I have died and gone to heaven to have finally, after years of experimenting, developed a recipe for a sprouted, high-fiber bread that is gluten-free. Throw in that it is vegan and absolutely delicious with a mellow, nutty flavor and a moist yet firm texture (you know how hard that is to come by if you have made gluten-free bread), and I have to admit this bread is just about perfect. I won’t need to stray from this recipe for years.

It isn’t that the gluten-free breads on the market aren’t good, they are. It is that there are none that are sprouted and truly high in fiber. I look with envy at those who can eat Ezekiel or Essene bread because sprouted grains are much easier to digest and full of enzymes and increased nutrients as the sprouting proccess brings the grain kernel to life for germination. “Sprouted” grain breads can be flourless. Further, most gluten-free breads on the market are laden with fruit juices, and I’d rather use agave because it is much lower on the glycemic index.

Note that flax seed meal is a perfect vegan (or otherwise) egg substitute when simmered with water, because it develops into a gel-like consistency.

Soak the millet, quinoa, and sesame seeds for 24 hours in enough water to cover. Hopefully the grains will begin to sprout, but may not. (They will still soften considerably, making them easier to digest.)

Ingredients

1 cup millet

1 cup quinoa

1 cup sesame seeds (for fiber and protein)

½ cup coconut flour (very high in fiber)

½ cup rice flour

2 tablespoons flax seed meal (egg substitute; high in essential oil Omega-3)

1-2 cups low-fat almond milk (for a vegan version, or milk for non-vegan)

½ cup water

4 tablespoons coconut oil

2-3 teaspoons agave, or to taste

½-1 teaspoon sea salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

1. Strain and rinse.

2. Preheat the oven to 350F.

3. Divide and puree half of the mixture in a blender with half of the almond milk, and pour into a large bowl. Repeat with the other half.

4. Stir in the rice and coconut flour, sea salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

5. Add the flax seed meal, coconut oil, and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and let simmer until the flax seed is very glutinous. Pour into the bowl with the other ingredients.

6. Stir thoroughly to blend.

7. “Grease” a standard-sized bread pan with coconut oil, and pour the ingredients into it.

8. Bake at 350 F until done, and an inserted knife pulls out clean, about 1 hour. (Cover with a sheet of aluminum foil if the top is browning too fast and the center of the bread hasn’t cooked thoroughly.)

YUM!

Making responsible choices for your diet according to their impact on the health of our friends and family, the health of the community, and ultimately the earth, is the process that leads to establishing a green kitchen.

Once you have established sources of good, year-round, local organic food, the new green diet becomes one of simplicity and convenience. If seasonal, local food determines our menus, half our work is done. If we allow our taste buds to savor the full flavor of freshly picked vegetables and fruit, we naturally begin to turn away from packaged and processed food by choice.

Step 1: Eat Organically Produced Food
Organic agriculture strives toward being sustainable, meaning that which can be continued indefinitely, without depletion of resources beyond a rate that they could be renewed.

Step 2 and 3: Eat Local, Seasonal Food
Eating local, seasonal food supports local farms and saves the energy that would be used to refrigerate and transport food many miles.

Step 4: Eat a Variety of Food“The loss of genetic diversity—silent, rapid, inexorable—is leading us to a rendezvous with extinction, to the doorstep of hunger on a scale we refuse to imagine,” writes Kenny Ausubel in the book Seeds of Change: The Living Treasure. Organic farms grow a wide variety of plants to keep the soil healthy and preserve diversity. Industrial farms, on the other hand, monocrop, meaning they grow nothing but a few commodities.

Step 5: Eat Low on the Food Chain
Humans can eat both high and low on the food chain and be adequately nourished. Residues of persistent chemicals such as DDT, PCBs, dioxin, and many pesticides concentrate in animal fat.

Step 6: Eat Whole Foods with Adequate Fiber
Whole foods are nutritionally complex and complete. Refined foods have had much of their nutritional value and fiber removed.

Step 7: Avoid Processed Food
The average American eats 150 pounds of additives a year, much of which is sugar and salt. Three thousand additives are intentionally used in processed food. Many of these additives, such as hydrogenated oils, can cause health problems.

Step 8: Reduce Packaging for Public Health and the Environment
Chlorine and dioxin are just two chemical compounds that are released in the manufacture of many packaging materials. Toxic chemicals can also migrate to your food from packaging.

Adapted from The Green Kitchen Handbook, by Annie Bond and Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet.

Jojoba is a liquid wax that offers some sealant properties when polishing wood and never goes rancid. The only drawback is that it is expensive. The wonderful aspect is that it is nontoxic.

Simply dab some on a soft cotton cloth, and buff into the wood.

To make a polish that is less “oily” than straight jojoba, squeeze some lemon juice in a bowl and add a few drops of jojoba.