So many families are doing their best to get back to a more healthy diet and lifestyle. With the inevitable rise of technology, we have gotten lazy in many areas of our lives, including how we eat. Pre-packaged and prepared meals are so convenient that they have taken the place of more natural and fresh choices.
With convenience comes compromise. Pre-packaged meals are chock-full of unwanted chemicals, preservatives and added sugars and fats — not the best choice for healthy eating. It can be easy to get started on a more basic track when you begin small.
One of the most popular trends in home meal preparation is making your own bread. With so many excellent electric bread makers on the market, you can bake your own bread with just a few minutes of preparation. The advantages of having freshly baked bread any time you want it are mouth-watering, so let’s take a quick look at a few of the best perks of baking your own bread.
Save Money
Store-bought breads can be expensive, especially if you are looking for anything special. Whole wheat breads and gluten-free options can cost you up to $7 per loaf. With a breadmaker, you can make any bread that you want for just pennies on the dollar. When you start baking for yourself, you can buy your main ingredients in bulk amounts, saving you even more money. Eliminate the waste in your home by only making what you need. Stop wasting money on uneaten loaves of bread that end up getting stale and being thrown out.
Control the Ingredients
When you are making your own bread recipes, you can avoid all of the preservatives, bleach, and additives that you get from store-bought loaves. Choose your favorite ingredients and try new recipes to your heart’s content. By being the baker, you can be in control of how much salt is used, choose gluten-free recipes to control allergies, and create new favorites by adding seeds or nuts to a loaf.
Control your dietary intake by making bread yourself. For low-sodium and low-sugar diets, your options are endless. You are in control of what goes in the machine, so you know exactly what will come out. Check out some bread recipe books for even more ideas for making specialty breads.
Convenience
With a bread-making machine, there is no longer the need to turn your kitchen into a baking nightmare. The traditional baking method takes time that most people just don’t have today. With a breadmaker, your prep time can be as little as 10 minutes with no mess, and your bread is ready in under an hour. Fresh, hot and healthy.
Bread machines not only bake the bread for you but also do the mixing, kneading and rising for you, hands-free. Many electric bread machines also come with alternate settings to accommodate your needs. Look for one that has a gluten-free and pizza dough setting to add to your bread making options. Some machines can also be used to make jams, pasta and rice.
