Nutritional Value of Fresh-Milled Whole Wheat Bread

Nonnieb asked me how she could explain the nutritional value of bread made with fresh-milled flour. I don't have a lot of time to research at the moment, but I did take a few minutes to see if I could find any good articles online. Here's what I found. I hope this helps you explain to your family why fresh-milled flour is better. Obvious reasons include:

-no bleaching
-no additives, preservatives, anti-mold agents etc...
-no irradiation treatment (that keeps critters out of flour that is stored for a long time)
-fresh, full vitamin, mineral, oil and fiber benefits of the entire wheat berry

For more info, check out:

-The Great Grain Robbery
-Health Banquet
-Nurture Wise

I hope this helps Nonnieb!

Julie-Anne :)

Leftover Fresh-Milled Flour

I finally have a mill now. I've been enjoying baking bread and other goodies with my fresh-milled wheat flour! I often have about 1 to 2 cups of flour left over after my batch of bread is made. So, I thought I would share with you 2 great recipes I make to use up the extra flour. If you don't have time to bake anything else the same day you have milled your wheat flour, remember to place it in the fridge so that it doesn't lose its nutrients quickly. Nutrients in fresh-milled flour have a short shelf life when left out at room temperature. That's why they ENRICH flour we find in the stores. Enjoy these recipes!

Oatmeal Fruit Cookies:
Recipe adapted from "Simply in Season" by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert
I LOVE this recipe book and highly recommend it!

1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sugar (I use 1/2 cup honey instead)
2 tablespoons mild molasses or honey
Cream together these ingredients in a large bowl (I do it by hand but the recipe suggests using an electric mixer).

1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
Beat in.

2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (this is where I use my leftover fresh-milled flour)
1 to 1 1/2 cups dried fruit; cherries, blueberries, apricots, raisins, cranberries, currants etc...(I have used a combination of fresh and dried fruits/berries also but our favourite is just raisins).
1 cup grated coconut or chopped nuts
1 teaspoon baking soda
Combine these dry ingredients in a seperate bowl. Add creamed mixture into dry mixture in 3 additions, stirring just until thoroughly mixed. Add a little extra flour if too wet. Drop by rounded teaspoons on greased/lined baking sheets.

For chewy cookies: 325 F for 18-20 minutes; place cookies in air-tight container after cooling.
For crisp cookies: 375 F for 11-13 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe adapted from "Pillsbury: The Complete Book of Baking"
Fresh-milled whole wheat flour adds a healthful touch to these all-time favourites!

1/2 cup sugar (I use only 1/3 cup of sugar or 1/4 cup honey)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar (I use 1/3 cup of sugar or 1/4 cup honey)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter (I use less butter and up to 1 cup of peanut butter~the natural kind containing peanuts only!)
2 tablespoons of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup flour (I use my leftover fresh-milled whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Sugar

In large bowl, beat sugars and butter until light and fluffy. Add peanut butter, milk, vanilla and egg. Blend well. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Shape into 1 inch balls and flatten with fork dipped in sugar. Bake at 375 F on ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart, for 10 - 12 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and cool.

Enjoy!

Taking the HEAVY out of bread!

A long time ago, I promised to share some of my bread baking secrets! This blog has been sorely neglected and I was recently asked how to make a "fluffy" loaf of bread with freshly milled wheat flour. To seasoned bread bakers, these tips may not be anything new. But, they have really helped me have more success in baking bread, especially with freshly milled wheat flour. I should mention that I finally got myself a mill! An electric Nutri-Mill for now. One day I would still like to have a stone mill.

-First, I use this recipe most often for my bread (whether white or whole wheat). I have adapted it just a little. I use honey (1/3 cup) instead of white sugar as much as I can. And, I usually double the recipe and freeze 2 shaped dough loaves (before the second rise) so that I can thaw and bake them within a couple of days.
-I add 1/4 cup of gluten flour to give my fresh milled whole wheat flour bread more RISING POWER.
-I never use as much flour as the recipe calls for. My dough is never stiff. It's usually a little flimsy. But, this makes my fresh milled whole wheat bread more fluffy.
-I knead my dough a little after the first rise to shape my loaves. If I roll out the dough and then roll up the dough into a "loaf" shape, I find that this takes the "umph" out of the second rise...but more so when baking with fresh milled flour.
-I give my dough plenty of rising time (both times around). I make sure there are no drafts. However, the opposite is true. If it's too warm, I find this exhausts the yeast. I read about a tip in one of my cook books. To rise your dough, place a bowl of hot steaming water on the bottom rack of your oven (make sure your oven is turned OFF) and place your bowl with the dough (covered with a cloth) on the top rack. It creates optimal rising conditions both for the dough and the loaves. However, I find the dough rises MUCH faster and again, if I leave it too long, my yeast becomes exhausted or worse, my loaves end up collapsing.

I hope this helps! If anyone is actually visiting this semi-dormant blog (sorry) and has more tips on getting a fluffy loaf of fresh milled whole wheat bread, please post a comment.

Thanks!

Celebrating the Sabbath with Bread!

"And the Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a habitable land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan." Exodus 13:65 AMP

Inspired by an article in Above Rubies, my husband and I decided to observe the Sabbath or Shabbat meal by integrating some Jewish traditions. It's such a wonderful tradition. The day before the Sabbath is preparation day and is typically a day of cooking and baking for this special meal at the start of the Sabbath. All the food for the Sabbath is prepared the day before. At this meal, the husband speaks a blessing over his wife and children. It is such a joy to see my children's faces light up (even my toddler) when Daddy speaks good things to them and about them and over them. It is such a blessing to have food ready for the Sabbath so that Mom can truly rest also!

Bread is often an important part of culture and celebration. The French have their baguettes, the Italians their crusty breads, the Finnish have their pulla, a sweet egg bread with cardomon spice. I love to bake bread, as this blog proclaims, and so, when we began celebrating the sabbath meal, I was so excited to try the Challah bread that is traditionally baked for this meal. You can find the recipe I used at haydid.org but there are lots of recipes online. It is basically a mildly sweet egg bread that is braided and looks spectacular at any table!!

The Challah bread represents the manna the Israelites received in the desert (some add poppy seeds or sesame seeds as a representation of the manna). Before eating, the bread is covered with a cloth to represent the dew that fell bringing the Israelites the manna. "And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell with it. " Numbers 11:9. And, typically 2 loaves are baked to represent the DOUBLE PORTION of manna the Israelites received before the Sabbath so they could rest on the Sabbath. Each of the 2 Challah bread loaves is usually braided (plaited) in 6 braids to represent the 12 tribes of Israel. One website explained the braiding this way: "The braided challot reminds us of the unity of Israel, and also links us to the Temple, which our own dinner table today symbolizes the altar."

Challah bread reminds us of manna, and therefore is a bread of PROVISION. But, it also reminds us of the Bread of Life, God's Word and is therefore a bread of RELATIONSHIP and PRESERVATION. Deutoronomy 8:3 says "And He humbled you and allowed you to hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you recognize and personally know that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord." Challah bread is braided, making it a bread of UNITY!

Some say a picture is worth a thousand words, I say a loaf of bread is worth a thousand lessons in God's Word!! For more information on the Shabbat meal, check Above Rubies for Nancy Campbell's articles or Google it!

Julie-Anne :)

Double-batchin' it!

This is a recent batch of bread I made. I've decided to double-batch it! It's easier and I freeze extra loaves for the week. My husband got me looong loaf pans and I love them! The outside loaves are made in those! I got a little artistic and carved out some designs during the second rise in the pans! The other quarter of the dough was turned into buns... which are oh so difficult to shape! The standard recipe I use is an Amish White Bread recipe I found at allrecipes.com. I substitute sugar with honey and I often mix in some whole wheat flour. I've used this recipe to make 100% whole wheat. I LOVE the method of proofing your yeast in warm water mixed with honey/sugar. I always adapt any yeast bread recipe to use that method! Still, I am trying to acquire a grain mill and hoping to really experiment with fresh-milled whole-wheat flour!

Julie-Anne

M(i)lling over some things:

There it sits. Over 300 lbs of wheat. It all started when I read about the health benefits of milling your own flour for baking bread and other goodies. I knew I needed to find some wheat and a home flour mill to grind it! I found a local farmer who sold me over 300 lbs of wheat. If you're thinking, hmmm, that sounds like a lot of wheat, you are beginning to gain insight into my personality! And, being the adventurous type who dives in with both feet, it would not have been right to come home with a pound less! I did get a chance to try baking with it when I borrowed an old flour mill from my in-laws. It was amazing and inspiring. My neighbours began asking to buy flour from me and I have people waiting to buy bread. Alas, that mill was a temporary loan and I am desperately trying to find a good flour mill (preferably stone) for a great price. I have lost 2 heartbreaking auctions on e-bay for mills since.

For more info on fresh ground flour and the problems with commercial flours and breads read this PUBLICATION by McGill University (Montreal, Canada) or Google it!

Here's an excerpt from the McGill Publication:


"Many factors affect the nutritional quality of bread. Consumers need to be aware of these to make wise choices as they decide upon purchasing breads, so as not to deceive themselves. It is advisable to avoid refined, bleached flour, even if it is enriched, and to chose whole wheat flour. However, store-bought whole wheat flour is likely to be void of the germ and a part of the bran, in which the nutrients are most concentrated. Also, it is usually treated with the same chemical improvers as white flour, and may have been irradiated. Only organic, stone-ground, whole wheat flour can be complete and untreated by chemicals. To obtain maximal nutrition from bread, a traditional sourdough bread is best, since the mineral-binding phytates have undergone more breakdown and have freed minerals, so that they may be absorbed. The mineral and vitamin content may also be enhanced with other ingredients that also add variety. For better utilization of the protein in bread, it should be consumed in combination with complementary proteins, which are better sources of the limiting amino acid - Iysine - in wheat. Examples are milk products, nuts, legumes, meat or fish. The protein quality of bread itself may be enhanced by adding soya flour since it is made from a legume."

The following comment on the soya flour addition was made by my close and knowledgeable friend: "The only problem with that article is that new research shows soy to be a low grade food with estrogen in it - bad especially for men and causes imbalances in women. It can also affect fertility. So I would prefer to add a different flour or add flax seed/meal or sunflowers to my bread to enhance the protein." For more info, visit the Soy Online Service or Google it!

However, this publication is, for the most part, extremely informative and important in understanding "bread" health!

ps. if you can help me in my search for a flour mill, let me know!!

The Quest for the Perfect Loaf!

It's been two months since we've bought any bread from the store (with the exception of one package of sausage buns). My husband laughs and calls any store-baked goods CONTRABAND! The kids are really enjoying the home-baked goods I am making. There is a revolution going on in my kitchen. And, the home-baked bread is a big part of it! Of course, my "white" breads are always a hit. I just have to find a convincing recipe of whole wheat bread. When I started baking bread, my goal was (and still is) to mill my own flour. I bought over 300 lbs of wheat in faith! I borrowed an old stone mill and began learning to bake with fresh milled wheat flour. Fresh milled flour in whole wheat bread is delicious and extremely nutritious. It was easier to convince my family to eat that whole wheat bread. But, that mill began to burn my wheat and before I damaged the borrowed mill, I returned it to its owner. I am still looking for my own flour mill. In the meantime, I have been using enriched flour (white and whole wheat) for all my breadmaking. The recipe I used today seems to be the fluffiest whole grain bread recipe to date. It uses whole wheat flour, white flour, ground flax seeds and other seeds. I usually omit all of the seeds except I occasionally add the whole flax seeds in addition to the ground flax seeds (flax meal). This recipe is at the bottom of this post. These days, my kitchen is a busy and warm place... full of life! I feel so blessed. I am learning so much and some tips I have tried I will use for life and others I will leave behind. More on that later.

Whole Wheat Flax Bread

3 cups warm water
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
Combine in a mixing bowl and stir until dissolved. Set aside until bubbly. 5 mins.

3 cups whole wheat bread flour
3 tablespoons honey (note: I find dissolving the honey in the warm water at the beginning to
help activate the yeast works best)
3 tablespoons oil
Add and stir until smooth

2-3 cups bread flour (I use the all-purpose I have on hand)
1 1/2 cup flax seed meal
1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 teaspoons salt (I have put a heaping tablespoon of salt because it turns out quite sweet).
1/3 cup flax seeds
Add, stirring in enough flour to make a stiff, smooth dough. Knead about 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turn to grease both sides, cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, divide in half, let rest 5 minutes, shape into round loaves and place on a greased baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise again about 1 hour. Bake in pre-heated oven at 375 F for 30 minutes. (I usually use loaf pans and never tried the cornmeal or any of the seeds except flax seeds. Also, I usually knead slightly as I shape into loaves and I find this helps with the second rising).

Source: Simply in Season: A World Community Cookbook. Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert. Herald Press: 2005.