Heart Healthy Bread Mixes
claguire
This is a man who loves his breadmaker, and he is devastated to find
that all the mixes that he can buy for it are high sodium. While he'll
be doing a lot more cooking from scratch, he also needs EASY, FAST
foods he can use that resemble his current lifestyle, so he can more
easily make the adjustment.
So I am on a quest for either heart healthy mixes for bread maker that
can be purchased in stores or over the internet, OR recipes for home
made mixes that his friends can mix up in bulk and give him measured
containers until he's ready to do his own.
I figure, cheap or expensive, this group is the best I know at helping
find this sort of thing.
Camille
hchi...@hotmail.com
DW makes a type of bun for me that is not only great tasting, but
sinfully healthy. She uses a basic bread recipe, but modifies it to
about half whole wheat half white, uses grapeseed oil instead of
butter, rice milk instead of milk, turbinado sugar instead of white
sugar, and reduces the salt.
The salt in the packaged mixes is to help moderate the yeast. It
slows and regulates the growth, whereas sugar encourages it. That
makes it easy to get the correct rise in a mix, instead of needing to
being aware of the heat and humidity in the air and adjusting by feel.
Mixing in small amounts of rosemary or herbs can create an interest to
replace the taste of the salt in breads. In some foods (not bread),
vinegar can be a taste substitute for salt. Strange as it sounds, DW
discovered that the proper layering of ingredients in a bread machine
makes a big difference in the outcome. I'm totally impressed with her
knowledge of the process.
Food sensitivities can be a huge factor for people with health issues.
The subject is far too complex to discuss here, and I just don't have
the time to do a focused post on the subject, but I guarantee that
testing for food sensitivities and keeping a food diary can start to
show even the most skeptical the interactions that food has.
Ron Peterson
claguire wrote:
> I have a friend who was just diagnosed with congestive heart failure.
> This is a man who loves his breadmaker, and he is devastated to find
> that all the mixes that he can buy for it are high sodium. While he'll
> be doing a lot more cooking from scratch, he also needs EASY, FAST
> foods he can use that resemble his current lifestyle, so he can more
> easily make the adjustment.
> So I am on a quest for either heart healthy mixes for bread maker that
> can be purchased in stores or over the internet, OR recipes for home
> made mixes that his friends can mix up in bulk and give him measured
> containers until he's ready to do his own.
He should cut down his bread consumption. It's hard to cut down the
sodium because salt toughens the bread and salt substitues like
potasium choride don't have the same effect.
--
Ron
SoCalMike
> Mixing in small amounts of rosemary or herbs can create an interest to
> replace the taste of the salt in breads. In some foods (not bread),
> vinegar can be a taste substitute for salt. Strange as it sounds, DW
> discovered that the proper layering of ingredients in a bread machine
> makes a big difference in the outcome.
chemistry is a big part of food science. chemical reactions, and all that.
skeff
skeff
Sorry about the previous post.
Your friend can make a low-sodium bread from scratch by eliminating the
salt entirely and substituting the water with skim milk. The purpose of
the salt is to slow the action of the yeast so it will produce fewer
voids (bubbles) in the bread and allows the yeast to continue to act
throughout the risings, thereby making a firmer bread. The milk makes a
slightly sweeter dough and contains a very small amount of sodium
(about 23mg per cup). If water is used and the salt is omitted the
dough will be more like a french bread and remains far superior to the
average store-bought loaves.
CLaGuire
Thanks, both to you and harry. I also got a line on several lower
sodium mixes that a health writer friend came up with. (As well as
recipes.)
The main issue here is not what he should do ultimately (his doctor is
the one to direct that) but making the transition easier. When you
have a major lifestyle change thrust upon you, it's good to have some
"normal" things in your life while you make the adjustment.
However, he made some bread without salt from scratch the other day,
and was pleased with it. Also, since day job stress is a major
contributor to his condition, his doctor has him off work for a while,
so he will have more time to do things like learn to make his bread,
and come up with some healthier versions.
Camille
Camille