Bread!
So today marks the last day of any relaxing stretch of time that I'll get to have until after April 15th. I was able to enjoy a 3 day weekend on account of my boss telling us all not to come in on Friday in order to make up for missing the ski trip we were supposed to take last weekend (which we were unable to reach on account of all of Tacoma being an island from flooding all around us). So Kami and I made the most of it by playing City of Heroes, watching anime, and generally being lazy as only the truly skilled can be. Currently we're discussing what to do today, such as go to the $2 movie theater, the Grand, Half-Price Books, or something else entirely.
I can't say that this weekend has been entirely lazy though, as yesterday we did have a big shopping fest in order to fill our second freezer in preparation for the above mentioned tax season. Picked up a lot of frozen lasagna, vegetables, fish, extra loaves of bread, all the things that form those core meal items so that hopefully nothing will run low while I'm working. Nothing worse than going to make the next day's lunch on Sunday night and discovering that there's no bread in the house.
Speaking of bread, I finally found some place in Tacoma that actually sells Roman Meal Bread. Roman Meal is a local bread making company (and by local I mean that their main facility is only a few blocks away from our house) that offers a wide variety of whole grain products. Sadly, even though they are local, their products are not carried by most of the major stores around here. I finally located some of their bread at Top Foods, which works out since this is my favorite major grocery store around here anyway. I was really interested in trying their bread after I started reading about how Roman soldiers ate mostly vegetarian diets, consisting primarily on grains and Roman wine (apparently it was considered bad form for Roman soldiers to eat meat and drink beer, which put them quite at odds with the Germanic tribes who believed quite the opposite). Since this reflects the dietary habits that I've been maintaining for several years now, I thought it would be worth checking out the products of a company that follows the same ideals, and is local to boot.
So, I finally got my hands on some of their bread, and let me just say this first and foremost- if you can find a store near you that carries this bread, BUY IT. It is some of the sweetest, softest bread I have ever tasted. It is an entirely whole grain bread, and includes the wheat germ as well as the bran, and has flax mixed in to boot, but it has the taste and softness of white bread. I've gotten so used to eating rough whole grain breads that are always slightly too dry and feel like they're going to cut the roof of my mouth that I almost didn't believe what I was eating when I tried my first piece. It made for a great peanut butter sandwich, worked excellent for toast this morning, and I'll probably be using it for a cucumber sandwich later this afternoon. It is a little more pricey than a normal whole grain loaf, however. I paid $3.50 for a 24oz loaf at Top Foods, compared to the usual $2.50 that I pay for an Orowheat loaf at Costco (and for those of you that still buy the $1 cheap loaves and are currently balking at the above prices, I would suggest you change your habits immediately). Personally I prefer to pay a little bit more for quality food, so I don't really mind the higher price, but I would at least recommend that you try the stuff at least once, even if you don't make it a part of your regular purchases.
Alright, one more thing to say about bread, and then I'll shut up on this topic. Last weekend Kami and I got our hands on some of the Debbi Meyer brown bags (for storing bread). We've been using her patented green bags (for storing vegetables) for several months now, and I've been really happy with the way they can keep vegetables looking newly purchased for weeks. Well, I'm happy to report that her bread bags seem to work just as effectively, even for breads that we're just keeping out on the counter. If you want to keep your food looking nice for a much longer period of time, I suggest giving them a try.
Alright, I promise not to go plugging so many products in my next entry. I just get so excited when it comes to delicious things. In any case, that's all I really have to report. Starting tomorrow I'll be working 10-11 hours a day, six days a week, so don't be surprised if these entries get a little darker and bleaker for a while. I'll do my best to keep a bright outlook, especially since I'll have four weeks of available vacation days awaiting me at the end of it. Hurray for side benefits!
I can't say that this weekend has been entirely lazy though, as yesterday we did have a big shopping fest in order to fill our second freezer in preparation for the above mentioned tax season. Picked up a lot of frozen lasagna, vegetables, fish, extra loaves of bread, all the things that form those core meal items so that hopefully nothing will run low while I'm working. Nothing worse than going to make the next day's lunch on Sunday night and discovering that there's no bread in the house.
Speaking of bread, I finally found some place in Tacoma that actually sells Roman Meal Bread. Roman Meal is a local bread making company (and by local I mean that their main facility is only a few blocks away from our house) that offers a wide variety of whole grain products. Sadly, even though they are local, their products are not carried by most of the major stores around here. I finally located some of their bread at Top Foods, which works out since this is my favorite major grocery store around here anyway. I was really interested in trying their bread after I started reading about how Roman soldiers ate mostly vegetarian diets, consisting primarily on grains and Roman wine (apparently it was considered bad form for Roman soldiers to eat meat and drink beer, which put them quite at odds with the Germanic tribes who believed quite the opposite). Since this reflects the dietary habits that I've been maintaining for several years now, I thought it would be worth checking out the products of a company that follows the same ideals, and is local to boot.
So, I finally got my hands on some of their bread, and let me just say this first and foremost- if you can find a store near you that carries this bread, BUY IT. It is some of the sweetest, softest bread I have ever tasted. It is an entirely whole grain bread, and includes the wheat germ as well as the bran, and has flax mixed in to boot, but it has the taste and softness of white bread. I've gotten so used to eating rough whole grain breads that are always slightly too dry and feel like they're going to cut the roof of my mouth that I almost didn't believe what I was eating when I tried my first piece. It made for a great peanut butter sandwich, worked excellent for toast this morning, and I'll probably be using it for a cucumber sandwich later this afternoon. It is a little more pricey than a normal whole grain loaf, however. I paid $3.50 for a 24oz loaf at Top Foods, compared to the usual $2.50 that I pay for an Orowheat loaf at Costco (and for those of you that still buy the $1 cheap loaves and are currently balking at the above prices, I would suggest you change your habits immediately). Personally I prefer to pay a little bit more for quality food, so I don't really mind the higher price, but I would at least recommend that you try the stuff at least once, even if you don't make it a part of your regular purchases.
Alright, one more thing to say about bread, and then I'll shut up on this topic. Last weekend Kami and I got our hands on some of the Debbi Meyer brown bags (for storing bread). We've been using her patented green bags (for storing vegetables) for several months now, and I've been really happy with the way they can keep vegetables looking newly purchased for weeks. Well, I'm happy to report that her bread bags seem to work just as effectively, even for breads that we're just keeping out on the counter. If you want to keep your food looking nice for a much longer period of time, I suggest giving them a try.
Alright, I promise not to go plugging so many products in my next entry. I just get so excited when it comes to delicious things. In any case, that's all I really have to report. Starting tomorrow I'll be working 10-11 hours a day, six days a week, so don't be surprised if these entries get a little darker and bleaker for a while. I'll do my best to keep a bright outlook, especially since I'll have four weeks of available vacation days awaiting me at the end of it. Hurray for side benefits!