Have Your (Properly Prepared) Grains and Eat Them Too!

This day has been a long time coming....not for me but for the kids.  Today was their first experience with "properly prepared" grains.  All the articles on anti-nutrients, ease of digestion, and availablity of nutrients led to this morning's grain-covered chairs, floor, door, and bathroom.  Oh, and kids.  Yeah, it was all over them, too.

What was the preparation process for the grain apocalypse?  Selection and preparation of grains.

Grains are naturally high in anti-nutrients that make them difficult to digest (legumes and nuts have this problem as well).  There are methods to counteract this and the one I used for this morning is soaking.  Soaking is an extremely easy process and uses liquid, warmth, acidity, and time to break down the anti-nutrients.  Here's what I did.

I selected a grain that is considered very high in nutrients and lower in digestive concerns: teff.  Then, last night, mixed the grains with yogurt and a dash of kefir.  This acidic medium helps break down the anti-nutrients in the grain.  I simply let it sit overnight and spooned it into a bowl for the kids this morning.

Soaked and ready-to-go - so I thought.

However, I realized I made a mistake.  My rookie self didn't think about the fact that these grains need to be cooked!  This didn't deter Rita, but I'm hoping it won't cause digestive distress.  Next time, I plan to soak the grains in a lemon-water mixture, hopefully sprout, and then cook them before soaking in the yogurt.

Rita loved the teff concoction.  She preferred to forgo the spoon and use her hand as a shovel to get it in her mouth.  We were all ready for bath time after breakfast (although, James was mostly covered in prunes).  Considering how small the teff grains are, I'm not looking forward to the kitchen clean-up.  And I may find tiny grains stuck to baby hair for the rest of the day. 

In our house, the goal is to sprout and ferment all our grains.  This was my first attempt at increasing the digestibility of grains, Rita's first grain meal, and James's first in a long time.  As my school year come to a close and I have more time I plan to get a sprouting jar for any grains we plan to use.  My main goal for the summer is to make sprouted einkorn flour sourdough bread for the family.  The kids and I don't eat bread (and, as I am in the process of uncovering my gut issues, I won't for a long time), but Mark does on a regular basis and, I hope, with well-prepared grains, the kids can join him.  We buy a fermented bread made fresh at Wegmans (it was still warm when I picked it up last week!), but I'm sure making it myself will be much healthier (and hopefully cheaper).  My sourdough starter culture has been sitting in the cabinet taunting me for a long time!

We choose einkorn berries for our flour because it is an (the only) unadulterated wheat.  Modern wheat is genetically modified.  We purchased einkorn flour over a year ago and loved the taste - super delicious!  In the future, I will purchase the berries and prepare them myself because as soon as flour is ground it starts to loose nutrients.  And, with berries, I can prepare our flour traditionally.

It is important to note that those with compromised gut-health will, most likely, need to avoid grains.  Even with the best preparation (sprouting and fermenting), most grains still have anti-nutrients which can aggravate an un-healthy gut.  Grains are not an essential part of a healthy diet.  If you struggle with seasonal allergies, consider eliminating grains (not just gluten) from your diet (and pasteurized dairy for that matter).  In the two years since my dietary changes my once terrible spring allergies are non existent.  Unfortunately, thanks to a gut imbalance, I am mildly impacted by allergies this year.  I plan to eliminate all sugar (no honey or maple syrup, even in small amounts) and most fruit and starchy vegetables to help my gut get back on track.  And, I'll continue to consume a nutrient-dense diet and probiotics.