Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Soaking Grains

So, I've been slowly progressing through the first few GNOWFGLINS lessons.  Yesterday, I soaked almonds, flour for muffins, and rice for dinner.  According to GNOWFGLINS, soaking nuts and grains neutralizes the phytic acid that makes them harder for our bodies to digest.  Adding heat, neutralizes the enzymes. 

The first step, of course is to soak everything.  I just put about 2 cups of almonds in a quart size jar and then filled the jar with water & added a Tablespoon of sea salt.  Cover and soak for 7+ hours, then drain and either put in a dehydrator or on a cookie sheet in the oven at a very low temp with the door open.  The rice was also very easy, although I did have to add some apple cider vinegar to it.  Same with the grain--I mixed 1 1/2 c of whole grain flour and 1/2 c oats with 1 cup of milk and 2T of yogurt. Instead of the yogurt, you could also use buttermilk or apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.  

I now have my almonds dehydrating in the oven at 150 degrees. When they are nice and toasty, they will be delicious.  In fact, I made some when my Mom was here visiting, and she liked them so much that she made some herself when she got home!  I cooked the rice last night, and Ryan said it was the best rice ever!  And I also baked muffins with my soaked grains--banana muffins.  They are pretty good.  The batter was really wet, like pancake batter almost--usually my muffin batter is more like cookie dough.  But they were good.  And it wasn't a lot of trouble at all. 

So, if it's really helping our bodies digest the grains, it's worth doing, I think.  If you want to check it out, just go to http://gnowfglins.com/

5 comments:

Aubrey said...

good for you karen! your gut thanks you. i need to get back on track w/ soaking. have u seen the nourishing traditions cookbook?? lots of awesome recipes with soaking involved. it's like my food bible :)

worryfreemom said...

I have not seen the cookbook, but have been hearing more and more about Weston Price. I'll have to look for it! We've cut out pretty much all processed foods, so the next step is raw milk. GNOWFGLINS has a course on dairy starting now, so I figure when I get through the fundamentals and the sourdough, I'll start with the milk. I'm having fun experimenting! :-)

Kelly Cook said...

I need to get signed up for the courses! I had some projects to complete first, but got them done Monday, so I'm ready! I've been reading a lot about grains and the controversy surrounding them. I haven't drawn any conclusions other than perhaps soaking and for sure making everything from sourdough. I have trouble believing that God made something for us to eat that might not be beneficial for us. Trying to figure it out! Thanks for sharing your experience. I made crisy nuts a couple of years ago, but raw nuts are so expensive I haven't done it again. Oops.

Aubrey said...

karen, i am so excited you guys are doing all of this. you are inspiring so many families. we could start a food revolution. we certainly need one!!

worryfreemom said...

Aubrey--Just finished watching the Future of Food. Scary!!!

Kelly--What convinced me was the traditional preparation of the grains. "uncivilized" cultures still soak their grains before eating them. God also gave us cows to eat, but we cook the meat first. It's not that the meat is bad, but that it should be prepared properly.

Karen

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