Eat Grains

Archive for the ‘wheat and grain’ Category

Russia has experienced one of the worst draughts in history. Due to this and the current economic climate, this once huge exporter of wheat will NOT be exporting wheat until further notice. The wheat exporting ban in Russia is likely to do more than hurt only neighboring countries.

What does that mean for the US?

What does this mean for the USA? There is the potential on the horizon that wheat will again rise substantially in price per pound.

Asia is now consuming more wheat than ever before in areas traditionally dominated by rice, the historical grain of choice. With Russia, a major exporter of wheat ceasing it's regular activity, and the global demand still high, prices across the world will begin to reflect the rule of supply and demand.

Even in our line of business, we see the prices fluctuate from month to month, order to order and season to season. The likelihood of this ban effecting local prices within the next two months is high.

The time to order in bulk is NOW!

If you do not have a local way of getting whole foods, dry pantry goods, wheat and grains, please feel free to contact us and we will do the best we can to serve you:

Go to the About Us page above for more info!

The CDC, FDA and many other American government agencies are taking a serious look at supporting a plant-based diet. Why the sudden turn? Perhaps they are finally realizing that a plant-based diet has long time been recommended by experts in the fight against cancer, diabetes and obesity. All of which are hot topics and health concerns in America.

It's no secret that fruits and vegetables (in their most pure, unprocessed form) fall into the plant-based diet category (a blueberry pop tart is not a fruit). The issue gets a little cloudy with grains.

Grains are a plant and part of a plant-based diet if eaten WHOLE. Grains in the form of white, dead, processed flour are not the whole part of the plant that is meant to be consumed but only the endosperm (or starch) portion of the grain. White flour products do not qualify as part of a plant-based diet; whole grains do.

Much of the time the whole grain must be milled into flour for use, but the fact that the whole grain is being used means the entire plant is being consumed thus adding much needed nutrients to your plant-based diet. Grains used in this manner rather than white flour are the basis for the whole food pyramid.

For more information about why using the whole grain is best for your health as part of a plant-based diet, watch the following video: http://www.youtube.com/thewheatguy#p/u/42/y_GR4nLsLJs

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 our 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.

Best Blessings!
Donna

http://www.millersgrainhouse.com/store

Go Green with the WonderMill Jr. Deluxe

The Mill I use.

One tip to answering those questions of ‘You do what?’ and ‘Why bother?’ is to know the two biggest benefits of milling at home. First are the health benefits and second are the storage/cost effect benefits. In this tip we will focus on the health reasons.

When grains are processed into flour for shelf storage, most of the grain ‘parts’ are removed to slow the spoilage time. When those things are removed, the flour is stripped of the Wheat Bran, Middlings, Wheat Germ and Wheat Germ oil. As we read that list – we see at least three things that are now sold in health food stores across the world. The Bran and Middlings provide the fiber (and more), the Germ and oil provide the vitamin E (and more), two things missing in the typical diet of the twentieth century.

The additives to ‘dead bagged flour’ can be just as bad or worse than what is missing. To make that white appearance, at first the manufacturers were actually using chlorine bleach! Now a new chemical has been approved., but chemicals are chemicals and not found IN the grain. Since the grain is stripped of so many nutrients in the processing – synthetic vitamins have been added. Personally, since I wouldn’t eat polyester, I also don’t want synthetic vitamins.

This is simply the tip of the health iceberg when it comes to the reason to mill grains at home. The list related to your families health goes on and on. Check out some of our other articles and studies for the healthy reasons to bother with milling at home. At least this is a tip to help you answer those questions when friends and family think you’ve slipped back into the dark ages.

Want more? Watch this vidoe:

Best Blessings!
Donna Miller, Owner of MILLERS GRAIN HOUSE

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The Wonder Mill

Here is a breakdown of wheat types and which recipe to use them:

~ HARD wheat is best for breads and items that require high rising.
~ SOFT wheat is best for pastries and flat breads such as pancakes, tortillas and biscuits.
~ Both types can be mixed equally to make a light texture for all purpose flour.

Color effects the flavor of the flour not the consistancy:

~ REDS will have a more 'nutty' (to me it's almost a bitter) flavor.
~ WHITES are usually just lighter tan or almost golden and have a smoother taste.
~ Both can be mixed equally to make a deliciously light bread without a bitter result.

Muffins, pancakes, cookies and biscuits can all be made from blending types and colors.
Loaf breads have the best result by using a HARD (either color) type only. It contains the most gluten for the rise of yeast bread.

Happy Milling!!
Best Blessings,
Donna Miller, Owner of MILLERS GRAIN HOUSE