Eat Grains

Archive for April, 2008

Using whole grains is not only healthy, but it is a wonderful choice for stretching your grocery budget.
As food prices rise and gasoline increases (effecting shipping) it is more and more important to stretch your groceries as far as you can for as long as you can. We want to do this without sacrificing nutrition. Whole grains (and dried beans) help to do just that.

Here are a few tips:
~ Use the ends of your bread (home made whole wheat of course) to make croutons
~ Add whole grain dry oatmeal to stretch meat loaf
~ Experiment with other grains than wheat such as millet, spelt, kamut.
~ Add cooked beans to your taco meat to stretch the ground beef
~ Make your own granola, tortillas, bread at a FRACTION of the cost of store bought
~ Learn to use your 'mistakes' – that flopped pita bread attempt can be GREAT mini pizzas!
~ This list is ENDLESS – just get creative.

We can all actually enjoy the challenge of stretching our grocery budget with whole grains and beans if we will look at it as a creative exercise. It can be a chance to think outside the box and really enjoy some wonderful meals even in a shortage situation.

Donna Miller is a work-at-home wife and mother. She delighted to share her trials and triumphs of learning to mill and cook with whole grains. The Millers own and operate an online Store which offers Organic and Chemical-free Whole Grains, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more. Visit Millers Grain House!

Even if you are not Jewish, or understand the celebration of Passover (Pesach) the food is so differnt during this Biblical Feast that it deserves some special attention. Lamb, horoset, horseradish, wine, all of these may or may not be 'normal' foods for some, but are pivital players in the Feast of Passover.

Aside from the lamb, the one food that Passover offers is the chance to get creative with Matzo (mahtzah). Matzo is a flat bread that is made with out leavening or any leaven within the dough. While some beliefs are that all flour is not to be used during the Feast of Unleaven Bread, others believe that flour is fine as long as no leavening is in it (baking soda/powder or yeast). To someone who bakes whole grain breads and muffins all the time – matzo may seem to be a challenge, or even limiting, but it is a wonderful treat that is only focused on during the Passover time of year.

This is my favorite recipe for Whole Grain Matzo:
~ 4 Cups of freshly milled flour (Hard Red or Hard White Wheat work well as does Spelt)
~ 2 tsp salt
~ 4 large eggs
~ 6 Tbl spoons Honey
~ 4 tsp Olive Oil
~ 8 Tbl spoons water

Before Mixing – preheat oven to 400 degrees farienghit and grease cookie sheet(s).

If doing two cooking sheets rotate top to bottom half way during cooking for even baking.

Mix the two dry ingredients together with a fork or whisk.

Mix all wet ingredients together untill well blended.

Combine wet mixture into dry mixture – mixing until able to 'knead' by hand.

Form into 12-14 eaqual size dough balls.

Roll out, place on cookie sheet(s), then prick with fork.

Bake approximately 10 minutes.
If using two cookie sheets bake 5 minutes, switch top and bottom sheets and bake 4 more minutes.