Bread Wheat

Archive for July, 2008

Easy, Customizable Bread-crumbs!There are two reasons I decided to start making bread-crumbs on my own: 1.-Shopping today can be so expensive! And while bread-crumbs aren’t usually an item that breaks the bank, every little bit helps! Plus, making your own bread-crumbs is also a way to make-as-needed. 2.- I very much enjoy cooking from scratch, as many people do, & learning new techniques–or inventing my own! So when I tried this, & it worked, I was excited at my prowess.A good thing about making your own bread-crumbs is you can use any bread, & experiment. I like using those end pieces that no one wants to eat anyway (or just end up being one piece too many, there-by throwing off sandwich making). Also good for using are large rolls, cut into slices of about 1 1/2″ thick. If you wish for faster drying, you may use thinner slices. First, I would suggest a plastic container, such as the one I show in my photo. I used a clear, snap-lid type about 31/2″ high, with a lid of about 5 3/4″ inches wide. The container can just sit on your counter, or go onto your shelf, or where-ever you keep your bread-crumbs, & also helps in the making of the bread-crumbs. The good thing about the size container I use is the lid, flipped up-side-down, is a perfect place to lay the bread to dry out. If you are using thinner slices, such as normal store-bought bread, I wouldn’t suggest more than 3 at a time, & I would say flip them & rotate them every hour or so, so that the middles dry out at the same speed as the rest. If using thicker slices from rolls, you can lay them right in the container, keeping the lid off. After laying the bread slices out, they shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours to dry (depending on climate/season/house temp). When the bread is dry (”bread crumbs” will fall on your hand when you pick it up), the next step is fun!

I’ve been trying different gluten - free bread recipes but haven’t found one that tasted really good. This walnut bread tasted okay but since I’m not the one with the wheat allergies, I’m a lot more pickier about what “really good” tastes …

Read the rest of this entry »

If I Can Cook Wheat Free, so Can You!If you are new to wheat free cooking there are a few things you should keep in mind. Non-traditional flours are a bit trickier to work with and if not baked just right can turn into a heavy and flat mess. First off, don’t listen to people who say you need to buy up all the wheat flour substitutes on the market. This will not only cost you a fortune, it will end up being very confusing in the kitchen.  Most alternative flours expire quickly and have short shelf lives. Trying to bake with rancid flour doesn’t turn out so well. What you may want to try is buy a few wheat free baking mixes and see which brands you enjoy. There are plenty of different brands on the market you could check out including Namaste, Bob’s Red Mill, Arrowhead Mills, Authentic Foods, Pamela’s, and that is just to name a few. They usually have a few different recipes listed right on the boxes that you can try and experiment with. When you have discovered your favorite brands make sure to always have their mixes on hand for whenever you want to bake something. You may want to consider getting some airtight containers to keep your mixes in to extend their shelf life. Other people keep their mixes in the freezer. If you are allergic to more than just wheat you will need to make sure that any mixes you choose will not cause a reaction. Secondly, wheat free cooking requires a lot of practice to get right. I mean, a lot of practice. You will probably throw away a lot of messed up cookies, cakes and bread your first week, but thats ok. Stick with it and remember that each item you bake is another step towards perfection. Keep a record of your experiments so you can learn from your mistakes. Third, make sure to meet some people either locally or online who are also on a wheat free diet. There are plenty of support groups around you could join. There you will find recipes, tips and of course that much needed emotional support. It is true, it will probably take you a while to get used to wheat free cooking. Just remember to keep your favorite mixes handy, keep a record of your experiments and meet with other wheat free people and you will be a pro in no time.

Even Though This Bread is Cheap I Thought that it Tasted Pretty GoodMy grocery budget changes from week to week. Sometimes I find that I am able to try some new things or because of things being on sale I can get a lot of things that I enjoy. The last time that I was in need of getting some bread there were not any good sales on organic  breads. I was disappointed about this and decided that because I had to get bread that was not organic that I might as well get something that is cheap, as long as it was vegetarian. There was a sale on some vegetarian bread that was five dollars for three loaves. I thought that this was a great price for bread, seeing how I pay two to three dollars per organic loaf of bread when organic bread is on sale. On of the loaves that I got for one dollar and sixty six or sixty seven cents was Country Oven Honey Wheat Berry Bread.One of the first things that I did when I got home was examine the ingredients of the Country Oven Honey Wheat Berry Bread. Its ingredients are unbleached enriched flour which consisted of wheat flour, malted barley, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin and folic acid, water, wheat bran, wheat flakes, whole wheat flour, barley flakes, oat flakes, rye meal, honey, contains two percent or less of sugar, soybean oil, yeast, salt, vital wheat gluten, dried molasses which was molasses, wheat starch, soy flour and soy lecithin, raisin juice concentrate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, monocalcium phosphate, ammonium sulfate, soy flour, calcium sulfate, enzymes, azodicarbonamide, ascorbic acid, calcium peroxide and calcium propionate which is used as a preservative. I was quite confused about the title of the bread seeing none of the ingredients were a close to a berry. The closest thing to a berry was the raisin juice concentrate and I hardly feel that a dried up grape is a berry let alone the juice concentrate that comes from it. I of course realized that the berry in the title was not referring to a berry but rather the term wheat berry was referring to a wheatberry. Since I was already examining the bag I looked over the breads nutrition facts as well.

Even Though This Bread is Not Organic I Thought that it Tasted GoodIt is important to me to get organic bread as often as I can. Unfortunately last time that I needed bread there wasn’t organic breads on sale and so I settled for something non-organic and cheap. The loaf was about one dollar and sixty six cents, as it was on sale for three for five  dollars. One of the three loaves that I got was the Country Oven Honey & Oat Bread, here is what I thought about it.This bread did not have an overwhelming flavor of honey and was not sweet at all. It was a good sandwich bread. It was not hearty and actually quite chewy. Despite not being organic the Country Oven Honey & Oat Bread was very tasty. I enjoyed the loaf that I had bought of it as did my son. It would not be a bread that we would normally have chosen but it was one of the best choices that we had of the non-organic breads selection. It was vegetarian which to me is very important as both me and my son are vegetarians. I knew that there would be no lard in the ingredients of this bread as it was labeled vegetarian, but I did wonder what the ingredients were. The ingredients of the Country Oven Honey & Oat Bread are unbleached enriched flour made of wheat flour, malted barley, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin and folic acid, water, oat flakes, barley flakes, oats, rye flour, wheat bran, oat bran, honey, sugar, yeast, vital wheat gluten, dried molasses, made of molasses, wheat starch, soy flour and soy lecithin and the bread contains contains two percent or less of soybean oil, salt, raisin juice concentrate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, caramel color, soy flour, calcium sulfate, enzymes, monocalcium phosphate, ammonium sulfate, azodicarbonamide, ascorbic acid, calcium peroxide and calcium propionate as a preservative. After looking over the ingredients I looked at the nutrition facts.