By Vicky and the V Well Team-4/8/15
I used to be very unaware of how many people had this great love for pretzels. Did you know that the ingredients in these empty-calorie sodium bombs are enriched flour, salt, yeast, oil, and…lye?! That’s right. Lye, the same stuff that’s in your oven cleaner, is the same thing many pretzels take a bath in before getting cooked in order to give them a nice, crispy sheen. Here’s the process of how pretzels are made:
Flour, water, yeast, and other ingredients such as sugar and oil are mixed in large factory tanks to form the pretzel dough. The dough ferments, and is transferred to a machine that stamps the dough into a pretzel shape. These raw pretzels are then showered in a bath of sodium carbonate or lye, of which contains a 1% concentration of sodium hydroxide. Finally, the pretzels are salted and cooked. (See 2:34 in Science Channel's How It's Made video)
I don’t know about you, but the visual about the lye bath makes me uneasy and so I never eat pretzels. Let me quote one of my favorite lines from a movie, Jack Nicholson from Terms of Endearment: “I would rather stick needles in my eyes!” In an effort to leave you on a good note, while you might have to give up your beloved pretzel here’s a tasty treat that your children will even love!
Kale Chips
Ingredients:
* 2 large bunches kale, washed and dried thoroughly
* extra virgin olive oil
* sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Tear apart large potato chip sized pieces of kale, some still on stalk, some not.
3. Place enough kale on large baking sheet so most don’t overlap and lightly drizzle with olive oil (about a tablespoon). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss well.
4. Spread kale out evenly and bake for 10 minutes, shaking pan back and forth a few times after 5 minutes to ensure they don’t burn.
The kale chips should taste nice and crispy! My sons used to eat this as a substitute for popcorn, believe it or not!
Source-
wiseGEEK: What is Lye?
Science Channel: How It's Made Pretzels
Vicky and the V Well Team
Consult your doctor before introducing increased exercise or new items to your diet, especially those that may interact with any medication(s) and/or supplement(s) you are currently taking. Be sure to read all food and supplement labels, especially if you have any food sensitivities or allergies. These are the opinions of V Well Health. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. With regard to the Biggest Winner Challenge, if you are pregnant and/or breastfeeding, this program is not recommended. If you are at or under Ideal Body Weight, weight loss is not recommended.