As promised, here are some tried and true soaked grain recipes. Let the adventure begin... (If you don't know what on earth I am talking about, start here.)
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Soaked Grain Yummilicious Oatmeal Oats contain the most phytic acid of the grains. Following this recipe will release the phytic acid, making it easier to digest and releasing the nutrients for your body to use. The yogurt provides an acid needed to release the phytates. The salt in the nuts does essentially the same thing for nuts, releasing the enzyme inhibiters to make the nutrients more available.
The night before you want to eat this, place the following in a pot. Stir. Put the lid on and set aside. 1/2 cup rolled oats 1 1/4 cup filtered water 2 Tbsp Plain Yogurt (I use Dannon, because it doesn't have weird ingredients) 4-5 dates, chopped
In a small bowl, put 1/8-1/4 cup nuts (walnuts or pecans are nice). Cover with filtered water. Sprinkle with a little salt. Set aside, next to your pot.
Pick out an apple or pear. Set it aside with the other things and go to bed. Get your beauty rest.
The next morning: Chop your apple or pear into the pot with the oatmeal mixture. Add: Cinnamon to taste (I like a lot, 1-2 Tbsp) Vanilla (1/2-1 tsp) Dash of salt
Turn the heat on to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the oatmeal reaches the desired consistency. It will cook faster than unsoaked oatmeal. Meanwhile, drain and rinse the nuts. Grind some flax seed (Or do like I do. Open up the freezer and yank out the pre-ground flax meal that you ground earlier in the week.) When your oatmeal is finished cooking, stir in the nuts and 1-2 Tbsp flax meal. Drizzle with maple syrup if desired. Enjoy the morning, knowing you are eating a filling, nourishing meal.
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Soaked Granola This is not low calorie, but it is full of good-for-you ingredients. Coconut oil is wonderful for you and can actually help you reach your weight loss goals. I will try to do a post on that in the future. This is lightly sweet, and full of crunch. If you have to snack, at least this will nourish you (unlike junk food, which leaves you craving more...). I have adapted this recipe from here.
8 cups rolled oats 3/4 cup melted coconut oil 1/2 cup melted butter 1 cup plain yogurt 2 cups water 1/2 cup raw honey 1/4 cup maple syrup 1 tsp sea salt 2-4 tsp cinnamon 2-4 tsp vanilla 1 cup dried, unsweetened coconut 1-1 1/2 raisins 1 cup nuts (optional) 1/2 cup sunflower seeds (optional)
Mix oats with the melted butter and oil, yogurt and water in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a damp cloth (to keep it from drying out while it soaks). Allow to sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours (think of it like sour dough starter if it creeps you out to leave something on the counter for that long.) After the soaking time, preheat oven to 200 degrees (if you like to eat raw foods, just preheat to 118 instead).
Gently heat honey, maple syrup, cinnamon and vanilla in a glass measuring cup in the microwave, just until the honey thins a bit. Combine honey and oat mixtures, stirring to incorporate.
Spread mixture over two parchment or wax paper covered cookie sheets. It will look kind of like sludge at this point. Just trust me. Everything is going to be all right. Take a deep breath and tell yourself you are learning something new. Pop them in the oven for 2-4 hours. Once it begins to dry, you can occasionally break up clumps and stir for even drying.
Once it is dry and crunchy, remove from the oven and allow to cool. Mix in the dried coconut, raisins and optional ingredients. You can experiment with other dried fruits, seeds and nuts, if desired.
Store in an airtight container, and eat for breakfast with milk, sprinkled on yogurt, or as a snack. Yum!
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Wheat Thins Style Crackers I make wonderful crackers using the soaked grain version of the recipe found here. They taste like wheat thins and are totally addictive. I have made the non-soaked version, too, and both are wonderful. The only problem with this recipe is that I double it and it still doesn't last until the next day around here. I highly recommend giving her crackers a try.
*** Sue Gregg Two-Stage Blender Batters Sue Gregg's website has a few recipes from her wonderful cookbooks. If you don't have a grain mill, but want to try baking with whole grains, she has lots of blender recipes that require only a high powered blender (mine is an Oster from Walmart for about $30). From her website, I recommend the following tutorials for trying the soaking method (or two-stage process):
I have done some tweaking on her Whole Grain Bread recipe, but I am still working on a couple things to simplify it a bit more. I am also working on a bread-stick recipe that requires no kneading and literally takes only 5 minutes to assemble. When I get these all tweaked and ready to go, I will post them for you. For now, this is enough to get you started, I think. So brew yourself a cup of tea and enjoy the wonderful smells coming from your kitchen!
