|
Invest In Your Health:
Whole Grain Breads
Man has eaten some form of bread
since he was forced out of the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:19 says,
“By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the
ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall
return.” The Bible mentions bread specifically 330 times. It is a vital part of
our diet. Then why do so many people seem to have trouble when they eat bread?
Why do all of the fad diets tell us we should stop eating bread and that
gluten-free diets are healthiest? Could it be that the bread that is found in
most homes today is not the nutrient dense food of our ancestors? We as a
civilization have taken a wonderful food, removed all of its nutritional value
and then called it bad. Let us go back to our ancestors and find how they
created a life sustaining food instead of a health hazard for their daily
sustenance.
The flour used to make
breads was not a refined and processed flour that we see today instead the
whole grain was ground into fine flour that was then made into bread. There are
many grains that are easily available to us to make bread today as in
yesteryear. The most popular, of course, is wheat. The best wheat for bread is
hard winter wheat. You can also make wonderful bread from spelt and Kamut. For
more variety you can replace 1/3 to ¼ the total amount of flour with other
grains such as barley, oats, or rye.
Whole grain breads are a great way to
add nutrition to your diet. They are delicious, inexpensive and are packed in
vitamins. Whole wheat flour (especially when freshly ground) contains the
following nutrients: thiamine (B-1), riboflavin (B-2), niacin (B-3), pyridoxine
(B-6), choline, folic acid, pantothenic acid, vitamin E, chromium, manganese,
selenium, zinc, iron, cobalt, calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium,
phosphorus, molybdenum, copper and fiber. When wheat flour is refined and
turned into white flour the loss of these nutrients is between 16-89% depending
on the nutrient.
To get the most nutrition possible
for your time and money you need to grind your grain fresh or find a store that
will grind it fresh for you. Within 72 hours of being milled grains lose much
of their nutrients and start going rancid. Always store flours in the
refrigerator or freeze and use them within 2-3 months. Bring the flour to room
temperature before using for the best results.
We are blessed in that we don’t have
to get out a stone to grind our grain. There are appliances now to help us in
our work. I highly recommend investing in a grain mill and a bread
making/kneading machine if at all possible. It takes me around 30 minutes to
prepare enough bread to feed our family of 6 for a week using these tools.
This is investment cooking at its best!
You can get a Bosch machine and your
choice of grain mills online from
Kitchen and Home Gadgets. The Bosch kitchen machine is listed under Kitchen
& Cooking; Food Processors; Bosch. Use the search engine to find the grain
mills. They are having a red tag sale and I saw that the Bosch is on sale for
25% off.
I buy my grain from a co-op in Tucson
that ships the grain to me in 25 lb or 50 lb bags depending on the type of
grain. Their website is
Shop Natural. The cost is a lot cheaper than getting it from the bulk bins
at Sprouts or Whole Foods. I pay just over $1/pound including shipping for my
grains. One recipe that produces 4-5 loaves of bread needs about 3 ½ pounds of
grain. I have bought buckets from a restaurant supply store to put the grain in
for easier storage. Whole grains can be kept for at least a year if they are
kept dry and at room temperature or below.
Making my own whole grain bread costs
me less than $2 a loaf. At the health stores around here the same bread costs
between $3-4 per loaf. Besides when there is bread on the table the rest of our
food goes a lot further which saves money as well.
With a little practice you can invest
some time in preparing homemade bread and reap great health for your whole
family.
Recipes:
Our Daily Bread
Makes 5 Loaves
16 cups whole wheat flour -- freshly ground; 10-12 cups
whole wheat berries
2 tablespoons yeast
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1/8 teaspoon Vitamin C granules
2 cups kefir
4 cups warm water
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 tablespoons sea salt
2 tablespoons butter
Place 9 cups of flour into mixer bowl
with kneading arm. Add dry yeast, vital wheat gluten, and Vitamin C. Pulse to
mix well.
Add kefir and water and mix for 1
minute. Turn off mixer, cover and let sponge for 15 minutes for lighter bread.
Add oil, honey and salt. Turn mixer
on and quickly add remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, until dough form a ball
and cleans the side of the bowl. The amount of flour needed may vary. Knead
7-10 minutes. (If kneading by hand, knead for 12-15 minutes until dough is
smooth and elastic.)
Oil hands and counter. Divide dough
into equal portions. Shape into loaves and place in greased pans. (4" x 8 1/2"
pans work best)
Let rise until almost double in bulk,
approximately 20-30 minutes.
Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.
Rub butter on tops of loaves.
Remove from pans and let cool on a
rack on their sides.
Slice bread and Enjoy! Keep in the
freezer not the refrigerator for best results.
Alternative:
You can freeze this dough to have on
hand for fresh baked bread on another day as well. Just grease the inside of a
gallon freezer bad and add the dough. When you are ready to use it take it out
and let it thaw, then shape, let it rise and bake.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:
Yeast
Breads by Sue Gregg
This is a great cookbook with lots
of techniques explained and diagrams to show you how to make wonderful breads.
Set For Life by Jane Merrill & Karen Sunderland
Although I do not agree with all of
the premises these authors make in their book, their bread section is
outstanding! They give several wonderful recipes for whole grain bread and
rolls.
Copyright 2005 Binary Kingdom Enterprises
|
Invest In Your Health 
