No-added-sugar Bread: BMI = 30.8

A few posts ago I said you can’t make bread without adding at least a little sugar. I was wrong. As it turns out, if you dissolve some of the flour in warm water, some of the released starches will break down into sugars: enough to nourish the yeast and make your bread rise. I learned this today when I picked up another great loaf of bread by Boulangerie Auger.

As usual, I took some time as soon as I got home to do a mis en place for my dinners this week. I marinated some cucumber and red onion in apple cider vinegar and sambal – adding a little Mrs. Dash for extra seasoning. I made a new batch of slaw, using just a little oil this time and letting the apple cider vinegar and salt draw more liquid and flavour from the shredded cabbage, carrot, red pepper, and red onion. I sliced some tomato, cucumber, red onion, and red pepper and stored all that together, so I could make a quick sandwich when I got home from work. Once again, I picked up some sliced roast beef rather than processed/transformed cold cuts.

I stacked up the sandwich toppings on a thick slice of that no-added-sugar bread, slathered with Dijon mustard, and my mouth was watering by the time I started plating yet another healthy dinner.

I used last week’s slaw and cucumbers because it takes about 3 days for the apple cider vinegar to soften them up and develop all the flavours. I added some sliced, half-salt pickles, and a little sour kraut that re-elevated the sodium on this plate. This is an entire no-added-sugar meal, with plenty of veggie and very little fat. The only weakness here is that the bread is not whole wheat – but who’s perfect?

My BMI is now 30.8 and I’m still moving. I’m sorry I can’t show you any photos from when my BMI was 43 but I avoided cameras like the plague back then. I began this journey by discovering I that my BMI was 43 (Obese Class III), reduced that by 12 and now I have less than 1 more point to go to once again be overweight, rather than obese. I’m doing this without starving. You can eat great meals like this as long as you follow the Canada Food Guide and don’t snack.