The Breads of Life

I got up at 3 AM this morning (Sunday) because we wanted to have a fresh loaf of home baked bread greet me for breakfast with its unmistakable and irresistible aroma and flavor; it didn’t disappoint!

To tell you more about it, I’m going to share a column from June, 2023, but, believe me it’s worth repeating! This time around though,  I’m going to tweak the recipe just a bit from what we’ve been using for 40 years! When all the kids were young and still with us, my wife used to get up early on Sunday mornings and make 5 loaves of this bread and a round baking tin of sticky cinnamon buns from the same dough. That’s still my favorite recipe of hers; in fact, we made some during our recent snow!  So here goes with the recipe….. 

As I’m sitting at my computer writing to you I have a piece of warm toast from a family favorite bread recipe going back about 40 years for us. First I’ll give you the recipe, and then I’ll tell you the almost unbelievable benefits:

• 1- 1/8 cups filtered water warmed in microwave 33 seconds
• 1 egg 
• 2- 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter
• 1  teaspoon of salt
• 1/3 cup of honey
• 2 cups of bread flour
• 1 cup of “fresh ground” whole wheat flour (“The secret ingredient”)
• Optional: Add 1 cup of candied fruit like you would use in making a fruit cake (Makes great breakfast toast!)
• 1 package or 1 rounded tablespoon of yeast
• Stir all the liquid ingredients into a measuring cup, then pour into an automatic bread maker
• Add the flour and yeast to the automatic bread maker and in about four and a half hours (from our bread maker at least) you’ll have a house full of the best smelling fresh bread aroma and a loaf that can truly bring new life. (This is why I started it at 3 AM in this morning so we could have it for breakfast!)

I must first remind you I’m not a doctor nor am I a chef or dietician; all I can offer you is four decades of personal and family experience with this recipe. Besides the delicious tasting bread, especially when it’s warm, the benefits include lowering your risk for several diseases, including:

• Stroke.
• Diabetes.
• Heart disease.
• Asthma.
• Colorectal cancer.
• While I have no credentials, other than personal experience, the above list of benefits is from the Cleveland Clinic (https://health.clevelandclinic.org/bread-best-whole-grain-multigrain-whole-wheat/)

The literature shows that most whole grain bread is better for you than the empty white stuff, but I must warn you that there is no shortcut for the “secret ingredient” in the above recipe (The fresh ground whole wheat flour) if you want the very best. You can buy it at a health store where they sell whole grains but once it’s ground, it should be refrigerated or at  least stored in an airtight jar if you’re going to use it within a few weeks. I buy our wheat berries online in 25-50 pound  bags and grind it myself about 5 pounds at a time. Again, once its ground, it should be refrigerated or at least sealed in an airtight jar to prevent it from getting rancid. 

The second bread of life is even better than the first and has an eternal shelf life even without refrigeration! It’s mentioned in John 6:35. I read that this morning on my smart phone using an app called YouVersion®. If you don’t know how to download this to your phone, ask one of your grandkids, they seem to know everything about cell phones these days.

If you partake of these two breads of life on a regular basis, I promise you a healthier and longer (even eternal) life!  

Thanks for reading All About Seniors… see you next week!

Bill Milby is a Director of Visiting Angels® of Central Georgia, a non-medical, living assistance service for seniors. If you have questions or comments about this column you can reach him at william.mercylink@gmail.com or search for us at  https://www.facebook.com/VisitingAngelsofCentralGA