Yum- Play-Doh? Or Bread? What's The Difference?

Yesterday, while having a conversation about The Paleo Diet with our massage therapist, who is also quite hip to the Hunter Gatherer vibe, the topic of starch came up.   Specifically, how many (sedentary) people feel they need to eat processed starch at every  meal.

Our masseuse said, "Yuck, who wants to eat sludge at every meal?  Might as well coat my insides with Plaster of Paris!".

That created a light bulb moment for me and I thought that perhaps if people think about how bread, pasta and other processed starches might look in a very slightly different form, it might change their desire to consume those products.  

Have a look at a comparison between a basic play doh recipe and a basic bread recipe.  With the single exception that the bread calls for yeast, there is not much difference.

Yes, play doh SHOULD be such that if a child accidentally consumes it, he or she needn't be rushed to the hospital.  However, would you want your child to eat it regularly?  One step further, would you purposely feed it to your kids?

Basic Play Dough Recipe

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1/4 cup salt
• food coloring

Basic Bread Recipe

• 1-1/3 cups very warm water

1 rounded tbsp. sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 tbsp. butter (vary as needed; see below)

4 rounded cups flour (nearly 5 level cups)

1 tsp. active dry yeast