possibly Sundays, I'll be sharing how to prepare some of the quintessential frugal foods, in easy and manageable versions for any cooking skill level.  For the next several weeks, my weekend blogging will cater to those of us who may need a bit of encouragement to try cooking techniques and recipes that are less familiar to us. 

I'll share some of the best, easiest and most frugal recipes, applicable tips, and cooking techniques, here, one recipe at a time. One of the coolest things about learning information or a new skill is that once you've learned it, you own that information to use over and over again. So, let's begin!

Mmmm, bread hot out of the oven

Could anything say "frugal cooking" better than baking your own yeast-raised bread? If you can buy yeast at a reasonable cost, this loaf is very frugal. 

The brand of yeast that I use is SAF-instant Yeast. Red Star also makes an instant yeast. You can also use active dry yeast -- just adjust the amount as indicated in the recipe. I wouldn't try yeasts that are labeled "rapid rise" or "quick rise". Those yeasts are a different strain of yeast, designed for other applications in bread-baking.

Pane veloce veloce (or Quick, Quick Bread)

When most of us think of making homemade bread, thoughts of rolled-up shirt sleeves and beads of sweat forming on our foreheads as we knead dough on a dusty countertop fill our imaginations. If that's not enough to put one off from attempting homemade bread for the first time, the time involved in the mixing, kneading, and rising of loaves is an enthusiasm-killer for many. What if I told you that there's a yeast bread that you can make in about 2 hours, start to finish, without any kneading whatsoever?

There's a reason this recipe is called Quick, Quick Bread. As yeast breads go, this is the Speedy Gonzales of the bread world. You can literally start this bread around 4 in the afternoon and have fresh bread for the dinner table before 6:30, with minimal hands-on time required.

In addition to being fast to make, it produces a tender, airy, and tasty loaf of Italian bread. Unlike a soda-leavened bread (which is also a fast way to make homemade bread), this Italian bread remains fresh for a few days. The recipe itself is Italian. I've adapted one ingredient to make this more accessible for most of us. The original recipe calls for brewer's yeast, which although we know it as the yeast for brewing beer, it is also used in some yeast bread recipes. I use instant yeast in its place. If the type of yeast you can find in your store is active dry yeast, that will work, too. Just use the appropriate measurement.

Never baked bread before? You can do this! You can make delicious and soft bread! Let's do this!

Pane veloce veloce

1½ cups lukewarm water, divided (lukewarm for activating yeast is between 105 and 115 degrees F - best results: use a thermometer)
1 teaspoon honey
1¼ teaspoons instant yeast (or 1¾ teaspoons active dry yeast)

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

additional water as needed to make a sticky dough

additional flour for the top of dough and the parchment paper, about 1 tablespoon.

Ensure your warm water is between 105 and 115 degrees F.

In a small bowl, pour ¼ cup of the warm water, the yeast, and the honey. Stir to combine. If using active dry yeast, allow to stand for 5-10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, dump the 4 cups of flour. Make a well in the center of the mound of flour.

Pour the softened yeast and honey water into the well in the flour. Pour the remaining 1¼ cups of lukewarm water over the yeast water. 

Stir the liquids and flour together. Add extra water as needed to make a soft and slightly sticky dough (anywhere from 2 to 5 tablespoons of extra water). 

Sprinkle the salt over the top of the dough (I've dumped it in the center so you could see it -- you should sprinkle it evenly across the top) and mix it in thoroughly.

Sprinkle the top of the soft dough with ½ tablespoon of flour. 

Cover the bowl. (I use a large dinner plate to cover my mixing bowl.) Allow to rise for 1½ hours. You're doing great!

Meanwhile, place a large sheet of parchment paper on a large baking sheet. Flour the paper well with the last half-tablespoon of flour.

After the rise time, the dough will look something like this. The soft mass has spread across the bowl from one side to the other, and you can see that it is puffed somewhat from the yeast action.

Preheat the oven to 445 degrees F (non-convection).

Without disturbing the dough too much, gently go all around the edges of the dough up against the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula, lifting the dough a bit as you go. Next, carefully transfer the dough in one large mound, close to the center of the floured parchment paper on the baking sheet (keeping the floured side of the bread dough up), if you can. If it doesn't land in the center (like mine didn't), no biggie. You'll just have to move all 3 sections of dough in a minute. Try not to disturb the gas bubbles in the dough too much.

With a long, serrated knife (like a bread knife) score the dough into 3 long loaves. Dip the knife into flour between scorings. The loaves will not be perfect-looking. But that's part of the charm of this rustic Italian bread.

Using the floured knife, cut the loaves apart and gently lift and move dough portions to space the 3 loaves equally apart on the parchment paper.

Are your loaves a bit wonky in shape like mine? It won't matter. I promise! After the bread is baked, slice up the wonkiest-looking loaf and place the slices on a plate with a ramekin of butter. Somehow, once the wonky-looking bread is sliced up, it isn't as obvious as when it's still in loaf form.

Bake at 445 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes until browned on top, and the tops of the loaves sound hollow when tapped with your fingernail.

How'd we do?

What I like about this bread recipe:

• minimal equipment is needed -- a baking sheet, parchment paper, large mixing bowl, small bowl, a mixing spoon, rubber spatula, a cooking thermometer, and a long knife. If you don't have parchment, you can also try aluminum foil that is very well-floured or a floured Silpat liner. (If using an off-brand of silicone liner, make sure it's rated for higher than 445 degrees F.)
• as bread recipes go, this is very inexpensive -- no fats, only a teaspoon of sweetening, and salt is cheap. This is basically a flour, yeast, and water bread.
• it's easy, there's no kneading
• hands-on time is about 15 minutes
• the bread has decent keeping qualities for homemade bread 
• it's fast. I can literally begin a batch at 4 PM and have fresh bread on the table at dinner time. Or, I can begin a batch after breakfast and have fresh bread for lunch. Or, I can begin a batch as I'm preparing dinner, and I'll have my bread baked and all wrapped up before I go to bed.
• it's tasty! My family members love it with butter. I like the bread just as it is. I also have a secret indulgence -- a thin slice of this bread, a thin square of dark chocolate, and a small cup of strong coffee. I place the square of chocolate onto the slice and eat it like an open-face sandwich. Lacking chocolate squares, a dozen semi-sweet chocolate chips also suffice. This may sound crazy, but it's like the French manner of placing a piece of chocolate in a baguette. I eat my bread and chocolate "sandwich" as a sweet breakfast, snack, or dessert after dinner.

If you've never baked bread before because you thought it would be too finicky, hard, time-consuming, challenging or you'd fail, think again. Pane veloce veloce is a bread for all skill levels. You've got this!