Bread With Your Meal

[Andy M.]

Just wondering...

Do you eat bread as part of your main meal on a regular basis?

Let's not count sandwiches. Also, if you have a dietary issue that prohibits eating bread, what did you do before that came into play?

I do not eat bread as part of my meal. I never really got into the habit. Not at home and not at a restaurant. My Mom and Dad did. So pasta - no garlic bread. Thanksgiving - no rolls. Easter - no hot cross buns. I always felt like I didn't want to use up valuable stomach space for bread when there were so many other goodies on the table.

What about you?

Take a second and complete the poll.

 

[Zhizara]

I never eat toast with breakfast, nor do I have bread with any meal.

Occasionally, I'll have toast by itself like a snack before bed.

The only time I have bread as part of a meal is when I make French bread pizza.

 

[JMediger]

My grandparents had bread with every meal, regardless of the meal. My mom served bread with most meals and now, I find I do to. I think, in part, it becomes a utensil. My grandfather mopped up sauces and gravies with his bread. My mom taught us how to use it as a way to push food onto our forks instead of a finger, especially salad and pasta. I think that's why I still grab a slice with each meal.

 

[pacanis]

I voted depends on the meal. I'm a big fan of bread. I eat bread as a snack. I don't require it with every meal though. At least that's what I tell myself. Sometimes if I don't eat bread with supper I find myself buttering a couple slices twenty minutes later... but not all the time.

 

[Katie H]

I've always enjoyed all types of breads. Especially since I've eaten home-baked bread for most of my life.

As for how we eat bread in our house, it depends on the meal, the weather, and a multitude of other factors.

Most weekday breakfasts don't include any bread products. Sundays are another story. If you count waffles and pancakes as a type of bread, yes, we have them infrequently. Breakfast rolls, toast, coffee cakes, biscuits, etc. are also on our weekend breakfast table infrequently but that's because I usually try to serve a nice and somewhat substantial Sunday morning breakfast with a wide variety. I rarely serve the same Sunday breakfast more than once in a three-month period.

Lunches hardly ever include bread, unless crackers count.

When it comes to dinner, the entree dictates whether we have a bread. Chili, white beans and ham hocks, etc. require cast iron skillet cornbread. Beef stew and hearty soups beg for crusty rolls. Main course salads, especially during the hotter months, are accompanied by baguettes, as are a variety of Italian dishes. Roasted meats and poultry are served with several different types of yeast rolls.

After giving some thought to the posed question, I realize that when we have fish, there's rarely any bread accompanying it.

Thanks for the question, Andy. It made me do some thinking.

 

[Whiskadoodle]

I don't routinely have bread with a meal. For some reason, I like bread with Italian pasta dishes. I freeze bread and take out only a half or a third of a loaf at a time to use.

More often I am apt to make biscuits or cornbread/muffins than serve "regular" bread or rolls.

 

[pacanis]

I must have missed Andy's fish reference in the original question, but where I grew up we always had bread on the table when we ate fish. That was because a bite of bread helps dislodge a stuck bone in the throat. Not that we always got bones so always ate bread with our fish, but it was there if needed.

 

[bakechef]

Weekday meals, no bread with dinner, meals are usually protein, veg, and starch such as rice or potatoes. On occasion I'll replace the starch with bread if I have something good, like my St. Patrick's day meal had soda bread.

Weekend comfort food dinners will often have bread accompanying them. Holiday dinners always have fresh, homemade rolls.

Weekday pasta dinner, no rolls. If I'm having company and cooking a pasta dinner, I'll often make bread to go with it.

If I didn't have to pay attention to calories, I'd have good bread with every meal, I love bread.

 

[Cheryl J]

How fun, I didn't know we had polls here. Thanks, Andy!

I voted 'depends on the meal'. If I have spaghetti or lasagna, there has to be garlic bread alongside. If I have fried eggs in the morning, I love a piece of toast to go along with it.

Other than that, I rarely have bread with a meal. It's just too filling for me. When I have pizza, I prefer it to be thin crust, as the regular crust is just too bready. I'd rather have the 'goodies'.

 

[Dawgluver]

When we go to a restaurant, we devour the garlic bread, or whatever other bread that's offered. Otherwise at home, we never have bread other than a sammie.

 

[Rocklobster]

I like bread with some meals. Classic beef stews w/ bread and butter for dipping and sopping, eggs w/ toast, crusty bread with mussels to dip into the juice, toasted strips dipping into butter w/ escargot, Turkey dinner w/ soft roll, hot turkey sandwich between two slices of white bread covered in gravy. Not really with pasta, although I do make it for everybody else.......
So, outside of toast with eggs, if you add up all the times I eat these meals in a year, I would say I eat bread with my meals about a dozen times a year...

 

[PrincessFiona60]

We are both bakery folks, we love bread, unfortunately. We have had to curtail our bread habit. We used to eat it at every meal and in between. Now bread is as pancakes, sandwiches, pizza. I have been known to buy sourdough rolls to make mini sandwiches.

 

[salt and pepper]

Bread is the MOP of the meal. Not before.

 

[taxlady]

I think you should have had an option, "Seldom" or "Almost never". If it's good bread at a resto, while waiting for the meal to arrive, we usually eat some. At home, unless it's garlic bread, almost never and even that, not often. French onion soup wants its croutons and Indian food is easier to eat with some chapati or roti.

 

[Kayelle]

Bread has never been important to us except for sandwiches. We really like lunch sandwiches. We often enjoy garlic toast with grilled meals but I don't remember the last time I served dinner rolls. On our cruise, the bread baskets on the table always included those long crisp bread sticks, and I enjoyed them a lot with my salad.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

My Dad delivered bread for almost 25 years. Bread was always a given at our table! When Himself and I got married, bread became an accompaniment to what we were having if it enhanced the meal, not just to fill us up. Pasta dishes never get bread, but dinner salads always do. Juicy, one-bowl meals (chili, soup, stew) get crusty bread, while meals with rice or potato are bread-free. Since I grew up with bread all my single life, it is something we always have in the house whether in the bread box or in the freezer...or both. And like pac, I'll happily have a snack of bread any ol' time. Actually, a slice of toasted Challah with cinnamon sugar on top sounds good right about now... I think I'll resist until breakfast.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I grew up with bread and potatoes on the table for almost every meal.

Now I seldom have bread because of diabetes.

I chose none in the poll, but the reality is seldom or rarely and yes I miss it!

 

[Addie]

I grew up with a stack of bread on the table. It was always sliced Italian crusty artisan bread. I would have just one piece if it was with pasta, stews, or soups. Now I can go months and not even buy one loaf of bread. Yet I followed my mother's lead and put bread on the table for my kids every night. I made egg salad tonight. But I don't have one slice of bread in the house.

 

[CraigC]

Some meals just wouldn't be right without bread. Cuban meals without Pan Cubano, just not right! Garlic rolls with meatballs and pasta, gotta have it. What is pizza without the "bread" the toppings are on?

 

[FrankZ]

Breakfast is usually. If there are eggs there is bread. Do bagels count?

I remember having bread at the table when I was young, but we don't seem to do that unless it makes sense now.