Reclaiming Your Nutritional Kingdom and Your Wallet
You are about to understand why I think Karen is a real find and perfect fit for our preparedness team, such great info and really yummy recipes!
Most of us fall into one of two categories: Either we do not store whole grains in our home because we don’t really know how to use them, or we hold captive thousands of pounds of whole grains in our home, hidden beneath every bed and in every closet, never to be liberated, because we don’t really know how to use them. Either way, we have a lot in common.
So—let’s learn how to use them! You will finally rotate those grains, you will provide your family with more nutrition than you can possibly imagine, you will learn and teach food skills that are nearly extinct, and you will save yourself a fortune! So what are we waiting for? This is the first in a series of posts designed to jump start your in-home whole grain program.
Let’s start with breakfast, the most important meal of the day, and the simplest way to rotate whole grains into your daily diet from your long term storage.
Not only are whole grains packed with energy giving and life sustaining nutrition, cooking with them is an excellent way to save more than a buck or two. For example, I can purchase a box of cereal, sugary or otherwise, for about $4.00 give or take. Add to that the gallon of milk needed and my breakfast bill shot up to $7.50. That is assuming that one box of cereal will satisfy my brood of seven, which it won’t. Multiply the cost by 30 days and I have spent $225.00 a month to feed my family convenience packed with empty calories. You may say to yourself, “Yeah, but that is only a dollar a person, that’s pretty cheap, I’m busy, and the kids like it.”
Ahem . . . moving on.
Let’s compare that to storing oat groats and grinding them fresh just before you toss them into a pan of salted steaming water. Even with a little sugar and milk or cream, I can serve my entire family a hot, nutritious bowl of real oatmeal for under a dollar. That is just over fourteen cents per person. My family starts their day with their tummies full of whole food, and I save $195.00 a month. What could you do with $195.00, especially in these difficult economic times? My suggestion would be to use the extra cash to expand your family’s food supply and to relieve yourself of as much debt as possible. Did you know that restructuring your diet would so drastically restructure your financial well being? Considering all of this, a box of cold cereal simply can not compete; no matter how many coupons you clip.
Many of you are saying right now, “My kids won’t eat oatmeal.” If your children are suffering from the proverbial Froot Loop Syndrome then you definitely have a challenge on your hands. It will take time to transition your troop to whole grains, but the change begins with you. Even though you might believe otherwise, you control the kitchen and it is time to reclaim your kingdom.
For everyone’s sake, I will start this series of posts with something a little more kid friendly. We can tackle oatmeal another time. Let’s talk pancakes. Piping hot wholegrain buttermilk pancakes with maple or berry syrup. You might prefer fresh berries or hot berry compote and some whipping cream—the real kind. If the thought overwhelms you, start on a Saturday or Sunday when you don’t have to shove the kids out the door to school, to an early morning study group or team practice, and when you’re not dashing off to work! With a few practice runs, you will master the recipe and before you know it you will be able to whip up pancakes in a few minutes with your eyes closed. I promise.
Pancakes are a quick bread. That means they are leavened chemically, with baking powder and soda, rather than biologically, with yeast. The best wheat to use for all of your quick breads is soft white low protein wheat. If you do not have that, use what you do have. If whole grains are new to your family, then start by using half wheat flour and half white flour and work towards the whole wheat end of the spectrum.
I grind my grains fresh each morning. Freshly ground grains contain all of the natural oils, flavors, and nutrition that God intended them to have. I realize that not everyone has a grain mill. Consider the investment. A good grain mill will last a life time. Wheat flour purchased from the store has very little nutrition, and it does not store well. The one time investment of a grain mill will save you thousands in the long run.
Whole Wheat
or
Transitional Wheat Pancakes
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
or ½ Wheat, ½ White Flour
*1 Tbsp Sugar, Honey, or Molasses
1 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt
¼ tsp Baking Soda
1 Egg, Well Beaten
1 Cup Buttermilk
½ Cup Water
½ tsp Vanilla
2 Tbsp Oil
* If using honey or molasses instead of sugar, add the honey to the wet ingredients.
Mix the dry ingredients together leaving a well in the center. Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the wet ingredients all at once and stir just till combined. Batter will be slightly lumpy. Drop the cakes onto a hot oiled griddle and cook until slightly bubbly. Flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown and fluffy. Do not flatten the cakes with your spatula, let them fluff. Makes approximately six pancakes. I triple this recipe for my family of seven.
Berry Compote
1 Cup Fresh or Frozen
Blueberries, Raspberries,
Blackberries or any combination
of all of them.
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
¼ Cup sugar
½ Cup Water
½ tsp Lemon Zest (Optional)
¼ tsp cinnamon (Optional)
1 Tbsp Corn Starch
1 Tbsp Water
In a sauce pan combine berries, lemon, sugar and water, zest and or cinnamon. Bring to a soft rolling boil. Combine Corn Starch with 1 Tbsp water, stir until dissolved. Stir Corn Starch mixture into hot berry mixture. Remove from heat. Serve warm over pancakes or waffles with whipped cream. Yum.
For more information on whole grains please visit my website @ www.kneadfulthingsnow.com .
Have a scrumptious wholegrain money-saving day!
With Love,
Karen
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Oh those do sound delicious. I’ve been reading through your website, Karen and I am really intrigued with storing and grinding our own whole grains. A grain mill has now gone on my list of things to budget for and purchase over the next few months. In the meantime, I do have a question, where do you buy your grains in bulk?
The last time I was at our local health food store, I did notice that he had just recently gotten in large bags of popcorn (25 lbs, I think) but I’m not sure that would be the most cost effective way to purchase grains.
Grain prices from a specialty store such as a health food store are usually really inflated. However, if you have to purchase from a source out of your area, shipping will cost more than the grains! Grains are very heavy. In that case ordering bulk from your local speciality shop would be the most cost effective way to go. If you ask for it, you can usually get a further discount if you purchase the grains by the 50 lb bag.
I am a distributor of whole grains. There are many throughout the United States that will sell to you. I am not a supporter of you having you spend a penny more than what is absolutely necessary and so I recommend that you shop around and compare local prices first. If you have to ship from outside your area, find an honest company that knows what they are selling you. Everyone will tell you that their stuff is the best and that isn’t true. Shipping will be essentially the same regardless of the company so you want to find the highest quality lowest price grains. If you are unsure contact me directly @ 281-356-3156 or you can e-mail me at karen@kneadfulthingsnow.com. I can give you the skinny on grain quality and variety.
Best wishes,
Karen
Supermom,
Check out http://www.honeyvillegrains.com They have an amazing variety of grains and grain products and will ship any size order for around $5. Seriously. I’ve used them for years. They offer large 25-50 lb. bags as well as grains in buckets or #10 cans. If you don’t have any local options, this is a really reputable company.
I grew up on “homemade” pancakes for breakfast and have been making them for my own children forever. They think that mixes from the store taste funny now. Yay! As for oatmeal, I love it hot, but my boys prefer it cold museli style.
Thanks Karen and Julie… this learning process can be a bit overwhelming and it’s great to have guides like you to help along the way.
Okay, I’m back to ask another question. Karen, I noticed on your site that you have a sale going on right now for a grain press. What is the difference between a grain press and a grain mill? I googled but couldn’t find an answer.
Hi SuperMom, I have been off line a few days working on a different project. Sorry for the delayed answer. The difference between a mill and a press is the finished product of the grains processed. A grain mill makes flour. It grinds from coarse, to very fine. Depending on the mill, it will also produce corn meal. The mills are either electric or manually operated. They are considerably larger and are usually real work horses. You can grind several cups of fine flour in a few minutes.
A home grain press is a smaller piece of equipment with a much smaller capacity. It is manually operated and presses the grains into flakes, or into a coarse meal, depending on the grain. With a press you can roll your own oatmeal, you can press wheat into lovely cracked wheat for cereals and breads, and you can grind smaller seeds like buckwheat and even flax.
I love my grain press because it enables me to store oat groats in my home and roll fresh oats as I need them. I use mine three to four times a week.
I want to give a shout out for eating a good breakfast. My boys eat oatmeal on school days and my compromise with them is that they can have cold cereal (still no sugary stuff) on weekends. Their moods, tempers, etc are so much better on oatmeal days because it keeps them fuller longer and keeps their blood sugar on an even level, unlike cereal which makes them (all of us) crash not too long after eating.
Hello, can you please post some more information on this topic? I would like to read more.