Eat Grains

Archive for March, 2007

When grinding grains, there is often a bit left over in the mill that won't be used in the recipe I am currently making. Since one of the whole reasons behind milling fresh grains is to immediately use them during their peak nutritional state – left overs are not something that are usually planned!

Keeping in mind that we want to be frugal and good stewards of our foods, we have to plan what to DO with those left over grains after we have milled them. Here are a few ideas:

1. Save them in a zipper baggie to add to soups, or to bread items for frying.
2. If you've ground excess corn meal, keep in freezer for dusting the bottom of pizza pans or English muffin trays to absorb moisture.
3. Save extra in a zipper bag in the freezer to add just a bit more fiber and whole grain to other recipes that may usually be made with 'dead' flours.

The following types of wheat are classified based primarily on color, hardness of the kernel, and time of year the wheat is planted.

Hard red winter
Soft red winter
Hard red spring
Hard white
Soft white
Durum

Generally, flours that are milled from hard wheat have high quality gluten and are considered strong.

Due to the difference in quality among many types of wheat, millers typically blend flours to achieve a consistent product time after time. Readily available to most home bakers, all purpose flour is actually a blend of hard and soft wheat flours.

Regardless of the type of wheat, milling the endosperm of wheat berries or kernels yields white flour. This process also removes so much natural nutrients and vitamins that subsequent enrichment can never completely replace them. Therefore, enriched white bread is by no means nutritionally equal to whole wheat bread.

In addition, 'wheat bread' on the label does not mean that it is made from whole wheat flour. It is just to distinguish the bread from those made from other types of grains.

Breads made from whole wheat flour should normally have 'whole' or '100 percent whole' before the term 'wheat bread'.

Compared to whole wheat flour, white flour

1. Has a longer shelf life
2. Contains more gluten proteins per weight
3. Is more digestible

To produce whole wheat flour, the entire wheat kernels that include the fibrous bran, nutritious and fatty embryo or germ, and the starchy endosperm are ground uniformly.

Although whole wheat flour and graham flour are often used interchangeably, there is a minor physical difference. In the milling of graham flour, the outermost part of the wheat berries(bran) is not as finely ground as the germ and endosperm.

Finally, all flours tend to lose moisture during storage. Moisture content also varies by brands and seasons. Therefore, as home bakers of breads, cakes, and cookies, we may sometimes need to adjust the amount of flour used in a particular recipe. This is to maintain a desirable flour to liquid ratio.

Copyright 2006 by Trinh Lieu

The author of this article is a baking enthusiast who loves to bake breads and cookies. Visitors to her Web site, Baking Perfect Homemade Cookies With Five Essential Rules, would enjoy insightful information about cookie ingredients, helpful baking tips & techniques, many easy recipes with illustrative images and straightforward directions.

The Health Craze

The health craze has been going on in America for over 50 plus years. Whether people were concerned with their weight, or a particular pain or illness, health issues, in so much, of what we put into our bodies does play a huge part in how healthy we really are. It does not matter how much you exercise that makes you healthy your body needs all the proper nutrients, minerals, and other micronutrients to go along with your exercising that makes you healthy.

Food

The food we eat may not be giving our bodies enough of the nutrients our body needs to do its job so the solution for most of us is to supplement our diets with a multivitamin. This is a good thing to do; however, it may not be enough either. I say this because most of the vitamins we take are made with synthetic vitamins, which is more like taking a half a vitamin. Our bodies are amazing; however, we need to give our bodies all the right nutrients to function properly and to protect our organs. Our bodies treat synthetic vitamins and whole vitamins quite differently.

Synthetic vitamins vs. Whole vitamins

Taking vitamins made with synthetic components is definitely not giving your body what it needs. Synthetic vitamins do not trick our bodies; therefore, we are doing our body a grave injustice by taking synthetic vitamins. What our bodys need is whole vitamins like those found in fruits and vegetables. What I mean by whole vitamins is that whole vitamins have all of its natural components attached unlike synthetic vitamins. Thus, our bodys get all it needs to utilize the vitamin effectively. You may be asking yourself, 'Where can I get these whole vitamins? One of the best sources would be whole foods like fresh fruits and vegetables. The problem here is what fruits and vegetables will give your body all it needs. Another excellent source is the Whole Food Vitamin (GVW).

Whole Food Vitamin Source

Get your whole food vitamins from these foods: Wild Yam, Spinach, Kale, Tomato, Carrots, Broccoli, Wheat Germ, Acerola Cherry, Nutritional Yeast, and Black Current. In addition, you can get whole vitamins from juices like Blueberry, Strawberry, Raspberry, Guava, Orange, Watermelon, Apple, Pineapple, Carrot, Cabbage, Broccoli, Spinach, and Parsley. Getting a daily dose of whole vitamins from these food sources would be quite expensive for most families these days. The other alternative is to get a whole vitamin made from all these whole food sources would be ideal for anyone who care about their health and wants to give their body what it needs to be and remain healthy. Learn more about whole food vitamins by pointing your web browser here www.gtsexpress.com/vitamins.html.

The author is a freelance writer, home business owner, writes poetry and loves learning new things. Your health is the corner stone to you and your Familys future and wealth. Make your health your personal business and help others to do the same. Simply, find a health food or vitamin product that improves your health and offer you a great business opportunity without a huge investment. Get started on improving your health and increasing your wea

Whole Wheat Rolls

Grind: 9 cups wheat in Nutrimill on fine.

4 Cups milk, warmed1/2 Cup warm water1/2 Cup shortening or cooking oil3/4 Cup honey2 Tablespoons salt2 eggs2 Tablespoons dry yeast9 Cups whole wheat flour
Combine: Milk, water, shortening, honey, salt and eggs in mixing bowl.
Add: 5 cups whole wheat flour and knead on low speed until well blended.
Add: Dry yeast and blend again. Add remaining 4 cups whole-wheat flour and knead 10 minutes.
Put: Dough in large bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise until double in bulk.
Roll: Out dough 1/2" thick on floured board. Cut with a round cutter for rolls.
Let: Rise until double in bulk.
Bake: 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Variations:Crescent rolls: Roll out a circle of dough 12" in diameter and 1/2" thick. Cut in pie shaped pieces. Roll from the wide side of wedge in and place on greased baking sheet point placed underneath. Let rise. then bake.Cloverleaf rolls: oil muffin tins and then pinch off 1" size balls of dough, mold until the top is smooth and dip in the oil and turn right side up, Put three into one muffin mold. Let rise. Then bake.

This recipe also makes delicious cinnamon rolls, hamburger buns, pizza dough or Christmas braid.

If you love fresh baked bread, here's another easy recipe you need to try. 

Get more Fresh Bread recipes at GrainMiller.com.

Airy White Bread

Makes a 1.5 POUND LOAF

 

 
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Mill 1.5 Cups of HWW. Use bag store bought bread flour for the remaining flour.
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Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups Warm (110-115 degrees F) Milk
2 teaspoons shortening
1 tablespoon Sugar
3 cups Bread flour (combine at least 1C store bought and 2C fresh milled HWW)
1 tablespoon gluten
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Yeast

Place first three ingredients in Machine pan in this order. Add next three ingredients in this order, remembering to sprinkle across pan, not dump in one spot.

Now make a 'well' near machine paddle(s) which collects with the warm water to put in yeast.

Add yeast into watery well. Place in machine and bake on Whole Wheat level/Light or Bread Dough to form into your own loaf and oven bake. If oven baking, set aside tented or covered with a clean cloth for 25-35 minutes to rise a second time then bake in 350 degree oven for 18-22 minutes.

Oven temps vary so watch closely the first time baking this loaf!