Saturday, January 7, 2012

Using Wheat Without a Wheat Grinder

Food storage can be fun and getting started is the first step, but what do you do with the basic foods you are storing. Most people will start their food storage adventure with storing wheat. That is a great start. Wheat is fairly inexpensive and stored under the right conditions should store a minimum of 30 years. During that time you should be learning to use it and incorporating it into your diet. Adding wheat to your diet can help cut your grocery budget leaving more money for food storage. Besides, it would be pretty hard to learn all there is to know about using wheat when you have an emergency situation that requires you to live on what you have stored. You do not need expensive equipment to start using the wheat in your food storage. Lets start with just good old wheat berries. Here are some ideas and recipes to get you started.


WHEAT RECIPES WITHOUT A WHEAT GRINDER
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     WHEAT BERRIES
Add 1 cup wheat kernels to 2 cups boiling water; let soak one hour or overnight.  Rinse.  Drain well.  Store in covered container in refrigerator for up to two weeks.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                        SLOPPY JOES

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup green pepper, chopped
1 can tomato soup (or tomato sauce thinned with 1 cup tomato juice)

1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
1-1/2 cups cooked wheat berries
1 teaspoon chili powder

Saute ground beef, onions and green peppers.  Add soup or sauce/juice, salt and pepper, and cooked wheat.  Add chili powder and simmer 20-30 minutes until desired thickness is reached. Serve on buns or over rice.
--Wheat Cookin’ Made Easy
                                                                                                                                                                                                                             BISCUITS

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup germinated wheat, chopped
1/2 cup shortening
23/ to 1 cup buttermilk

Mix together flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder in a medium bowl.  Cut germinated wheat and shortening into flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives.  Add buttermilk to mixture a little at a time, until dry ingredients are moistened.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead (no more than 10 times).  Pat or roll out to 3/4-inch thickness.  Cut with 2-inch cookie cutter and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Serve immediately.
--Eat That Wheat
                                                                                 WHOLE WHEAT PANCAKES
3/4 cup wheat                                                                                                              1 tablespoon honey
1 cup milk                                                                                                                        3 eggs, separated

Soak wheat and put in refrigerator overnight.  In the morning, drain and blend softened wheat in a blender with milk for 4 minutes.  Blend in honey.  Add egg yolks and blend 2 minutes.  Add whites and blend another 2 minutes.  Cook on hot griddle.  These make thin pancakes that are delicious.                                                                  --Lisa Pantone, Wheat Cookin’ Made Easy

CHINESE FRIED WHEAT
3 cups cooked cold wheat berries                                         4 green onions, sliced (or 1 medium onion, minced)
1/4 pound finely diced ham or bacon                                 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 cup cooking oil                                                                           2 eggs
Place meat in hot, heavy skillet and stir-fry about 5 minutes until browned and cooked thoroughly.  Add oil, wheat, green onions, salt, and soy sauce.  Cook and stir until heated through.  Hollow a center in the wheat and break in eggs.  Scramble until eggs are cooked; then stir into the balance of the mixture.
--Wheat Cookin’ Made Easy
GERMINATING WHEAT-You don’t necessarily have to buy a kit or special equipment to germinate wheat, according to David and Laurie Green, authors of Eat That Wheat.  You’ll need a clean wide-mouth glass canning jar, a strainer for rinsing the grain, cheesecloth, and a rubber band.
1.             Pour 1/3 cup of wheat grains onto a plate or cutting board.  Quickly sort and discard any broken, misshapen, or discolored pieces, along with any dirt or debris.
2.             Place the remaining grains in the jar and rinse thoroughly through a strainer.  Then fill the jar half-way with water.  Sit the jar upright on the counter and let soak 8-12 hours.
3.             Pour the water out of the jar through a strainer.  Rinse the grains and pour the water completely out of the jar, using a strainer to catch the grains. Cover the jar with the cheesecloth and secure it with a rubber band.
4.             Tip the jar to the side and rotate it a few times so some of the moistened grains cling to the sides of the jar, and then lay it on its side in a dark cupboard.  Repeat the process of rinsing, draining, and rotating once in the morning and once at night.
5.             After two to three days the wheat will be germinated. Most of the shoots should be about the length of the grain itself.  To store, do a final rinse and thoroughly drain.  Remove the cheese cloth and replace it with plastic wrap.  Place the jar in the refrigerator.  It can be stored up to five days.  If you have stored it in the refrigerator and it becomes dry or inedible, simply discard it.
TO EAT IT: Try it raw as a snack; add 1 tablespoon of it to flavored yogurt, or over your favorite hot or cold breakfast cereal; tuck it into sandwich fillings; toss it in salads; or grind it in a meat grinder or chop it with a knife and add to recipes.  You can add 1/4 cup to your usual bread-machine recipes.
NOTES: Don’t grow the tiny shoots into longer sprouts for salads, because they will turn bitter.  They should be just about the same length as the grain kernal.
Germinated wheat can be added more quickly to the diet because it’s easier on the digestive system.  When the wheat is germinated, the starches turn to simple sugars, and you can eat it without the stomach upset, and it slightly increases the nutritional value.  

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Where Can You Trim Your Budget



The best place to have some food set aside is within our homes. …We can begin ever so modestly. We can begin with a one week’s food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months. …I fear that so many feel that a long-term food supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no effort at all. Begin in a small way, …and gradually build toward a reasonable objective.”      -President Gordon B. Hinkley, November 2002
Where can money be found to buy food storage items
fast-food lunches or dinners,
video rentals and late fees (use the library–also for books and audio tapes or CD’s),
checking account overdraft charges,
bank charges for unnecessary services (especially if you have separate accounts–consider using only one account for the two of you),
cable TV service charges,
professional haircuts and nail treatments,
telephone services (such as call waiting, call forwarding, #69, three-way calling),
laundering at home instead of sending them to a laundry,
using home dry-cleaning supplies or hand-washing rather than using professional cleaning services,
turning the water heater down 10 degrees,
sewing clothing or buying from thrift stores,
keeping track of all donations for tax deductions,
picnics instead of eating out,
date nights to free concerts or the temple rather than movies,
cutting the food budget by using the tips in the Food Budgeting booklet,
making your treats instead of buying them,
eliminating soft drinks,
performing home repairs rather than calling in a professional,
car-pooling or ride-sharing,
parking the second car,
tracking all expenditures that may be tax deductible. 
Stop buying anything that you can’t pay for with cash! 
Upcycling
Making from scratch instead of buying prepackaged
Putting in a garden and eating from it.
And my favorite saying:
Use it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do
,Or do without!
What ideas can you add to this list?


If you are a member of the LDS Church and want to go to the LDS Church’s dry pack cannery to pack your dry goods here is the link to find the closest one to you. http://www.providentliving.org/location/map/0,12566,2026-1-4,00.html
If you already know where to go, here is a form for you to print for your order.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

CHRISTMAS IS NEARLY HERE!

Wow! How time flies. The Christmas tree is up and my fingers have been flying for months now creating handmade gifts for the family. I have been knitting slippers since they are personal and oh so warm. I have used the old garter stitch slipper pattern. Here is a link for a slipper pattern that is similar. http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/maggieslippers.html . I don't shape the toe the way the pattern does. I just rib stitch for 6 rows, k2 tog for 2 rows and then finish off the way the above pattern does. Very simple and easy.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Nearly 2 Weeks of No Shopping, Lots of Cooking and Canning!

I have to say I am better at living on my food storage than I am blogging about it. It has been an amazing couple of weeks. I have discovered some big problems of the items I have stored or not stored. Mostly, it is non-food items such as dishwasher detergent and health items like cold medicine. I was lucky enough to be able to trade some pumpkin bread for a small box of dishwasher detergent and I have just been using some good old fashioned remedies to keep a cold from getting the best of us.

During the last  2 weeks I have kept busy with canning and planning meals with what I have on hand. Fortunately the weather held out until this last Saturday. We have never had such a long fall and it was wonderful. On Saturday I awoke to snow and took this picture.
Even with the snow, I was able to still pick cucumbers for 2 days until it froze for good. The tomato plants were covered with tarps and I am still picking a few green tomatoes each day to let ripen indoors. In a few days I will finish picking the green tomatoes and make relish. I have red peppers and some pears in the garage to still take care of first.

Last week my 4 year old grandson helped me wash tomatoes to make tomato juice. He also help crank the Victorio Strainer and got so excited watching the juice fill up in the bowl. He also helped me make this pepperoni pizza.
Together we ground the wheat flour, made the dough, pressed out the crust and spooned some of my home canned meat sauce all over it. We then sprinkled peppers and onions on my side of the pizza and then he helped put pepperoni all over it. Doesn't it look yummy?

This morning I made whole wheat English muffins. It has been a lot of years since I have made them and never whole wheat ones. They turned out really well I think. I served them split and toasted. I fried up some of the home canned potatoes, some sausage patties and scrambled eggs covered in melted cheese. I used half and half fresh eggs and powdered eggs so as to save fresh eggs for later. My family didn't seem to notice any difference. I was impressed.

Monday, October 18, 2010

A One Month Test of Living on What I Have Stored

I woke up this morning with a brilliant idea. Since I have been working hard at canning and storing my 2 year supply,lets see just how prepared I am. How about not buying anything (other than fuel and electricity) for the next 4 weeks. I know this sounds impulsive, but if I had planned it ahead it wouldn't have been much of a test because I would have made a mad dash to the store to make sure that I could do it. This way, I will know how well I have done and what needs work and planning. I have already found some weaknesses today. I didn't store dishwasher soap and I also know now that I don't have a month supply of food for my rabbits (so I will be scrounging around in the garden and flower beds for edibles for my bunnies). I do have several bottles of dish washing  liquid. That means I will be doing dishes by hand very soon. I also only have enough disposable diapers  for a week and a half. I have been meaning to make cloth diapers and now I have no more excuses.

Breakfast was cold cereal and milk. We had left overs for lunch, nothing exciting. Dinner will be mashed potatoes, steamed chard from the garden and salmon patties. Carrot cake for dessert.

I am not planning on telling my family about my test. Lets see if they notice.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Life's Little Surprises

You love your job and you work hard. You go to work with a big smile on your face. 15 minutes later you are walking out to your car with a cardboard box of your belongings and the life you have know for years is over. Maybe its illness or divorce or family problems. Maybe you got scammed. What now?

Hopefully, we don't have debt to pay and we have 6 months worth of money in savings to live on. We have 2 years of food, clothing and other necessities stored for such an occasion.

Hmmm, this advice sounds somewhat familiar. It sounds a lot like what the leaders of my church have been trying to counsel its members for many decades. Why haven't we been listening? The truth is, we just don't believe it can happen to us. But it does.

Be Prepared! Be Prepared! Be Prepared!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Sundays Lesson

As I was sitting in church this morning, listening to the speakers, it was amazing that what he was talking about is exactly what this blog is all about. I felt impressed to share with you a portion of the talk from Elder Robert D. Hales that the speaker used as the basis for his talk and I quote-



All of us are responsible to provide for ourselves and our families in both temporal and spiritual ways. To provide providently, we must practice the principles of provident living: joyfully living within our means, being content with what we have, avoiding excessive debt, and diligently saving and preparing for rainy-day emergencies. When we live providently, we can provide for ourselves and our families and also follow the Savior’s example to serve and bless others.
Being provident providers, we must keep that most basic commandment, “Thou shalt not covet” (Exodus 20:17). Our world is fraught with feelings of entitlement. Some of us feel embarrassed, ashamed, less worthwhile if our family does not have everything the neighbors have. As a result, we go into debt to buy things we can’t afford—and things we do not really need. Whenever we do this, we become poor temporally and spiritually.



This is wonderful counsel. If you would like to read more you can find this talk here:

http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1032-2,00.html