I Love Bread
You wouldn’t believe how many commercial breads out there have the suspicious ingredient that I so do not want to eat, high fructose corn syrup. When I first became vegan, I couldn’t find any that didn’t have this ingredient. Luckily, I found Breadsmith brand breads. They are located in the Grosse Pointes and deliver delicious artisan breads to local stores, including Hollywood Market in downtown Royal Oak where I shop. My favorite is the French Peasant bread; it has that rich texture but also has grains in it so it’s not all white flour. I also like their Rye and Italian. I usually buy 2 loaves at once and freeze most of it.
Another bread I buy (mostly for sandwiches) is any of the Trader Joe’s brand sprouted breads. These are great fresh or toasted; I especially like to make sandwiches with bean spreads or hummus, lettuce, & either raw onions (LOVE raw onions), cucumber, or avocado slices depending on the season and what’s in the house.
This morning, I woke up and realized that I forgot to make my muesli last night so I had some cinnamon raisin toast instead. I found a great brand in the frozen food section of Hollywood Market (Nutri Foods also sells it) called Food For Life. It’s a sprouted 100% whole grain bread but what’s humorous about the brand is that the package has the Bible verse from Ezekiel 4:19 on the front. I love cinnamon raisin bread and used to buy Pepperidge Farm but after discovering it’s made with white flour and has high fructose corn syrup in it, I needed an alternative. This brand has filled that craving AND it satisfies me. With the Pepperidge Farm brand, I’d be hungry within an hour. I ate breakfast about 3 1/2 hours ago and I’m still not hungry.
I also love pita bread but only the Middle Eastern brand from a Windsor supplier. When I ate at Steve’s Back Room in St. Clair Shores on New Year’s Eve, I discovered that this is the brand they use, too. I like the regular flavor but they also have it in wheat. I love stuffing these with lettuce, avocado, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, and the Boca Chik patties with Vegenaise, especially in the summertime. I’ll also lightly warm them in my toaster oven and eat with the buttery spread or peanut butter, like toast.
Finally, while I love tortillas I usually only buy them when I make wrap sandwiches or burritos. As I said before, I only like the unbleached white flour version of these and I buy them from Trader Joe’s as they have a hand-made style I like (it’s the closest to my grandmother’s recipe). Of course, for the very best tortillas, I have to go to Mexican town in Detroit, but I don’t get down there as often as I’d like. I also like the Mission brand that Hollywood Market sells.
As for crackers, I buy the wheat or multigrain ones from Trader Joe’s. I usually only eat crackers as an appetizer, though, or a snack at work with some spread.
Yesterday afternoon, I made the Curried Cashew Couscous from the Vegan Express cookbook. You take 2 cups of water, a bouillon cube, & 1 cup of couscous in a wide skillet or fry pan and bring to a boil, then cover & let stand off the heat for 5-10 minutes or until the water is absorbed. Then you add 1 cup frozen green peas (thawed first), 2 tablespoons fragrant nut oil (like walnut or flaxseed oil), 1/2 cup raw cashews chopped, 2 scallions thinly sliced (I used onion), 1 tsp grated fresh or jarred ginger (I used 1/4 tsp ground), 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 cup dried cherries, cranberries, OR raisins, & sea salt & pepper to taste. Stir together over low heat for 2-3 minutes. To reheat this, however, you’ll need to add a little more water. We ate it with Boca burgers and it was very good.