Crock Pot Recipe: Whole Wheat Rosemary Foccacia Bread

Bread I made in the crock pot!

Who wants to turn on the oven in the heat of the summer?  The crock pot is a great tool and if you do not have one I would definitely recommend adding one to your kitchen.  They are perfect for those that may not want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.  If you have a busy day you can add some ingredients to the crock pot in the morning and come home to a meal ready to enjoy.  I have been discovering many ways to use my crock pot including making bread.  Bread in the store, even whole grain, can be loaded with additives and preservatives.  Lets take a look…

	Bread	Ingredients
		Whole grain whole wheat flour including the germ, water, sugar, yeast, wheat gluten, soybean and/or canola oil (possible GMO), salt, cultured wheat starch solids (Hidden form of MSG), natural sour flavour (bacterial culture), vinegar, soy lecithin (possible GMO).
		WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, UNBLEACHED ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR [FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, REDUCED IRON, NIACIN, THIAMIN MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), FOLIC ACID] adding back nutrients lost in processing, WATER, SUGAR, SUNFLOWER SEEDS, WHEAT GLUTEN, WHEAT, RYE, CELLULOSE FIBER (wood pulp), OATS, YEAST, SOYBEAN OIL (possible GMO), GROUND CORN (possible GMO), SALT, MOLASSES, BUCKWHEAT, BROWN RICE, CALCIUM PROPIONATE (PRESERVATIVE), MONOGLYCERIDES, TRITICALE, BARLEY, FLAXSEED, MILLET, CALCIUM SULFATE (filler used for supplemental calcium), DATEM (often derived from genetically modified soya bean oil), GRAIN VINEGAR, CALCIUM CARBONATE (mainly used in construction industry), CITRIC ACID, SOY LECITHIN (possible GMO), NUTS [WALNUTS AND/OR HAZELNUTS (FILBERTS) AND/OR ALMONDS], WHEY, SOY FLOUR (possible GMO) NONFAT MILK
		WATER, WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), FIBER (MAY CONTAIN SOY, OAT, COTTONSEED, AND/OR CELLULOSE), WHEAT GLUTEN, HONEY, YEAST, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: SUGAR, WHOLE GRAIN FLOUR BLEND (WHOLE WHEAT, TRITICALE, ROLLED OATS, RYE, BARLEY, MILLET, BUCKWHEAT, BROWN RICE, AMARANTH), SALT, CULTURED WHEAT STARCH, DOUGH CONDITIONERS (CONTAINS ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, CALCIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, MONOGLYCERIDES AND/OR DIGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM PEROXIDE, CALCIUM IODATE, DATEM, ETHOXYLATED MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES (all food additives), AZODICARBONAMIDE (used in the production of foamed plastics), ENZYMES), GUAR GUM (can contain high levels of pesticides), MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SOY LECITHIN, NIACIN, IRON (FERROUS SULFATE), THIAMINE HYDROCHLORIDE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID, 041411
www.theorganicdietitian.com		Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Crushed Wheat, Wheat, Gluten,Sugar, Raisin Juice Concentrate, Soybean Oil, Yeast, Contains 2 percent or less of: Wheat Bran, Whole Wheat Flakes, Unsulphured Molasses, Salt, Honey, Vinegar, Enzyme Modified Soy Lecithin, Cultured Whey (Milk) and Enzymes.

Next time you are at the grocery store I encourage you to take a look at the bread you are buying.  Bread is normally not stored in the freezer or refrigerated section.  This means that loads of preservatives have to be added to keep the loaves looking great so they last for weeks on the shelf.  I think about bread I have purchased in the past and how long it has lasted even at home on the counter before finally going moldy.  That is not normal.

Making your own bread can be easier than you think.  I personally do not have a bread machine but they pretty much do the work for you and can be great if your family goes through a lot of bread.  I recently tried making bread in the crock pot at it worked very well.  I just mixed the ingredients together buy hand, let the dough rise in the crock pot, and then turned the machine on high for a couple hours and that’s it!  Fresh bread with no added preservatives, chemicals, or sugar.  There is nothing better than fresh baked bread.  Bread got a bad wrap during the height of the low carb kick, but there is room for carbohydrates in a healthy, unprocessed, organic diet in moderate amounts.  The problem with a lot of American diets is the large amount of processed, high sugar, low nutrient carbohydrates and bread is one of them.  In my recipe I can control the amount of sugar and use whole wheat flour which still contains the bran and germ preserving the nutritional value.  Whole wheat contains B vitamins, phytochemicals, antioxidants, iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, and fiber.

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Course Grains

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 20 minutes

Servings 6 -12

Author Sara

Ingredients

• 1 packet active dry yeast about 1 tbsp
• 1 1/4 cup warm water I microwave for 1 minute and it does the trick
• 1 tsp raw honey
• 1 tsp grey sea salt
• 3 tbsp fresh rosemary chopped
• 3 1/2 cup whole grain flour I used sprouted organic spelt flour
• 1 tsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Mix the yeast and honey into the warm water.
2. Let the mix sit for about 10 minutes until bubbles form.
3. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt, and rosemary until combined.
4. Once the yeast has activated pour the mix into the flour.
5. Mix with your hands until well combined and the flour has fully incorporated in with the wet yeast.
6. Knead the dough for a few minutes.
7. Roll the dough in olive oil.
8. Place the dough in the off crock pot lined with unbleached parchment paper.
9. Cover the dough with a damp clean cloth.
10. Let the dough rise for about 30 minutes until doubled in size.
11. Remove the cloth, cover the lid, and turn the crock pot on high.
12. Bake the dough for about 2 hours until done (maybe more or less depending on how hot your crock pot gets).