Pregnancy Food Diary: Twenty Eight Weeks + Supplements

Oops....this was supposed to be posted on Monday, like every edition of my Pregnancy Food Diary. Sometimes life happens. And that's ok. :)

Third Trimester, baby! It sort of feels crazy that it's here already, but it also feels crazy that it didn't come sooner. I'm feeling so large already! I think baby's been having a growth spurt, because I've been starving!

Here's what I ate last Thursday.

Breakfast: baked oatmeal with butter and milk, hard boiled egg, decaf coffee with cream
Snack: a banana (in the car while shopping)
Lunch: leftover Best Darn Lentils, roast beef (cooked by my wonderful mother-in-law and left here after they visited...thanks!) in a corn tortilla with cheese, salsa, sour cream, and avocado
Snack: Plain yogurt with blueberries and honey
Dinner: slow-cooked Ziti, big salad with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, feta cheese, toasted almonds, and dried cherries
Snack: 2 pieces of freshly baked Honey Oatmeal Bread with lots of butter. :)

Servings (recommended amount is in parentheses): 

Protein: 3.5 (4)

Eggs: 1.5 (2)

Dairy: 3 (4) 

Butter: 3 (3)
Whole Grains: 4 (2)
Refined Grains: 0 (0)
Veggies: 2 (3-4)
Greens: 1 (2)

Fruit: 1 (1)
Citrus: 0 (1)

Probiotic Foods: 3 (4)

I fell short in almost every food group. (Except grains and butter!) But amazingly, I felt great! I think it's because I ate often and I ate enough.  

Now, as promised long ago, these are the supplements I take when I'm pregnant.

1. New Chapter Perfect Prenatal
I like the idea of getting all my nutrients from food, but I also know that just because I'm eating well doesn't mean I'm necessarily getting everything I need. A whole food vitamin seems to be a good compromise. New Chapter's prenatal vitamin is also pro-biotic, which leads me to believe that my body is absorbing more of what I'm taking in. Also, since it's food based, it can be taken on an empty stomach and won't make you queazy. These vitamins are a little pricey, but I love knowing that my body can actually use the nutrients! You can save money by using Subscribe & Save on amazon.com.

2. Blue Ice Fermented Cod Liver Oil 
You can read more about our experiences with this super food here. It is the number one recommended supplement by the Weston A. Price foundation. (Who are they?) It provides fat soluble vitamins A and D and important fatty acids. I usually take it in painless capsule form right now, though once in a while I brave the fishy taste and take the liquid (only because it's cheaper, and you have to take a LOT of capsules to get the same amount you'd be taking of the liquid).


3. Pregnancy Tea
A couple weeks ago I posted my recipe for Pregnancy Tea, which tones the uterus and helps support your growing blood supply. I'm coming down with a cold right now, and my midwife recommended adding honey and lemon to the tea to soothe my throat. It adds flavor and feels great!

4. Elderberry Syrup
I take this off and on through the winter months - pregnant or not - to boost my immune system. I'm taking extra right now to help fight this bug. 

5. Vitamin C and Echinacea
Earlier this pregnancy I had a cold that just wouldn't go away. My midwife recommended taking vitamin C and Echinacea, and sure enough, that kicked it. The immune system has to work harder during pregnancy,  and these two supplements give it a little boost. I take the vitamin C capsules whenever I think I may have been exposed to something (which is often, since I teach dance and am around kids with sniffly noses all the time), and I take the echinacea only when I start to feel something coming on. You are not supposed to take echinacea for more than two weeks at a time, because it becomes ineffective.


6. Magnesium Oil
I've recently starting using magnesium oil, at the recommendation of Anne Marie of cheeseslave.com. I'm hoping this will help with the muscle cramps and aches I've been getting occasionally, as well as help relieve stress. It's quite frugal when you make your own using magnesium flakes.


Update! I almost forgot!
7. Floradix Iron + Herbs
I've been taking this on and off this pregnancy, and I do find that when I take it consistently I have more energy. I did not have my iron levels tested this pregnancy, but I have been low in the past, and I'd much rather take this easily-absorbed, food-based supplement than those nasty iron pills! It is pricey, but it is hard for me to get enough iron from food and since it makes me feel better, it's worth it!


What supplements do you take while you're pregnant?

This is part of Fight Back Friday.

What is "Healthy"?

Who said you can't eat broccoli in your pajamas?

I care a lot about food. That's why I have this blog: so I can share my passion for healthy food with anyone who reads it.

There are many misconceptions about there about healthy food. And there are many points of view. Low-fat, low-carb, vegetarian, vegan, paleo, primal, raw food, "locavore"...it is downright confusing! Should you eat what the government tells you what to eat? Should you stop eating animal products? Should you stop cooking your food? Should you stop eating grains?

So what is healthy food? And what isn't it? I don't have all the answers, and I might be wrong on some things. I am just doing my best to feed my family the most nourishing food I can find and afford and cook. If you disagree with me, that's fine. We can still be friends! This blog is not a judgmental place, it's a place full of "good stuff" because if we focus on what we shouldn't be doing all the time, we just feel guilty and frustrated and sad.  So instead of giving you a list of what isn't healthy, I'm going to give you a list of what is. These are the foods that make me happy!

My Healthy Foods List

• Meat and poultry from animals that spend time outside, eating grass or bugs or whatever they are supposed to eat (depending on the animal). This includes (if you're brave) organ meats and homemade stock from the bones.
• Wild-caught fish and shellfish
• Whole raw (unpasteurized) milk from grass-fed cows or goats, which is tested regularly for pathogens
• Other grass-fed diary, including butter, cheese, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese, and kefir
• Eggs from pastured chickens, especially egg yolks
  
• Fats from grass-fed animals: lard, tallow, bacon grease, chicken fat
• Other healthy fats like unrefined coconut oil and extra-virgin olive oil
• Whole grains that have been prepared by soaking, sprouting, or sourdough to make them more digestible
• Legumes like lentils, beans, and split peas that have been soaked and cooked slowly
• Nuts and seeds that have been soaked and dehydrated
• Fresh vegetables and fruits, ideally locally grown and organic (some can be eaten raw, others are more nutritious when cooked)
• Healthy sweeteners in moderation, such as honey, maple syrup, and sucanat (unrefined sugar)

There are some miscellaneous things to mention, too, like fermented foods, beverages, condiments, herbs and spices, and supplements. And coconut could almost be its own category. But let's keep things simple for now.


Lest you think I'm perfect, let me tell you this: we compromise on a lot of things. We don't have the time or money to eat perfectly. But we do our best, and we don't stress about it.

Wondering why I think these foods are healthy? Most of this is based on the recommendations by the Weston A. Price Foundation. Weston Price was a dentist who traveled the world studying primitive people groups and looking at their diets. He found that societies who ate the kinds of food I listed above were practically free from tooth decay and disease. There was a lot of variety in diet from group to group, depending on what kinds of foods were local to them. But none of the healthy people groups ate processed foods of any kind. They ate real food. So I try to eat real food too.

What's on your Healthy Foods List?
 
This is part of Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, and Fight Back Friday.

Pregnancy Food Diary: Twenty-Seven Weeks

For this week's installment of my Pregnancy Food Diary, I'm sharing with you one good day and one bad day.

The bad day was not bad because I ate junk food. It was bad because I didn't listen to my body enough, and I didn't eat enough. And during pregnancy (and breastfeeding) if I don't eat enough it's hard to catch up. I ran errands which took longer than I thought they would, and by the time I got home I was so hungry that I had painful gas bubbles (this happens to me when my stomach is empty) and then had to eat quickly before going to teach dance classes in the evening. Not cool.

So here's the bad day:

Breakfast: Two pieces of quiche with bacon and spinach, kombucha
Lunch: Haitian bean sauce over soaked cornmeal, mashed sweet potatoes with butter and cinnamon, salad with homemade creamy Italian dressing and avocado
Snack: Dry Ezekial cereal (starving, on my way home from the store)
Dinner: A little bit of leftover mac and cheese with greens and hot dogs, more Ezekial cereal with milk and banana
Snack: Yogurt with homemade granola

I had a couple little bits of meat, but I don't think it was enough. I'm learning that some meat every day, or a couple times a day, is a very good thing for me. My dinner was heavy on the grains and diary, but not much other protein. I also missed my morning snack which I think set off a chain reaction of hunger throughout the day. Here's the breakdown in servings (recommended amounts are in ():

Protein: 3 (4)

Eggs: 1 (2)

Dairy: 2.5 (4) 

Butter: 2 (3)
Whole Grains: 4 (2)
Refined Grains: 0 (0)
Veggies: 3 (3-4)
Greens: 2 (2)

Fruit: 1 (1)
Citrus: 0 (1)

Probiotic Foods: 4 (4) 

So I was short on protein,  eggs, dairy, and butter. And I felt awful.

Now here's the good day:

Breakfast: two eggs, a couple slices of bacon, and some broccoli, sourdough toast with butter, kombucha, half an orange
Snack: soaked cornmeal mush with butter, maple syrup, raw milk, flax seed, and banana
Lunch: quesadilla (cheese on a sprouted flour tortilla) with bean sauce and sour cream
Snack: krautburger (ground beef, cabbage, and onion), sourdough toast with butter, pregnancy tea
Dinner: Salsa chicken and black bean soup, guacamole, tortilla chips
Dessert: impossible sourdough brownie, raspberry sauce, vanilla ice cream
Snack: More brownie with raspberry sauce and a glass of milk

In servings: 

Protein: 4.5 (4)

Eggs: 3 (2)

Dairy: 3 (4) 

Butter: 3 (3)
Whole Grains: 5 (2)
Refined Grains: 0 (0)
Veggies: 4 (3-4)
Greens: 1 (2)

Fruit: 2 (1)
Citrus: 1 (1)

Probiotic Foods: 4 (4)

Notice that it looks a lot more like a bunch of small meals instead of three meals and snacks. I've been finding that my schedule teaching dance around dinner time works a lot better if I eat several small meals instead of scarfing a lot of food before I teach, or waiting until afterwards and being starving. This day was not a day that I was teaching dance, but I think my body does better on several smaller meals anyway. If I have several meals, instead of "meals" and "snacks" I tend to eat more protein and never reach the point of painful hunger. It has also helped with my insatiable hunger at night. There have been so many nights this pregnancy in which I lie down to go to sleep, only to hear my stomach rumble! (We've talked about putting a mini-fridge in our bedroom.) It is so frustrating! So I am trying to eat a good bedtime snack or mini-meal to keep that from happening.

Now I'm off to have second breakfast!

This is part of Monday Mania,  Real Food Wednesday, and Healthy2Day Wednesday.

Pregnancy Food Diary: Twenty-Six Weeks

Get ready. This week's installment of my Pregnancy Food Diary is epic. I'm sharing with you EVERYTHING that I ate last week, Monday through Sunday. If you don't want to read it all feel free to just click on the links for recipes or more information.

Since I'm sharing so many days of food with you, I left out the number of servings for each food group. Instead, I'd like to point out a few things you might notice if you read what I ate.

What you'll notice about my diet...

1. I eat a lot of eggs. We went through four dozen eggs last week. That's a lot, even for us. Fried eggs, eggs in oatmeal, quiche, eggs Benedict, egg salad...we love our eggs. And our eggs love us back. They are an inexpensive source of complete animal protein, and full of nutrients important for a growing baby, such as choline.

2. I don't skimp on fat. You know I'm not afraid of fat. Especially saturated fats like pastured butter and unrefined coconut oil. Read this if you think I'm crazy. Here's a snippet:

"Human beings have been consuming saturated fats from animals products, milk products and the tropical oils for thousands of years; it is the advent of modern processed vegetable oil that is associated with the epidemic of modern degenerative disease, not the consumption of saturated fats."

3. I've been getting in two or three servings of leafy greens every day! That was one of my food goals a few weeks ago. Having salad greens washed and ready to eat, along with homemade salad dressing, makes that a lot easier. I also put store-bought frozen spinach (the kind that's not in a giant block) into my smoothies sometimes. And I try to throw greens in anywhere else I can. I colored all my greens green so you can easily see how I fit them in. :)

4. I eat a lot of whole grains, but they are almost all soaked, sprouted, or soured.  I've been encouraged lately by Anne Marie of Cheeseslave.com that grains are not as bad as some people say. She has seen improvement in her health since increasing her grain intake. But grains need special preparation to be nutritious, and eating too many unsoaked, sprouted, or soured whole grains can cause nutrient deficiencies. You'll see a lot of references to sourdough bread any other baked goods made with sourdough. I've provided the link to the recipe if one exists for free online, but some recipes are only found in the GNOWFGLINS sourdough e-course or e-book.

Here goes...

Monday
Breakfast: soaked steel cut oatmeal with an egg, butter, raw milk, cinnamon, coconut, flax seed, raisins, and maple syrup
Lunch: a little tuna on homemade sunflower and flaxseed crackers, leftover chili over brown rice pasta, a sourdough corn muffin with honey and butter, mixed green salad with hard boiled egg, avocado, cheddar cheese, toasted almonds, and homemade vinaigrette
Snack: a multigrain bagel with cream cheese and decaf coffee with half-and-half (I went to a coffee shop for a little me-time)
Dinner: homemade pizza on sourdough crust with homemade sauce, lots of veggies, and cheese, mixed greens salad with homemade dressing
Snack: fruit smoothie containing banana, blueberries, spinach, yogurt, cottage cheese, and raw milk

Tuesday
Breakfast: soaked steel cut oatmeal with an egg, butter, raw milk, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Vanilla Rooibos with raw milk and honey
Lunch: open face sandwiches on homemade sourdough bread with ham, cheese, and fried eggs. Mixed greens salad with homemade vinaigrette, almonds and feta
Snack: Decaf coffee with rice milk (at a friends house)
Dinner: white bean and vegetable soup (I added cabbage and kale), sourdough bread with butter
Snack: fruit smoothie with frozen banana, peanut butter, carob power, yogurt, cottage cheese, raw milk, and coconut oil

Wednesday
Breakfast: Two scrambled eggs with scallions and cheese, sourdough english muffin with butter, kombucha, homemade yogurt with homemade peach sauce
Lunch: Egg salad with homemade mayonnaise, buttered sourdough english muffin, mixed greens
Snack: Homemade granola bar with raw milk, half a grapefruit
Dinner:  Leftover white bean and vegetable soup, sourdough bread with butter, mixed greens salad with avocado and creamy italian dressing (from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook)

Snack: sourdough bread with peanut butter and honey, milk, a few bites of cheese 

Thursday
Breakfast: French Toast Fritatta cooked in coconut oil, topped with butter and maple syrup, milk, half an orange, pregnancy tea
Lunch: Egg salad, sourdough toast, white bean and veggie soup, kombucha
Snack: Half-caff coffee (1/2 a cup) with whole milk, impossible sourdough brownie
Dinner: Creamy Lemon Pepper Chicken, Golden Carrot Bake, mixed greens salad with creamy Italian dressing
Dessert: impossible sourdough brownie, milk

Friday 
(woke up starving at 3 AM, whole family couldn't fall back to sleep at 5 AM, so I made breakfast and then we all went back to bed for a couple hours)

Breakfast: Eggs Benedict with ham and greens on a buttered sourdough english muffin, kombucha
Snack: Sourdough toast with peanut butter and homemade jam, black tea with milk and honey, several green olives stuffed with garlic
Lunch: leftover chicken and rice, steamed broccoli, homemade applesauce
Snack: Raw milk and two pieces of the impossible sourdough brownie, a few bites of apple
Dinner: a burrito from Qdoba - steak, beans, fajita veggies, pico de gallo, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole
Snack: Rice Pudding (very lightly sweetened)

Saturday
Breakfast: one fried egg with Hollandaise sauce and greens on sprouted toast with butter, kombucha, vanilla rooibos with milk, rice pudding 
Snack: cinnamon scone from a local bakery (a treat from the chiropractor's office), glass of raw milk
Lunch: grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cottage cheese, apple slices
Dinner: Shepherd's Pie, salad with almonds, carrot, and vinaigrette, homemade sourdough bread with butter
Dessert: vanilla ice cream with local strawberries
Snack: Raw milk with impossible sourdough brownie

Sunday
Breakfast: French toast on sprouted bread, cooked in coconut oil, with butter, maple syrup, and banana. Half-caff coffee with raw cream.
Lunch: Homemade Mac & Cheese with kale and hot dogs, salad with carrot, almonds, apple, and vinaigrette
Snack: kombucha, rice pudding, raw milk 
Dinner: Quiche with sourdough crust filled with spinach, bacon, and cheese
Snack: Plain yogurt with a bit of maple syrup 
 
Now you know what I REALLY eat. Is it perfect? No. But I'm doing the best I can on a limited budget and a tight schedule to fill this always-hungry stomach of mine and grow a healthy baby. In the end, I have to trust God for the health of my child, but I might as well eat the best I can, since I have to eat either way. :)

Are you pregnant? What are you eating to nourish yourself and your growing baby?

This is part of Monday Mania, Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, and Fight Back Friday.

Peach Coffeecake Muffins

I have some peaches in my freezer from 2009. I think. I froze a ton of them after going u-picking and just haven't gotten around to using all of them. Then I froze some more last summer. I just couldn't help myself.

So last week I made some of these:

They are a variation on this recipe that I posted last June. I can't decide if I like it better with peach or with rhubarb! I thought I'd post this peach-muffin version, even though it's February, for those of you who have some ancient frozen peaches that you'd like to get out of your freezer. I still have one more large container of the old ones, in addition to the newer ones...so I might be making it again soon. :)

Peach Coffeecake Muffins

(Adapted from King Arthur Whole Grain Baking)

Soaking step:

2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 c. buttermilk, sour milk, yogurt, or kefir

The next day:

1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. unrefined sea salt

1/2 c. butter, softened

2/3 c. sucanat (an unrefined cane sugar)

1 large egg

1 1/2 t. vanilla

2 c. chopped, peeled peaches (thawed and drained if frozen)

Topping:

2 T. butter, softened

1/3 c. sucanat

1 T. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 T. cinnamon

Method:

To soak, combine the whole wheat flour with cultured dairy and stir until evenly moistened. Cover with a damp towel and a plate and put in a warm place for 7-24 hours.

When you are ready to bake the muffins, preheat the oven to 350 and grease two muffin tins or line with paper liners. (Or make two 8 or 9 inch round coffeecakes.)

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl), cream together the butter and sucanat. It won't be as light and fluffy as you're used to with white/brown sugar.

Add the egg and beat to combine.

Add the soaked dough back and mix until there are no chunks of dough left. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the buttermilk.

Stir together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and add, mixing just until combined.

Add the peaches and stir to distribute. Fill the prepared pans, filling muffin cups 3/4 full. 

Prepare your topping: Mix together the softened butter, sucanat, flour, and cinnamon until evenly combined. Sprinkle over the batter. (It's very moist and doesn't "sprinkle" very well. Just drop little globs evenly over the muffins.

Bake for 15-25 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Don't be alarmed if the topping sinks into the batter as they bake. There will be bits of cinnamony goodness inside the muffin that way, which is almost better than on top. :)

I made some into a coffeecake, too. Yum!

This is part of Fight Back Friday.

Pregnancy Food Diary: Twenty Five Weeks + Pregnancy Tea Recipe

Every Monday, I post one day of my pregnancy food diary from the previous week. Go here to see all the previous posts!  

First, here's the recipe for the pregnancy tea I've been drinking. It was adapted from The Natural Pregnancy Book by Avivah Jill Romm. She has a few other herbs added to it, but I chose to keep it simple with the ones that I thought were most important.

I order my herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs. Your local health food store might also carry them. Red Raspberry is known for its uterine-toning capabilities (and I don't know about you, but I want a strong uterus when labor comes around!), and nettle and alfalfa are "blood-builders" according to my midwife. All the herbs are high in minerals like calcium, magnesium, and iron. The spearmint is added for flavor, since the other herbs mostly just taste kind of ....grassy. But with the spearmint in there I actually enjoy drinking it!

Nourishing Pregnancy Tea
 Ingredients:
2 Parts red raspberry leaf
2 parts nettle
1/2 part alfalfa
1/4 part spearmint 

Directions:
Combine All ingredients in bowl, stirring well, and transfer to a glass jar for storage. To brew, use 1/4 c. of the mixture to 4 cups water, let steep 20 minutes covered. I like to drink it iced. Store the leftover brewed tea in the refrigerator to drink whenever you think of it over the next two days. 

Notes:  
I brew mine in one of these inside a the teapot shown above, which holds about a quart. (And I heat my water up in this, the only electric tea kettle I could find without a plastic viewing window!)

I have seen other recipes with similar ingredients in different ratios, so I just estimate by handfuls and don't stress about getting it exact. Also, I have brewed it much longer (like, forgotten about it for hours) and it still tasted fine to me. 

And now the food diary...


Food Diary for Saturday, February 3

Breakfast: Two fried eggs cooked in coconut oil and homemade sourdough toast with butter, kombucha 
Lunch: Leftover majadra (rice, lentils and lots of spiced caramelized onions) with 1/2 a chicken sausage, mixed greens salad with homemade vinaigrette
Snack: Mostly decaf coffee with raw cream, a homemade granola bar, 1/2 an orange
Dinner: Homemade chili with grass-fed beef, kidney beans, homemade broth, tomatoes, and lots of veggies and spices, served over brown rice pasta topped with cheese and sour cream, with a sourdough corn muffin with butter and honey, and mixed greens salad with homemade vinaigrette, cashews, dried cherries, and feta
Snack: smoothie with banana, strawberries, cocoa powder, peanut butter, coconut oil, raw milk and homemade yogurt 

How did I do?

Protein: 4 (4)

Eggs: 2 (2)

Dairy: 2.5 (4) 

Butter: 3 (3)
Whole Grains: 4 (2)
Refined Grains: 0 (0)
Veggies: 3.5 (3-4)
Greens: 2 (2)

Fruit: 2 (1)
Citrus: .5 (1)

Probiotic Foods: 4 (4) 

(If you don't know where these numbers come from, visit the introduction to this series.)

This was a pretty good day! Next week, I'm going to TRY to post a my whole week's food diary, just to make sure I'm not picking only my best days to share with you. :)

Now I'm going to go make some pregnancy tea. It's been a few days!

 This is part of Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter Thursday and Simple Lives Thursday.

Adapting a Yeast Bread for Soaking

If you bake your own whole grain bread, you are already giving your family a great nutritional advantage over eating store-bought bread. Even organic, whole grain breads from the store almost always contain refined sugar, processed vegetable oils, and added gluten (which, I speculate, is one reason we are seeing such a rise in gluten intolerance in this country!). You can avoid those undesirable ingredients - and fill your house with the most glorious smell - by making your own bread at home.

I used to think that baking yeast bread was really difficult. It's true that there are many factors at play and that flops sometimes do happen, but it's definitely not the most complicated thing I've done in the kitchen. If you are afraid, just give it a try! You can start with my honey oatmeal bread recipe. If you're afraid to try on your own, ask a bread-making friend if you can come over and bake bread with them sometime! This was how I first learned how to make bread (thanks friend!).

Whole grain bread made at home does present us with an issue, though. Whole grains can cause vitamin deficiencies (which can lead to tooth decay and osteoporosis, among other things) if they are not properly prepared by soaking, sprouting, or souring. I think soaked yeast bread is the easiest of these to incorporate into your break-baking routine. We also love sourdough in our house, and we sometimes buy sprouted bread, but sometimes it is nice to be able to make a healthy bread without the fuss of a sourdough starter.

Why soak?
We've been told that whole grains are better for our health than refined grains. And it is true that they contain nutrients that are stripped away during the refining process. However, many of those nutrients are bound in a substance called phytic acid, which prevents our body from actually absorbing and using them. It doesn't matter what is in your food if your body can't use it! Grains also contain enzyme inhibitors that make then more difficult to digest. When you soak, sprout, or sour grains (as many traditional societies did), it neutralizes these substances and allows more of the nutrition from the grains to be used by our bodies. Some people have experienced quite a difference in how they feel after eating soaked whole grains vs. unsoaked whole grains. I choose to incorporate this practice into our lives as much as possible.

Is it hard?
Not all types of baked goods can be soaked, for example those that do not call for enough liquid to saturate the flour. In those cases it is best to use sprouted flour, which doesn't need to be soaked. Yeast bread is one example of a type of food that is easy to soak, because the amount of liquid called for easily moistens all the flour. So no, it is not hard! All it takes a little forethought, which is easy if you are already meal planning. I write down "soak bread" and "bake bread" right on my meal plan so I know when I'm going to do it. All you need is 7-24 hours between the soaking time and when you plan to mix, rise, and bake your dough.

Now get this: you don't need a special recipe for making soaked yeast bread. You can convert your favorite recipe following my method below.

Adapting Your Favorite Recipe for Soaking

Step one: Combine flour and liquid.

First, look at your recipe and find all whole grain flours and other whole grains. Add them to a mixing bowl. (My Honey Oatmeal Bread calls for 2 c. rolled oats, 2 c. wheat flour, and 2 c. white whole wheat flour.)

Then find out how much liquid - usually water or milk - it calls for. If you are not using instant yeast, leave out 1/4 c. of the liquid in order to dissolve the yeast when you are mixing the dough. Replace at least 1/4 c. of the remaining amount of liquid with cultured dairy such as whey, yogurt, buttermilk, or kefir. Gently warm the liquid (do not heat it to the temperature that would make your say "ouch!" because then you are killing the good bacteria in your cultured dairy). Add the liquid to your flours in the mixing bowl and mix thoroughly so that all the flour is moistened.
 (My Honey Oatmeal Bread calls for 2 1/2 c. of water. I leave out 1/4 c. of that for dissolving yeast, which brings me to 2 1/4 cups. I replace 1/4 c. with whey. So in all I am adding 2 c. of water and 1/4 c. of whey. The remaining 1/4 c. of water will be used to dissolve the yeast the next day.)

Note: if you do not find the amount of liquid sufficient to moisten all the dough, you may add some of the liquid sweetener or fat from the recipe at this point. Some suggest that sugars and fats inhibit the soaking process, so I choose to leave that out of the soaking step if possible.

Step two: Soak.
Cover the mixture with a plate or damp towel (or both) and leave it to soak in a warm place (such as next to the fridge or in the oven with the light on) for 7-24 hours. Warmth is important because phytic acid is best neutralized at warmer temperatures.

Step three: Mix the dough, etc.
After the soaking time, add the remaining ingredients to the soaked mixture. Be sure to dissolve the yeast in the 1/4 c. of liquid you left out of the soaked mixture, unless you are using instant yeast. Mix and knead the dough as usual, and continue on with your recipe!

Have you ever adapted a recipe - yeast bread or other - for soaking? Was it successful? I'd love to hear about it! 

This is part of Fight Back Friday, Monday Mania, Fat Tuesday, and Real Food Wednesday and Simple Lives Thursday.
 

Soaked Honey Oatmeal Bread

For a couple years, my husband and I, along with some good friends, led a mid-week prayer service for college students called Ruminate. As a symbol of how God's word feeds us, we baked bread every week to share together after the service. We switched it up once in awhile, but we almost always made this delicious Honey Oatmeal Bread. The original recipe comes from King Arthur Whole Grain Baking, but we adapted it to include more whole grains, and I also figured out this tasty soaked version!

This also happens to be my husband's favorite bread recipe. When I ask him what kind of bread I should bake, he always says "You know my answer: the Ruminate bread." :)

Adapting a yeast bread recipe for soaking is really quite simple. I'm going to share that method with you soon, so you can turn your favorite whole grain yeast bread into a healthier, soaked yeast bread!

(confused about soaking grains? Check out this helpful post.)

This recipe makes two loaves. I don't go through the effort of baking bread unless I can make at least two at a time. I haven't ever made more than two of this recipe, since my Kitchen Aid can't handle much more than that. If you have a Bosch mixer, I'm sure you could double this and make four loaves at a time.

It is not 100% whole grain. It's more like 80%. But it balances the fine line between hearty and light that is sure to please normal people and whole grain lovers alike. It has a slightly craggy, soft texture from the oats and a delicious sweetness from the honey. I recommend slicing it while it's still warm and slathering it with butter. It also makes kick-butt French Toast. Oh my.

Soaked Honey Oatmeal Bread
(makes two loaves)

1) The night before you want to bake, combine in the bowl of your mixer:

2 c. rolled oats
2 c. whole wheat flour
2 c. white whole wheat flour
2 c. warm water or half water and half milk
1/4 c. whey, yogurt, buttermilk, or kefir

Mix until evenly moistened. Cover with a plate and let soak 7-24 hours.

2) After the mixture has soaked, combine in a small bowl:

4 t. yeast
1/4 c. slightly warm water

Stir gently to dissolve the yeast. (It doesn't need to bubble, just dissolve. If you have instant yeast, skip this step and just add the yeast to the bowl of your mixer. You can either add the 1/4 c. water at that point, or add it to the soaked mixture the night before.)

3) When the yeast is mostly dissolved, add it to the bowl of your mixer, and add the remaining ingredients:

1/2 c. honey
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 t. salt
1 1/3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 c. ground flax seeds (opt.)

4) Knead in your mixer until all ingredients are fully incorporated and the dough has a soft, stretchy texture. Only add more flour if it is really wet, but be patient, because it usually absorbs the moisture by the end of the kneading time. I do the windowpane test to know if it's done being kneaded: remove a small piece of dough and stretch it gently until you can see light through it. If it breaks before it gets to that point, knead it for a couple more minutes. Grease the bowl and let the dough rise for 1 hour or until it is about doubled in bulk.

5) After the dough has risen, grease two loaf pans (I like to use butter wrappers that have a little butter left on them). Gently deflate the dough and shape it into two log shapes the length of your loaf pans. Place the dough in the pans and cover with a clean, moist towel (I wet a towel with warm water and ring it out thoroughly). Allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until it is an inch or two above the rim of the pan. Toward the end of that time, preheat the oven to 350.

6) Place the loaves in the hot oven and bake for 45 minutes, covering with foil after 20 minutes (don't skip this - it will get too dark!). To find out if it's done, stick in an instant read thermometer and make sure it's at least 190 degrees. (No more underdone bread! Yay!) Take it out of the oven and, after a minute or so,  remove it from the pans to a cooling rack. Let it cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing. The longer you wait the easier it will be to cut, but it is oh-so-yummy while it's still warm!


If you try this recipe, or have a favorite soaked yeast bread recipe, I'd love to hear your feedback!

 

This is part of Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, and Pennywise Platter Thursday.