There are just so many different ways to make multi-grain breads, and several different bread-making methods to consider. The neat thing about bread is that it isn't just one thing... I'd also have to ecco rhome410 about milling your own grains/seeds/beans if you are this interested in the healthy aspect of it. It's THE only way to get the most available nutrition. It will also save you a lot of money - especially if you make all your breads - which I do. The price of grains is typically much lower than purchasing the flours. Breadmaking is full of little "rules", along with all the exceptions to the "rules". Knowing the rules will help you troubleshoot the old question, "WHAT HAPPENED?". In fact, "Artisan Bread in 5-Minutes a Day" is a complete contradiction to generally held bread science. A general rule: Adding anything sharp (DRY multi-grain cereal blends, nuts, seeds, flakes I mill at home, etc.) at the BEGINNING of mixing/kneading can result in the gluten strands being cut by the these things. As rhome410 said, she uses a sponge method (soaks a portion of the liquid/flour/yeast, so the dry chopped grains soak up hydration during the sponge. Other recipes will have you add hot water to these grain mixtures to soften them. There are ALWAYS options in the world of bread. I like the added "crunch", so I generally add them late in the kneading. Home-milled flakes are just smashed grains, and they are thicker than commercial old-fashioned oatmeal. Commercial oatmeal is tempered with steam to soften the grain, then it's run through the roller mill. When you make your own flakes you don't temper the grain - you mill it dry. I have a bread recipe that uses steel-cut oats. I'll try to find and post it. You can also make the steel-cut oats into oatmeal and make the recipe I've linked below for Cooked Oatmeal Scones. When making breads by hand I add the gluten-containing flour to the liquids FIRST, and beat the dickens out of that mixture to develop the gluten while the mixture is still in the bowl (adding flour a little at a time and mixing it thoroughly with a Danish Dough Whisk). Then I'll add any non- or low-gluten flour. They don't require the work that gluten-development in wheat flour does. Non- or low-gluten flours just needs to be incorporated. Adding oatmeal is great. If the recipe has you add it early in the process, it will be pulvarized and well-incorporated by the time the loaf is done. You'll have little evidence of it, unless you add some to the top of the loaf just before you bake it. If you add too much oatmeal or oat flour, the bread will be moist, doughy and crumbly. You can also make your own oat flour by running oatmeal through a blender or food processor until it's flour. I make oat flour by milling oat groats. I wouldn't add any more than 20% oat flour to a bread recipe or you'll compromise the texture and crumb. Different grain flours contribute different textures to breads. Dough that has rye flour in it is characteristicly sticky. People tend to continue to add flour to overcome the stickiness and often add too much and end up with a dry dough and a "brick" for a loaf of rye bread. I use rye for all kinds of things, not just breads. It's an under-used flour in my books. It works well in baked goods that don't need a lot of gluten development - like quick breads and cookies. I suspect the "When Pigs Fly" - seven grain and pumpkin seed bread is made mainly with bleached or unbleached bread flour (possibly whole wheat flour) with a portion being either 7-Grain flour, or 7-Grain chopped grain mixture. It comes both ways. Pumpkin seeds can be whole/chopped/pulvarized. I tend to mill sesame seeds (flax as well) I add to breads. (I add flaxmeal to EVERYTHING!) You don't get any of the nutrition unless they are cracked - either masticating or milling them. It's just easier to mill them to assure they are easy to digest. Bob's Red Mill has a 10-grain flour available. You have to be careful using these multi-grain/seed/bean flour combinations because they include non-gluten and low-gluten ingredients. You need a major portion of the flour to contain gluten (flour derived from wheat) and only a small percentage to be from non- or low-gluten flours, or the bread won't rise like you are accustomed to when you make white bread. I don't add WHOLE grains in the form of a wheat berry or an oat groat. They are added either by being milled into flour, coarsely chopped, flakes or sprouts. I like to add whole amaranth seeds to quick breads as an easy addition. They look like golden poppy seeds and add a lot of great nutrition and crunch. I also add amaranth flour to breads. I mill it in a seed mill. This particular mill does those tiny seeds and oily seeds like poppy seeds, sesame seeds, flax, teeny-tiny Tef and amaranth, etc. I can easily substitute 1/2 c. of the flour in the recipe with 1/2 a cup of amaranth flour without too much trouble or changes in the bread texture. That's another way to get multi-grain breads. I use quinoa in cooking, not baking. Quinoa is coated with saponin and you have to wash it very well before using it or it's bitter-tasting. So if you want to mill it into flour you have to wash it and then dry it before you mill it. Not worth the bother in my books. You chance messing your mill up if the grain isn't completely dry when you mill it. Lots of cooked cereals, like cooked quinoa, can be added to bread recipes. I'd also suggest following recipes that include multiple grain mixtures or grain flours in them, before striking out on your own and making your own substitutions. I'd suggest as much studying as you do baking. You can probably get these books at your local library, or have them get them through Inter-Library Loan. - The first 100 pages of "CookWise" by Shirley O. Corriher. That covers a lot of what you need to know about making bread in general. - "The Splendid Grain" by Rebecca Wood. It explains grains and how they are used. For instance, you can make your own rice flour in a coffee/spice mill, but which rice is best for baking? Short- and medium-grain rice are best for baking. Long-grain rice is best for dredging or thickening. Short- and medium-grain rice flour can be used for dredging/thickening, as well as baking. -"The Pleasure of Whole-Grain Breads" - by Beth Hensperger Other little-known rules, like adding ascorbic acid powder to recipes for yeast bread that contain whole wheat flour or wheat germ. Ascorbic acid powder counteracts the negative effects of Glutathione (found in the wheat germ), which breaks the gluten bonds - which accounts for so many short-squatty loaves of 100% whole wheat bread. Ascorbic acid (1/8-t. per loaf) helps prevent gluten bonds from breaking down, helps sustain the leavening during baking (more oven spring), and helps promote yeast growth. I've been studying bread science, milling, and grains for years, and am still learning all the time. Welcome to the club... -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: COOKED Oatmeal Scones

It's not so much being "green", it more about being cheap - ahem - frugal. Nothing I do will save the planet, but the bottom line, the energy savings sure are nice ;-). For a "tried and true" recipe for whole grain biscuits... I start with a wholegrain baking mix recipe I came up with a number of years ago (I usually make 1/2 a recipe and freeze it). I use this recipe whenever Bisquick is called for in a recipe.: Good-For-You Baking Mix 2 c. freshly-milled spelt (or unbleached all-purpose flour) 2 c. white whole wheat flour 3/4 c. Morning Moo's Whey-Based Milk Substitute (powder) 1/2 c. quick-cooking oats 1/2 c. cornmeal 3 T. baking powder 1 t. salt 1 c. coconut oil (or softened butter) In a large container thoroughly combine all the dry ingredients. Add the fat, and using a hand-held electric mixer, blend in the fat until evenly dispersed. Store, tightly covered, in the freezer. Good-For-You Biscuits 3 c. Good-For-You Baking Mix 1 c. kefir curd (or plain yogurt) Combine baking mix and yogurt just until moistened. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Bake in 425-degree F. oven for 10-12 minutes, or until golden. Makes 16 drop biscuits. For cut biscuits, pat dough 3/4-1-inch thick. Cut into 2-inch squares (or size you like) using a pizza cutter. ---------------------------------- WHOLE WHEAT BUTTERMILK BISCUITS 2-1/4 c. soft white whole wheat flour 2 T. flaxmeal 2 t. baking soda 1/4 t. soda 1/2 t. salt 1/3 c. softened butter or coconut oil 3/4 c. homemade kefir or buttermilk Mix dry ingredients. But in fat. Add kefir or buttermilk and mix lightly, just until the ingredients come together. Pat dough out 3/4-1-inch thick and cut with a pizza cutter into 2-inch squares. Bake in a preheated 425-degree F. oven for 15-minutes. -Grainlady

Before going gluten-free, I nearly always used a 100% extraction - medium-fine grind (Nutrimill) for bread. I used an overnight sponge, which softens the bran, for making 100% whole wheat flour yeast bread. That is another way to lighten the loaf. Using a soaked flour method (Sue Gregg or "Nourishing Traditions") is another method to lighten the loaves because it softens the bran. Tempering the grain before milling, as well as bolting the flour, is yet one more method. The only tempered wheat I've worked with was called "heavy-bran" (from a local stone mill), and it was more like oatmeal. I developed several recipes for the mill with this product, but they decided not to continue production due to expense and hassle. I would sift the bran from flour milled for making "cake" flour (a 3:1 mix of soft white wheat and whole oat groats OR spelt), although softer wheat doesn't bolt as efficiently as hard wheat. I don't own a standard flour "sifter", but I use a series of food-grade mesh sieves I've collected over the years for bolting. I'm not even sure of the micron size of them. You can get sets that have 3 (or more) sizes to the set. Start with a large one and continue with smaller ones until you have achieved the extraction rate and particle size you'd like. If you make your own cereal or cereal blends for making cooked cereal (Cream of Wheat, Rice, Barley, Rye, 5-grain, 7-grain, etc.), that's another place you will want to sift the finer particles from the mixture before cooking it. If you don't sift it out, you will end up with "glue" for cooked cereal. Same thing if you make cracked wheat or bulgur. It is my understanding that flour is generally in the range of 35-70 micron opening mesh. Naturally, it depends on the grind from your mill. If you start with a coarse grind, you will get different results than if you mill your grain on a medium or fine grind. You will get a finer grind on many mills if you run the grain through on a coarse grind, then run the coarse flour through on a finer grind a second time. Yet one more option. I'm not sure what the sizes are for the various grinds of corn, but I might have something in my files and will post it if I find it. The finer the cornmeal -- the texture of the cornbread will be more cake-like. This would be the "coarse" setting used for milling cornmeal on the Nutrimill. You can't get a true coarse grind using an impact mill. I use a Corn Mill - steel burrs - for coarse grinding. Coarse cornmeal will be coarse and heavy when used for cornbread. Neither is right or wrong - just a choice. ;-) Sorry I couldn't be more help.... -Grainlady

These recipes are a bit "rough" since I've only made them once or twice; and are subject to change. TUSCAN CHICKEN (adapted from - Tuscan Rosemary Chicken and White Beans) Preheat GT Xpress 101 (takes 2-3 minutes). Meanwhile, chop veggies. When the light goes out... Place 1/2 T. bottled (or homemade) Italian Dressing in each cooking chamber. Add 1-2 small chicken tenderloins to each chamber. Flip the chicken so the dressing coats both sides. Top the chicken with a small sprig of fresh rosemary. Top the chicken with sliced veggies. I used 1 stalk of celery, 1 carrot, few slices of a small zucchini and small yellow squash, divided between the two chambers. If you want to increase the protein and use less chicken, use a small amount of chicken and add canned (or cooked) cannellini beans (drained and rinsed) mixed with the veggies. Other veggie choices would include frozen stir-fry veggies, if you are in a hurry. Cook 10-15 minutes, or until the temperature of the chicken reaches 180F and the chicken is cooked through. (Hubby\-Friendly) Hot Dog with Biscuit Topping Preheat the GT Xpress 101. Split hot dog and butterfly open. I use my homemade, multi\-grain version of a baking mix and used it for the biscuit topping. 3/4 c. Good\-For\-You Baking Mix 1/4 c. kefir (you could also use milk, plain yogurt, or milk substitute) Stir together, just until mixed together. In each chamber, place one hot dog (you may be able to place two hot dogs in each chamber if they are thin (I use Hebrew National). Divide the baking mixture in two equal portions and spread over the top of the hot dog/s. Bake 6\-10 minutes. Next time, I'm going to put the dollop of baking mix in the bottom of the chamber and top it with the hot dog and see how that works. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cheeseburger Bake This was thrown together, so I'm not sure exact measurements. Preheat GT Express 101. Mix together 1/2\-1 cup pre\-cooked hamburger (I keep pre\-cooked hamburger in the freezer for quick meals \- ground gluten would also work as a good ground beef substitute), chopped onion (I used dried onion), and enough ketchup to hold mixture together. Divide into the two chambers. Top with shredded cheese. Top with the "Pie" Batter mixture from the book: 1 c. milk 1 egg 1/2 c. baking mix Mix all ingredients together in a covered shaker. Fill each chamber to the top, but don't over\-fill it. Cook 10 minutes. NOTE: The next time I make this, I'm going to make tiny biscuits with my homemade baking mix and top each of the meat mixtures with 2\-3 multi\-grain biscuits instead of using the "Pie" Batter. Shredded beef, onion and bbq sauce could also be used as the mixture in the bottom and topped with biscuits or even a slice of rye bread or Italian bread. Makes an open\-faced BBQ Beef Sandwich. Hot Dogs (butterflied open) can be topped with well-drained sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Cook 6-7 minutes. Taco Salad (similar to Tostado Bowls in the cookbook) Another pull\-it\-out\-of the freezer meat I keep on hand is taco meat (ground beef (or beef/ground gluten combination), seasonings, salsa mixture), in individual 1/2\-cup portions. You need about 1/4 c. meat mixture per chamber. I cut a homemade tortilla in half (I made small tortillas so they would fit into the chambers) and fit one tortilla half into the preheated chambers. Added the meat, shredded cheese, cooked black beans (also from the freezer \- thawed). Cook 6\-7 minutes. Top with your favorite toppings (shredded lettuce, tomatoes....) Scalloped Potatoes (3 servings) Mix together: 1-1/2 c. Simply Potatoes - Shredded Hash Browns (refrigerator case, not frozen - or rehydrated dehydrated or freeze-dried hash browns) 1/2-1 t. dried onion 5 T. kefir (or half & half) 1/2 T. cheddar cheese powder (www.thespicehouse.com) Whisk together. 1/2 c. fresh bread crumbs 1-2 t. butter Melt butter, add bread crumbs to coat. Heat over low heat for a minute. Place hash browns in a small bowl and mix in dried onion. Add the kefir cheddar cheese powder sauce. Mix well and divide between the two chambers, which have been preheated and lightly greased. Divided the buttered bread crumbs on the top. Shut lid and cook 8-10 minutes. Option 1: I've precooked the recipe WITHOUT the buttered crumb topping, and only cooked it for 6-minutes. Removed the cooked potatoes and placed them in a buttered baking dish. (One recipe fits nicely into my 7-1/4x4-1/2x1-inch pasta dishes.) You can cool, wrap tightly with foil, and refrigerate this par-cooked recipe. When ready to reheat, add the buttered crumbs and finish baking in a toaster oven later in the day. Not sure of reheating times... Option 2: Line the baking dishes you are going to use with Reynolds Wrap Release non-stick foil. Place the par-cooked potatoes in them, quick freeze the potatoes. When frozen, remove the foil and wrap the potatoes in the foil and make a stack for freezer to use later. I made the recipe in the book, "Almost Instant" Coconut Custard Pies. I use unsweetened coconut and it worked just fine. I made these in the afternoon and chilled them in the refrigerator. So think ahead.... In the works: Chicken What\-the\-heck! Shepherd's Pie Impossible Pies from Bisquick \- in 2 serving sizes... \-Grainlady