Goodbye to the bread maker

After months of dithering I've made up my mind — the Kenwood bread maker must go! Two years ago I was making at least one large loaf every week, my favourite being a scrumptious Date & Walnut creation. No Saturday evening feast was complete without a couple of thick slices of that one.

Then, with my weight soaring into the obese range, I joined Slimming World and discovered that my two doorstep slices would use up 11 of my daily 15 syns allowance... and that was before I spread on the butter! True, the Slimming World plan did allow one 'free' large slice of wholemeal bread every day, but I much preferred to opt for a nice big helping of breakfast cereal.

Consequently the bread maker languished in a kitchen cupboard, only seeing the light of day when friends visited. But when, I told myself, I achieved my Slimming World target weight, I would make yummy bread once more and (of course) devour it in moderation.

What I hadn't expected was that Slimming World would dramatically change my eating habits. The days of the old doorstep slices have past and gone, and I honestly don't miss them.  I haven't given up bread entirely, and many a hillside ramble has been paused for a picnic that includes a mini-baguette stuffed with lettuce and tomato, or spread with something tasty. But just as often I settle for a couple of Ryvita with low-fat cottage cheese and pineapple.

So this afternoon I emptied my cupboards of the bread maker and the last of the strong flour and yeast. Unsurprisingly, both the flour and yeast had a 'Best Before' date of January 2018 – a telling commentary on how little they were being used.  I'm sure that they're still perfectly edible, so I'll keep them for a while. If I'm feeling particularly synful and my weight is comfortably in range I might make some Sfinci (Sicilian dough balls). However, I wouldn't be in the least surprised if that plan also fell by the wayside. My Antipasto is every bit a tasty and filling, and a tiny fraction of the calories.