Ezekiel Bread–Find of the Week!!

One of my goals in this process is to try foods that I have previously disliked or have never tried before.  So I decided that I would share my finds with you.  

So I have been hearing all about this thing called Ezekiel Bread.  I keep seeing ads on TV and hearing about it from people who eat health foods.   I decided I would give it a try.  So Monday Mom picked some up from Publix.  She brings it home and here is what I see.  

 

This is the description from the website.  

“This unique bread contains no flour. Instead, we sprout and specially combine seven nutritious grains: Barley, Brown Rice, Corn, Millet, Oats, Rye, and Whole Wheat. We mix and sprout these choice grains in our own special way to capture all their wholesomeness. Slow baking blends all their distinctive flavors for a real taste treat. By combining seven grains, you get more nutrition and flavor packed into every slice of Food For Life 7-Sprouted Grains Bread.”

The ingredient list is simple.  7 sprouted grains– Organic Sprouted Wheat, Filtered Water, Organic Malted Barley, Organic Sprouted Rye, Organic Sprouted Barley, Organic Sprouted Oats, Organic Sprouted Millet, Organic Sprouted Corn, Organic Sprouted Brown Rice.  Fresh Yeast, Organic Wheat Gluten, and Sea Salt.  That is it.  No flour, no added sugar.  With only 15g of carbs a slice, 3g of fiber, 4g of protein, and 80 calories this is a great complex carb to add into your diet. Plus look at all the nutrients you get.    

But what is a sprouted grain and why is this significant.  Sprouted grains are exactly what you think.  It means that these grains are allowed to sprout before being harvested.  Most grains are harvested before they sprout and then made into breads and such.  It is the same with produce.  We all know that most produce is picked unripe and allowed to ripen on the truck on the way to the store.  This ensures that the produce stays fresh longer in the store but it also means that the fruit or vegetable doesn’t taste as sweet or as flavorful as it should.  I was shocked at the difference between American produce and Indian produce.  Everything was allowed to ripen before picked and there was an immense difference in flavor.  It is the same with grain.  

In addition to adding flavor, sprouted grains also have these benefits

  • Increased Digestibility – Sprouting breaks down starches in grains into simple sugars so your body can digest them easily.

  • Increased Absorption of Minerals – Sprouting breaks down enzyme inhibitors, so your body can more easily adsorb calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc.

  • Increased Antioxidants – Sprouting releases more antioxidants that are naturally stored in the grains and seeds.

  • Increased Vitamin C – Sprouting produces vitamin C.

  • Increased Vitamin B – Sprouting increases the vitamin B2, B5 & B6 

All right, all right, we get it!  It is healthy.  It is good for you.  Lots of nutrition, lots and lots of whole grains.  So what?  What we really want to know is, how does it taste? 

I was thinking the same thing.  I am looking at this loaf of bread thinking—can this many whole grains actually taste good.  Is this going to taste like cardboard, because I am not ok with that?  I am all for healthy but it should be tasty too.  To be honest I didn’t have very high expectations for it.  Yet here I was bent on changing my life of unhealthy eating and making a goal to try something new.  I had to give it a shot.  

So the yesterday I get up with the expectation of trying this new bread that I have heard so many good things about, hoping that it tastes as good as it is healthy.  I decide that I am going to make me a turkey egg and cheese melt.  So I pop the bread in the toaster just long enough to heat it up, scramble my eggs, and lastly assemble my melt (1 slice of Ezekiel bread, 2 turkey slices, 2 scrambled eggs, and 1 slice of Kraft American cheese in that order).  Then I sit down to enjoy my melt.

I was shocked!  I mean shocked.  The low expectations I had for this bread went flying out the window.  Now I need you to understand that I am a white bread, simple carb girl all the way.  I have never been a fan of wheat bread before.  Anybody know what bunny bread is?  That bread that is in a yellow package with a big bunny on it and is so processed that it sticks to the roof of your mouth.  Oh yeah that is one of my absolute favorite breads.  I used to eat it plain, no butter, no cheese, no nothing just fold it into fourths and take a big huge bite.  So when I took a bite of this Ezekiel bread it was shocking to discover that this was one of the most flavorful breads I had ever tasted.  The texture was not too hard or coarse or grainy.  It is chewy but in a good way.  The flavor is rich with a slight sweetness (barley is a natural sweetener).  

So needless to say, I am hooked.  I am a convert to Ezekiel bread.  

Are you wondering why it is called Ezekiel bread?  I was, so I looked it up.  It comes from, get this, the book of Ezekiel.  Yes like in the Bible!  The verse is Ezekiel 4.9

“Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side.”  

Ezekiel was asked by god to lay down for 390 days one for each year of disobedience of the people of Israel and Judah.  This was the food that God told him to eat in order to keep him alive during that time.  He was to collect all of the oats and grain he would need for that time and keep it and ration it.  This is the principle of the Ezekiel bread.  It is supposed to be nutrient complete.  Again and again the Lord is showing me that he knows best on how our bodies run and what we need to be healthy.  

A few things about Ezekiel Bread.  

  1. The company that makes it—Food for Life—makes many different types of bread.  They even have a gluten free line for all you gluten intolerant people.  Check them out and try new ones till you find one you like.  

  2. Walmart (at least in my area) doesn’t carry it.  However Publix (if you’re in the southeast) does.  I am unsure of places like Kroger or Winn Dixie but search around until you find somewhere that sales it. Trust me it is worth it.  

  3. Also it is not super expensive and is worth the few extra it might cost.  I think my loaf was $4.  Think of it this way.  When you eat at burger king you are spending 3 dollars on a meal that is terrible for you.  You could spend 4 dollars on a loaf of bread that will be nutritionally beneficial and give you multiple servings.  

  4. Keep it in the fridge.  There are no preservatives so it will go bad faster if left out on the counter like your other bread.    

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