A Healthy Dry Cereal !

Please go over to THIS blog and check out the recipe for soaked and dried breakfast cereal.  I ran across it yesterday.  One thing I've missed, since learning that "dried cereal" is not a healthy food, is not only the ease of having it for breakfast, but the crunchy goodness too.

I just completed making a batch of this cereal and it is wonderful.  I am delighted and a bit surprised!  The recipe originates with Sarah, the Healthy Home Economist.  I have tweaked it for what I have on hand to use.  Karey mentioned that she likes to use a 7 grain mix.  I didn't have that, so instead, I used the 3 grains I do have on hand.  It tastes just right.  Here is the recipe I used, with some pictures!

HEALTHY COLD CEREAL

2 cups fresh goat milk and 2 cups milk kefir (Karey has used cultured buttermilk instead.)
2 pounds of freshly ground flour (1/3 wheat, 1/3 oat groats and 1/3 spelt)

I weighed the flour, but if you don't have a good scale, it should be about 8 cups total.

Combine those ingredients, and stir together well in a large glass mixing bowl.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to soak at room temperature for 24 hours.

24 hours later, add:

1 C extra-virgin coconut oil
1 C pure maple syrup (grade B is best)
1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

Mix all of this together thoroughly.  It will then look like this:

Grease two 9 x 13 glass baking pans with the coconut oil, and spread the batter into the pans.

Preheat your oven to 350 F and bake the dough until when you insert a toothpick in the center, it comes out clean.  In my oven, that took 1 hour.  I suggest you start checking it after 40 minutes or so.  You don't want to bake it too much.

Here is what it looked like right out of the oven:

When it is completely cool, break it into small pieces:

I have an Excalibur food dehydrator, and this amount filled 6 trays lined with the fruit-roll sheets.  I dried it at 150 F.  Karey says you can do it at 200 F in your oven with the door cracked open also.

Here is some of the dried cereal in a little bowl.  I have to tell you, for my taste, it is Just Right.  Lightly sweet and nicely crunchy without being hard to bite.

The whole point is that if you want to easily absorb and digest whole grains, they need to be either sprouted or properly soaked.  This deactivates "anti-nutrients" such as phytic acid, that prevent the grain from sprouting before being introduced to "soaking" with water.  Phytic acid actually interferes with mineral absorption.  If you would like to know more about this, please read the following book:

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon 

Next morning update, it does NOT get soggy in milk!

This post is linked to Simple Lives Thursday #124