Man food (aka sprouted quinoa bread ) recipe

Excuse the model - he really wasn't keen on posing!

So we're watching a doco the other night, my hubby and me, and the presenter goes on to explain why normal supermarket bread is so bad for you. There is a large amount of 'hidden sugar' in our diets these days as foods like bread, potatoes and pasta cause large spikes in our blood sugar and insulin levels (what that means, is that even though you're not actually eating a spoonful of sugar, your body takes the bread/ pasta/ potato and turns it into sugar once it's in your body)

 If you're eating a lot of these things (which my hungry tradie hubby is) then over a long period of time you're doing damage to your body.

So hubby turns to me and says "Well then what the hell am I supposed to eat to fill me up if I can't have bread?"

See the first problem with hungry labouring men is that they need a LOT of food to fuel them throughout the day.The second problem is that it's really expensive to feed them. That's why they love bread, pasta and potatoes - it's cheap, easy and fills them up.

On went my thinking cap, and a little bit of google researching to find a bread that was low GI (not going to spike the blood sugars), gluten free and nutrient dense (so they fill up quicker and stay full for longer).

I decided to make a sprouted loaf because the sprouting process activates the lovely goodies inside the grain and gives you loads more nutrients (important for hard working men!)

Say hello to my sprouted quinoa man bread (here's a warning - this is a slow process -  I happen to  LOVE slow food but you may not!). Adapted from the Sprout People's recipe which you can find here.

SPROUTED QUINOA MAN BREAD

Makes 2 loaves

• 2 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 Tb dry yeast
• 2 cups Quinoa
• 1/2 cup oil ( I used Rice Bran)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 Tb salt
• 8 cups gluten free flour

The night before you want to make the bread, pour your quinoa into a container and cover with water. Leave overnight - in the morning it should have sprouted a little.

Stir the yeast and water together and leave for 5 minutes until it bubbles. 

Add the oil, honey, salt, quinoa and 4 cups of the flour. Stir it all up, cover with a cloth and leave in a warm place for 45 mins.

Add 4 more cups of flour - punch it in then turn onto a board and knead for 5 mins.

Place into a greased bowl, cover and leave for another hour.

Divide into 2 and place into 2 greased loaf pans. Cover and leave for another hour until it has almost doubled in size.

Bake at 180 degrees celcius for half an hour.

Leave to cool (if you can!) before cutting so that it retains its shape.