Money-Wise Mondays - Sourdough starter for home made bread.

   Last week I wrote about making home made bread. Home-made bread is so convenient and cheap to make, plus you'll always know what ingredients went into it. Another benefit to making bread the no-knead method is that the flours and grains used in it have time to soak. So what is the big deal with soaking grains? There is some evidence that soaking grains is better for digestion, neutralizes phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors, and improves nutrient bio-availability. Over the years, as people have learned that refined flours are not good for their health, they started switching to whole grains. But many of them found that as they did so they have encountered more digestive issues, and are still not getting the required nutrition they thought that they would from eating whole-grains in their diet. Some, mistakenly infer from that that they must be intolerant to grains all together and start avoiding them in their diets. But many fail to understand that not only what you eat, but also how you prepare it, that has an impact on how that food is utilized by the body. For example, some new research suggests that steaming certain vegetables makes them more beneficial to our health. Milk is also better for you when fermented as the fermentation helps to break down tough milk proteins and provides our guts with beneficial bacteria. Some foods need to be "processed" to be easier on our digestive tracts.