Milling and Cooking with Fresh Whole Grains - Tip #2 Part 2: The Waste Not Want Not War

Tip #2 - The Waste Not Want Not War - Part Two.

More and more people are looking at ways to stretch their budget and still provide wholesome, healthy food for their families. In some of my other tips I've discussed the benefits of using whole grain for the longevity of storage as well as the nutritional benefits. But what about dealing with the mistake of milling too much flour? Do we just toss it out if we don't use it or do we use it 'old' after it has sat there, milled, for days? Or, should I bake cookies right away to avoid wasting it? Actually, I like that one as a choice!!

 

Because milling and using whole grains was not taught to me as a child, it is by trial and error, I've found that the other way, aside from Tip #4, to win the Waste Not Want Not War with whole grains is the proper storage and use of any surplus flours. If we learn from our mistakes, we become smarter. Judging from the amount of mistakes I have made, I am a genius! Milling far too much flour has created a variety of choices for me to give examples of how someone can make the most of this error.

 

Let us say, you read the recipe wrong, your glasses were in the other room, you grabbed the wrong measuring cup (because the kids had finger paint in your usual one) or you just didn’t read Tip #4 previous to this one and you have left over flours. 

 

Here are two suggestions:

 

1. Keep a gallon zip lock bag in the freezer labeled ‘Misc. Flours’ and put all your surplus wheat flours (both hard or soft) in the same bag. When it reaches 2 cups - make muffins. By keeping it in the freezer, you slow the oxidation process and 2 cups is easy to get to in no time. Just remember if it is mixed hard and soft it will NOT make yeast bread.

 

2. Out of this same bag - thicken sauces and flour cake pans.

 

I’ve only focused on surplus wheat flours. When we discuss Corn and other grains, I have a few tips for those surpluses too!

Milling and Cooking with Fresh Whole Grains - Tip #2 Part 1: The Waste Not Want Not War

Tip #2 - The Waste Not Want Not War - Part One.

For some people, being a good or frugal steward of their resources is learned by example or it just comes naturally.  Not so for me.  Learning how to measure and gauge the amount of whole grains to mill each time I baked took some time and effort.  Along the way I wasted excess grain or used 'old' flour which had been milled days before only to keep from waiting it - all the while knowing the older flour was not what was BEST for us nor was using ’old’ four the reason I mill grains in the first place.  Because of my desire not to waste our supply of grain and to not eat 'old' flour, I had to devise a cunning plan to keep from wasting the flour once it had been milled. 

By trial and error, I found that there are two means of being sure to make the most of the grains and not waste the flour they produce.  Measuring accurately before milling is the first of my two weapons in this Waste Not Want Not War.

Let us look at how to measure properly before we mill those little kernels of nutritional 'gold'.  Most wheat, spelt and rye (kernels that are the size and shape of a grain of rice) will make one third again as much flour as the measured whole grain itself.  For example:  If I place 1 cup of the described type of grain in my Nutrimill and grind it on the finest ground setting, I will end up with approximately 1 and 1/3 cups of flour.  So to make my usual whole wheat bread recipe which calls for 3.25 cups of flour, I know that I can measure 2.5 cups of wheat (I mix 1 cup of Hard Red Winter and 1.5 cups of Hard White Spring) and end up with about 3 and 1/3 cups of fresh, ready-to-use whole flour. The tiny bit left that does not go in the recipe, dusts the counter for forming the loaf!  

The larger the grain the more flour/meal it will produce, up to half again as much.  Buckwheat and corn will mill almost half again as much flour per measured grain. After a little bit of figuring I have not had nearly any waste of fresh flour for most of my regularly prepared recipes. Also, don’t forget, I have another weapon in my arsenal of this Waste Not Want Not War.  That is your NEXT Tip!

Part Three of Tip 1 - Milling with Fresh Whole Grains, Milling Wheat at Home Tip 1 - Part 3, Whole Grain Milling Tip 1 - Part 3, Grain Milling from Home - Do It Yourself, Convince Yourself of the Benefits to Milling at Home

This is part three of tip #1 on why to bother milling your own wheat and grains at home. Many people may ask "You do WHAT?" and "Why bother?". This brief tip helps you convince yourself that you can do this and enjoy the benefits to milling grains at home.

Tip #1 - “You do WHAT?  Why bother?” - Part Three

Now that you have tried the previous tips and attempted to reason with friends and family that it is more healthy, and you can make a cheaper/healthier loaf of bread and that the storage life is longer, you may be like I was, trying to convince yourself that you can DO this (I can, right?). 

Here are a few more little tips I have learned to show myself ‘why to bother’:

• It takes no more time than grabbing a bag of dead flour.  Throw the grains in the Nutrimill, turn it on and by the time I’ve gathered the other ingredients for the recipe, the mill is done.

• Even the Nutrimill has saved us money!  We eat pizza every Friday night.  We used to order 3 Large pizzas from Papa Johns, Dominos or Little Caesars.  At the tune of between $30-$40 any given Friday.  Now I make pizza crusts ahead of time and use fresh ingredients (and I might add less fats/grease) and make 3 16 inch pizzas for $10.00 total!  In less than three months, we had paid for the mill on pizza nights alone!

•  Last but not least, you don’t have to start out as a purist.  If you HAVE to add, change or substitute a pinch here and there to get your family to eat the freshly milled grains that are so packed with nutrients, then just do that until you have experimented enough to use only the grains you mill.  Using even 3/4 of a cup of freshly milled wheat vs. the usual ‘dead bagged flour’ gives your family more fiber, E and other phyto nutrients than they can get from fast foods or frozen waffles. 

Relax.  EnJOY it!

Now not only are you convinced because of these little tips, but your friends and family will see the confidence in you and not worry that you will soon begin brushing your teeth with sugar or go back to believing the world is flat, just because you mill grains at home.  Milling grains at home is not old fashioned, it just makes good sense.

Home-Milling for Health and Budget

Donna Miller is a wife, mother, author, teacher and entrepenuer. After years of study in the areas of nutrition, homemaking and back-to-basics living, Donna is delighted to share her trials and triumphs of learning to mill and cook with whole grains and tips to saving money. Sharing what she has learned is her passion. Her husband and she enjoy homesteading as well as traveling to share the joys of baking and creating nutritious foods and great memories for the family. The Millers own and operate Millers Grain House, an online Organic and Chemical-free Whole Grain store. http://www.millersgrainhouse.com/store

See more tips free at: http://www.youtube.com/user/thewheatguy

Okay - again I had forgotten this blog...

Until I went to visit someone's blog I wanted to follow and was prompted to choose 'how' (by what identity) I would follow - I had totally forgotten this blog exisited...yes, again.....

Could it be because I already have too many blog irons in the fire?

http://www.grainstorehouse.com/

http://www.eatgrains.com/

http://community.stretcher.com/blogs/homesteadmindset/

http://www.tipstohomesteading.com/


Yeah...that MIGHT BE THE PROBLEM....

Somehow I 'lost' this blog!

Well...it's nice to see I found it...
Now that I've book marked it with my OTHER blogs - maybe I can write and update more!

Sorry to disappear!

First Blog. What I did and didn't do today.

Well, this one will be much more informal than all the other blogs I write for...so it's kind of good.
Just thought I'd list what I do on a daily basis to help me keep track of having a productive day or not...

What I didn't do today that I had hoped to get to:

• Mop
• Exercise
• Quiet Time (shoot - I overslept)

What I did today:

• Blogged for Dollar Stretcher
• Made two videos for my you tube channel
• Baked Holiday Eggnog Bread and a Quiche
• Dishes (twice)
• Filled a few orders from the online store
• Missed my kids while they are at college
• Actually put on make up and fixed my hair!
• Made hot sandwiches for hubby's lunch
• Packed lunch for the girls for college
• Laundry
• Priced shipping boxes and shipping cost for potential new store items
• Fixed Dinner in the crockpot

Seems like I did a lot more and still seems like I didn't get enough done.

Hmmm. It's off to drop off some movies and pick up the youngest one stranded at college.