10-31-12

12:55pm

This morning me and mom went to a couple thrift stores.

I was on the hunt for some sort of glass for

my solar heater.  

Goodwill Thrift Store-

I found two large poster sized frames.

One with glass 28.5 x 38.5" ($5.95), 

one with plexiglass 29.5 x 38" ($3.99).

Since I had mom with me I was able to get

a 20% off senior discount they have on Wednesdays

which ended up being $2.00 off.

So I paid around $8.00 for both of them.

VA Thrift Store-

I got a long picture frame with glass for about $3.00.

So for a total of $11 I was able to get enough

glass to make not one but two solar heaters!

Now compare that to the one storm door

glass panel that would have cost $25 at Habitat.  

I saved $14 and are now

able to make two solar heaters.

The one long glass will be used as a

window solar heater and be on the side

window of the house which gets morning sun.

Of course it's the smaller one of the two.

The other solar heater will be much larger and will

be on the backside of the house facing

the South for most of the day getting the most sun.

And while at the VA thrift store I was able

to find a small round electric fan for about $4

a more durable manual can opener for .90 cents

and a 5 gallon folding water container for $1.91.

It has an on/off spout and is able to be hung up

if needed.  I would like to use this for

emergency water and/or to use as a hot water

solar shower.   You can save on hot water expenses

by wrapping a black trash bag around this

and setting it out in the sun to heat up.

Then put in your shower to have free heated water.

or if you have an electric water heater and the power

goes out you can still have hot water or hot shower.

I have a typical can opener and an electric can opener.

Neither of these are able to be used to remove

the tops from the aluminum cans.

The can opener I got today is a little more durable

and has an angled blade on it to be able

to cut the tops off the cans.

I spent my afternoon removing all the tops

off the aluminum cans.

The bottoms I drilled out three holes.

 Here is just a brief set up of the window solar heater.

Nothing is put together.  I just wanted to see how

many cans were needed.

This one will use 30 aluminum cans

and can run off the solar fan.

And here I laid out all the cans to see how

many more I would need for the much larger

solar heater.

This one will have 140 cans.

Or about 2.4 feet wide by 6.3 feet tall.

Still have to find 27 more cans. 

See the cat just waiting to knock all the cans everywhere?

Yup they did just that after taking the photo, AHHHH!

 It's a start.  I have to build boxes, insulate them,

piece them together, glue the cans together,

add fans, the dryer duct and vent.

Oh, and I still have to drill out holes in 

many more cans.  It's a work in progress.

These are just temporary solar heaters I'm making.

Next year when I have a little more money

I'd like to make them bigger and better.

I can reuse all the cans from them and

build them from better and bigger glass.

Something is better than nothing at the moment.

Freebies I got in the mail today.

Zippered pouch with

-Loreal Evercream hair conditioner, shampoo & masque.

-Jergens daily moisturizer

-Pixi face primer

-Clear shampoo & conditioner

-Fekkai shampoo & conditioner

-Target coupon book

-Platinum yeast

-Venus Embrace razor



4:35pm


I guess we're taking the kids trick-or-treating tonight.
Hubby doesn't think it will be too bad weather wise.
I see spits of rain outside and people using wipers, hmmm.
Kids picked out a mask and I told them to wear a
winter coat.  And that's about it to our Halloween costumes.


Tony tells me tonight that he thinks he can get me a patio
door from work.  I knew they had replaced a few
but didn't know if they held onto some old ones.
The good, it's big, durable, heavy & I will have 
2 pieces of glass to make two solar heaters.
The bad, it's heavy! And I have to separate the 
double paned glass panels.
I have seen where people have used these 
sliding glass patio doors for solar heaters. 


Got another offer on our truck.
Actually they wanted to trade a
snap on toolbox full of tools for the truck.
Sigh.  Everyone wants to trade.
Offers so far- 
Bronco, Fiero, Olds Intrigue, motorcycle, 
Ranger, toolbox & tools, Firebird.
We need cash!
Those items don't pay bills :0( 


7:10pm


Had the kids get their masks on and we headed out the door
and was greeted with rain.  Back in the house we went
and the kids took their masks off and we decided 
not to go trick-or-treating tonight.
Ran a few errands and I was stuck with my mask on!
 Ha Ha Ha, I love it when I get to go inside
businesses and embarrass my family with my looks.

 
 

10-29-12

7:20am

It wasn't snowing when at the bus stop this morning

around 7:05am.  Wind was blowing and there was a little

slush mix on the windshield.  By the time I got back

home I could feel freezing rain 7:05 to 7:10am.

The rain turned to snow around 7:20am.

The truck now has a small layer of snow on it

since returning home 20 minutes ago.

I figured I'd show you by way of our security

cameras since it's still dark outside.

By 7:30am it appears there is a small layer

of snow on the streets, YUCK!

Who'd of thought that we'd have snow for

Halloween?  I already told the kids they weren't

trick or treating tomorrow in snow, winds or very cold weather! 

It's not worth our health just to get some candy.

9:05am


It has stopped snowing and has melted off the streets.
Hardly an accumulation.

Working on supper for tonight.
The best meals to make cheaply when you don't
have much money is soups and casseroles.
You can pretty much throw whatever you have
on hand into soups.  And that's just what I am doing today.
 I thawed out a package of 5 brats.
I'm gonna try to stretch those 5 brats into two meals
since meat is so expensive to serve as
the main course.

I cut up two brats and put them in the crock pot.
I also added in a can of flat beer,
a can of Progresso roasted garlic soup starters,
about 4 small potatoes cut into small cubes,
and a small jar of frozen turkey broth.
To thicken the soup later on I can add in some
instant mashed potato flakes.
Serve with 1/2 of a large loaf of garlic bread. 

Make up your own meals as you go along.
You don't need a recipe to follow!


8:35pm


Well I think I'll have enough money rounded
up to be able to renew two car tags which are $110. 
Haven't quite figured out the driver's license renewal cost yet
which is $25.75. 
 
Anyways,
$50 from scrap metal
$40 from mom for my birthday
$20 from neighbor lady for taking grandchild to bus stop
(she just called to say she was giving me $20 gas money tomorrow)
What's that all add up to $110!!
God works in mysterious ways let me tell ya.
I mean really, to have come up with the
exact amount I needed just seems a little odd
don't ya think. 
Two car tag renewals at $54.87 each 
is a total of $109.74.


 

10-29-12

7:15am

My furry alarm clock went off at 5:40am this morning,

about right on time.  We even had our bedroom door

closed to keep the cats from coming in 

and jumping on our bed.  Boo stood outside our door

meowing and clawing the door.  

We now have a high wind warning in affect

from noon today to 6:00pm Tuesday.

Wind gusts could be 55-60+ miles per hour.

I got my camera battery on charge

to document anything that may happen. I

may be without a computer but not my camera.

I had to bring in my table full of cans for the 

solar heater I'm making.  I

 was afraid they'd all blow away sitting out

under the carport. 
Praying we don't lose power! 


9:00am


Weathermen are having a hard time prediciting
snow or rain fall amounts from this storm.
Right now we're looking at up to
two inches of heavy wet snow BUT it could change
any moment.  Not all trees have lost their leaves
and wet snow on them could cause them
to topple over from too much weight.


9:35am


Got a first aid and toiletry kit packed into
a soft sided cooler bag.
Body wash, toothpaste, toothbrushes,
peroxide, rubbing alcohol, deodorant, razor,
hand soap and hand sanitizer, denture adhesive, acetaminophin,
aloe gel, pepto bismol, bandages, cold and flu meds, scissors,
zip baggies, wash cloth and plastic grocery bags.

Everything's right where I can find it
and should we need to get up and leave
I can grab it.  I also have a rolling suitcase
I can use to put clothing in and another
soft sided tote sitting out to put 
prescription medicines in.
I also have a couple of bath towels.
We have a large cooler to put some
food and ice in.  A large 24 count package of water
is in the truck already and have enough space
in there to throw pillows and blankets if need be.
This is if we would lose power and would
need to go to Tony's work to stay
in an empty apartment.
Plus I have a tote of food with manual can opener that
doesn't require refrigeration or cooking to eat.

In my freezer I put 20 ice packs to freeze.
These white ice packs were bought at
Marcs 5 for $1.00 back when we went on our Michigan trip.
I also have two bags of ice in the larger freezer.

You can never be too prepared!
With as many power outages that we have gone 
through that can last for days or weeks
it's always good to have these items ready
at a moment's notice.  There have been times
we have had to leave home and go elsewhere.
A clock radio is another thing that is on
my list to take if we have to leave.

So go ahead and call me Gloomy Gus preparing
for the what ifs.
I am prepared along with candles and a lighter
along with having all our Winters jackets,
gloves and head gear out of the basement storage.

If nothing comes from this, oh well,
I can put everything back away.
But if the shit hits the fan I won't be one
of the people running around in 10 different
directions wondering what to do like trying to
line up at a gas stations looking for gas, looking for food
or ice in stores that are closed or sold out of supplies.


3:10pm

I now have my left arm in a borrowed sling
to take any strain or pressure off my left shoulder.
Don't know if  I could get used to this or not.
Doing whatever  I can to let my shoulder heal.
It's not Crohn's pain.  It feels like I seriously hurt the muscle around the shoulder which is in severe pain at times.
I can't get a glass out of the cupboard,
brush my hair, take my shirt off,
can hardly put on a coat or just lift my arm above my shoulder.
Mom says I should go see the doctor.
The word doctor, makes me cringe.
All I see are dollar signs.  I don't have any!
I said mom, how do you expect me to go to
a doctor when I'm still trying to figure out
how to renew 2 car tags
and figure out which bills to cut short another
month because I depended upon a large amount
of bonus money from Tony's work which
we only got about 1/4 of what we should have gotten.
I've been waiting and hoping for that money
for three months only to be let down
by his employer.  Normally their big bonuses
come right on time and at the amount stated.
This one was very different, much , much lower and has
made an impact with our budget at the moment
til tax time.  We are trying our best to get by.
We even put our truck up for sale but this
time of year it seems like everyone is struggling.
Everyone wants to trade something for it.
Lots of responses to the ad but no one
has showed up to look at it to take further interest.
We're even taking a loss
on the truck to try and sell it for cheaper
than what we got it for just to have some
money in our pockets.
I guess the best I can do is try at the moment.


4:40pm


When it rains it pours and I'm not talking about
hurricane weather either.
Mom just reminded me that my license
expires this year on my birthday ($$$)
and Tony just called to say his car won't start
at work because of the battery ($$$).
He hasn't charged it in a couple days.
But lucky for him he's got a battery charger
at work.  So he will be a little late.
 I saw that Columbus City Schools called
the house phone.  Of course my cordless phone
is a piece of crap and died when trying
to answer it ($$$).  I'm thinking it was probably
a recording talking about the schools and weather. 
And here I sit with my arm in a sling ($$$).


5:40pm


I am noticing that the cell phone service is taking
a toll in these winds.  So far I've gotten dropped
calls saying "signal faded" or "out of range".
That is not normal for our phones.
When we do get a moment of talk time
it's distorted, cutting in and out.








 

10-28-12

6:15am

Ok, where is the snooze alarm on cats?

I kept petting his head this morning looking for a button

and it wouldn't let me sleep in a little longer.

What I want to know is how in the world do

cats know what time it is?!!

It was 5:56am this morning when

Boo Boo comes and jumps on the bed

and starts meowing right in my face.

Usually I get up at 6:00am during the

week days and he's waking me up

a couple minutes before then every day

wanting his food.


8:00am


Got a loaf of bread dough going in the bread machine.
The only difference that I made different than
what I told you about yesterday was that I put
some onion powder in it

Before everyone gets up I got some pancake muffins
going in the oven.  I made the pancake mix
according to the box directions.
Line cupcake pan with paper cups and spray with cooking spray,
add 2 tablespoons pancake batter to cups,
then add peanut butter crumble mix,
(mix together 1/4 cup- flour, peanut butter, brown sugar
and 1 teaspoon cinnamon) 
and then add another tablespoon of pancake batter.
I had a little peanut butter crumble left over
so sprinkled it on the tops.
Bake 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Serve with maple syrup.

I'm reading on Facebook about
Hurricane Sandy and how it will impact us.
Now I see there was a 7.7 earthquake off
the coast of British Columbia, Canada and
now tsunami waves are hitting Hawaii.
We're falling apart!


8:50am


Put bread into oven to bake.
I split the top and slathered soft
butter on the top.
On the bottom rack of the oven I
added a dish with water in it.
This allows the bread dough to stay softer
while it rises.  If it crisps too fast on the outside
it won't rise as much.

I've got 20 pounds of potatoes so figured I'd
fry up some for breakfast, maybe make some
fried eggs along side them with the pancake muffins.
Everyone is still in bed.

 
9:05am


 I see the winds are starting to pick up outside
like they said they would.  Nothing major though.
I do not look forward to what
Sandy has to offer us with possible power outages.
We don't have a generator and have talked
about getting one sometime when the money ain't funny.
They cost an arm and a leg for a big one.
Right now they say that winds at 65 knots
will create waves 14-19 feet tomorrow 
night on Lake Erie.
Batten down the hatches.

9:20am


Fresh homemade bread straight out of the oven!  Yum!

Ya think there will ever be a morning I will awake
to someone making homemade bread and breakfast?
Probably not.


10:15am


Now they are saying we could possibly get some
rain & snow mix tonight.
Wind gusts tomorrow could be 50 miles per hour. 
Gotta keep tabs on this stuff as it is constantly changing.
At first I thought they were calling for this
for Tuesday evening into Wednesday.


11:45am


I think I'm gonna go lay down and take a nap.
I only had 4-5 hours sleep.  Then once I get
up I will start laundry and find all the Winter jackets,
boots, thermals, sweaters, sweat jackets, etc. 


4:00pm  


Went and got $30 worth of gas in the suburban.
Usually I get $20 in it for the week but hubby
put an extra $10 in case of the storm.
I was thinking I would get it for the $3.09 price
I saw yesterday at Turkey Hill, Wrong!
It went from $3.09 to $3.45 since yesterday evening.
I also picked up a bag of cigarette tobacco
and stocked up on some pop to last through
this storm.  I'm good for everything else with this storm.
If we lose heat then we'll have to figure out a plan
of action when it happens

I do not think the furnace has come on since getting
up at 6:00am this morning when baking bread.  Not long ago
I boiled up a pot of spaghetti so that added humidity
to the air along with baking some garlic bread in the oven. 
I have the thermostat set for 72 degrees and it's
been 74 in here most of the day so far.

For supper I made up a half package of spaghetti pasta.
I had found a bowl full of homemade spaghetti
sauce in the freezer and another bowl of alfredo spaghetti to go with it.  And I made a half of
a loaf of garlic bread which was buy 1 get 1 free
at the store and will last for 4 meals since the
loaves were so long.

Well I gotta go down in the basement and 
change the laundry over.  I should only
have maybe two loads to do.  
I didn't get a nap earlier like I wanted
so are running on empty at the moment
with only 4-5 hours of sleep.


4:50pm


Got laundry switched over and some more
laundry brought up.  This isn't doing my left
shoulder any good!  I think I'll go lay down after this
but first wanted to show you some pictures of my kittes
today which have pretty much done nothing
but sleep their day away.

Synchronized Sleeping Kitties

Earlier Boo woke up and I was playing
with him with this stuffed lion toy
that vibrates when you press it's paw.
He must of liked the toy because
I just looked over to see him cuddling
and sleeping with it, awwww.

8:10pm


I finally got to take a little nap.
While napping hubby changed the oil in my truck.
It needed it as I could hear the engine clanging a little
upon starting up in the morning because the oil
had no consistency to it anymore.
We splurged to get some oil and filter at Meijer.
When I say splurge I really do mean it.
It's a matter of what do we really really need
and what can we do without.
 We got a 5 quart container of oil for $12.99 Mobil
and a filter for $5.49.  Now they did have Meijer
brand for $12.49 and you could get a
Purolator oil filter for .49 cents more.
We didn't go that route because we didn't know
how good Meijer oil was.
Sometimes the cheaper items aren't the best route to go.
By the time I used my Meijer 10% discount
I ended up paying around $15 to $16 for the oil and filter. 

Got the last load of laundry in the dryer.
Hubby's been asking why there hasn't been 
hardly any clothes in our closet.  I told him
I've been keeping them in the laundry room
hanging off the bar I put up over the washer and dryer
due to my shoulder hurting so bad.
Well today I tried to start bringing up some of those
clothes and my shoulder feels like it is on fire.

I recommend for those who have arthritis,
or other injuries where you can't lift things,
to hang a bar in your laundry room or even
a bookshelf to keep your freshly laundered clothes.
I would rather walk down the basement steps
each evening or morning to get our daily clothes
right now than to have to carry them all upstairs
after washing and drying!!! 
I sure am paying the price for it.
I was actually starting to see improvement
and are now back to square one. 


8:45pm


Right now it is 40 degrees out with a wind chill of 31.
Our furnace has NOT kicked on all day!  Woo Hoo!
More money saved.
To try to keep it warm in here a little more
I have now got a pot of water boiling with
a little salt on the stove top.
By increasing humidity to your air you
increase the temperature.
So I'm trying to hold onto some of this warm
air a little longer between today and tomorrow
and will boil pots of water here and there.
You could also use a tea kettle which I do not have.
I used to run vaporizers to keep the air moist
but currently do not have any. 
You could also throw some vanilla and/or cinnamon
into your boiling pot of water to make your 
house smell good :0)
I added cinnamon, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice
and nutmeg to my pot.


9:45pm


I boiled my water in the pan for about an hour.
I took note of the temperature in the house
before boiling and it had dropped to 72,
the temperature I have it set at.
Boiling water for an hour brought the temperature
up another degree to 73 and kept the furnace from kicking on.
Plus it helps from getting a scratchy dry throat
by adding a little moisture to your rooms.
16 hours + today without the furnace running!
If you notice in the Summer if you have dry heat
it doesn't feel as hot as those days with high
humidity which intensifies how hot it feels outside.
That's where the heat index goes into affect.

My left shoulder hurts so bad.
I have two medicated patches on it.
You know how you can take your right hand and place
it on your left shoulder with your palm resting on the top
of the shoulder and fingers resting on the back, well I can NOT
do that with my left hand to right shoulder.

 

10-27-12

11:05am

Got up and went to the scrap recycling place earlier

this morning.  We didn't think we'd get much

and had guessed $20-$30 for what you see in

the two buckets below.

We were all happy when we made $50.40 off that little bit

of metal!  When you are broke $50 looks like a thousand dollars.

That could mean a trip to the grocery store,

gas in two vehicles for a week, payment towards

a utility bill or half way to being able to

renew two vehicle tags.

They now have a new policy at the recycling place

as of September 28.  Along with getting a thumbprint,

showing a photo id, and getting your plate

and vehicle recorded, they now take a picture of you!



Right now I am at a standstill with making
the solar heater.  When making it I want it done right.
I want to make a larger one because it produces 
more heat.  So will be patient and wait for
the supplies that can be found cheaper.
This isn't a one time thing and can be used
for many years.  


1:05pm


What, we're all good now after 
24 hours of pure hell?!
It got to the point that the bigger kitty
spent the night in the basement.
I called it his solitairy confinement.
There was no way I was gonna listen
to him last night while sleeping!
He has been better today.
I didn't say 100% better though.
I think they are all catching up
on some missed cat naps.
Much more quiet than yesterday.

2:30pm


Since I have no more supplies to make
my solar heater I decided to go ahead
and drill three holes into the bottom of each
can.  I got almost 60 cans done so far before
having to head into the house to warm my
hands and nose back up.
The reason they say to put the three holes
into the bottom of the cans is to create turbulent
air through each can when stacked together, kinda like a vortex.
This will swirl from the forced air from your
fans causing air to flow all around the inside
of each can to pick up as much heat as possible.

6:45pm


I told the kids today Halloween,
trick-or-treating could be canceled this year
if we get high winds, cold temps, rain & snow.
Me nor hubby has ever remembered having to
worry about weather conditions like these,
especially snow for Halloween. 


8:08pm


We have been getting some interest on our truck
for sale.  But like I say about craigslist you gotta
weed out about 95% of the goofballs on there
to find the right and more serious buyers and ones who won't
jerk you around like people who want to offer
$500 less that haven't even seen the truck.
People who want to trade a Fiero or
even an 86 Bronco for it.  I don't think so!
A Fiero is similar to the MR2 I had.
Every time it needed worked on you had
to take it to a shop where they could drop the
rear motor to work on it.  That doesn't sound
like something a backyard mechanic could work on.
As for a an 86 Bronco, I'm not trading
down 10 years, they've lost their mind!
That would be like me seeing is someone 
would trade their 2006 truck for my 1996 one.
With this recent posting on Craigslist it
seems like we are getting a lot of folks
from out of town which would make sense.
If you live in a small town or out in the country
those smaller car lots out there are going to be high priced,
especially ones that have trucks.
Trucks are valuable to those who live
in the country people who need them as work horses.
If we should sell the truck in the near future then
I would consider going back to Habitat Re-Store
to get that $25 storm door glass insert. 
It's still priced too high if ya ask me
but it is much cheaper than buying 
glass or plexiglass from a home improvement store.


I did finally get my dryer vents out of the back end
of the truck from yesterday.
I was doing a little experiment to see how they
would work in the sideways window.
Now this window still has it's screen in it
so how I have them in the window is backwards.
The pipe part will face outside and will have a dryer hose
attached to it running to the solar heater box.  I'll attach a board
in the middle of these with some weather stripping
to keep the cold air out while the solar heater
is in use.  The second picture shows 
the front of the vents that I can open and close.
That part will be facing in the room.

These two buggars cost me a $10 splurge but
I think they will work nicely with this project.
I still saved $2 to $4 by buying them used at Habitat.

8:30pm

Sitting here wondering what my son is in the kitchen
 doing.  He is a creative one just like me :0)

But I figured I would get up and partake in

whatever it is he was doing.  He is wanting to make

wax pucks for his skateboard and was chiseling

candles with a knife.   Me, I was picturing a child

missing a few finger tips, ahhh.

He even cut a pop can in half to put his wax bits

in to melt them down.  How he planned to melt them I do not know.

I took over and took a votive candle and shredded

it up on my slicer and took a knife to another

candle in a jar to fig out some wax.

I put them in a cupcake pan. 

He added some broken orange crayons

to the candle wax to give it some color.

I then added a little olive oil, maybe a 1/2 teaspoon

to the wax.  Now I've got them in the oven

around 200 to 250 degrees melting.

Once melted and cooled somewhat I'll

put them in the freezer.  Tomorrow we'll

take them out and wack the pan on the ground

to remove them. 

My son seemed so amazed of how I knew

how to make melted wax pucks like I've made

them before.  I remembered seeing online

where people were taking 

broken crayons and melted them down into muffin pans

to make new crayons. 

The house now smells good

melting down some of my good scented candles :0)

This is below smells like spearmint.

11:45pm


I know I should be in bed by now.
I took a nap earlier.

I wanted to show you a couple of things
before heading to bed though.
Here are the wax pucks I made for
my son's skateboard.
I ended up setting them outside to cool
and harden instead of the freezer.
They popped out without a problem.
Nothing like a good smelling,
skateboard wax puck, lol.

And here's another thing I came up with
when looking at my blanket/pillow inventory
for the upcoming storm.  Remember those
pillows I made from the cheap bean bag chairs
I got at a church sale?  Well they weren't
being used.  I decided to use them in front of
the doors to cut down on any drafts.  They
could also be used in window sills and made
from long tubes of filled fabric.
I don't think we have any bottom door drafts
due to rubber stripping around the doors though.
Doesn't hurt to put them there just in case.
I should light a candle to see if there
are any drafts though even though I don't
feel any with my hand.
And yes those are a couple of baseball bats 
I keep behind my door.  If a stranger comes to
my door and tries to start something I'm grabbing
a bat to beat the crap outta them.
I hear about too many home invasions.
We also have a taser that just the sound and
sight of it will make people jump back and think twice.

Some of the rubber weather stripping started
coming off the side of the door.  
We used flat headed thumbtacks and a hammer
to put it back into place.  Worked like a charm
and beat having to buy new.
Now I do have to put some weather stripping
around the top of our back door.  
There is a lot of air that comes in at the top
so be sure to not only check the sides
and bottom but to check the top as well.


Tomorrow along with some laundry I might start
making some bread.  I'm down to about 1 loaf
and with a major storm possibly coming and
causing power outages I would like to have
a couple extra loaves of bread on hand to have
to make sandwiches out of.
I'll use this recipe-
Best Bread Machine Bread
with a few changes I made to the recipe after
reading some of the comments.
I'll have the bread machine do all the mixing
and kneading for me then will put the dough
into loaf pans when done.  I don't like
the shape of the loaf from a machine nor
do I like the paddle impression in the
bottom of the loaf when done.
Split dough loaf down the middle lengthwise
and put dabs of butter where you split it.
Then brush the entire top of the loaf with melted butter
before baking.
If baking in the oven bake
375 degrees for about 30 minutes.
As for the recipe these are the
recommended changes,
you can use regular flour,
use 2 teaspoons of fast rising yeast from a jar
if you don't have packets,
you can increase sugar to 3 tablespoons,
and increase salt to 1 1/2 teaspoons
to keep the bread from falling in the middle.

A jar of yeast was one item I did splurge to buy this week
at the grocery store for $3 to $4 for the Kroger brand.
I knew if I had yeast I could make breads, rolls,
pizza crusts, buns, you name it.
This one jar of yeast will last me a long time
and will make many baked goods.
I also found a 5 lb bag of wheat flour marked
down to $1.19.
I have lots of flour stored in my pantry along
with sugar and vegetable oil, most of it was free, to make
doughs from.  So the $3 to $4 for yeast is nothing
when I have all the other freebies thank goodness.

FYI
a 5 pound bag of flour has 17 to 20 cups in it.
It depends upon if you scoop it out with a measuring cup (heaviest),
spoon it into a measuring cup or sift the flour (lightest)
first before using.
It all has to do with how much air is in it.
a 5 pound bag of sugar has 10 cups.

So you can make about 6 loaves of bread
from one 5 pound bag of flour.