It's... odd, and I haven't even tried it yet! I found it in the organic section of the freezer, where I get my Amy's frozen dinners. 'Sprouted grain' sounds a bit scary. And the packaging had Biblical references -- nothing wrong, I'm not religious myself, but I did find it odd to be on a bread.
It talks about the 'live grain difference', and I'm reading up on it a bit, but any experience with it? Someone at my WW said it was good, and truly whole grain. It's frozen, and I'm supposed to keep it frozen. Do I just pop it in the toaster to thaw?
Yes I am familiar with it... it's excellent bread!
The Ezekiel 4:9 reference comes from God's instructions to Ezekiel to "Take for yourself also wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make bread of it." It is supposed to be nutritionally complete and as I understand it, what Ezekiel was to live off during his time in the desert.
If you are going to toast it you can just put the slices into the toaster while frozen. I do that all the time.
I never keep bread in the fridge as I have read (and seems to be true to me) that it molds faster if it is in the fridge than either left on the cabinet or in the freezer... apparently from the moisture in the fridge.
I usually use the bread, untoasted, in a sandwich. It doesn't take very long for the bread to thaw out on the counter, maybe 10 min. or so. It would take a bit longer in the refrigerator. If I remember to take the slices of bread out first thing in the morning, they're thawed out and ready for me to eat by noon. Since there are no preservatives in Ezekiel bread, it's probably best to keep the loaf in the freezer.
Misti, I'm glad to know that you can toast the bread frozen. If I wanted toast in the morning, I always took the slices out the night before and thaw them in the refrigerator, and more times than not forgot to do it.
Okay, I tried the bread for the first time today. I have to say it was pretty good. I tossed it into the toaster, straight from the freezer, and it came out fine. I was worried it'd taste 'funky' what with the 'sprouted grain' bit, but it didn't, tasted like a brown bread might with just a hint of honey giving it a nice accent.
It's not really 'diet' bread per se, since it does have 80 calories per slice, which is about what most breads have. But it's got some nice fiber, and I like the idea that I'm not eating a bunch of preservatives. True, I eat other sources of preservatives, frequently, but a bit here and there might help, who knows.
I actually let my Ezekial bread thaw in the fridge and keep it there--hubby eats toast for breakfast everyday so we go through a loaf a week so there is no time to grow mold but I have left it in longer than a week and not had problems.
My hubby was vegatarian most of his life and we have purchased it for several years. It's not marketed as a "diet " bread but it is much more filling than regular breads even the healthier ones on the market now. My hubby is now watching his sodium and I am trying too so we have tried the low sodium Ezekial--I have to say it took some getting used too, but then I am one of those people who salt before tasting because there is never enough salt. Hubby isn't a big salt person but has begun label reading and is surprised how much salt is added to almost everything.
The same company also makes hamburger and hotdog buns out of the same ingredients as the bread. One of my favorite meals is to marinate ahi tuna or swordfish steaks, BBQ them on the grill along with red pepper slices, then serve the fish steaks and grilled peppers on the sprouted grain burger buns, with tzatziki on the bun instead of mayo.
One of my favorite meals is to marinate ahi tuna or swordfish steaks, BBQ them on the grill along with red pepper slices, then serve the fish steaks and grilled peppers on the sprouted grain burger buns, with tzatziki on the bun instead of mayo.
A good quick side dish to go with it, if you can find fresh mango salsa where you live, is to take a can of black beans, drain/rinse them, mix with the mango salsa and some chopped cilantro, and serve at room temp or chilled.
I saw it at Trader Joe's yesterday. I was afraid to buy it because the last new bread I brought I couldn't eat because it was too dry. Is this bread dry at all?
Ezekeiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Bread
