Firstly, thank you for all of the wonderful and insightful comments from my post yesterday on vegetarianism and veganism and whether it can be helpful or harmful. I also wanted to I wanted to address a few questions that were asked and assure all vegetarians and vegans reading my blog that I fully support any lifestyle choices people make. It is simply my role as a dietitian to educate people on choosing their foods most wisely. Hence, Prevention RD 😉
Marisa of Loser from Life had a very good point: vegetarian and vegan diets are not designed to be weight loss diets. I believe it has become somewhat “trendy” in the weight loss world to seek out vegetarian and vegan diets to promote weight loss. There is “healthy” junk is any diet you choose, sorry. A diet that produces safe weight loss will meet all macro and micronutrient needs while creating a calorie deficit, best achieved when calorie restriction and exercise are combined.
Gina, a fellow RD and friend, made a great point about deficient EPA and DHA in vegan and vegetarian diets. Omega-3’s now have set DRI’s and are considered essential for optimal health. While these nutrients are found in flax, canola oil, and several other vegetarian/vegan sources, the best sources are from fatty fish. It is important to recognize that vegetarians (and vegans) have noted lower EPA/DHA levels when compared to non-vegetarians [1].
Samantha had a great question about meat and dairy drawing calcium out of bones. The American Dietetic Association had a fabulous quote that read, “Diets high in meat, fish, dairy, nuts, and grains produce a high renal load, mainly due to sulfate and phosphate residues. Calcium resorption from bone helps to buffer this acid load, resulting in increased urinary loss of calcium” [1]. It is important to take away that there are multiple foods that can increase urinary loss of calcium, and they are from meat/dairy and grain sources alike.
As for iron, there are multiple foods that interfere with iron absorption, including spinach, greens, milk, dairy, eggs, coffee, tea, cocoa, beans, and fiber (slightly). It should also be mentioned that iron recommendations for vegetarians are 1.8x that of a non-vegetarian.
[1]. American Dietetic Association. The Position of the American Dietetic Association: Vegetarian Diets. July 2009; Vol. 109, No. 7.
And just like yesterday, let’s get to the GRUB already! 😉
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Soft and Sweet Homemade, Whole Grain Sandwich Bread adapted from food.com as seen on Get Healthy with Heather
1 3/8 cups hot water
1/6 cup olive oil
1/6 cup honey
1 Tbsp molasses
1 tsp sea salt
3 1/2 cups of 100% whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp dry active yeast
Directions:
Place the first five ingredients in the bowl of your standing mixer and stir together. Add 1 cup of flour (this will cool the water and end up with warm dough but not too hot to instantly kill the yeast). Mix with the bread hook then add the yeast. Add 2 cups of flour.
Mix until the consistency is some what even. You may have to knock the flour off the side of the bowl for the hook to catch it. Continue to slowly add the remaining flour until the dough quits sticking to the sides of the bowl. The dough should be tacky to the touch. The trick is to have enough consistency to stand up with the least amount of flour so the bread will be fluffy. It will most likely be 3 1/4 cups but in any case do not exceed 3 3/4 cups of flour. Don’t over mix or the bread will be tough.
When your dough is finished, leave it in the mixer, cover the bowl and let it rise for about 45 minutes. The dough will be larger but it doesn’t need to double.
Coat a bread pan with olive oil spray. You can also flour the pans to reduce sticking.
Punch the dough down at least close to the original size. Drop the dough on a floured surface so you can work the dough and shape it. Shape it with your hands to make a nice ball getting enough flour on it so it isn’t sticky. Shape the loaf by turning the dough under itself over and over. When the dough is shaped the sides and ends will be sealed and all you will see is a nice oblong shaped loaf with smooth sides and top. Drop the loaves in your bread pan, cover and let it rise until almost doubled (about 60 minutes).
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for 30-35 minutes.
When the bread is done, turn it out of the pan to a rack to cool. You can eat it right away. Don’t wrap it until completely cooled. Store in a brown paper bag inside a zip lock bag on the counter. Yield: 1 loaf, 12 slices.
Nutrition Information (per slice): 164 calories; 3.6 g. fat; 0 mg. cholesterol; 194 mg. sodium; 29.6 g. carbohydrate; 3.5 g. fiber; 4.7 g. protein
Result: Delicious! I was super impressed with this whole wheat bread! I don’t usually bake with all whole wheat flour because the end product always ends up dense and dry. But not this bread! The olive oil, honey, and molasses keep the bread light and moist! Yum! Enjoy!
[/print_this]With this bread, we made simple turkey and Swiss sandwiches with a slather of Edamame Guacamole instead of mayonnaise. DELICIOUS!
Question: What’s your favorite kind of bread?
I don’t think anything beats a warm sourdough!
Carb-loving,
Wow, the shape of your loaf is SO perfect! When I bake yeast bread my loaves and bread slices always come out a little lop-sided… 🙂 I’m super impressed with your gorgeous loaf! 🙂
I love homemade bread! Especially the smell when its cooking. Looks delicious 🙂
Thanks for the great information you provide, Nicole! And the delicious recipes! I never met a bread I didn’t like. This one looks amazing!
Great recipe, I’m going to try it tomorrow. As for my favorite bread it would have to be cheesy beer bread. I use the recipe found here ( http://www.frenchietbd.com/2010/02/weaknessescheesy-beer-bread.html ). although I tend to add more cheese than the recipe calls for, it’s excellent with sharp cheddar and using Busch(because it’s so cheap and has just the right amount of flavor) for the beer. I tried Guinness for a dark beer bread but it wasn’t as good.
That loaf is picture perfect! Fav kind is anything homemade:)
Mmm I bet this smelled absolutely delicious baking in the oven! I need to start making bread more often!! Somehow I’m always baking sweet treats 😉
I have never had any luck baking with ww flour either, but your bread turned out perfect. I will give this a try!
Just finished baking my bread, and it turned out great. Thanks for two great recipes this week (buffalo wings and bread)!
I agree, nothing beats sourdough!
I need to go back and read that position paper. Today I’m going to write my protein portion of my e-book, and I will have to take a look at that article, as I know it will have some great info. I am so sick of hearing people ask me about “acid load” from protein. I mean come on, if you eat too much protein, it’s not good, PERIOD! But that’s true with anything…if you eat too much fiber it’s not good either.
The bread (and entire freaking SANDWICH!) looks amazing. It’s definitely Northstar Cafe style! I can see this on their menu in the future 🙂
Thanks for the info 😀
All of a sudden I’m a big fan of multigrain breads that are loaded with seeds and nuts and stuff. I hated them as a kid, but now I can’t get enough.
This recipe sounds awesome. The molasses is such a good idea.
I love every type of bread, which is unfortunate because I’m swearing off gluten as a test to see if it helps my feet. I’m almost clawing at my screen to get that bread.
I love any kind of bread to be honest! I seriously need to get on the ‘bread making” bandwagon. Yours looks delicious!
I’m so glad it turned out for you! Your loaf looks fantastic. I have another whole wheat bread recipe to share that turned out even Better than the first if you can believe that. I’ve been loving baking every weekend.
I didn’t know that vegetarians had 1.8X the recommended iron intake. Is it because it’s not absorbed as easily?
Your bread looks delicious Nicole! I usually do half whole wheat and half regular flour for the same reason – sometimes all wheat breads are too dense for me – glad yours wasn’t!
Sourdough is #1, followed closely with Rye 😀
Great looking bread. I love all kinds, but a nice hearty whole grain bread with seeds on the crust. I think I need to go back and check out your vegetarian post. I must have missed it while I was stuck writing my comprehensive exam yesterday. Graduation can’t come soon enough!
I agree! I just love sourdough!
Wow, does this bread look perfect! Love the sandwiches you made with it…turkey and swiss is a favorite of mine!
I loveee fresh bread. Usually I like Italian with olive oil and parmesan cheese yum!
Such a pretty loaf of bread, there’s nothing better than homemade!
I bake bread almost every day. There really is nothing I love more than a good, homebaked bread. My favorite would have a mixture of grains, with maybe some dried fruits and nuts mixed in.
I just tried this for the second time. Yesterday I made (attempted) it with slightly expired yeast b/c that’s all I had on hand. It didn’t rise much, was hard as a rock and the inside was doughey. Big mistake! Today I made a trip to the grocery store and tried it again. We haven’t tasted it yet, but it looks and smells yummy and isn’t hard as a rock. Thanks! I’ll keep this recipe handy and we won’t have to buy bread anymore.