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Hey fit fam, this week I want to talk to you about an awesome cooking ingredient, bread
crumbs. Great for binding meat balls, try my faux fried recipes, the possibilities are
endless. But did you know that most store bought bread crumbs contain, high fructose
corn syrup? That’s because a lot of store bought bread contains high fructose corn syrup.
I say let’s make our own bread crumbs using the bread we choose. How do we choose? Come
with me.
Hey guys, we’re at my favorite market in New York City so let’s go inside and check
out the bread. Okay so we’re in the bread crumb section and you really only need one
ingredient to make bread crumbs, and that’s bread. But if you start with an unhealthy
ingredient, you’re going to end up with an unhealthy ingredient. So we want to make
sure that we start with the healthiest bread we can. Most store bought bread crumbs have
high fructose corn syrup in them. It’s not necessary because you don’t need high fructose
corn syrup in bread but, here it is, right there, it’s like the third ingredient and
all of these variations have them and if you don’t know, our manufacturers are required
by law to list the ingredients in order of how prevalent the ingredient is by weight.
So if it’s the third ingredient to the top, it’s…it’s a pretty prominent ingredient
in the bread crumbs. So we want to make our own cleaner bread crumbs by starting with
a healthy bread. So how do we chose the bread we want to use?
Okay so before it’s processed a wheat kernel is a whole grain made up of three parts, the
bran, the germ and the endosperm. Now in white bread, the bran and the germ which are pretty
much the healthiest part of the kernel, are removed. And the endosperm is ground up really
fine into your refined white flour. In the whole wheat bread, you keep all three parts
of the kernel, the bran, the germ and the endosperm. The entire kernel is ground up
to make whole wheat flour which preserves all of the nutrition, the fiber, the micro
nutrients and the protein. So how do you know which bread to choose? You’ve got tons of
bread choices, tons of health claims, this one’s health nut, this one’s got 12 grams,
oh my God it must be the healthiest bread because it has so many grains. Every bread
wants you to think it is the healthiest. So the best way to decide which bread is best
is to actually ignore the front and just look at the nutrition label. So to make sure that
you’re actually getting 100 percent whole wheat flour, you first look at the package,
you’ve got 100 percent whole wheat. The important thing is that in the ingredients
it says, whole wheat flour as the first and only type of flour. So it’s the only type
of flour and it’s the first ingredient. This is 100 percent whole wheat bread.
So now there are other breads like we talked about this 12 grain, it makes a health claim
but when you look at the ingredients and you see the first ingredient is, unbleached, enriched
wheat flour. So that is just another name for white flour and also in the description
put some other words, multi grain, anything that says enriched or bleached, unbleached
is just an excuse, a sneaky way to say white flour. And the same goes for this health nut,
it says whole grains, and they’re health nuts. So you think it’s really healthy and
the first ingredient actually is whole wheat flour but it’s followed up with unbleached,
enriched, so that means it also uses white flour. So it has some whole grains but not
all. And then here’s one example, this is a really sneaky example, it says 100 percent
whole wheat on the package and then when you look at the ingredients, it says whole wheat
flour. So that is the only ingredient that is flour but the second ingredient water,
the third ingredient high fructose corn syrup. So it’s definitely important to read the
label so you know what you’re getting because this, and this, very different.
So the only things that you need to make bread are flour, water, yeast, salt and a little
bit of sugar to activate the yeast. So why is it that most of these breads have nutrition
labels where the ingredients are a mile long? So most of these, very few of them are actually
used for the bread making process, the rest are there to make it taste better, to preserve
it, to give it the color, you’ll see molasses in there a lot of times to give it color.
So it’s important to keep in mind that just because it is brown and it says whole wheat
on the package doesn’t mean that it’s the healthiest choice, now that’s a relative
term. This is making a health claim that it is healthier because it is lower carb, but
think about it, wheat…wheat contains carbs, it is a carbohydrate. So how do you get lower
carb bread? You put a bunch of chemicals in it. So it’s up to you, do you want to digest
something that is lower carb but you don’t know what those chemicals or ingredients are?
Or do you want to make a healthier choice and understand that those carbs are good for
you and are going to give you energy.
So another thing to keep in mind is that even though you want that ingredients list to be
shorter, less isn’t always more. So here I’ve got a really healthy choice of bread,
I’ve bought this bread before. And it contains a lot of added ingredients like rolled oats
and quinoa flour, some buckwheat flour, cotton seed or processed oat. Those are all things
that are going to make it more nutritious but, I look at the ingredients label and I
can understand, I know what all those ingredients are. So this is one of the breads I’m going
to use for my bread crumbs.
So 45 calorie bread, it is the new sort of fad for low carb lovers. Breads, bread is…is
a carbohydrate so naturally it’s going to have carbs. So the only way that they can
make it have less carbs, well there’s two ways, one of them is by putting some chemicals
in there. So whenever you look at these breads, you see that the nutrition labels are usually
a mile long and most of the ones I’ve seen have high fructose corn syrup in there somewhere,
and a lot of other stuff that I don’t know what it is. So this one’s soft wheat, it
makes you think it’s wheat, but it’s got some unbleached, enriched flours in there.
This one has extra fiber in it which makes it healthy right, but look it’s got six
grams of fiber in three slices. So if you’re only eating two, you’re really only getting
four grams of fiber, so that’s kind of a cheat near there and again also not whole
wheat. Here, this one, I think this one does not use high fructose corn syrup, yep usually
the Arnold brand doesn’t but it does use sucralose, all those use sucralose which is
just Splenda. So…so if you’re trying to avoid Splenda or if you’re someone who is
afraid of that chemical or prefers to not include it in their diet, don’t think you’re
getting away from it by using this low calorie breads.
Another thing to keep in mind, when you look at these, the grams per slice. You’ve got
two slices is 42 grams, so that’s the weight of the bread. When you look at a normal slice
of whole grain, true whole wheat bread, one slice is 43 grams. So pretty much you’re
getting two slices of this for one slice of this and some of you are thinking well that’s
great because I can eat a whole sandwich for…for half of the…half of the grams and the carbs
and the calories. Which is true, but you’re doing it at the expense of the chemicals and
the ingredients that you don’t know and really is it worth it, when I could if I really
just wanted to eat 42 grams, eat one slice of the more nutritious bread? So does that
mean that there is no place in a healthy diet for this lower calorie bread? No, it…it
could fit into your lifestyle, sure if you’re on a weight loss journey and you’re struggling
to get enough food, if you feel like you’re really hungry all the time because you are
at an extreme calorie deficit, maybe…maybe the 40-45 calorie bread is good for you. But
if you’re trying to gain muscle or just eat the cleanest diet possible, then you’re
probably better going with some kind of true whole grain goodness bread or something that
offers even more nutrition. Even though it is a little bit higher in calories or carbs,
you know it’s coming from a good place, a healthy place.
Okay so it’s up to you to read the nutrition label, decide what kind of ingredients you
want in your bread, how many you want there to be. But if you have no idea where to start
there are some guidelines people follow. One of those is having under a 100 calories a
slice and the other is having at least two grams of fiber. Now I agree and disagree with
those things, I think bread is nutrient dense, at least if you’re buying the healthy kind
it should have more than two grams of fiber, I’d say four to five. Mine, I think mine
has five grams of fiber, five yeah. And even some of these more common brands, this one
whole whole grain, this is 100 percent whole wheat, has four grams of fiber. So really
aim for higher than…than two to three grams per slice and as far as the calories go, yeah
if you can get 100, 100 calories or less per slice that’s great but I’ve seen plenty
of varieties that are 110, 120 calories and they are nutrient dense and they have great
ingredients. And if you find a bread that is a 110, 120 calories and you love those
ingredients, then eat that bread.
For my bread crumbs, I am going with my ultimate whole grain goodness, whole wheat bread, its
wheat and flax fiber by The Baker, if you can find it, you should…you should try it.
It’s just as good as any other whole wheat bread, but more nutritious. And for the taste
I’m also going to go with a dark pumpernickel. Now there is some enriched flour in this,
but you know what? I’m okay with that because I like the way it tastes, I think it adds
an extra element to my bread crumbs. So in your bread crumbs you can use all this, you
can use all this, you can use none of it, it’s up to you, but make sure you chose
something that works for your lifestyle.
So one kind of fun thing to do is if you’re trying to decide if your bread is a healthier
one or not, you know this is a little more abstract but if you take a loaf of bread and
you kind of just lightly squeeze it, you don’t want to squeeze it so hard that you kill the
bread and then no one can ever buy it again, but just slightly squeeze it and feel it compressing,
kind of push back and it’s really fluffy and it makes you want to eat it because it’s
so nice and fluffy, it’s probably not very healthy. And that’s because manufacturers
put all that stuff in there to make it fluffy and nice and it’s really hard for them to
keep the nutrition when they do that. So when you pick up a denser bread and you, you feel
it and it’s not so fluffy, it’s probably the healthier bread. So I know it’s a bummer,
I’m a white bread lover, but when it comes to your everyday sandwich making, I recommend
going the nutritious route so that when you do go out to eat you can enjoy the bread basket
or get the white pasta. Make the healthy choices at home.
The last bread I want to talk about is Ezekiel bread or any sprouted whole grain bread. So
it’s pretty much just when the seeds sprout, they grind it up and make it into a bread
and that process retains almost all of the nutrients. Sprouted grains are one of the
healthiest things you can eat, they’re pretty much like a vegetable and here it’s put
into bread form. Now it is really dense but there are a lot of benefits to this bread
if you want to try it out. It’s got almost no sugar, it’s made with a bunch of different
whole grains and legumes, it’s almost, it’s…it’s not gluten free but it has very little gluten
and it’s got a lot less fat and a lot more protein than other breads. But it is in the
refrigerated section so make sure you don’t look in your normal bread aisle.
For your homemade bread crumbs, start by cutting your slices of bread into quarter pieces.
This helps them crisp up evenly. Place on a baking sheet. Feel free to cut a few into
some smaller cubes for croutons. Bake in an oven preheated to 300 degrees Fahrenheit for
about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip each slice and return to the oven for another
10 minutes until browned and crisped. You know it’s done when you’re able to snap
the pieces in half with a nice crunch. Place them in a food processor and blend until ground.
If you like chunky bread crumbs blend for a little less time and more time if you want
finer crumbs. Store in the freezer, you do not need to thaw before using.
And there you have it, homemade bread crumbs made with no high fructose corn syrup, with
healthy bread that you choose for your delicious recipes. For this and all my other great recipes,
be sure to check out mindovermunch.com. Don’t forget to subscribe and please share this
video if you enjoyed it that helps spread the word more than anything. And remember,
it’s all a matter of Mind Over Munch.
Be sure to subscribe and stay tuned for the next episode of Mind Over Munch.
Okay, so…sorry now I’m like feeling worked out.
Bread crum…
Bread crumbs.
Bread crumbs.
Bread crumbs, I can’t.
Christian: No it’s, oh yeah it worked.
This week am going to talk to you about bread…
About bread crumbs.
Christian: We have to edit that out.
Raisin bread.
Try my faux fried recipes, the possibilities are…you’re laughing at me.
Christian: I’m sorry.