I could never find a way to eat seeds in my poor pre-“Bell’s Palsy” diet ( “My Own Experience” Chapter ). However, not only have I now begun to rather like them, I have found a cunning way to get a ton of them into my diet every day.

Home made bread !!!

There are various dietician’s in the media that bestow high acclaim on consuming “Omega Seeds”.

There are no seeds actually called “Omega”. The name relates to a collection of seeds that all contain Omega 3, 6 and/or 9, fatty acids which in differing ways are really good for our overall health.

In higher priced packets of these “Omega Seeds” you will find essentially a mix of the following:

• Sesame seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Linseeds
• Soya nuts
• Pine nuts

Written on the side of one highly priced packet:

“A nutritious seed mixture that is high in omega-6, high in fibre and rich in vitamin E. An excellent balance of essential nutrients required by the body and a perfect way to support a healthy lifestyle.” Which all sounds good !!!

The theory:

• What is the easiest thing to form a meal around? Bread.
• What is the thing that is eaten in some form every day? Bread.
• Does the bread that you can buy contain tons of goodness? No.
• Is it difficult to make bread? No.
• Are there rules about what you can throw into a bread recipe? No.
• Hurrah !!!

Here is my recipe for a “Bobby’s Superseeded, Superfibrous, Supertasty Loaf”. As with its name – It’s a heck of a mouthful !!!

This makes six 2lb loaves. Because of the amount of heavy seeds in the loaves I have NEVER yet got them to rise particularly well; with a prayer they will “grow” somewhat, but these are not your “fluffy” loaves. AT ALL.

You do only need a few slices though as an addition to a meal and they HAVE TO BE TOASTED. I find them quite dry and inedible otherwise.

With all that positivity, I’ll bet you can’t wait to try them.

Here’s how…..

• Get yourself a large bowl or some such mixing container – the bigger the better
  
• Pour in a good handful of the following:
• Sesame seeds
• Sunflower seeds – Cheap to buy if you shop around
• Pumpkin seeds – Cheap to buy if you REALLY shop around
• Linseeds – Brown ones are really cheap – Add golden ones too if found at a reasonable price
  
• Soya nuts – shop around to find them in the first place – optional – as is everything
  
• pine nuts – Never found a cheap source of these yet – again optional
  
• (All of these can, if needed, be found together in a 300g bag for around £3 ($5) and you would need half a bag for this mix topped up with the cheaper linseed, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds – They are usually called an Omega Seed Mix)
• A handful of Wheatbran
  
• A handful of Wheatgerm
• A handful of Barley Flakes
• A handful of Rye Flakes
• A handful of Oatbran
  
• A pinch of sea salt
• One packet of fast action yeast
• A spoonful of honey or natural molasses or some other healthy sugar for the yeast to react to
• A lot of extra virgin olive oil
  
• About a kilogram (2lbs) of wholemeal stoneground flour or equivalent

Mix all this together thoroughly (and I mean thoroughly). I usually mix all the seeds and other ingredients excluding the flour together first and then pour in a ridiculous amount of extra virgin olive oil (about 250ml) until I have what can only be described as “a glistening mush of goodness”.

Mix in the yeast, salt and then the wholemeal flour until it all looks the same. Do this whilst boiling a full kettle of water.

Get a Pyrex, heat resistant jar, half fill with cold water and add half a spoonful of the honey or other sugar source to the cold water on a spoon and leave in there.

Fill the jug up to the top with hot water and mix the honey until it has dissolved. To complete this size mix I find I use nearly 2 pints (1 litre) of the resultant “warm” water

Now add a bit of the water and adding a bit at a time start to really mix the flour and seed mixture. I find a heavy spoon does the trick, until I have an amount mixed that I can pick up in my hand and then finish kneading it by hand until I have a “lump” to set aside. Continue this until you have several lumps and no mixture left and then knead the lumps together into one huge lump.

This takes time but ultimately we want a mixture that is a solid malleable dough. Easy to pick up as one piece and NOT WET OR STICKY.

Once you have this desired consistency, cover the bowl with cling film or a lid and set aside in some warmth (I use the sunshine coming through the kitchen window – it costs nothing) for about 60 – 90 minutes or however long you want to if other things are more pressing. The mixture should have risen !!! It doesn’t always, so don’t worry.

Then dust a clean and dry surface with some nice flour of some sort. This is just so that when you are kneading the bread it does not stick to the surface.

I use Oatbran or some of the wholemeal flour that I have retained. Then break off large handfuls of the mixture and knead each one into something resembling a loaf; finishing by rolling it in the flour/oatbran so that the whole loaf is covered in it – when baked, this will taste and look delicious.

Place each one into individual loaf tins that you have previously smeared with olive oil so that the loaves won’t stick.

Cover these tins containing the loaves with cling film or kitchen towel and set aside for about an hour – again they should rise !!!

Preheat an oven to 180°C, remove cling film or kitchen towel (obviously) and bake for 25 – 30 minutes.

THE RESULT

They don’t come out of the oven buttered, but it is never long before they are.

As I said before I think they have to be toasted, but see for yourself. However you eat them, you can be sure that you are doing yourself a lot of good and that you will NEVER find anything as good in the shops.

Enjoy (hopefully) !!!

UPDATE !!! I have now scrapped using yeast altogether, not only are they healthier, they still come out the SAME SIZE !!!

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