Whole grains are an excellent dietary vehicle for delivering health-promoting nutrients that you body needs.  These substances are found mainly in the bran and germ of the grain kernel.  Thus, milling and baking with whole grains, like wheat, rye and oats, ensures that you get all the vital nutrients that are essential for wellness.

By milling whole grains and baking your own whole grain food, you’re using all three parts of the grain: the bran, the germ and the endosperm. On the other hand, refined flour only utilizes the carbohydrate-rich endosperm.  The bran contains fiber and trace minerals such as calcium and magnesium.  The germ imparts essential fatty acids, antioxidants and vitamins B and E. Whole grains are capable of reducing cholesterol levels and Type II diabetes. Your risks of cardio-vascular diseases and colon cancer are also significantly reduced.

Tips for Milling Your Whole Wheat Grains

Here are a few critical tips to gain the most from milling your whole wheat grains:

• Use wheat berries. Hulled whole wheat kernels are referred to as wheat berries. Purchase them from grain stores by the pound, depending on how much flour you intend to mill.

• Flour measurements. A pound of wheat berries will give you approximately 4½ cups of flour. Whereas a cup of the same will produce about 1¾ cups of flour. Excess wheat berries can be stored indefinitely at room temperature.

• Current flour use. Mill only as much of the wheat berries as necessary to make flour for immediate use. The oil content in the milled whole grain flour will turn rancid within 72 hours and does not keep well in the fridge.

• Soak whole wheat grain flour overnight. Soaking the flour overnight will neutralize phytic acid, an anti-nutrient, in the grain. Phytic acid, found in the bran, will bond with minerals like magnesium, calcium and iron, preventing their absorption in the digestive system. It then passes through the gastro-intestinal tract and is expelled from the body as waste.

The numerous practical implications of milling and baking with whole grains emphasize benefits to your health and wellness. You can reduce the risks associated with major diseases by harnessing the nourishing goodness of whole grains. Follow the tips for milling perfect whole wheat grains and keep healthy!

One food group that often gets a ‘bad wrap’ (pun intended) is grains. Because grains are a carbohydrate they are one of the newest things on the chopping block to get dismissed from the ‘low carb’ diet craze. Sadly, by omitting this vital micro-nutrient, your body can be missing much needed sustenance.

On our  radio show (see the new tab above) we will be discussing how to balance healthy whole grains and even special treats into your diet (from a budgetary view point) and be able to enjoy all the goodness that is missing – while still reaching your healthy weight goals.

Millet can be ground and used as flour as well as cooked whole in a variety of methods such as: steaming, broth, juice and roasted. It is often soaked and added to veggy burgers to make a tasty and filling vegan dish.  It can be used much like cous cous (which is not a grain at all but a miniscule pasta) with the bonus of fiber that is not offered in processed grains.

1. The spouted grain is easier to digest.

2. The sprouted grain has a lower impact on the glycemic index scale, thus not quite the insulin spike.

3. The sprouted grain is sweet to the taste and gives a very good flavor twist on typical flours – even freshly milled flours.

Let’s take a closer look. Below is a photo of some organic soft white wheat, first dry and then sprouted:

When you take a look at the compared photos, you’ll notice tiny, white ‘tails’ on the wheat that is sprouted. That’s all it takes! Once they start to sprout, you’re done…they don’t have to grow in to what looks like typical bean sprouts.

Once sprouted, the grain has released much of it’s white, starchy inner ‘food source’ of the endo-sperm to feed the ‘embryo’ of the grain shoot and thus you have now virtually got an-almost vegetable.

By the way, this only takes about 2 days!

Well – now what do we do with it?

There are a few options at this point. Let me give you two:

Mill it now while it’s moist and use right away or dehydrate it at a low temperature to mill later into a fine flour.

With both options, you will not want to mill in an electric mill. The moisture from the sprouted grain will clog the motor of an electric mill (if you are milling it moist right away) and simply due to manufacturer warranty and the risk factor, I would avoid milling it after it has been home deydrated as well – just in case.

The best mill for this job is the Wondermill Jr. Deluxe:

The versatility of this mill makes it a must for milling moist and oily grains and seeds and nuts as well as the real stone heads for milling dried, or dehydrated grains into a fine flour.

If you choose to dehydrate your sprouted grain for using as a flour, there are a multitude of dehydrator options to fit almost every budget.  Here are just a few:

Whichever option you choose, the choice to sprout grains and add them into your healthy diet is a good choice.

Look for more information coming up about the steps and uses of sprouted grains visit our YouTube Chanel – The Wheat Guy.

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Tastes change and you really can no longer eat what you want without heartburn or indigestion.  Your diet must change in order for you to fend off illness.   That is one of the reasons why the consumption of whole grains versus white flour or refined products is essential to reducing your chances of illness and disease.  That old adage that “you are what you eat” is certainly important.  I don’t want to go on a rant here, but it is certainly important to share information that will help people.

The fact is, refined products are more likely to lead you to problems such as heart disease and even diabetes.  Most refined products are turned into sugar in the body which is a no-no for diabetics.  Instead of subjecting your body and health to refined or processed foods, reach for whole grain products instead.

It all boils down to how the body processes the food that you eat.  As mentioned above, refined products can cause problems with blood sugar and you can gain weight in your belly area which contributes to the susceptibility of a variety of illnesses like high blood pressure.

By consuming whole grains, your body burns more calories to process them, thereby keeping unnecessary weight off and reducing your chances of diabetes and other health risks.  Whole grains are chock full of important minerals, fiber and vitamins, things that are often removed in the refining process.

If you start eating these whole grains at an early age, chances are that you will not experience higher cholesterol or heart disease.  In fact, whole grains coupled with other healthy eating habits will help you burn more calories. It’s a great weight motivator.

There are many ways to cut down on refined products and introduce whole grains into the picture.  Here are some helpful hints to get you started:

1.  Read food labels.  Some bread products say whole wheat bread or whole grain bread.  However, when you read the food labels, it is full of white flour with just a hint of grains.  You want to find products that are at least 75% to 100% whole grains.

2.  Substitutions for your favorite foods.  If you are a pasta lover, you can still indulge in your favorite spaghetti or pasta salad.  Just choose whole wheat or vegetable based pasta in place of the white version.  The switch will boost the flavor of your food and you will not likely notice too much of a difference anyway, especially if you put a sauce on the pasta.

3.  Substitutions also include those in recipes.  If you are baking a cake, muffins or even cookies, try and substitute whole wheat flour for the white flour.  Using whole wheat flour will take some redesigning of recipes but your health will thank you for them.

To thoroughly understand what whole grain means, the FDA published guidelines that define what they really are.  Simply put, whole grains consist of the ground, unrefined or cracked “fruit” part of the grains which include bran, germ and endosperm parts of the grain.  During a refining process like white flour, those “fruit” parts get taken out and that is what makes whole grains so healthy in the first place!

Meatball Subs on Fresh-Milled Whole-wheat rolls

It is not often that I get a photo of something I’ve fixed for dinner, but we’re going to try to do that more often in the future!

These are a huge hit in our family. So easy to make, healthy and a COMFORT FOOD to boot!

Meatballs are finished off in the crock-pot, sub rolls aresplit and toasted then loaded with the hot goodies and shredded cheese!

This time for a side dish, we wanted something raw and the texture to counteract the warm, soft saucy subs and we went with the Peanut Butter Slaw.

Sounds kind of odd, you say? No it really is a great combo – peanut butter and saw! 

Peanut Butter Cole Slaw

This light, slightly tangy, slightly sweet, slightly nutty slaw has loloads of raw cabbage (two types – red and green), shredded carrots and shredded broccoli stems.  So good and crunchy  and still so good for you!

I hope you enjoy the photos and I’ll try to add more.

If you sign up for the newsletter in time, you just might get these recipes to try for yat your own home!

Best Blessings!

Donna Miller

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As Always…

Best Blessings!

Donna

The next two newsletters have some GREAT recipes!

• One is a warm, wholesome, low sugar, whole grain breakfast that even a picky child or finicky grand parent would love!
  
• The next is a decadent and still healthier option to ‘boxed cake mix’ and a few variations for more recipes from the same  mix!

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Best Blessings!

Donna