Monday, July 12, 2010

Flip It Over!

After flipping over the bread I have been eating for years- it was as bad as I feared.

For years all I looked at was nutrition information... How many calories.. carbs... grams of fat. It wasnt until recently that I started reading the ingredients list.

The loaf of bread my mom would buy every week for me and my brother growing up was wonder bread. Over the years she would sometimes toss a different kind into the cart. As my brother and I got older we started asking for wheat bread thinking we were making a more health conscience choice. Flipping over the package of wheat bread 6 months ago I found ingredients Im pretty sure are not neccesary for making bread. The package boasts words like "natural" and phrases such as "whole grain goodness" and "smart eating". The ingredient list however tells a different story. The 3rd ingredient is high frutose corn syrup followed by 'dough conditioners' (what the hell is that??) , calcium propionate, ethoxylated mono- and diglycerides, sodium stearoyl lactylate, ... and the list goes on of words I cant even pronounce or care to type out. I was on a search to find a better bread- something more natural.

Ezeikiel bread was what I found. Although my traditional bread didnt contain eggs or milk and was therefore vegan (*check your labels b/c many breads do contain these things) it still didnt seem natural to me. Part of the reason I adopted a vegan way of eating was to be heathier- what was the point in doing that if I was then to turn around and consume dough conditioners? Ezekiel bread is literally as natural as it gets. The names comes from the book of the Bible in which chapter 4 gives the recipe for making bread. "Take also unto thee Wheat, and Barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and Spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make bread of it..." Ez 4:9




Here's what the website has to say:
We discovered when these six grains and legumes are sprouted and combined, an amazing thing happens. A complete protein is created that closely parallels the protein found in milk and eggs. In fact, the protein quality is so high, that it is 84.3% as efficient as the highest recognized source of protein, containing all 9 essential amino acids. There are 18 amino acids present in this unique bread – from all vegetable sources – naturally balanced in nature.

I've tried their regular bread but lately I have been enjoying the cinamon raisin version. Heres the ingredient list: (everything is organic but to keep it short I will refrain from using 'organic' infront of every ingredient) First ingredient is sprouted wheat followed by filtered water, raisins, sprouted barley, sprouted millet, malted barley, sprouted lentils, sprouted soy beans, sprouted spelt, fresh yeast, wheat gluten, sea salt, and cinnamon.
THATS IT!! :)

I like to eat my cinnamon raisin toast with Earth Balance Butter.


It tastes SO good! JUST like butter. (make sure you get the 'soy garden' version pictures above.) The only difference it is made from healthy oils instead of dairy. Seriously my brother (who is veggie, not vegan) tried it and was like "this stuff it really convincing! it tastes just like butter!" and POOF! He was converted :) Even if you arent doing vegan it a super easy way to make a difference and still enjoy the yummy taste of butter. How much easier could it be??

I should also mention that the Ezekiel bread you will find in the FREEZER section. Once you take it home you want to keep it REFRIDGERATED. Its natural- no preservatives remember! :)

Now go flip over your bread!!

2 comments:

  1. omg we eat this! It doesn't taste the best, but it's definitely healthier. Kristyn & Eran eat this all the time to.

    Try sandwich thins too, they are round & lots of fiber & other stuff.

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  2. It is a bit more dry then regular bread but thats probably bc grains arent meant to be oooey gooey. It should require some chewing! lol. Thats what happens I guess without dough conditioners! :p I like the cinnamon raisin bc I toast it anyways and then the earth balance is just amazing on it. Are you using earth balance yet?

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