Bread Outlets

Milk, eggs, flour and Bell peppers have risen to the top of the list of food items which have jumped in cost over the last year. It's no wonder, then that bread prices have jumped, too. Saving money on lunches for the kids requires I shop wisely for the things I'm going to use.

Therefore, once a month, we make a trip to the bread outlet. Depending on which way we travel to do our shopping, we have two choices. There is a Wonder Hostess outlet to the north, and an Aunt Millies outlet to the south. My parents have a Meiers outlet near them.

Lately we've been using the Aunt Millies outlet. This one stocks quality bread choices for just .79 cents/loaf. My kids like the potato bread, but we also buy rye and whole wheat breads. While we're there, we pick up hamburger, hot dog, and sub buns, as well as breakfast treats like English muffins, bagels and Cinnamon raisin bread. It saves SO much money. Oh, and they usually have a table full of .49 cent items! On average, I'll spend around $14.00 and come out with enough bread for the month!

Obviously, we need to have a way to store the bread. We have two freezers in our garage. One is a small chest freezer we use only for bread items, and the other is a large chest freezer we use for meats and vegetables. Having the bread separated from the meats and fish helps keep it tasting fresh. The freezers allow us to take advantage of great sales as well as make every trip count.

Here's a defrosting tip. I find that if I get the bread out of the freezer a full day ahead of when I need to use it, and let it sit, the whole loaf softens back up. If I rush the process, sometimes the crust is still a little hard from being frozen.

If we lived closer to the outlet, I'd go more frequently and buy less at a time. But this works for us, so I'm happy.

To find out if you have a bread outlet in your area, you can use the Yellow Pages link at the bottom of the page. Type in bakery and your closest city or town and it will list any that are nearby along with a map!