Tastemaker: Nature's Pride Hearty Wheat with Flax Bread

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I recently received a loaf of Nature's Pride Hearty Wheat with Flax bread. I decided to try it out the best way I know how -- by making it the base of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. (Well, technically a mixture of creamy and cruncy natural peanut butters and strawberry conserve.)

I'm a big fan of hearty sandwich breads, and this one does not disappoint. I particularly like that there are whole flax seeds embedded in each slice. Additionally, the ingredient list is remarkably short and contains no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. The bread is sweetened with sugar (and to a lesser extent honey and brown sugar) rather than high fructose corn syrup.

One slice of bread contains 100 calories, 1.5 grams of fat (which includes 0.5 g polyunsaturated fat and 0.5 g monounsaturated fat), 130 mg of sodium, 17 g of fiber (including 3 g of dietary fiber and 4 g of sugar), and 5 grams of protein.

Tastemaker: Nature's Pride Bread

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I recently received two loaves of Nature's Pride OvenClassics bread. One loaf was 100 percent whole wheat and the other loaf was oatmeal. According to information provided by Foodbuzz, the OvenClassics 100% Whole Wheat Bread "provides a good source of fiber, 25% less sodium than regular whole wheat bread, 19 grams of whole grains and 5 grams of protein per slice. The OvenClassics oatmeal bread "includes 40% less sodium than regular oatmeal bread, 8 grams of whole grains, and 4 grams of protein per slice."

D and I both gave each loaf of bread a try. To be honest, neither of us were impressed. Though the promotional material touts the bread's "smooth texture," we both agreed that the texture is one of the bread's main downfalls. As is the rather bland taste. For those who prefer a plain-tasting bread, this probably wouldn't be a problem. I much prefer a heartier bread for toast and sandwiches. For example, the bread we have on hand now is full of walnuts, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, and almonds.

However, one plus of bland bread is that it makes for excellent bread crumbs. In the next post, I'll show you how to transform half a loaf of bread into bread crumbs perfect for multiple uses.