Basic Breads for pink and blue

[atomic sagebrush]

Updated 12-11-17 - I am moving the original much out of date essay to the end of the thread - since we are no longer even sure whole grains are best for blue and low sodium for pink has not seemed to help at all and most of us have given up on it. I'll be back by when I can to write a new one and share some more recipes

[atomic sagebrush]

Basic Bread recipes that can be used for both pink and blue!

PART ONE - Fun and special occasion yeast breads! :happy: Since I am assuming ~most~ people are probably not going to want to make their own bread every day I'm starting with fun breads because I don't have enough time to do the whole shebang all at once!

Crackers/Pizza Crust/Foccacia/breadsticks in your food processor: (you can also use a KitchenAid mixer for this recipe, just use a dough hook)

1 pkg. yeast
1 1/4 c. warm water
2 1/2 c. flour
3 T oil (:ttcgirl: use corn oil, :ttcboy: use olive oil)

For :ttcboy: add 1 heaping tsp. salt.

Pulse 1/2 c. water, yeast and 1/2 c. flour for a couple seconds to dissolve the yeast. Wait 10 minutes until bubbles start to form. Add oil and salt if desired, pulse until mixed. Add 2 1/2 c. of flour (if using a mixer, you can just dump in all the flour and knead it with your dough hook, that's what I always do)and let food processor run until it binds together into a sticky mass.

Put this into an oiled bowl and let sit for 30 minutes, then knead in the remaining flour. For crackers you bake it right away, for everything else you will have to let it rise a second time.

For crackers, roll and/or stretch the dough thinly on a cookie sheet. (For :ttcboy: you can sprinkle salt on it, although this is a lot of work for crackers, if you're swaying blue you can just buy saltines!!) Bake for 10 minutes at 500 degrees watching closely to make sure it doesn't burn.

For Focaccia, split the dough into two halves and put each half into a round cake pan. Let it rise for an hour and then bake it 15-20 minutes at 375.

For Breadsticks, shape the dough into breadsticks (if you like crispy ones make them small, for doughy ones make them larger), let rise for 30 minutes, and bake at 375.

For pizza crust, split the dough in half and let it rest for 10 minutes after kneading. Then spread/roll it out on pizza pans to make two crusts. Let rise for 30 minutes, top with your preferred toppings and bake at 375. I usually switch the pizzas around halfway through baking, putting the top pizza on the bottom and the bottom on top, so they cook evenly.

(For boy pizza, go heavy on the meats, garlic, boy-friendly vegetables, and tomato sauce and sparingly on cheese - you can try sprinkling it with nutritional yeast flakes in place of parmesan. For girl pizza, use alfredo sauce, no sauce, or very very light tomato sauce, top with mushrooms and low sodium cheese.)

French Bread/Baguettes

2 pkg. yeast
2 cups warm water
5 1/2-6 cups flour

In a mixing bowl, put the warm water and yeast. (For :ttcboy: add 2 teaspoons salt) Add 2 cups of the flour and mix for 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can with a spoon and knead in the rest by hand (if you have a Kitchen Aid mixer you can use your dough hook and knead in the flour that way). Let rise for an hour in a covered bowl in a warm place, then divide into two for loaves or 6 for baguettes. If you want loaves, you will have to slash the top with a knife to allow it to rise properly. Shape as desired and let rise for another hour, then bake at 375 for 40 minutes. If you like a very crusty loaf, mix an egg white with water and brush the crust once before putting it into the oven and again after 20 minutes.

Recipes just for Pink -

Sesame Bread (I've never made this so I don't know if it's good or not, but sesames have a lot of calcium and are def. a traditional "girl" food!!) - 1 1/3 warm water, 1 pkg. yeast, 1 T sugar or Splenda, 5 C flour (optional, you can add 1/4 c dry milk to the water/yeast if you have it) - Put the yeast into the warm water for 5 min. until it gets foamy. Proceed just as above for making bread and then once you've mixed, kneaded, and let it rise once shape the dough into a snake and brush it with water, then roll it in the sesame seeds. Shape them into rings (like sesame seed covered doughnuts) and let them rise again on a greased baking sheet, then bake them at 350 for 40 minutes You will want to mist or brush them with water every 10 minutes to keep the seeds from burning.

Recipes just for Blue -

Challah - 2 1/2 cups warm water, 1 pkg. yeast, 1/2 cup sugar (don't use Truvia), 3 or 4 eggs (if they are super big, use 3, otherwise use 4) , 1 T salt (at least! you may be able to use more, if it still tastes good to you this way!!!), 1/4 c. olive oil, 8 cups flour. Mix yeast into water and let sit for 5 minutes to soften, then blend in the oil, eggs, sugar, salt, and you can toss in 1 cup of raisins or dried apricots. Then mix in the water and knead, either by hand or using your mixer attachment for 5 or 10 minutes. Let rise for an hour and then divide into 6 pieces. Let the dough rest for a few minutes and then form the pieces into snakes and braid them together into two braids of bread. Let rise for an hour and then bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. You can brush them with egg if you want shiny bread, but you don't have to.

[Hobbermittens]

Thanks Atomic!

[Freya]

Great info, I really want to try that pizza recipe, even though I'm actually not swaying anymore ;) ! I just wanted to add that for those doing TW and look for full nutrition breads, I can really recommend spelt bread. I found it when I was on the alkaline diet, as it's the least acidifying of the breads due to its high mineral content (particularly good for magnesium, so watch out if you don't want that). It can be a bit dry, but sometimes it can be found with dried fruits which is yummy :) .

[TTC5]

Thanks Atomic!

[atomic sagebrush]

Great info, I really want to try that pizza recipe, even though I'm actually not swaying anymore ;) ! I just wanted to add that for those doing TW and look for full nutrition breads, I can really recommend spelt bread. I found it when I was on the alkaline diet, as it's the least acidifying of the breads due to its high mineral content (particularly good for magnesium, so watch out if you don't want that). It can be a bit dry, but sometimes it can be found with dried fruits which is yummy :) .

Freya it's really good, we eat it once a week usually and it's so easy to make!

Thanks for the info about spelt bread, I will edit the essay.

[Another princess]

Thanks Atomic, this is great!

[Kazz2011]

Thank you Atomic for the links. :happy:

I have to admit I didn't even know we had low sodium bread here in Oz, so this will be a great help. :happy:

[suregena]

http://www.nimblebread.co.uk/nimble_white.html

This is a bread I see here in the UK all the time. My question--would it be okay for girl sway? I've not delved into low-sodium (what exactly would be considered a low sodium amount? Or low protein, for that matter? How do I judge something meets this criteria before I eat it?)

I'm thinking I'll probably end up making my own (I have a bread machine)... but was curious.

It's funny this topic was started... I've been thinking about bread all day and what kind I'd be able to eat (and what cheeses are okay, or if an alternative cheese would be better... I know these things are tricky due to their protein and salt content...)

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes, obviously I was interrupted halfway through writing it and haven't been able to start back up again, my husband began a new work schedule which is not so conducive to computer time. Had to get up at 3:30 am to get caught up today!!

Low protein means your day's tally of protein is 40 grams or less - you don't need to go overboard and get NO protein, just aim for 40 grams. Low sodium means that you are taking in only 700-1000 mg of sodium a day which is VERY challenging for people, esp. if you're trying to eat a lot of dairy because dairy has tons of sodium. So keep a tally, either mentally or by using a site such as Fitday.com to track your intake.

The Nimble Bread actually seems fairly high in salt to me, it contains .19 g of salt per slice which is the equivalent of 190 mg - that's a pretty big chunk of your alloted salt in one slice of bread. (not sure why they have sodium and salt listed as two separate ingredients??)

[suregena]

Yes, obviously I was interrupted halfway through writing it and haven't been able to start back up again, my husband began a new work schedule which is not so conducive to computer time. Had to get up at 3:30 am to get caught up today!!

Low protein means your day's tally of protein is 40 grams or less - you don't need to go overboard and get NO protein, just aim for 40 grams. Low sodium means that you are taking in only 700-1000 mg of sodium a day which is VERY challenging for people, esp. if you're trying to eat a lot of dairy because dairy has tons of sodium. So keep a tally, either mentally or by using a site such as Fitday.com to track your intake.

The Nimble Bread actually seems fairly high in salt to me, it contains .19 g of salt per slice which is the equivalent of 190 mg - that's a pretty big chunk of your alloted salt in one slice of bread. (not sure why they have sodium and salt listed as two separate ingredients??)



Ah, see... I wasn't sure how to know what would be considered *low* or too *high*, so thank you for clearing that up! My research continues. :)

[CeeCee]

I can't wait to try the recipes. Yum!

[atomic sagebrush]

More recipes! Finally!!! These are for quick breads, for that horrible moment you realize dinner is in an hour and you were on Gender Dreaming talking about swaying all afternoon.

Pink swayers, you will want to find the low sodium baking powder from Hain for these.

For blue -

For pink -

Food Processor scones - 4 cups flour, 2 T. baking powder, 2 t. soda (scones will still have some sodium), 6 T. cold unsalted butter, 2 T sugar or Splenda, egg white equivalent to 2 eggs, 1 1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt, and 1/2 cup of Craisins. Mix together the dry ingredients and then cut them (using a pastry cutter or your food processor) until it looks like coarse meal. Put this into a separate bowl. Combine yogurt and egg and mix into the dry ingredients - mix as little as possible. Then gently mix Craisins into this and drop by the 1/4 cup onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes.

Irish soda bread - 4 cups flour, 1 T baking powder, 2 t. baking soda (the soda means this will still have some sodium), 2 T sugar or Splenda, egg white equal to 2 eggs, 1/4 c. melted unsalted butter, and 1 1/3cup plain, fat free yogurt. Mix the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients, then mix wet into dry (take care not to overbeat.) Bake in a 10 inch round pan (like a cake pan.) Bake 40-50 minutes at 350.

Baking Powder food processor biscuits (the low sodium baking powder means that these can be a welcome part of a girl meal!!) 3 c. flour, 1 T baking powder, 6 T unsalted chilled butter, 3/4 cup plain, fat free yogurt. Blend dry ingredients in your food processor or with a pastry cutter, with the butter until it becomes like coarse meal. Put into another bowl and then stir in the yogurt until just blended. You can either drop it with a spoon onto a cookie sheet or roll it out and cut with a biscuit cutter or jelly glass. Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes depending on how thick they are. Or, you can also use them as dumplings on soup, by bringing your soup to boiling and then droppping on the biscuit dough by the spoonful, then covering the pan and letting it simmer for 10 minutes or so.

[Another princess]

Atomic, thankyou soooo much x

[SugarSpice&EverythingNice]

Thank you very much for all this info!!! *subbing* lol

[zanacal]

UK pink swayers - Weight Watchers White Danish bread only has 50kcal/2g protein/90mg sodium per slice, the most girl friendly bread I've found yet. If you fancy a wrap for a change the Tesco Healthy Eating wrap has 170kcal/4.5g protein/200mg sodium.

Atomic - sodium and salt equivalent are always listed separately here, it's quite confusing actually!

[mandicane]

Thank you!

[Hobbermittens]

Why is the IG diet against whole grain bread? I am confused as to why they say NO if it is actually better for Blue...?

[atomic sagebrush]

The FGD has no whole grain bread for boys because it doesn't have the right mineral makeup.

[swish]

I never ate anything but whole grain bread before swaying and I have 2 boys

[Hobbermittens]

The FGD has no whole grain bread for boys because it doesn't have the right mineral makeup.

But white bread does? That surprises me.

[atomic sagebrush]

I know, it's kooky! :p

Even more complicated is the fact that we have no way of knowing what bread was even like in France in the 1970's. Was it fortified? Unfortified? Is it usually made with milk? Bread nowadays is very different than it was back then and bread in the US may be very different than bread that is sold overseas. Some countries, even in Europe, still do not fortify breads with folic acid.

[Alicewonder]

Just letting you know the pepperidge farm link is broken

And I'm real curious which one for pink as Pepperidge farm is my go to bread!

[atomic sagebrush]

Well, I can't control the external links unfortunately - try Google.

[Alicewonder]

Well, I can't control the external links unfortunately - try Google.

Oh oops, in sorry I misunderstood ! I thought it was a link to a particular type of pepperidge farm bread not just the site! My apologies

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh no, not at all, no need to apologize, but I'm just saying that while I can delete the link (and should), all that I would do is go to Google and look up the Pepperidge Farm site, and that would take me days in which you prob. could have done it on your own rather than sitting around getting annoyed with me LOL. :)

[atomic sagebrush]

It is to a particular type of bread one of them has lower sodium, so just look for that one

[Alicewonder]

Ok thanks, the prob with me n bread is I Like peanut butter (probably one of those few n far between foods lol) and no I wouldn't be annoyed with you. You are so Understanding and sweet!
I'm such a worry wort I thank you for putting up with me.

[atomic sagebrush]

yes, pb is ok as a once in a while thing but not for every day, due to the healthy fats.

[Alicewonder]

Guess I need you to define once in a while. Like once a week, once a month? Kind of been staying up late waiting for DH and default to a snack pack pudding cup lol funnily enough I've got a sweet tooth except when I was pregnant.

Dang weight watchers ice cream bar is calling my name now (Seriusly thought I'd hate it when I was looking for the fudgesicle when it was super hot the other week but their actually creamy not chocolately but neither is a fudgesicle lol

[atomic sagebrush]

I simply can't do that because it all depends on what else you are eating. It is not any one food that sways, it's the overall contents of your diet and also other signals you get from your environment.

[Alicewonder]

So DH is right. We need to see what I'm consuming currently and figure out what needs adjusted. DH says We should do this gradually as if done to abruptly might mess with my motabilism or might make body think starving and stop O? So a spread sheet would probably work nicely.

[mandyp85]

yes, pb is ok as a once in a while thing but not for every day, due to the healthy fats.

I guess that's why my last two babies were boys. Peanut butter with extra butter on toast for breakfast every morning lol.

[atomic sagebrush]

^^^ All I can say is I have always eaten an obscene amount of PB and have four boys. When I heard back on IG it was supposed to be this mega pink friendly food due to "acid" I did a spit take.

[Hitmebabyonemoretime]

I totally bought the lf pb bc I miss it... I want it. But it does me over for fat and portion in a hurry lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mandyp85]

^^^ All I can say is I have always eaten an obscene amount of PB and have four boys. When I heard back on IG it was supposed to be this mega pink friendly food due to "acid" I did a spit take.

Ha ha I bet, it sounds to me like they need to do a little more research on that one lol.

[mandyp85]

I totally bought the lf pb bc I miss it... I want it. But it does me over for fat and portion in a hurry lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I missed pb for a while but I'm more than happy with my reduced sugar marmalade these days lol

[atomic sagebrush]

Please note, this thread is years out of date and we no longer are convinced that whole grains are best for blue or that low sodium for pink is in any way necessary. I didn't just want to delete it so I moved it to the back of the essay.

I thought we could do with a bread thread. There are so many breads on the market that I can't really evaluate them one by one but at least we can add things as we learn them.

:ttcboy:As a general rule, whole grain, high nutrient breads are better for blue. It's not too difficult to find good breads for blue, just watch the calcium content!! A couple good breads for blue are the Earthgrains line 404 Not Found (http://www.earthgrains.com/OurBreads.aspx) (thank you flava for finding this!) and some of the wholegrain/nut breads from Franz (these may be available only in the Western US unless you buy them online or if you're dying for some, I can send them to you) 404 Not Found (http://www.usbakery.com/products/nutritional-finder)

Spelt breads are another good choice for blue (thank you Freya for this info) because they are alkalinizing. You can find some spelt breads here Page Not Found | Berlin Natural Bakery (http://www.berlinnaturalbakery.com/store.html) Food For Life makes a wide variety of highly nutritious breads Our Products | Food For Life (http://www.foodforlife.com/our-products) out of sprouted grains.

Watch calcium/magnesium in whole grain breads if you're swaying blue, although wholegrain breads usually contain less calcium than white products do. The good news is, a chemical in whole grains called phytic acid actually blocks absorption of minerals like calcium and magnesium, so even if there is a little in the bread, you may not absorb it. You also may want to take any fat soluble vitamins like fish oil or vitamin D and E at another time of day because the fiber in whole grains can sweep healthy fats out of your digestive tract. Another thing to keep in mind is that for blue, it's best to eat carbs and protein together to keep your blood sugar level nice and even for a long time after you eat.

:ttcgirl:Pink swayers are more free to mix and match, eating just carbs or just protein or a small amount of both because they're aiming for lower blood sugar levels.

Empty calorie refined breads are better for pink...be sure to check for sodium content if you are a pink swayer though because white breads are LOADED with sodium! In In Australia there are products called Moore's Low Sodium bread and Country Life bread The page cannot be found (http://www.countrylifebakery.com.au/products.php) that may be helpful. In the US, Pepperidge Farms bread http://www.pepperidgefarm.com/ProductDetail.aspx?catID=749 and Ezekiel Breadhttp://www.foodforlife.com/ are also low in sodium, although Ezekiel Bread is very healthy in other ways and so be somewhat blue-friendly. Wonder Bread http://www.wonderbread.com/bread-types.html is calcium-enriched but not low in sodium.

If you live in the UK, here is a thread about low sodium breads and crackers available for you.

The best breads of all for pink (Thank you jd03pd for finding this!!) may be found from the Ener-G company, online here - http://www.ener-g.com/wholesale/low-protein/breads/sliced-breads.html - some of these breads are low calorie, low sodium, and low protein!!!! They also sell things like pizza shells, crackers, and buns (this is their wholesale site that sells LARGE quantities, so if you want smaller quantities, just Google the product you are interested in and you'll find several sites that just sell one or two loaves of bread.)

Some links to low-sodium breads, torillas, and crackers - http://healthyheartmarket.com/breadandtortillas.aspx http://www.lowsaltfoods.com/food_center/lsfoods/breads.htm
http://www.saltwatcher.com./cgi-bin/Store/store.cgi?search_request_button=Search&product= &keywords=bread&cart_id=3857608_18112

One person had success requesting that their local Publix bakery make them some low sodium bread - Thank you Publix!!! It is worth a try even if you do not live near a Publix, if you ask at various places you may find someone willing to do it!

Low sodium tortillas can be found here: http://www.jadworks.com/jadworks/ltf/jwsuite.nsf/DocLibContent?OpenView&site=Home*ViewSelection=Products** and here http://www.tumaros.com/productlist.aspx?catid=Soy-Full+Heart+Tortillas (although these are not super low in sodium so beware!) and ALL corn tortillas are sodium free, although they are alkalinizing due to the lye used to process the corn - if you fry corn tortillas in a bit of unsalted butter, they are a good alternative to bread with a meal.

Other alternatives are pita bread, rice cakes, flatbreads, crackers - just watch to make sure you are getting as little sodium as you can in these products. http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A16322781%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A114326011&page=1 You can also use a leaf of lettuce as a wrap, in place of a bread product.

:agree: Links to products that you might want to use when making your own breads -

:ttcgirl:EnerG low sodium egg-replacer - you can use this in place of real eggs in bread, for lower protein and sodium content http://www.ener-g.com/wholesale/low-protein-2/egg-substitute/egg-replacer.html (this is wholesale so Google to find a retailer who will sell you just one)

:ttcgirl:Sodium-free baking powder - http://www.hainpurefoods.com/products/product.php?prod_id=1842 and http://www.ener-g.com/wholesale/low-protein-2/baking-ingredients/baking-powder.html (this is wholesale, so Google to find a retailer that will sell you just one)

And :ttcgirl: Sodium-free baking soda - http://www.ener-g.com/wholesale/low-protein-2/baking-ingredients/baking-powder.html (this is wholesale!) Also very high in calcium!!!

PLEASE NOTE - you may have to adjust the quantity of baking powder/soda if you use a sodium-free kind - there will be instructions on the can.