Discussion Board

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn -- in his book: PREVENT AND REVERSE HEART DISEASE (link below) -- ALLOWS whole grain products, "such as bread and pasta ... as long as they do not contain added fats."

DOES ANYONE KNOW? ...

(1) Which Breads have Added Fats?
(2) How can you tell? -- Are there any unusual names for FAT in baked goods?

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HERE IS the list of allowed foods with Esselstyn's eating style:

You can eat a wonderful variety of delicious, nutrient-dense foods:

• All vegetables except avocado. Leafy green vegetables, root vegetables, veggies that are red, green, purple, orange, and yellow and everything in between.

• All legumes — beans, peas, and lentils of all varieties.

• All whole grains and products, such as bread and pasta, that are made from them — as long as they do not contain added fats.

• All fruits.

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From: PREVENT AND REVERSE HEART DISEASE -- http://www.HeartAttackProof.com/

Here's the link to "McDougall approved" canned and packaged foods:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/packaged.html

That's a good place to start. And, as always, read labels for fat content.

Check out The Great Harvest Bread Company--I bet there's one in Boulder. They have the best bread made from fresh-ground flour, and no oil:
http://www.greatharvest.com/

You can place orders ahead of time, and request that they omit the eggwhite wash they put on some of their breads. Other than that, it should be on-plan (although they tend to use a lot of salt, so if that's a problem for you, check the sodium amounts). Oh, and they use honey, so if you're against that, you'll need to find another place or make your own.

Consider baking your own. You save money and you have total control over what goes into your bread. I know this seems like a lot of work if you're not in the habit.....but I bake my own bread and I'm a really lazy cook. How lazy am I? I love to collect recipes but rarely make them....because it's just too much trouble to actually measure and mix stuff together. I hate spending more than a few minutes in the kitchen when I have so many other things I need to do. However, I don't believe that "convenience" foods are all that convenient. For one thing, they cost more, so I have to work to earn the extra money to buy them, so THAT'S not convenient.... and sometimes it takes almost as long to fix the pre packaged item as it does to cook it from scratch (count prep time, not actual cooking time). Not the case with bread since pre-made there IS no prep time.....but for a lot of things.

You can mix your bread dough at bedtime, put it in the fridge, take out in the morning and leave on the table (the longer it sits, the less yeast you want to use). When you come home from work, punch it down, knead a little and make loaves. Let them rise and then bake. Make several loaves at a time. Say you make 5 loaves.....at a total of 30 minutes prep time.....equals 6 minutes per loaf.

Or you can make a quicker bread like the "No-Knead" bread that's in the book The McDougall Plan. This is rediculously quick and easy to make but has a high moisture content and will mold quickly. There are other no-knead recipes. I have one that involves mixing up the dough and immediately putting in pans and placing in a cold oven!

Just a thought.

Hey Ivy! I make a no-knead oat bread from a recipe that I found on the discussion board.... I was wondering if that's the same recipe that was in the McDougall book or if you have another. I was also wondering if you could post your other recipes. I LOVE to make my own bread (and suggest everyone try it at least once) and was especially curious about the no-knead that goes directly into a cold oven. Thanks in advance!


Also the only pre-made bread that I feel good about eating is the Ezekial bread which I'm pretty sure can be found at ANY grocery store now in the freezer department. It's the only one I can find without additives.

Here's the recipe from the McDougall Plan. I found this exact same recipe in a couple other books in the early 80s, so it has been around.

No-Knead Bread

7 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour, 2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 tbs. molasses, 4 Cups warm water

Put flour in large bowl. Place in warm oven for 30 minutes to warm flour and bowl to 110 degrees (1 1/2 minutes in microwave). Dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water (110 degrees). Add molasses and mix well. Let rest about 3 minutes. Then add the yeast mixture and the remaining water (3 cups, warm). Mix well by stirring or use one hand to mix in bowl. Do not knead. Dough will be sticky. Use non-stick pans or lightly oil two large loaf pans (9"x 5"x 3"). Sprinkle with cornmeal. Spoon dough mixture into pans. Smooth top with hand dampened with water to prevent sticking. Cover with towel. Place in a warm spot. Let rise about 1 hour or until dough reaches top of pans. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake 30-40 minutes longer. Remove pans from oven, tip pans on sides, and let cool on racks for 15 minutes. Remove loaves from pans and continue to cool before storing. Bread is moist, so keeps best in refrigerator.

Another No-Knead bread

7 Cups Whole Wheat Flour, 1 tsp. yeast
1 Tbs. molasses, 3 Cups water

Warm flour and water. Dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water with molasses. Add yeast mixture to flour with remaining water. Mix with hands to consistancy of modeling clay (should be quite stiff). Add flour or water if needed. Form loaves with wet fingers and set in lightly oiled pans. Place in oven. Let rise and then turn on oven set at 325 degrees. Bake 60 minutes.

The first recipe makes a very moist loaf that is almost like a commercial bread when fresh (it's even got that square shape).....the second recipe is a surprisingly pleasant chewy bread. I make both of these for variety but usually prefer my own deli style bread:

6 Cups whole wheat flour, 1/2 tsp. yeast.
1 tsp. molasses, water? (hey it's a wonder I measure the flour!)

Warm flour and water. Disolve yeast in warm water with molasses. Mix together to form a firm dough....not too stiff, not too soft. Cover and let rise at room temperature....about 6 hours (yep you read that right). Punch down, knead and form into loaves. Let rise again. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes.
Variations.....If you're around, you can punch down and knead after 3 hours, so it will have a second rising....gives it a lighter, firmer texture. You can also make at night, put in fridge, take out in morning and allow to rise all day. I haven't found too many ways to mess this bread up.....with the exception of adding too much yeast....because of the long rising time, less is more.

Thanks so much for that tip. We have at least two Great Harvest Bread stores near where I live. I probably won't buy any until I lose some weight on MWL, but its good to know where I can buy fat-free bread.

I have a bread machine I've had for years that's been begging me to start using it again, so I sent for a book on Amazon "Bread lovers bread machine cookbook" so I can use it once again. (I lost the book to it long ago)I also bought two new loaf pans from Target to also make bread the old-fashioned way. I don't mind the time it takes to bake bread because the end result is so worth it.
Controlling what goes into it is number 1 for me. No oil, tiny bit of salt for flavor.

It's safe to leave the salt out of any bread recipe (I think?)....unless it is specifically "salt rising" bread.

Once in a while I make pita bread. I have never found really good instructions for this...the recipes I have found were always complicated and impractical (like setting ALL the pitas to rise at the same time ). But I figured out a simple way. Making pita bread is also fun. I still get a kick out of watching them balloon in the oven. I use my regular bread dough. The dough needs to be firm and well risen so that it will roll out nicely and rise quickly. Break off pieces of dough and form into balls. I use three cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll out with rolling pin as many pitas as will fit on one cookie sheet. It's important to roll them out smooth....if they have any wrinkles, they'll still be o.k. but they won't have a pocket. (the ones that don't have pockets go in my bread crumb bag). Set the cookie sheet with pitas in a warm place to rise and pre heat oven for 450 degrees. While the first batch is rising, roll out the second batch. Put first batch in oven, put the second batch to rise and roll out the third batch. They should puff up into balloons in the oven....you can flip them over with tongs if you want to. As soon as they are as brown as you like, pull them out of the oven and place them on cooling racks or just a big tray. I put mine on a tray and cover with a large bread towel...this makes them soft. This way you keep rotating the three cookie sheets and you can make as many as you like. Gee, this is making me want bread....haven't ate any since it got too hot to bake.

PS. Since I started making my own pita bread, I no longer like the store bought.....it taste STALE !

Don't forget that bread shouldn't be stored in the fridge--that's the temp that makes it stale (and the refrigerated section of the store is normally where pita is found). It needs to be at room temp or frozen.

Thanks for the directions--I'll have to try making them again!

I might be wrong -- but I "THINK' salt has an effect on the yeast. I "THINK" when you do NOT use the salt in a recipe you will need to reduce the amount of yeast used. It is "HOW MUCH to reduce the yeast" and "how long to let the dough rise" that stumps me WHEN I try to convert bread recipes that contain salt into those that do not contain it.

Anyway, I currently have the first recipe that ivy posted cooking in my solar cooker! I "modified" some of the directions to make things easier.

I just use the bowl and flour at room temp. and let the bread rise for 45 min. in the solar cooker which was turned somewhat AWAY from the sun so that it averaged a temp. of about 100 - 105 degrees F.

A few minutues ago, I turned it directly toward the sun to let the bread finish rising while the cooker heats up to over 300 - 350 degrees F. -- so that the bread can cook. (Of course, now, some clouds are trying to roll in -- but I think there will be enough "sun" to cook the bread.)

All of the dough in this batch is cooking in a large, dark red, NON-oiled silicon tube pan that is covered with a black lid.

Also, I used about a 1/2 cup less liquid (because solar cookers hold in moisture) and used some "banana - carrot non-dairy milk" for part of the water. (Banana-carrot milk is simply some chopped raw carrots, water, and some banana liquified in a blender and NOT strained. We use it on oatmeal and cold cereal in place of milk.)

Back to the salt:
Here is some info on bread making from About.com --
http://busycooks.about.com/od/bakingsci ... dients.htm

This is their comment concerning the use of salt in yeast breads:
"Salt
Salt strengthens gluten, and adds flavor. Salt enhances flavors. In yeast breads, salt helps moderate the effect of the yeast so the bread doesn't rise too quickly."

I can't wait to see how my CRAZY VARIATION of this recipe turns out!

If you go to Whole Foods, their artisan breads have ingredients, just buy the ones that don't list any oil as an ingredient.

I'm glad it worked for you! I always warm the flour and water....the dough just doesn't seem to behave right when I don't.

Interesting.....really I don't have a choice, though. Bread left out more than a day starts to mold. Not a problem though....I pop the stale bread slices in the steamer for about half a minute before serving. The pita bread, however, has a way of disappearing before it gets to the fridge ....so I usually bag up a bunch and toss it in the freezer.