Bread Machine Sourdough

I am avoiding eating commercially made breads so I was very excited to discover this recipe for sourdough that can be made in a bread machine!

This recipe comes from the Weston A Price Foundation's "Healthy 4 Life" dietary guidelines brochure.  Weston A Price was a dentist who studied the diet, lifestyle and health of indigenous cultures around the world in the 1930's.  He found a definite connection between the consumption of traditional and natural foods and the maintenance of good health.

So why sourdough?

The "Healthy 4 Life" guide explains that:

"Grains, legumes and nuts and seeds . . . are a source of many nutrients, including B vitamins, minerals and special types of fats.  However all seeds contain what scientists refer to as "anti-nutrients", substances that block the uptake of nutrients, block digestion and irritate the intestinal tract.  In traditional cultures all over the world, grains are very carefully prepared to lower the level of these compounds to make grains, legumes and nuts easier to digest.  These preparation techniques include roasting, long soaking of beans followed by cooking, soaking grains in slightly acidic water, followed by cooking, and fermenting bread dough to make sourdough bread.  These preparation techniques not only make these foods easier to digest, they also greatly increase vitamin levels.  In cultures where people depend on grains, legumes and nuts for most of their calories, these preparation techniques ensure that they get ample nutrition."

BREAD MACHINE SOURDOUGH

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons yoghurt

3/4 cup water

4 cups wholegrain flour, less 3 tablespoons

1 3/4 teaspoons dried yeast granules

3 tablespoons arrowroot powder

1 teaspoon unrefined salt

1 tablespoon molasses 

2 tablespoons butter

Mix together yoghurt and water and add to flour.  Mix to form a dough.  Cover and leave in a warmish place for 18-24 hours.

Put the dough plus the yeast, arrowroot powder, salt, molasses and butter in the breadmaker.  Set it to a wholemeal setting and begin.  When it's part-way through the kneading section, check that all the ingredients have mixed together and check the consistency.  If it is slimy, add some more arrowroot, if it's too dry add a few more drops of water, drop by drop.  Proceed as directed and enjoy the bread!

The first time I made this recipe I used the standard wholemeal setting on my bread machine.  It turned out ok.

The second time I made it I decided to try the machine's turbo setting.  I hadn't used this setting before and the bread machine's manual does warn that loaves are likely to be heavier due to less rising time.  To my surprise the bread turned out better than the first time I made it, so I have used the turbo setting ever since.  The turbo setting on my bread machine takes just 1 hour and 5 minutes which means that I can put it on after work to have yummy fresh bread with dinner.

So far I have successfully made this recipe with wholemeal Atta flour, organic wholemeal spelt flour, and Powlett Hill GMO free biodynamic stoneground wheat flour.  I have also made a loaf with all Powlett Hill GMO free biodynamic stoneground rye flour.  That one was a little heavier but still yummy.  A mixture of the stoneground wheat and rye flours worked better.

I use b d Farm Paris Creek organic natural yoghurt because it's the most natural, natural yoghurt that I can find.  It's organic, biodynamic and made from non-homogenised milk.

I like to use Mainland Buttersoft butter because it is pure butter but easy to spread because it's "triple churned".  Other spreadable butter brands are a blend of butter and canola or sunflower oil.

So far I have found the flour to liquid ratio to work well and haven't felt the need to add extra arrowroot or water on checking the mixture as the recipe suggests.  This may of course vary depending on climate conditions, ie more or less humidity.

Obviously this is not going to produce a loaf that looks like your commercially baked sandwich loaves, in fact it looks more like a banana bread, so it's not really suitable for sandwiches.  That doesn't bother me though because I rarely eat sandwiches these days, opting for salads for lunches instead.  It is however very delicious served freshly baked, with real butter, accompanied by a good slow-cooked stew!  I also like to have it as a snack toasted and spread with tahini and a little manuka honey.

Source / Further information

http://www.westonaprice.org

http://www.westonaprice.org/basics/principles-of-healthy-diets

http://www.westonaprice.org/images/pdfs/healthy4life2011.pdf

http://www.bdfarmpariscreek.com.au/index03.php?id=36&pl=20&tl=8 natural ~ yoghurt available from Woolworths supermarkets*

Jimmy's Atta Wholemeal Flour and Macro Organic Spelt Flour ~ available from Woolworths supermarkets*

http://powletthill.com.au/tablet/flour.html ~ GMO free biodynamic stoneground flours available locally from Greenies Real Food http://www.greeniesrealfood.com.au

http://www.mainland.com.au/cheese-product/buttersoft-pure-butter/ ~ available from Woolworths supermarkets*

*possibly also available from Coles supermarkets, I just haven't checked yet!

                      ~ take every opportunity to put the good stuff in ~

This blog is about me, what I'm doing, what's working for me, and what's not. It includes my experiences and opinions. It is for general information only and is in no way intended to replace the advice of a health care professional.

People Who Have Inspired Me: Dee McCaffrey

Dee McCaffrey is the author of "The Science Of Skinny".

I have been gleaning nutritional information from a number of sources for a while now but this book has a lot of great information packed into one place!

There are a couple of spots in the book that got a little too scientific on me, but mostly there are very clear explanations of the effect that different foods has on the body making it easy to understand why it's good to eat certain foods and why certain "foods" should be avoided. (When you read the book you will understand why I used quotation marks around the word "foods" here.)

Dee is well qualified to give us this advice. She begins the book by telling her own story of how she fell into emotional eating and wound up being obese, and she explains how she turned that around to lose her excess weight and keep it off for the past twenty years.  She is a qualified chemist, nutritionist, health coach and co-founder of Processed Free America.

I highly recommend this book to everyone, fat, thin or in between, because optimal health is not just about being skinny.  This book teaches how to help your body function the way it was designed to.

The Science of Skinny gives you the inside information on all those strange food additives which will change the way you look at processed foods.  You will learn why refined sugar and refined flour are your enemies.  You will learn why you should avoid unfermented soy products.  You will learn a lot about fats and oils, why we need fats in our diet, which ones to use and which ones to avoid.

The Science of Skinny provides comprehensive information about the health benefits and disease-fighting qualities of a number of foods.  Knowing this information makes eating a healthy diet so much easier because you understand the benefits!

The Science of Skinny also includes an eating plan and recipes to help you get started.

It seems that it often takes a health crisis for people to get serious about overhauling their diet, like me with my migraines and Dee with her obesity. Those of you who know me personally know that I have always been fairly skinny, although there was a time when I weighed 13kg more than I do now. So for me this journey is about inner health, but I do believe that if you get that right then everything else will fall into place, including losing excess weight if that's what you need.  From my own experience it is definitely not only about eating more of the good stuff, but it is about what you don't eat as well.  Forget those "sometimes foods" and find yourself healthier alternatives that you love to indulge in!

The Science of Skinny is available as an ebook from iTunes, Google Books or Kindle. 

The paperback version is harder to find.  None of my local bookstores had it in stock but were willing to order it in.  Or you can order it yourself from their online stores.

~ take every opportunity to put the good stuff in ~

This blog is about me, what I'm doing, what's working for me, and what's not. It includes my experiences and opinions. It is for general information only and is in no way intended to replace the advice of a health care professional.

Lazy Shepherd's Pie

I started cooking Shepherd's Pie like this when we were renovating our kitchen and my cooking facilities were very limited.  It's not really that lazy but it cuts out the step of putting the "pie" together and baking it in the oven.  It saves a bit of time and still tastes great.

Although my mother did teach me to cook things from scratch, as a working mother I looked for shortcuts and found myself cooking tomato-based dishes like this by opening a jar of bolognaise sauce.   Now that I'm trying to avoid processed foods I use fresh diced tomatoes instead, and you know what?  It doesn't take much longer!  I have a gadget called a Genius Nicer Dicer Plus* which enables easy chopping of vegetables and is great for dicing tomatoes - something that is messy and just never very successful by hand!

 

I don't actually measure things too carefully when I cook so the quantities below are really just 'guesstimates' of the good shake of herbs, couple of dollops of tomato paste, little bit of water etc that I used.  This batch was a hit though - hubby said it was "awesome"!

Ingredients:

[Meat Sauce]

1 Tablespoon coconut oil

500 g beef mince

1 brown onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, diced

4 tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup water

1 medium carrot, diced

1/2 cup cauliflower, cut into florets

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 Tablespoon dried Mixed Italian Herbs

3 Tablespoons tomato paste

1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup

Sea Salt or Himalayan Rock Salt & pepper to taste

 

[Mash]

1 medium sweet potato

1 large white potato

Method:

[Meat Sauce]

Heat oil in pan and fry onion and carrot for a couple of minutes.  Remove.

Add a little more oil and cook mince until browned.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add tomato, cauliflower, tomato paste, herbs and maple syrup. Stir well and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add peas and simmer another minute.
Add garlic and simmer another minute.

[Mash]

Peel and chop potato into small pieces.   Add 1/4 cup water and microwave on high 8 minutes.

Check potato is cooked evenly and is soft enough for mashing.  If not stir and cook a little longer.

Drain and mash with olive oil to desired consistency.

To serve spoon mince mixture on one side of the plate and then spoon mash partially on top and on the other side,  Top with grated cheese or sprinkle with savoury yeast flakes.

 

Notes:

* I purchased my Genius Nicer Dicer Plus from Target but I understand its also available from Harvey Norman and Big W or you can find it online at eBay.  View a youtube demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=931Yg6GYT3w

~ take every opportunity to put the good stuff in ~

This blog is about me, what I'm doing, what's working for me, and what's not. It includes my experiences and opinions. It is for general information only and is in no way intended to replace the advice of a health care professional.

Apples

When it comes to sticking to a real food diet an apple is one of my top go to snacks.  For fresh fruit it travels pretty well and doesn't need refrigeration.

Apples contain potassium and a small amount of vitamin C.  They contain high levels of various plant chemicals including the flavonoid quercetin, which has anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory action.  They are also a valuable source of pectin, a soluble fibre that can help lower 'bad' cholesterol and help prevent colon cancer. Eat apples with the skin on as the skin contains up to five times as many plant chemicals as the flesh.

Apples are pretty convenient to just eat on their own, but to jazz it up a little I like to chop an apple into wedges and dip it in nut butter.  This is a favourite afternoon snack at the office!

Any of these work well as a dip:

Almond Spread

Almond Spread with Chia
Cashew Spread

ABC Spread (made from Almonds, Brazil nuts & Cashew nuts)

Hazelnut and Cacao Spread*

Look for the 100% nut varieties. 

 


Something else that works well as a dip for apple pieces is raw raspberry jam. Below is a link to a Raw Raspberry Jam recipe from Rawedibles.com

http://rawedibles.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/raw-natural-raspberry-jam.html






Source: 100 Best Health Foods by Parragon www.parragon.com/lovefood

Nut butters are available from health food stores, and the health food section of Coles and Woolworths supermarkets.

*Mayver's Hazelnut Cacao Spread is simply blended hazelnuts and cacao and is available from selected Coles supermarkets or you can order online from Aussie Health Products www.aussiehealthproducts.com.au

~ take every opportunity to put the good stuff in ~

This blog is about me, what I'm doing, what's working for me, and what's not. It includes my experiences and opinions. It is for general information only and is in no way intended to replace the advice of a health care professional.

The Nitty Gritty on Fat Burning and How Lemon Water Can Help

Drinking lemon water is something I took up primarily as a caffeine replacement, but also because it has a very alkalising effect on the body and helps to cleanse out impurities.

This article about lemon water explains how it also assists with fat burning. You see one of the liver's functions is to burn fat and pump excessive fat out of the body.  However if the liver is not functioning correctly and is congested and clogged, it begins to store fat rather than burn it.  This article explains that if you have a roll of fat around your middle, it may be because you have a "fatty liver".

Each day your liver produces a liquid called bile. Bile is a soap-like substance that helps break down fat globules into smaller particles so that they can become mixed with water and flushed out rather than stored in the liver.  A good reason to also drink plenty of water each day.  

Dee McCaffrey says:

"Bile is essential to the liver's ability to burn fat, therefore it is important to make sure your body is producing enough bile, and that the bile it produces is of high quality. The liver cannot perform its fat burning role if it is hampered by a lack of bile nutrients, congestion and even clogged bile ducts which constrict bile flow and result in less bile production.  Bile cannot do its job of breaking down fats if it is congested or thickened with food chemicals, pesticides, drugs and other toxins."

"This is where the lemon water comes in.  The combination of fresh lemon juice mixed with water is a well-known bile thinner.  The vitamin C from the fresh lemon juice benefits the formation of quality bile  as it helps the liver to produce a compound called glutathione, which helps cleanse and regenerate the liver.  The warm lemon water also promote peristalsis, the contraction of muscles in the bowels that keeps waste (and fat) moving along the digestive tract and out of the body for elimination."

Source:  The Benefits of Lemon Water by Dee McCaffery CDC
http://www.processedfreeamerica.org/resources/health-news/441-the-benefits-of-lemon-water

Dee McCaffrey is an organic chemist, visionary, author, philanthropist, and nutrition missionary.  Dee and her husband are the founders of Processed-Free America, an organization dedicated to providing healthful education in nutrition, cooking and implementing lifestyle changes for weight loss and optimal health.

See also: http://putthegoodstuffin.blogspot.com.au/2013/07/information-lemon-water.html

~ take every opportunity to put the good stuff in ~

This blog is about me, what I'm doing, what's working for me, and what's not. It includes my experiences and opinions. It is for general information only and is in no way intended to replace the advice of a health care professional.