Yes. I know. That subject seems ridiculous. Homemade shredded cheese? What am I talking about?
Basically, I'm here to ask you to shred your own cheese. Did you know that when you buy pre-packaged shredded cheese you're buying more than just cheese? That's right! There are usually two types of additional ingredients in your bag of cheese: an anti-caking agent and a mold inhibitor. If you're okay with unknown chemicals in you body, then feel free to keep purchasing this convenience, otherwise pull out your shredder and get to work!
I always shredded a bunch at a time and then freeze quart sized bags of shredded cheese. This way it will last longer, and I have some on hand for last minute recipes.
There are two types that I recommend:
1. Basic stand-up shredder: Cut a big block of cheese into manageable sizes and start shredding. It'll take you less than 10 minutes to get through a big block of cheese. The work goes fast and you get a little bit of a back and arm workout.
2. Kitchen Aid Slicer/Shredder: This is what I use. Cut the cheese into appropriate sizes and feed through the machine. Takes less than three minutes to grate a big block of cheese. I throw the pieces in the dishwasher and call it done! You little one will enjoying helping with this task, too.
If you're not convinced that it's healthier and that it's easy, let's talk about price. For the big block of cheese, I pay about $.21 per ounce. For the bag of cheese, I'd be paying about $.38 per ounce. Obviously, this varies based on where you shop, but unless there's a good sale, you'll be dropping pretty pennies for those extra ingredients in your bag of cheese.
1 comment:
I actually was thinking about this the other day (before I even read this post!). Can you tell you've inspired me? haha. Anyway, here at the Texas HEB, it's actually cheaper to buy the pre-grated stuff. Now, granted, I LOVE the fact that my home-grated mozzarella is nice and smooth on my pizzas, so I probably will continue to do that. And the kids always get the good stuff. But John's getting the cheaper pre-grated stuff on the salads I make for his lunch everyday. I care about what goes into his body too, but at 6:00 in the morning, grating cheese with my cracking grater is the last thing I want to do ;) Too bad I don't have the kitchen aid!!
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