…is unsliced bread.
For the past six months or so, we’ve been buying unsliced bread from places like the Whole Foods Bakery (and occasionally, when we’re lucky, from Denver Bread Company… if only they weren’t all the way across town!). And rather than having them slice it for us, I request it unsliced. I have come to realize that unsliced bread has some great benefits.
Benefit #1: You get to determine the size of your slice. Sometimes you may want an ultra-thin slice of bread to accompany your vegetable omelet. Other times you may be in a hurry so you can slice off a thick piece and spread some nut butter on it and take it to go. Kids usually need thinner slices; athletes may want thicker. Texas toast or tea sandwiches? You can do both with a loaf of unsliced bread.
Benefit #2: It stays fresher. The first time the inside of the loaf is seeing air is when you slice it right before you eat it. This allows you to have the freshest bread possible. It is also good for small families, like mine. We are only two, and we travel often. Therefore, it takes a long time for us to finish a loaf of bread. So in order to keep it from going bad, I often slice the loaf in half and freeze one of the halves. Unsliced bread freezes better.
Benefit #3: You can eat the end pieces earlier. Ed and I both love the end pieces. Which is rare, I know. Usually there is that one weird guy who loves end pieces and everyone else gladly lets him eat them, but in our house we fight over them. When you have an unsliced loaf, you can take the entire loaf out of the bag and choose which end you want to slice from. You can have a double-end piece sandwich without making a mess!
Benefit #4: This one ties back into #1 – you save money when you buy unsliced bread. YOU, not the bread company, are in control of how many slices you get out of your one loaf. You can slice thin and stretch the loaf. Why only get 10 sandwiches out of the loaf when can really get 15?
Buying fresh bread and freezing it is not a bad option. My parents buy great bread from this guy in St. Paul, MN. They buy a dozen loaves and freeze them, which makes life a little easier. Ed and I went to the Denver Urban Homesteading indoor farmer’s market (it’s at 2nd and Santa Fe, for those of you who live in Denver) on Saturday morning and got a fresh loaf that tastes better than anything we’d buy at the grocery store. It was about $1 more expensive, but since it comes unsliced I know I can make it last longer than a regular loaf.
This is just a small tip that can make a big difference in both your health and your wallet!
No comments:
Post a Comment