How to make Manna Bread

For those of you not familiar with Manna bread, you can buy it at your local health food store in the freezer section. It is about $3 per loaf and it is not a big loaf, but it is yummy. The only ingredients are sprouted grains and whatever fruit, nut or veggie type flavor you choose. Our favorite is by far carrot raisin. Anyway, it is a gooey sticky kind of bread and rather sweet. All my kids like it except for the one picky eater who now suddenly likes lentils-- anyway, my husband doesn't really like it either, but I love it!! It is so healthy I hate to refuse any to my kids and after my last purchase I determined that I needed to figure out how to make the stuff consistently--not being pregnant helps!! And you need the right tools.

So here it is for plain manna bread since I keep forgetting to buy raisins I haven't attempted the carrot raisin loaf yet:

Soak red wheat and white wheat berries overnight to sprout
Drain them in the morning and let them start to grow
They are ready to use as soon as you see the little sprouts grow
Remember to rinse them preferably twice a day-- I use a colander and leave them in it a lot of times
Don't wait too long to use them, try to use them before they get real big 1 1/2-2 days of growing after soaking overnight is ideal

Here is the secret: Run the sprouts through a champion type juicer with the blank plate, my brand is something green I bought at Good Earth, this makes a dough. Then with wet hands shape the dough into small loaves about the size and shape of the kind you can buy, put them on a cookie sheet and let them bake at 250 F for 2-3 hours. I have been doing it at 3 hours but the crust is rather dry and tastes like Grape-nuts so 2 hours may be long enough. That's it!! Healthy and Cheap!!

They're Here!!

My twins were born on Thurs. I asked about going to a different hospital since I could no longer even walk and I had started to swell and was 2 days past 37 weeks which is usually considered full term for twins plus the timing would be great with Martin Luther King day being a holiday. I was medically induced and unfortunately opted for the epidural, which I hate, to make sure they would not give me a c-section. I'm disappointed that my doctor didn't have more confidence in my easy labors and deliveries, but I am very relieved to have my twin boys here safe and sound. My labor took about 3 hours, and really couldn't have gone any better except for the epidural. So I am counting my blessings.

Anyway, twin A was 6 lbs. 10 oz. and twin B was 6 lbs. 11 oz. and they look nothing alike, nor do they really look like any of my other kids. It's pretty funny. I'm so looking forward to raising them and having such a nice big family. I just love newborns. It's nice for the older kids too because everybody gets a turn to hold one of them. So far they are sleeping a lot. I have to take advantage of it. It's going to take some time for my body to recover from this amazing pregnancy. Thanks for all your kind words in my complaining post!!

Any ideas on going into labor?

I'm 37 weeks today which is considered full term for twins and they probably weigh more than 7 lbs. each now. I am huge carrying 14 lbs. of baby alone, then add the other 35 lbs. I've gained from the fluids, blood, fat and placentas and you can imagine that I am having a hard time getting around, not to mention all the stares and questions I get about when I'm due. I'm thankful that the babies are looking so healthy and doing well, but I will be very glad to have them out of me and on to the next phase of life. Any ideas on how to naturally speed this process along? I just may have to wait 2 more weeks to be medically induced like I was with all the others. Oh well, I really can't complain.