Homemade Bread for Healthy Children

Food today is not the same as the food your grandmother used to set on the kitchen table. Today's food is genetically altered, full of hormones and loaded with artificial colorings, artificial flavorings, artificial sweeteners, preservatives and corn syrup. None of these things are found in nature; therefore they are not what God intended for us to use to fuel our bodies. And it's damaging our children.

In July 2008, the European Union ruled that synthetic food colorings (called azo dyes) must be labeled not only with the relevant E number, but also with the words "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children". A 1984 study by Benton and team, demonstrated that sugar has no effect on behavior. A study in 1986 by Milich and Pelham, and another by Wolraich and team in 1985, also found no link between sucrose (sugar) and behavior impact on children with ADHD. However, most sugars found in sugary foods and sweets (candy) consumed by children are corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup - these sugars were not used in any of the above-mentioned studies. *

A search through your local grocery store will show you that these ingredients are in a most of the foods we buy. One place to start is with a staple of our American diet - bread. Look at the ingredients in a loaf of bread and you will find a long list of hard to pronounce words and most of the things listed above. White bread is the worst. The wheat is depleted and altered until there is nothing left but dust, which is then bleached and an attempt is made to add back synthetic vitamins. A healthy food is messed with until it is not healthy anymore. So why not try making your own homemade bread?

Homemade bread is easy to make, and tastes delicious. If you grind your own wheat, it's loaded with fiber, vitamin B and vitamin E.

You can buy wheat berries at your local health food store or food co op. You can buy either a hand or electric mill to grind the wheat. A good website to look at and decide which to buy is http://blog.realfoodliving.com/2010/12/05/ready-to-buy-a-home-grain-mill/

Once your wheat is ground and your bread mixed, you can knead it by hand, which isn't as hard as you might think and actually preferred by some bread makers, or you can buy a bread machine at most department stores like Walmart. I make homemade bread using my bread machine nearly every day. I use the dough setting to mix and knead the dough, then I put it in well oiled bread pans to rise the second time and bake the bread. Here is a recipe that makes two loaves of wheat bread. Put them into the bread machine in this order:

2 cups warm water

¼ cup of olive oil

1/8 cup of molasses

¼ cup of honey

1 tsp salt

6 cups of whole wheat flour

3 tsp bread machine yeast

Turn your machine onto the dough setting and let it run. When it's finished, take out the dough and divide it into two bread pans. Let it rise until it reaches the top of the pans, then back for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from pans immediately and let cool.

Several times a week, I feed my children homemade bread for lunch. Their favorite way to eat it is when I toast the bread on one side, turn it over and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top, and toast it again until the cheese is melted. Then I serve it with a little bowl of natural spaghetti sauce to dip it in.

Sometimes, if there is any bread left over after lunch, I give them toast and natural jelly or honey as a snack in the afternoon. Peanut butter and nutella is also a favorite.

Homemade bread is an excellent cereal for an older baby. Bread off tiny bites and feed it to them.

Make homemade wheat bread made from freshly ground wheat to feed your family and know you are giving them the very best.

*http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/