Monday, April 21, 2014

Einkorn Wheat Bread Experiment

Within the past month or so I had read finished reading"Wheat Belly", which is a book that claims that wheat is the real reason for the obesity epidemic.  I do not doubt this, because I had tried the Atkin's diet, which excludes carbs, and I lost a lot of weight. When I went off of it I gained all the weight back from eating carbs.

To get to the point of this blog post. I had read a section about Einkorn wheat, and how it was the first grain that our ancestors baked bread from. It is said that due to all of the genetic modifications to wheat that lead to the weight gaining wheat we have today. So the author of Wheat Belly had so many good things to say about this ancient grain that I just had to try it out for myself. Of course, it was not easy to find. I mean you cannot just go to your local supermarket, and pick it up. But I did manage to find it on amazon being offered by a company called Jovial Foods.



When I got this package in the mail I was surprised by just how small, and compact the sack of flour was. It must be a much denser flour than traditional flour that we all know and are used to using for so many years.  But being conscience of my weight I really wanted to see if this flour lived up to Wheat Belly's claims. My family and I decided to try and make a loaf of bread from this ancient grain. We used a bread machine and a recipe from the manufacturer's website. The price is not too bad, and worth it in the long run.

Slice of Einkorn Wheat Bread.

My family really seemed to enjoy this bread, and we ate half the loaf that night with our dinner. This bread had a cake like  consistency while warm with a firm crust. The taste is slightly different from store bought bread, as I guess American bread is very sweet flavor. The Einkorn bread had a yeast/bread flavor that was pleasant, and good. Upon cooling it had a cornbread-like texture, as it was a little crumbly. This does not really bother me because the next day I felt great. This bread did not make me feel tired or bloated. I am currently interested in trying more of their products and think that this is a great way to get away from the overly processed bread that is currently offered by the market.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Undead Murder Mysteries

This past week I had the chance to read 2 really cool graphic novels, which at first thought were going to be about zombies like The Walking Dead.  But upon reading these 2 graphics I discovered that they more of the undead type, and not ghouls. Both books were about  young women who had been murdered, and then returned to life to discover who had killed them.  The first example of this was considered a rural noir called Revival. This book took place in a small town located in Wisconsin where people who had  died came back to life on a specific day. This day was called revival day, and any who had died and came back to life on this day found it extremely hard to die again. They seem almost immortal, as wounds heal quickly, and they are renewed almost. The main plot of the story is trying to find just why this occurrence happened, and how. Also they are quarantined because the rest of the world fears that it is contagious. A mysterious being/entity is roaming the woods, and it makes you wonder if this is the reason the dead live again? This book reminds me a lot of the ABC show Resurrection, but with gore.



The other book I read was called Rachel Rising, and was another strange tale where the dead were coming back to life in the small town, called Manson (if the name of the town isn't creepy enough). This book is written and drawn by Terry Moore, who is known for his other comic book series, Strangers in Paradise.  Even though this has a similar plot as the other book I enjoyed this one much more. Moore just has a way of writing that seems to be more believable I guess or I just find his characters more readable. This book also contains a mystery figure who seems to be behind the murders, and resurrections of others within the town.  This was a 5 star read, and one that I cannot wait to get back into.


Both graphic novels are in black and white just to forewarn you if you are not really into those types of comics. But I would recommend these to those who like a good mystery with an added thrill. Even if you are not really into comics you may really enjoy these.