Student Food - BarleyPrevent Diabetes - Tastes GreatI am a huge barley fan. Part of that has to do with a mild allergy to wheat, but aside from that, barley has some amazing characteristics that should make every thinking human want to include it in their diet on a daily basis. Barley has an enormous, walloping dose of soluble fiber. You'll notice it has an almost slimey texture if you cook it too long. That's the soluble fiber. That soluble fiber is what prevents diabetes, promotes heart health and keeps your tummy from getting all bloated and weird. Scientists are also researching the phytochemicals present in barley - they think barley has some special phytochemicals that regulate insulin - maybe why it's such a boon for diabetes prevention. So, I'm going to give you a barley cracker recipe that you can cook up in your oven - and please feel free to munch these instead of 'tater' chips which will only make you fat and quickly dead.
Sweet, Nutty, Yummy Barley Crackers 2 1/2 cups Rolled oat or barley flakes Mix this stuff up and roll it out as thin as you can. Don't worry about it. Just do it however you can. If you don't have sesame seed you can use sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, walnuts, any chopped nut - or none at all. It still comes out crunchy and nutty tasting. Cut it into squares or triangles with a pizza cutter and shove into a fairly low temperature, around 300 degrees. Let it sit in there for about 30 to 40 minutes. It will start to smell delicious when it's just about done. Nutty and bready. You can find barley flour at Wild Oats, Trader Joes and I think just about any major grocery store. Try it! You'll like it! I keep pearled barley in my pantry and throw it into just about everything. Here is the nutritional breakdown for pearled barley, which is the kind of barley you mostly see in the U.S. P.S. It has twice the fiber as brown rice. Per 1 cup cooked pearl barley 
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