Not By Bread Alone...Need Breadmaker

My bread journey began when I started reading the ingredients in my food and found that my “healthy” bread had things in there I didn’t want. I don’t need soy processed five different ways. This began my search for natural bread with the fewest ingredients I could find. As with most food products, the less it’s processed the more it costs. Spending $5 on a loaf of bread was something I was not ok with. Now coffee on the other hand is another story… but let’s not go down that road.

The saga started when I decided to make my own bread, the old school way. After being covered in flour, stressed about it not rising properly, and not having time to wait around for it to rise, I sought a different method. I went online and researched “the one” bread maker that would solve all my problems. After its much anticipated arrival, I pulled it out of the box and gently washed it with warm soapy water, as suggested. Unfortunately, once I put the pan back in it wouldn’t come back out. At one point in my fit of rage, yes, this can happen to the best of us… I put both my feet on the darn thing and pulled the handle with all my might. After I composed myself, I called the 1-800 number where a woman over the phone calmly read a pamphlet that said I “just needed to pull it out gently.” Instead of using the harsh words that were going through my head, I thanked her and began another search. This time I picked a bread maker I thought was the prettiest. Luckily for me it’s a really great bread maker.

I wish I could take all the credit for my delicious bread, but honestly, a six year old could do this. In the morning, after my coffee so I don’t add coffee beans instead of flour, I toss the ingredients in the bread pan and hit a button. You can also throw them in the night before and put it on a timer. The aroma of the bread is absolutely intoxicating. Slicing that warm bread has never made it more exciting to eat a turkey sandwich. It’s not just the taste I love, it’s the health benefits and cost savings I get. Using the best organic ingredients, it costs me $2 a loaf, has fewer calories, and contains ingredients that your toddler can pronounce. Here’s a comparison.

Oroweat Whole Wheat Bread
Ingredients: Whole wheat flour, water, sugar, wheat gluten, honey, yeast, soybean oil, salt, butter (Milk), cream, calcium carbonate, monogycerides, sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium sulfate, calcium propionate (preservative), artificial flavor, nonfat milk, ascorbic acid (dough conditioner), soy lecithin, azodicarbonamide.
Calories: 100 a slice.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread (Bread Maker)
Ingredients: Water, salt, butter, honey, bread flour, whole wheat flour, yeast.
Calories: 73 a slice

The comparison speaks for itself. But wait, there’s more....as if this blog didn’t sound like an infomercial enough, it also makes pizza dough, rolls, and JAM! I was buying the really expensive jam, again, fewer bad stuff equals more expensive. Now I take the left over fruit I have on hand turn it into jam.

Sure, you just read a really long blog about bread… but hey, it will all be worth it when that steamy loaf of bread makes you look like Martha Stewart (before incarceration), saves you money, and is healthier for you and your family.