Sprouted Quinoa Bread

This easy spouted quinoa bread is completely homemade. It takes a few days to wait for the quinoa to sprout but after that, it's a piece of cake. Or bread.

One of the reasons I've chosen the Trim Healthy Mama diet is the flexibility of it. I've done strict low carb in the past but I get to the point that I miss fruit and I miss real bread. Low fat, healthy carb meals are known as Energizing meals in THM (or E meals for short). Most of the time my E meals are lean meat plus fruit. Once a week or so I'll eat sprouted grain bread.

I've been wanting to experiment with sprouting my own grains for awhile. When I received a huge bag of Organic Quinoa from Honeyville I decided to give it a go. I'm really pleased with my results.

I first tried this recipe with homemade sprouted spelt flour and then after the fact I realized spelt is not gluten free. It's hard to keep track sometimes since I choose to eat grain free most of the time but will eat healthy grains on occasion.

Honeyville's Organic Quinoa is a unique grain with an earthy flavor, making it perfect for soups, salads and pilafs. Quinoa is one of the most nutritious grains you can find that can almost be added to anything. Not only is it an excellent source of protein, but is also a good source of dietary fiber, calcium, iron and phosphorous. Buy a bag today, and see just how easy and versatile quinoa can be for your cooking and baking.

I looked at a few online tutorials about sprouting grains before I began. Basically you rinse the grain, soak in water for 6 hours, and then keep lightly damp for 1-3 days until they grow little tails. It is very easy. After that spread them on a baking sheet and dry at your lowest oven temp until they are dry. Grind into flour in a blender or food processor.

Over the last couple of weeks I've had success sprouting teff, amaranth, millet, spelt, and quinoa. It was neat for my kids to see the grains starting to grow as well.

Here is a great tutorial about sprouted quinoa: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/how-to-sprout-quinoa-the-right-way/

Sprouted Quinoa Bread - Low Fat, Gluten Free, THM E

Ingredients:

2 cups spouted quinoa flour (made from 2.5 cups Organic Quinoa)

½ cup sprouted millet flour

¾ tablespoon yeast

2 teaspoon xanthan gum or gluccomannan

1 cup warm water

½ teaspoon salt

2 eggs ***

2 egg whites

1 teaspoon honey

½ cup seeds (I use a mix of pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, flax, and golden flax)

*** Whole eggs are not typically used in Energizing meals. After much consideration I decided to use 2 whole eggs in this recipe as the fat source. This falls into the nutrition facts for an E meal.

Instructions:

Combine all the ingredients with ½ of the seeds in a large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Let rise for about 2 hours until the dough has increased by about half. Transfer to a greased loaf pan and sprinkle with the additional ¼ cup seeds. Let rise for 1 hour. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Enjoy your quinoa bread!