Cooking With Whole Grains

Whole Grain Breads

I bake my bread in a Zojirushi bread machine.  The machine cost around $150 and paid for itself in inexpensive 2 lb loaves in 6 months.  That was a year and a half ago.  Zojirushi is reputed to be the best at handling whole grain flours, including the stone ground flours I like to use, but I haven't experimented with other machines.  I also like the traditional shape of the loaf from this machine.  Good quality breads with whole grains and no hydrogenated oils are expensive, and often a little stale because they don't have a long shelf life.  Of course, you can make bread the old-fashioned way, and I did that for years.  It takes lots of time, and my loaves tended to be crumbly compared to the machine bread that holds together well because it's kneaded for 20 minutes.  The texture is excellent, the taste is superb, I can manipulate ingredients like oil, salt, and sweetener, and I always have a fresh loaf in  2 hours with 5 minutes of effort--all for less than half the price of comparable quality bread from a bakery or market.

Whole Wheat Bread (in a bread machine): This is a refinement of the Zojushri quick yeast whole wheat recipe with less salt and sweetener.  Follow their basic instructions.  The loaves from this machine are large--2 lbs--and the bread stays fresh about 3-4 days because it has no hydrogenated oils.  I cool the loaf, cut it in half, and freeze half in a plastic bag.  Store the other half in an airtight container at room temperature

Rye Bread (in the bread machine):  Follow instructions for whole wheat.

Whole Grain Breakfast Cereals

Seven grain cereal, nine grain cereal, steel cut oats, cracked wheat, whole corn grits, or a mix of your choice: it's a great way to start the day.  You also can add flax seeds or sesame seeds.  These cereals are available in bulk for reasonable prices at health food stores, and they're often organic.  I find the ones with soy beans a little indigestible, but you may not have any trouble with them.  I also have trouble digesting soy milk, so I use pureed tofu to add protein to my cooked cereal.  Cooking the grains with skim or soy milk is the fastest method .   I cook 3 or 4 cups of cereal in a big pot and store it in the refrig.  Then I take a small portion, add a little water and reheat for a quick breakfast.  Here are two recipes for one cup of grain, the first using milk and the second using tofu.

Bring liquid to a boil. Add grain slowly while stirring.  Add raisins.  Bring to a slow boil, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.  Turn off heat and let mix sit until it cools and grains have absorbed liquid.  For breakfast, add a little water to the amount you want and heat on stove or in microwave.  Eat plain or with a little maple syrup or brown sugar.

Bring water to a boil.  Add grain slowly while stirring.  Add raisins and pureed tofu.  Bring to a slow boil while stirring frequently to prevent sticking.  Turn off heat and let cereal sit and absorb liquid until cool.  Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.  For breakfast, add a little water to the amount you want and heat on stove or in microwave.  Eat plain or with a little maple syrup or brown sugar.

My Favorite Oatmeal

Mix oats and raisins with 2 cups cold liquid to prevent lumping.   Add rest of liquid and bring to a boil.  Add banana and raisins and stir frequently until you get a low boil.  Cook 5 minutes and serve, or turn off heat as soon as cereal boils and let the grains sit to absorb the water.  Store unused cereal in the refrigerator in an airtight container.   For breakfast, add a little water to the amount you want and heat on stove or in microwave.  Eat plain or with a little maple syrup or brown sugar.

© 2003 Elaine Mansfield