Eat Grains

Posts Tagged ‘whole grain’

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

I made these for a dear DEAR friend who was allowing three of us to invade her home for four straight days!! She and her husband were so gracious to allow us there!

They are easy and fun to make…..

Just a variation of my practically "Fool Proof Whole Wheat Bread" Recipe… here

Just add 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 2 more TBS organic sugar to the dough – be sure the oil is not a strong olive oil…I like coconut or canola. Then make as usual in bread machine.

Before shaping…melt 3/4 stick of butter then remove from heat. Add 1/4 C pecans, 1/4 C brown sugar (or sucanat) and 1/4 C organic sugar and 2 TBS fresh milled flour. Mix.

Roll dough out in a rectangle. Spread goo on all but about the last two inches of the horizontal (longest) side…this is your end.

Roll in upon itself until you come to the 'dry' two inches. Pinch and seal. Slice and place in a greased pan. Rise 30 mins. Bake on 350 for 15-18 minutes.

Then just enJOY!

The next set of recipes in the series of whole grain recipes is going to focus on low to fat free recipes. In the oven – right NOW is the last 'tweak' I've made to a tasty granola!

Newsletter due out this week with this recipe!!

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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Greetings!
Below is a question from a dear customer who is really excited about learning the value of healthy food storage and milling at home. As I answered the question privately, my thoughts were that many people may be wondering the same thing! So, I wanted to share it with you all!

Please feel free to submit your own questions and comments about eating, and using whole grains.

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QUESTION: ???? ????? ? ???????? ?????????
Hello, Please tell me if white wheat is the same as soft white wheat? I'm trying to clarify the difference and its use. Is white wheat use to make white flour and soft wheat for pastry flour? Thanks, "D"

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ANSWER:
To help you clarify, let's first talk about the color:

The color has nothing to do with the usage of the wheat – it only affects the taste and potentially the amount of niacin (which is not too lacking in most diets). Red wheats have a tiny bit higher niacin (a B vitamin) than white wheats, but that is about the only difference (based on color). They (reds) do have a more nutty flavor (almost bitter wheaty in my opinion) than white wheats.

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Bagged flour is often bleached either by natural or chemical bleaching and the husk has been taken out (along with the germ, etc) thus the 'whiteness'.

White wheat when milled whole will not produce 'white' flour (like bagged flour white) because it is natural. It will be a very light golden color. It will bake to a golden yellow/brown color. It is the best transition grain (in my opinion) for those who are used to white loaf bread from the store. It is mild in flavor and aroma.

Red wheat when milled will be the more traditional 'whole wheat' color of a light brown. It will bake to a dark brown. It is stronger in flavor and aroma.

Again, color is not the determining factor of use, but will affect the taste. So it is taste and aesthetics (look) that determine what color you choose, what you want to use it for is a deciding factor in the type not color.

Now on to the type – hard or soft wheat:

This does affect the usage of the grain.

Soft wheats (regardless of color) have much less gluten thus are not as 'spongy' when used. They will not make very good loaf bread. Combine the soft wheat flours with hard for very good & fluffy muffins, pancakes, pie crusts, cookies (cookies can be all hard wheat too though) and more that does not require a 'rise' or elastic dough feeling.

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Soft wheats are used as a pastry four, but in my experience are hardly ever used exclusively alone (often combined with hard wheat) except in cakes (to which you must also sift the flour to remove some of the bran for a real cake like consistency). Cake flour alone is best as only soft wheat.

Hard wheats (regardless of color) are the grains that make the most all purpose flour. The hard wheat contains the most gluten (which is a protein) that helps the bubbles hold together in a loaf of bread. Gluten helps to give the spongy effect. If used in other recipes like muffins etc, it can result in a tough muffin if over mixed (mixing/kneading helps gluten form the bubble pockets).

So to sum up – color is a choice for taste and look, while hard or soft is a choice for type of recipe.

I hope this made sense, if not, just keep on asking! (o:
It's a joy to help others learn this!!

Have a wonderful day!
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Best Blessings!
Millers Grain House
Donna Miller, Owner

Deut 28:5 -
"A blessing upon your grain-basket and kneading-bowl." ???? ? ???????? ????? ???????? ?????????

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