Bread/No Bread?

[Munchkin]

Just an observation. Looking to add more data. I think we, collectively, used to eat a lot more bread than we do now.

Thinking about meals at home. Cooked at home. When I think about my grandparents, every single meal had bread. No exceptions. Ever. And a lot of the time it was just plain sliced white bread from the grocery store. And this was all 4 grandparents. Next, my parents. We had bread maybe once a week. Usually hamburger/hotdog buns. Or biscuits/cornbread mom made. Never the plain sliced bread on the table. I think my mom was very aware of weight/and diet. If dinner was 2 hotdogs, only one was given to us with a bun. She probably did this because we didn't need it! Occasionally there were sandwiches for lunch and we always had bread in the house but we didn't eat it much. No toast for breakfast either.

Jeff's parents and grands all had bread at every meal. They lived in NYC and could walk to real bakeries so they had a lot of different breads/bagels/etc.

What about you? And your parents/grandparents?

 

[southernlady]

Me, seldom (after my diabetes diagnosis in 1997)
My parents, my mother yes but not all the time. My daddy tried to cut back.
My grandparent, yes, every dinner.

 

[DianaCox]

I don’t remember bread being part of our meals as a bread appetizer, like at a restaurant. Sandwiches, buns specific to the meal, and garlic bread with spaghetti or lasagna. But my mother ate buttered toast as a snack.

Challah was part of the sabbath meals at my paternal grandparents, but mostly a ceremonial amount.

I put butter and salt on my bread when I eat it separately as a snack or appetizer, which (except as follows) isn’t that often. So when I eat bread, it’s more filling, plus I drink with bread.

I have a problem with barfing during the night when my stomach is empty, and I’ve figured out that eating a toasted English muffin with butter and salt before bed sticks with me and minimizes the nausea. Probably not helping with my weight though. But I only eat one at night.

 

[JackieOnLine]

my family had toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, but potatoes for supper, not usually bread.

 

[MsVee]

If I could I would live on bread. I love biscuits, bagels, rye toast, Belgian waffles, cornbread, sourdough bread, pancakes, garlic bread, yeast rolls, French bread with copious amounts of butter. Omg I could go on and on.

I have severely limited bread in my diet for two main reasons after the DS bread fills me up and I cannot meet my protein needs, secondly because the more bread I eat the more bread I crave. I limit bread to no more than 2 servings a day maximum. I generally have one serving.

When I gave up bread totally in the past I was able to maintain a weight roughly 8 lbs lighter than my norm. Unfortunately, I was miserable and had great difficulty remaining bread free. I force myself to eat my protein first green vegetable next and if there is room my one serving of bread. Restricting bread has made me a bread snob. I don’t want to waste my one serving on bad bread. I would choose bread over any dessert. I guess my secret is out I am a bread addict.

 

[JackieOnLine]

the more bread I eat the more bread I crave

I have found this to be true for simple carbs generally.

I love desserts as well, but I hear you on the bread love. sourdough toast with butter is one of my favorite foods.

 

[southernlady]

I would choose bread over any dessert. I guess my secret is out I am a bread addict.

I am too. And my trip to Europe was a wonderland in bread for me.

 

[hilary1617]

I favor bread over dessert too! A true NYC bagel with cream cheese would be my last meal request.

 

[Georgepds]

It was a Sunday specialty in the family... hard rolls from the Polish bakery.. purchased after church... one of the best reasons for regular prayer... well that and a flaky sugar coated pastry confection called elephant ears. Closest adult bread to those hard rolls is a French baguette, the kind you get in France, not here, though different in shape they have the same nice crunch on the outside, and a soft white center.

My grandparents breakfast was buttered hard rolls and a bowl (yes a bowl) of coffee every morning. The buttered roll was dipped in the coffee.

My grandfather was a slim man so long as he worked, though he, ahem, blossomed in retirement

 

[Georgepds]

I favor bread over dessert too! A true NYC bagel with cream cheese would be my last meal request.

Ummm.. no lox , tomato, or onion?

 

[Munchkin]

I am too. And my trip to Europe was a wonderland in bread for me.

OMG. My first trip to Europe taught me about good bread, good butter, and amazing cheese. I realized then that the bread I ate in the US was just a carrier for whatever I put on it. It was easier to pass up the bread when I came home!

It was a Sunday specialty in the family... hard rolls from the Polish bakery.. purchased after church... one of the best reasons for regular prayer... well that and a flaky sugar coated pastry confection called elephant ears. Closest adult bread to those hard rolls is a French baguette, the kind you get in France, not here, though different in shape they have the same nice crunch on the outside, and a soft white center.

My grandparents breakfast was buttered hard rolls and a bowl (yes a bowl) of coffee every morning. The buttered roll was dipped in the coffee.

My grandfather was a slim man so long as he worked, though he, ahem, blossomed in retirement

I had elephant ears at the Eastern Idaho State Fair!!! Everyone told me I had to get one!

 

[Munchkin]

I don’t remember bread being part of our meals as a bread appetizer, like at a restaurant. Sandwiches, buns specific to the meal, and garlic bread with spaghetti or lasagna. But my mother ate buttered toast as a snack.

Challah was part of the sabbath meals at my paternal grandparents, but mostly a ceremonial amount.

I put butter and salt on my bread when I eat it separately as a snack or appetizer, which (except as follows) isn’t that often. So when I eat bread, it’s more filling, plus I drink with bread.

I have a problem with barfing during the night when my stomach is empty, and I’ve figured out that eating a toasted English muffin with butter and salt before bed sticks with me and minimizes the nausea. Probably not helping with my weight though. But I only eat one at night.

Love Challah. I am guessing a ceremonial amount is a lot less than just eating the whole loaf.

 

[DianaCox]

Challah is actually relatively easy to make, and braiding it is fun. And the leftovers make killer French toast.

My Favorite Challah Recipe

The word challah originally meant only the small portion of dough that was put in the oven when baking bread as a reminder of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem It has evolved into the twisted, sweet, almost brioche-like bread that was brought to America by immigrants from Central and...

cooking.nytimes.com

But her braiding instructions aren’t great - follow these instead:

Challah Part 2: How to Braid Challah

Learn to braid challah dough, step-by-step pictures. Tutorial. 3 strand, 4 strand, 6 strand, turban round challah, linked loops, challah rolls.

toriavey.com

 

[Munchkin]

Challah is actually relatively easy to make, and braiding it is fun. And the leftovers make killer French toast.

My Favorite Challah Recipe

The word challah originally meant only the small portion of dough that was put in the oven when baking bread as a reminder of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem It has evolved into the twisted, sweet, almost brioche-like bread that was brought to America by immigrants from Central and...

cooking.nytimes.com

But her braiding instructions aren’t great - follow these instead:

Challah Part 2: How to Braid Challah

Learn to braid challah dough, step-by-step pictures. Tutorial. 3 strand, 4 strand, 6 strand, turban round challah, linked loops, challah rolls.

toriavey.com

Jeff says the same thing. Use the leftovers to make French toast. Leftovers? Does this really happen? I have a recipe saved and I even bought the yeast. One of these days I am going to make it! I am going to try bagels too.

 

[hilary1617]

Ummm.. no lox , tomato, or onion?

Tomato and onion, yes. Lox, no. I don't consume any fish or seafood - shame, really because I spent my childhood summers on Cape Cod.

Diana's suggestion of Challah French Toast sounds divine to me.