Whole Wheat Soft Pretzel(Guilt Free Snack)

Know what you Eat - Wheat, in its natural unrefined state, features a host of important nutrients. Therefore, to receive benefit from the wholesomeness of wheat it is important to choose wheat products made from whole wheat flour rather than those that are refined and stripped of their natural goodness.  Whole wheat is a very good source of dietary fiber and manganese. It is also a good source of magnesium. Whole wheat flour is rich in B1, B2, B3, E, folic acid, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, iron, and fiber  when compared to refined flours, as the processing involves the loss of this nutrition.



Who should avoid Wheat - However Wheat is fattening so if you are on weight loss program, cut down on grains like this and go more towards protein (legumes and bean). Individuals with already existing and untreated kidney or gallbladder problems may want to avoid eating whole wheat because of its measureable oxalate content. Wheat has gluten, a protein which people with celiac disease cannot tolerate. Celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food.



Ingredients



1/4 c. water

1/2 Tbsp. yeast

1/2 Tsp. honey

5 oz milk

2 Tbsp butter

1 oz Honey

1 Tsp salt

2 cups Whole wheat flour



I found the recipe here and check out for step by step tutorial to make the pretzels.



Method



1) In a large bowl, mix the water, yeast and 1/2 tsp of honey. Stir this together and to dissolve the yeast. Let this sit for a few minutes .



2) Melt 2Tbsp of butter in a large saucepan.



3) Add 1oz of Honey, Salt and 5oz of Milk.Warm this for 5 minutes on low heat.



4) Pour milk mixture into yeast mixture and stir.



5) Stir in the Whole wheat flour.



6) Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes.



7) Cover it and let it rise for 1-1 1/2 hours.



8) Pull it out of the bowl and knead it a few times to get the air out.



9) Pull a ball of dough, about the size of your fist off and get ready to make your very first pretzel! (such a proud moment) Roll it into a long snake.



10) Then twist it and shape each pretzel, put them on a cookie sheet about an inch apart. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.



11) Melt a stick of butter in a saucepan.



12) Right when you take the pretzels out of the oven, slather them with butter or Olive Oil(I didn't do this step but still the pretzel tasted great without the grease).  Then sprinkle salt over them and eat this guilt free snack warm and enjoy.



Will try to get the step by step pictures next time and post them back here.



Event Participation



This goes straight to the WYF Tea Time Snack event hosted by EC.



Sending this to Food for 7 Stages of Life - Healthy Fast Food hosted by Radhika and Sudeshna.

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Partially Hydrogenated Oils/Trans fat is it good?

Trans fatty acids, also known as trans fat, is an artery-clogging fat that is formed when vegetable oils are hardened into margarine or shortening.



The thing is, even if you don’t know that the following foods have trans fats, you should certainly know that they are bad for you:

 French fries, Potato chips, Doughnuts, Pastries, Hard margarine, Vegetable shortening, Cookies and Candy



While some foods like bakery items and fried foods are obvious sources of trans fat, other processed foods, such as cereals and waffles, can also contain trans fat. One tip to determine the amount of trans fat in a food is to read the ingredient label and look for shortening, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil. The higher up on the list these ingredients appear, the more trans fat.



Now here's the worse news: researchers from the University of Alberta have discovered foods rich in trans and saturated fats can also botch up the electricity in your heart, worsening the severity of heart attacks and increasing the risk of death.





For the first time, researchers have discovered that not only do "bad" fats affect the vessels of the heart, but they also affect the heart cells and can disrupt the rhythm of electricity flow in a heart.



So next time you buy something from the store make sure to read the label .



Check out the original article here in  Cananda.com

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Nonstick Cookware - How safe is it?

All modern kitchens will have a bunch of these pretty non stick cookware sitting in their cabinets. No doubt about it. Yeah sure i also had few but after coming across couple of articles on whether it is safe or not, i stopped using them and all were thrown out in the fall clean up to be picked up and junked. Go through the following article and i am sure you will do the same thing as i did few years ago.

Children and teens who have high blood levels of chemicals used in the production of non-stick cookware may be more likely to have elevated LDL cholesterol levels, according to a report.

Humans are exposed to perfluoroalkyl acids, such as PFOA and PFOS, through drinking water, dust, food packaging, breast milk, cord blood, microwave popcorn, air and occupational exposure.



Recent survey results reported detection of these chemicals in almost all people in the U.S.



“[Researchers] assessed serum lipid levels in 12,476 children and adolescents (average age 11.1) ...





[H]igher PFOA levels were associated with increased total cholesterol and LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol, and PFOS was associated with increased total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol.”





Check out the original eye opening article here in Newswise.com









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