Let’s talk about bread today.
It’s one of the easiest things to buy off the shelf, right? Buying bread is a great first step to learning how to read labels at the grocery store.
If you’re keen to go plant based as well as eat healthy, check the ingredients of the next loaf of bread you buy. Most breads include milk or milk solids in them. So white bread, milk bread and sandwich bread are automatically off the table then.
What about brown bread? You’d be surprised at how many brands add milk solids to that too. Oh and brown bread/multi grain bread/ whole wheat bread by itself isn’t healthy.
A large portion of those breads use a lot of maida in them or include palm oil, both of which aren’t great for you in the long run. Plus the brown colour is added to give the bread its colour
The characteristic brown colour in brown bread is generally due to added colours. The most commonly added colour is ‘INS 150’, known as ‘caramel colour’. It gives a deep brown colour to bread upon addition
For example, this brand of ‘Healthy’ bread has the following: Refined flour (maida), Milk Solids as well as added colours
The solution?
Read labels carefully. Look at the ingredients listed and avoid buying those which mention milk solids, palm oil, refined wheat flour or INS 150. A good rule of thumb to follow: Fewer the ingredients, the healthier the bread.
The other solution? Bake your own bread! It’s actually that simple.
In this recipe that I follow from Loving It Vegan, the number of ingredients is just 5!
- Whole wheat flour
- Yeast
- Salt
- Sugar
- Water
That’s it!
Catch the video of it here:
See how my bread turns out 🙂
I follow this recipe for making bread. It never fails.
The only change I make is adding brown sugar instead of maple syrup.
To add some texture/flavour you can add flax seeds, sunflower seeds, watermelon seeds or pumpkin seeds to the dough.
The best part about this recipe is that it takes a total of just one hour to make bread.
Try it today and let me know.