How to Make Guilt Free Coffee and Bread

Many consider things like coffee and bread to be staples of life. There is also plenty of well documented opinion that suggests we should be either minimising or even completely avoiding these things in our diet.

My view is that and no matter how well the information is presented to minimise or cut coffee and bread out most of us just can’t give these things up.

Many people after realising that these food categories may be exacerbating existing or potentially causing future health problems go ‘cold turkey’ and are really disciplined for a few months only to find that they break their discipline a few times after dining with friends at a restaurant or they don’t want to stand out as different at a social occasion – they then return to their old habits and fill their head with nonsense like – ’ I am too weak, these things can’t be that bad anyway etc’.

I have some good news – let’s switch our thinking on this…

Instead of avoidance (which hardly ever works) why not embrace these things but make them healthy!

Let’s Talk about Coffee First

Let’s face it – most of us love our morning coffee. It is the worlds most consumed drink next to water and is the world’s largest traded commodity after oil!

The word “coffee” Is mentioned in conversation multiple times per day and is associated with friendship, relaxation, social acceptance and good and fun times – and maybe even George Clooney!

It has become a daily ritual and social experience for Millions of people and is repeated day after day.

And let’s be honest your favourite coffee tastes better than even the best Green Tea!

So convincing most people to quit coffee is like trying to make cats obedient.

I am totally passionate about health and I am acutely aware through years of research, education and experience that coffee is addictive, acidic in nature to the body and can cause health problems if consumed in excess. Why are pregnant woman even warned to basically drink NO coffee while they are pregnant!

Consumption of milk in our coffee is also common. Many experts in the health and wellness community advise caution with overuse of cows milk and many people have an intolerance to the lactose or protein in milk. After experimenting with the health effects of consuming or avoiding dairy in my diet I have personally chosen to minimise dairy products and feel much better having done so.

What though if you could drink a coffee that is organic and alkaline in nature? What if you could use a delicious and healthy milk substitute that produced a creamy cappuccino froth that was as good as using cows milk?

Wouldn’t it be nice to consume a guilt free coffee that was not addictive, didn’t give you the jitters and still satisfied your coffee craving and kept intact the social acceptance and experience side of coffee consumption!

After a lot of trial and error we found a coffee that we like that fulfils these criteria. Part of my daily routine is to make absolutely delicious creamy activated almond milk which the whole family consumes over the course of the day. We used to buy almond milk which proved very expensive (5 times that of cows milk) when consumed by the family. It also contained additives, sometimes sugar and just didn’t fulfil my objective to be healthy at a reasonable cost.

I have now perfected how to make 1 litre of organic almond milk that contains all natural ingredients, has minimal time input to prepare and is cost effective (similar cost to cows milk). It also tastes and looks good. The health benefits of not drinking cows milk far outweigh the small inconvenience and effort in my opinion.

Please head over to www.brigitteshouse.com/privateaccess where you can view exclusive content that details our various recommendations for healthy coffees and teas along with detailed step by step instruction on how to make fresh organic almond milk each day in under 10 minutes.

I also sprinkle the creamy froth with a dash of my own formulation – cinnamon, nutmeg and ground dark chocolate with a little coconut sugar combined in a shake. I t dust the top of the creamy froth (assuming you have a machine and know how to perfect the art of creamy frothy milk) and voila′ …

Guilt free alkaline healthy coffee with organic almond milk froth and best served with my renowned freshly baked gluten free banana cake made with coconut sugar – so pretty well guilt free…!

Now Let’s Talk About Bread

Bread has always been considered a staple of life from biblical times. The bread we have today is over processed, lacks fibre and to be honest looks like a piece of wettex (a washing up sponge) after it is out of the plastic wrap.

Having said that you can get some great artisan breads now with the massive growth of the wellness trend and the intense interest in food and cooking on TV.

The French treat their breads very seriously to the point of obsession. Having spent much time in France throughout my life I understand the attraction and have developed my own bread making style which combines taste and look with a healthy twist.

I make a bread fresh from the oven as required for the family and have had a lot of opportunity to experiment with ingredients and the reaction of family and friends who eat the bread. My recipes come from a lot of trial and error.

I have an intense interest in health so nearly all my breads are based on organic ingredients. Most of my recipes are also gluten free.

So many people today are gluten intolerant and I have tried in vain for years to buy edible gluten free bread. Most gluten free breads might be marketed as being healthier but can be dry and tasteless in my experience.

I use gluten free flower extensively but sometimes add some more exotic flours like kamut, mung bean, spelt etc.

The secret is getting the ingredients, taste and consistency right for breads that are perfect for each occasion.

I also like variations where I add things like kale, sprouted mung beans, beetroot and other veggies. This may sound crazy but the resulting green or red breads are not only a talking point when entertaining, they are healthy and taste delicious.

Please head over to www.brigitteshouse.com/privateaccess where you can view exclusive content that details step by step instruction on how to make quick, delicious and also healthy variations of breads for all occasions..

I make different breads for different occasions – breakfast, entertaining, sandwiches but there is one constant …

They all taste amazing when infused into an olive oil dip made from caramelised garlic cloves in cold pressed organic extra virgin olive oil made from kalamata olives (along with some other secret ingredients) and then spread with ripe and creamy Pont l’Evèque or King Island Triple Brie and accompanied with Sicilian olives. Yum !