One of the reasons I had seven children is so they can do the menial tasks I dislike, such as shredding cheese. I don’t like to shred cheese. I don’t like how it gets melty and mushy and sort of oozes into the grater after a few minutes instead of slicing off cleanly. Do you know what I mean?
The solution is simple. Pop the entire block of cheese into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes. (Any longer and the cheese might thaw oddly.) It will harden enough to make the cheese grating process a thing of beauty. A thing of beauty, I tell ya!
Pop the grater in the freezer, too, and the process will be even slicker.
I know you’re wondering why I don’t recommend buying the already grated cheese to totally simplify the process. Oh, I have my reasons.
First, usually the shredded cheese is more expensive, but lately I’ve been noticing some shredded cheeses are cheaper than their block counterparts. Shocking, I know!
Another reason is that shredded cheeses do the whole melty mushy thing unless the manufacturer adds an anti-caking agent. That’s no big deal to most of you, but I have a daughter with Crohn’s Disease who can’t currently eat the potato starch and powdered cellulose (usually a wood byproduct) that are often used as the agents in question.
Finally, if you’re low-carbing it, that’s a little extra carb intake that isn’t as fun as, say, eating a cookie. I totally made that last one up—anything to promote cookies!
Reasons one and two are enough for us to force our kids to shred our own cheese.
Are you freaking out over wood in your cheese? Don’t freak out. The government says it’s just fine.
You can stop laughing now.
Seriously, the government says it’s fine, and even some organic companies say it’s fine. Others say it’s the spawn of Satan.
Do I know the answer? No. Do I care? I care enough to buy block cheese and make my children shred it at home. I don’t care enough to not eat Archway Windmill Cookies and Lorna Doones from Grandma’s cookie jar. (Those cookie links are affiliate links…and my favorite store cookies.)
I know. I have issues.