Bread Vs bread

Bread, somewhat of a common subject wouldn’t you say? Well it used to be. One could mention the word bread, and a loaf of some sort would appear in our imagination.But to make it more real, you need to smell the bread, you know, as in fresh from the oven. I’ve decided to help you with that.
BREAD

If you will lean closer to your monitor screen, and scratch lightly, the aroma of freshly baked bread will waft over the Internet and through the magic of cyberspace, surround you and your computer. Just scratch and sniff!

There, now that you are totally thinking about bread, let’s talk about bread. Just a loaf of bread. No, today we should say it, “JUST” a loaf of bread. The headlines are screaming about the U.S. economy. You and I are screaming about “Us” and our economy. One of the things that has absolutely skyrocketed in price is plain old bread. Well not necessarily plain, nor old, but BREAD! And not bread, as in bread – or money – but bread bread. Boy, this is getting more and more difficult to describe just bread; such a simple subject, right?

Bread - It’s now close to $4.00 to $5.00 per loaf for halfway healthy bread, and $2.00 to $3.00 for regular bread. It’s rapidly getting into the dry cereal category – totally unreasonable, totally unaffordable.

Some of us have a generation or two of children who refuse to eat the crusts of bread.If things keep going the way they are headed, we may be grateful for crusts of bread.

Therefore in the realm of both Preparedness and Beating the High Cost of Eating, I thought I would share with you a few options and alternatives to help you keep bread in your diet or cupboard. And yes, I am going to refer quite often to the old stand-by of making your own. But I also recognizing that time is a critical factor and many, many of us work. In recent years we have been brainwashed to think that homemade is completely out of the realm of alternatives or options that might be doable. I will strongly suggest you begin now to start rethinking and adjusting the ideas of what you can and can’t do to get by, or to be able to afford to get by. More and more “self-involved-options” may be the only options you have.

Consider the cost of bread. Consider the availability of bread. What can you do or try to do or plan to do that might make a difference? About now you could be thinking, how much change or option difference can there be in just a loaf of bread? Remember it’s JUST a loaf of bread at $4.00 a loaf. Well, at two loaves of bread per day, that’s only a minimum of $2912 annually, rising daily! (pun intended)

See if one or two, (or more) of the following ideas might work to stretch a few pennies in your budget. If there is not a specific need at this time put the ideas in a place where you can recall them at a moments notice, or perhaps share them with someone else.

Bread is bread is bread is bread. How you eat it and with what is usually what makes the difference. You need to think of bread as a kind of food category, rather than a specifically shaped product. It may end up as the main ingredient for many meals, rather than the accompaniment. The tougher the economic times become, the more people rely on bread as a staple, and in fact it could become THE staple. You must eliminate the fad diet descriptions of breads and remember they are very good and very good for you. They are nutritious and filling. They can be created in a myriad of styles, textures and tastes.

Yeast bread: Regular homemade bread is almost always less expensive than store bought. The more artisan or healthy the breads the more expensive they seem to be. However, there are easier breads to bake and seemingly quicker than some of the older stereotyped – all day bread making sessions that many of you dread just the thoughts of.

Bread mixes: Bread mixes designed for bread machines, at this point, are still less expensive than “from the shelf” bread, and much less expensive than bakery bread. You do not have to have a bread maker to use the bread mixes. They can be mixed with a hand mixer or mixer and baked in the oven.

Quick breads: They are called quick breads, quick as opposed to yeast breads that may take several hours to rise. However, as soon as the batter for a quick bread is mixed it can go into the oven to bake. Quick breads usually use baking soda and/or baking powder, rather than yeast as a leaven. Quick breads can vary from sweet to plain, to small to regular, to whatever will fit the bill.

Take a look at the list of just a few and see how one or more of these quick bread ideas can be worked into your meal planning … and/or budget stretching strategies.

Baking Mixes – Commercial or Homemade, this versatile all-purpose mix comes in handy to make everything from breads, to pancakes, to biscuits to dumplings to “that whatever.” This is easily stored in gallon jars with tight fitting lids. Whether buying or making it, it makes sense to have it in bigger batches, rather than small, in order to have it on hand and use it. Or you can consider specific mixes, such as those that come one type per box.

Biscuits - drop or rolled

Muffins - Note: Muffin batter can easily be made into bread by baking it in a loaf rather than individual muffins.

Pan bread, corn bread, and spoon bread

Fried, fry bread, tortillas

Fritters

Pancakes, crepes, waffles

Dumplings

And more …

Now scratch and sniff the monitor once more. The aroma of all kinds of breads will act as surround-sound, with positive ideas of breads and budget stretching that you might not have considered before. For example; biscuits and a bowl of peaches makes a perfectly good breakfast or lunch. Fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, with a vegetable makes a wonderful dinner. Remember toast! Good bread toasted and a banana is a good breakfast. Corn bread with bean soup is a natural.

See it works!

Start jotting down ideas. You can make a difference with JUST bread.

Return to the Neighborhood