http://hotandhealthyliving.com/2010/04/hot-healthy-find-yummy-cake-like-organic-manna-bread/

Anything sweet (or even remotely dessert-like) always scores big points with me in the taste department. While I could easily polish off a huge piece of cake any day (somehow I muster up the control not to do this), its definitely a challenge to find healthy sweets that align with a whole foods diet. Every time I grocery shop, I keep my eyes peeled for the latest and greatest truly healthy sweet find. Unhappily, I rarely come across a convenience food that meets my ridiculously strict whole foods diet nutrition criteria. Manna bread, I am overjoyed to say, exceeds even my requirements for a sweet find.

Lets start with taste. Manna bread is a muffin-y, cake-like tasting bread that is sweet, moist and chewy all at once. Its also extremely satisfying. If Im having a sweet craving all I need to do is slice some manna bread, spread it with some raw almond butter and put a few dried apples on top. Its also amazing with raw honey and a bit of hardened (butter-like) extra virgin coconut oil on top (I especially like Barleans brand of coconut oil). If Im really needing something totally decadent, Ill use manna bread as the base for a chocolaty dessert; simply cut a slice of manna bread, spread a thin layer of peanut butter on top, place a few mini dark chocolate chips (such as Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips) on top and pop the whole thing in the microwave to melt the chocolate and heat the manna bread. Top it with one heaping tablespoon of organic vanilla ice cream (yup, just 1 tablespoon does the trick) and voila!! Dessert is done.

Moving on to the nutritional benefits.manna bread blows every muffin out of the water from a health standpoint. Manna bread is made from sprouted whole grains (if you recall from earlier articles, sprouting releases all the vital nutrients stored within the whole grain and therefore is nutritionally superior to eating cooked whole grains---and far superior to flour). Its salt-free, preservative free, oil free and yeast free. Even though its sweet, it contains zero added sugars (the sweetness comes from fully germinating the whole grains and from dried fruits.) Manna bread is just pure and simple wholesome clean eatingthat tastes every bit as good as it is good for you. This is 100% guilt-free bread.

Where Can You Buy Manna Bread?

Our family likes Manna Organics (www.MannaOrganicBakery.com), which can be found at your natural foods store or purchased online from the company website. They have 9 delicious flavors. I especially love Carrot-Raisin, Cinnamon-Date and Banana Walnut Hemp, which happens to also include flaxseeds and delivers a good dose of vegan ALA omega-3 fats. Manna bread doesnt contain preservatives so dont bother looking for it on the shelf with all the other processed breads, youll only find manna bread in the frozen section of your supermarket. When you get it home you can either freeze it or keep it in the fridge if you plan to eat it within a few days.


If you'd like more Hot & Healthy Finds and more healthy living tips visit Ivy Larson at www.HotandHealthyLiving.com