Wheat alternatives

[karen]

the reluctance to give up wheat is pretty much the reason i am still plagued by this i think, and i believe this is just the external manifestation of me being reluctant to let myself heal.

 

I'd suggest that that reluctance may itself be ready to be healed.

 

There are two good alternatives to wheat, both really yummy -- almond flour bread and chebe bread. They're both unyeasted.

 

Almond flour breads have the crumbly texture of corn bread, not exactly like wheat bread, but far better than those awful gluten-free breads made from rice flour and gums.

 

It needs to be made from finely ground almonds, but I find it easier to buy the flour already ground. I've made excellent cookies with almond flour, butter, honey, ginger and cinnamon, nothing else.

 

Chebe bread is made from manioc (tapioca) and is a traditional Brazilian bread. The manioc has a natural doughiness similar to gluten but without gluten, so no extra gummy stuff is needed to fix the texture. I make it into long baguettes, very easy to make.

 

There are chebe bread mixes available in the U.S., although I don't know about elsewhere. Otherwise, it can be made from scratch, and there are recipes online.

 

Karen

[neimad]

thank you karen

 

although.... honey is off for the moment too.

 

i'm liking very minimal grains at the moment (the past two days the only thing close to grains is potatoes that i've had).

 

but when i let myself go a bit more, i'll get into some millett too.... good grain cos of it's high protein content and is also alkalising on the body.

 

but yeah, almond flour cookies, VERY good idea for the future.

 

 

and yes that reluctance is definately ready to be healed. i just realised something very interesting.... about 5 or 6 days ago i started this energy balancing exercise before sleeping (it whacked me out for a couple of days, was weird) but it was a few days after doing this exercise that i suddenly got a great urge to really heal myself. then all the resources and information to enable what i think is a very effective plan of action came together really quickly.

 

all just a lovely balancing thing

[sean]

Almond flour breads have the crumbly texture of corn bread, not exactly like wheat bread, but far better than those awful gluten-free breads made from rice flour and gums.

Karen, when you say awful, do you mean nutritionally, or just taste wise. I'm just curious because I found a rice bread that I actually like the taste of and now I'm wondering if it's got too much crap in it or something.

[neimad]

Karen, when you say awful, do you mean nutritionally, or just taste wise. I'm just curious because I found a rice bread that I actually like the taste of and now I'm wondering if it's got too much crap in it or something.

 

check for soy based emulsifiers or anything else soy.... those things are no good and have no place in any of our food!

 

 

p.s. here is my new fantastic morning tea snack: celery stick with tahini

[karen]

Hi Sean,

 

I haven't looked at the labels on those products in a long time.. but neimad's right, soy is ubiquitous and is probably in there in some form, also MSG is ubiquitous in packaged foods under many other names. If you want to post the ingredient list, we could take a look.

 

Guar gum or xanthan gums can be problematic for some people to digest, although I wouldn't be too concerned if you seem okay with it. With rice flour they need to add something gummy to make it stick together.

 

Some people do well with Essene or Ezekiel bread even though it's wheat, because it's sprouted, and that neutralizes the phytates. But I don't digest that well, and I like the breads that are made from flour. It's not an ideal food by any means, but a reasonable treat, I think.

 

Where you draw the line, I think depends on whether you're using food as medicine. In my view, diet doesn't need to be radical if it's not being used as medicine, that is, if you're using proper medicine as medicine .

 

But before I had that, I needed to do radical diets like Aajonus' Primal diet, the Optimal Nutrition diet, Body Typing diet, etc. I still incorporate the principles of those to a certain degree, but don't need to be as strict about it.

 

Karen

[neimad]

there is one guy i met who has just opened a cafe....

 

he is doing amazing things with sprouted grains.

 

for example at this seminar the other week (he is running a sydney version of a group called 'freedom force' trying to get our freedoms back from the government-corporate-media-military conglomerate that now virtually runs our lives... but anyway) he made HEALTHY sausage rolls.... yummm!!!

 

slow cooked lamb mixed with sprouted grains (i think barley and rye) and the pastry was made from sprouted barley that was then milled into flour.

 

mmmmm *drools* i could go some of them right now.

 

he's got a pie shop, unfortunately it's the other side of sydney, but i'd so love to try a pie.... pies are my favorite, and to be able to eat a healthy one.... that would be incredible.

[sean]

I haven't looked at the labels on those products in a long time.. but neimad's right, soy is ubiquitous and is probably in there in some form, also MSG is ubiquitous in packaged foods under many other names. If you want to post the ingredient list, we could take a look.

Thanks Karen. You are an encyclopedia. I really need to utilize your consulting services on the phone one of these days. Get a better direction for my diet and nutrition. I will check out almond flour bread and chebe bread next time I'm at Whole Foods.

 

Sean

[karen]

Thanks Karen. You are an encyclopedia. I really need to utilize your consulting services on the phone one of these days. Get a better direction for my diet and nutrition. I will check out almond flour bread and chebe bread next time I'm at Whole Foods.

 

Sean

 

Great. I'm not doing phone consults, but prefer email so that I don't have scheduled appointments to stick to . I find that format works well, especially since I tend to be more concise and organized in writing! But sometimes a phone or Skype check-in works.

 

Re. bread, I don't know of any commercial breads made with almond flour, but making it yourself from scratch is easy. If you look for almond flour in Whole Foods, make sure it's finely ground, or grind it yourself. I recently got some coarsely ground almond flour that was more like chopped almonds. I figured it would just come out a little chewier.

 

Well, the cookies came out more like granola! Tasted fine (can't go wrong with almonds, butter and honey), but sometimes you want a cookie and not granola .

 

I'll post some recipes here soon.

 

Chebe bread mixes come out amazing. If you're okay with cheese, adding a little grated parmesan to it is even more amazing, but it's fine without that.

 

-Karen