When you have a digestive challenge you'll find soaking or sprouting grain before consumption will aid in easier digestion. Soaking/sprouting allows enzymes, lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to break down and neutralize phytic acid. The simple practice of soaking cracked or rolled cereal grains overnight with some whey, kefir, buttermilk or yogurt added to the soaking water will not only make the grains easier to digest, but it will improve their nutritional benefits. The soak neutralizes enzyme inhibitors. During the soaking and fermenting, gluten and other difficult-to-digest proteins are partially broken down into simpler components that are more available for absorption. Oats/oatmeal may be low in the hard-to-digest gluten protein, but oats contain more phytates than almost any other grain. So if you have digestive problems, pre-soaking all grains, especially oats, would be very important. Freshly-milled whole grain flour can be made into a gruel and the gruel used as a base for a smoothie, instead of a fruit/dairy-based smoothie. You can add all kinds of things to your gruel-based smoothie. If you don't have a grain mill for this process, you can use a coffee/spice mill for milling small amounts of grain into flour (barley, brown rice, wheat, kamut, spelt, rye, etc.) and mill it as needed because FRESH IS BEST. To make 2-cups of Gruel: (source: Nourishing Traditions - by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, Ph.D.) 1/2 c. freshly ground organic flour from spelt, kamut, rye, barley, wheat, rice or oats 2 c. water plus 2 T. whey, yogurt, kefir or buttermilk 1/4 t. salt Mix flour with water mixture, cover and leave at room temperature for 12-24 hours. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add salt, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 10-minutes. Let cool slightly and serve with cream or butter and a small amount of a natural sweetener, such as raw honey. ------------------------------------------------------- Add ground flax seeds (flaxmeal) for more nutrition and fiber. Flax seeds are relatively low in phytic acid and when taken in small amounts do not require soaking. Mill them in a coffee/spice mill so you have the freshest source possible, plus they are less expensive. I'd also suggest adding chia seeds or chia seed gel (chia seeds mixed with water) to this gruel smoothie for additional fiber and nutrition and the great health benefits from this simple little seed. Chia seeds are easy to add to water or other beverages. A common drink used with them is called "fresca" - 1 glass of lemonade and 1 t. chia seeds - allow to sit for 10-minutes before drinking. I realize lemonade would be too acidic, but that's an example of how to add chia seeds to your diet - in any kind of beverage - just allow to sit for 10-minutes. Another add-in that would raise fiber AND aid in digestion is High Maize Resistant Starch. We add all three of these to our morning smoothie. Add water, juice, dairy, if necessary, to make the smoothie texture. --------------------------------------------------------- Have every tried crumbling baked goods in a bowl and pouring milk over it. Lots of people crumble cornbread and top if off with buttermilk and I thought it might work for wholegrain muffins or cake. This recipe is a nice wholegrain snack cake that might work crumbled. Just omit the topping and the nuts in the recipe. BANANA CRUNCH CAKE (Source: The Quaker Oats Wholegrain Cookbook) Crunch Topping: 3/4 c. Quaker Oats (Quick or Old-Fashioned, uncooked) 2 T. butter or margarine, melted 2 T. chopped nuts 1/2 t. cinnamon Cake: 1/2 c. butter or margarine 2/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar 1 c. mashed banana 2 eggs 1 t. vanilla 1 c. ground oat flour* 3/4 c. all-purpose flour (use whole wheat or spelt flour) 1 t. salt 1 t. soda 1/2 c. chopped nuts, if desired For crunch topping, combine all ingredients; mix well. For cake, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy; blend in banana, eggs and vanilla. Gradually add combined dry ingredients, mixing well after each addition. Stir in nuts. Pour into greased 8-inch square baking pan; sprinkle with crunch topping evenly over batter. Bake in preheated moderate oven (350-degrees F) 40 to 45 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. *How to make your own ground oat flour: 1. Place 1 to 1-1/2 c. oats in blender or food processor. 2. Blend or process for about 60 seconds Yield: about 1 cup ground oat flour 3. Store in tightly covered container in cool dry place up to six months. ------------------------------------------------------- -Grainlady

Just make your regular yeast rolls and substitute some whole wheat flour for about half the white flour. But I wouldn't worry...Wheat rolls are better fora diabetic...but they are not a really good thing to eat. The thing to remember about a diabetic diet...is it's not all 'white carbs" but things with a low gylcemic index...t.hose things that take longer to turn to sugar.... Whole wheat is better than white bread....but it's still carbohydrate. Don't worry about it...put some rye crisp or rye bread on the table if you think he will miss it.

Here is what Cook's Illustrated Magazine had to say: "Since rolling out pie crust is job No. 1, we started there. A good rolling pin should spread this finicky, delicate dough easily and smoothly, without sticking or tearing. In the test kitchen, we’ve long preferred handle-free French rolling pins for flattening pie dough, since they give us a direct sense of the dough’s thickness and of how hard we are pressing down. Most of our tapered French models weighed less than the handled pins but had just enough heft for this task. One of our handled pins also worked well—at just under 2 pounds, it was slightly less maneuverable but didn’t leave us with cracked, crushed dough. Should a pin be straight or tapered? One tapered model left pie dough thick at the edges; others rolled evenly. We got out our measuring tape and discovered that the problematic pin started tapering from closer to its middle. So fat-bellied that it resembled a lozenge, it provided only 4 inches of straight, flat rolling surface. Considering that the bottom of a standard pie plate measures 7 inches across, pins that stay straight for at least 6 inches function best. As for handled pins, some simply spun in place instead of rolling over the parchment-covered cookie dough. Our go-to pin for this job turned out to be a 19-inch, handle-free straight dowel in slightly textured maple. At 1½ pounds, it was just weighty enough to lend us a hand but light enough to let us maneuver it easily. Another straight, handle-free dowel rolling pin initially looked perfect for the task, since it comes with attachable rings for rolling out cookie dough to a desired thickness. But with rings for only 1/16-, 1/4-, and 3/8-inch thicknesses, that function was limited—and at 13½ inches in length, it made our arms feel cramped when using it." Cook's Illustrated Winner - J.K. Adams 19" maple rolling dowel

This one is pretty close to one I have made and my dogs love. I do not use the salt, add 1 cup of oatmeal and adjust the flour. I just pat/roll out a rectangle and cut squares. We call them puppy crack cuz my lab is addicted. https://www.petinsurance.com/healthzone/pet-articles/recipes-for-pets/Peanut-Butter-Pumpkin-Dog-Cookies.aspx