Basic Food Storage: Cracked Wheat

Wheat is perhaps the most versatile of the whole grains, at least in the Western world.  But some people are reluctant to store wheat because they haven't yet acquired a wheat grinder.  And you always wonder if you're really going to use it.  So here are some ways to use wheat that do not require a wheat grinder.  A coffee grinder is necessary, but that's not as significant of an expense, especially if you pick one up at a garage sale.

So the first thing to do (after cleaning the coffee out of the coffee grinder) is to put about one-third of a cup of wheat in the coffee grinder.  Let it whirl for a few seconds.

Now you have cracked wheat.

So how do you use it?

• Bread.  Probably the most common way to use it is in bread, about 1/4 cup cracked wheat boiled for 10 minutes in 2/3 cup water.  Let cool before adding to bread recipes.  
• Cereal.  Cracked wheat cereal is also (somewhat) popular.  Boil 1 cup of cracked wheat in 3 cups of water for 15 minutes.  Add milk, bananas, chopped nuts, and brown sugar to taste.
• Hamburger extender.  Boiled cracked wheat can even be used as a hamburger extender, such as in taco meat or meatballs.  This works better with children than with highly suspicious husbands.  Start with smaller amounts and gradually increase.  It also works better in highly seasoned hamburger than plain.  
• "Nuts".  Cooked cracked wheat patted dry looks like chopped nuts on Jell-O salads.

Strawberry Jell-O Salad with Cracked Wheat

1/4 cup cracked wheat
1 small pkg. strawberry Jell-O
1 cup boiling water
1 cup whipped cream or Cool Whip
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups mashed fresh strawberries, or equivalent--frozen, dehydrated or freeze-dried and reconstituted

Boil cracked wheat in 1 cup water for 15 minutes, remove from heat, and drain excess water.  Pour cracked wheat on paper towel to remove excess water.  Set aside.

In a 9x9 pan, dissolve Jell-O in boiling water, stirring until completely dissolved.  Cool until thickened, and then stir in the rest of the ingredients.

Refrigerate until firm or overnight. Serve with a spoonful of whipped cream sprinkled with cooked cracked wheat as your mock nuts.

Links to related posts:
Wheat  
Sprouted wheat   

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com 
28 may 2021

Basic Food Storage--Sprouting Wheat

Why, oh why, would anyone want to sprout wheat?  I mean, with a healthier diet that is already including lots of whole grains and beans and garden produce, isn't adding in sprouts going a little over the top?

Actually, it may be over the top for some.  But there are times when being able to sprout wheat could come in handy.

First off, wheat is a bit hard for some people to digest.  Especially if those people have been eating a typical American diet high in processed foods.  Secondly, and important for all, is that wheat sprouts are far more nutritious than the unsprouted whole grain, with far more vitamins B, C, E, and K, as well as more calcium, iron, and magnesium.  And it provides a different way of using wheat, one that can add variety to salads, soups, and cereals, as well as being used to add a little crunch to sandwiches.

To start your sprouts, in a quart size canning jar, soak one cup of wheat in cool water for 6-12 hours.  One cup of dry wheat will yield approximately 2 1/4 cups of sprouts.

Plastic sprouting lids available from Amazon or health food stores make rinsing and draining easier, but you can substitute nylon netting and a rubber band.  A clean knee-hi nylon could also be used, but it somewhat hinders air circulation. 

After the initial soaking, drain the wheat and rinse thoroughly.  Do not soak or let the wheat stand in water again.  Repeat the rinse and drain cycle every 6-12 hours, with 8 hours being ideal, but this also depends on the temperature.  The ideal temperature for sprouting is 70 degrees; warmer temperatures necessitate more frequent rinsing.

For draining the wheat, the jar must be inverted and at an angle, ideally about 45 degrees.  A large bowl or dish drainer in the sink works well.  Putting the jar upside down will not permit draining.

Keeping the sprouting grain in plain view will help you remember to rinse it; however, do not place the jar in direct sunlight.  That will cook and kill your sprouts.  On the kitchen counter out of the sun will be perfect.

Taste your sprouts as they are growing.  When do you like them best?  Wheat sprouts are generally harvested between the second and fourth day of sprouting.  Dry them thoroughly for about 6-8 hours from the last time they were rinsed, and then store them in the refrigerator.  Your wheat sprouts will keep for three days, assuming they were very dry when you put them away.

There are numerous ways to use wheat sprouts--add to soups, salads, breads, sandwiches, taco meat, chili; grow into wheat grass; dehydrate and grind into flour; make sprouted breakfast cereal or porridge.  Some people just like to eat them plain.

Links to related posts:
Wheat
Vitamin B3
Vitamin B2
Vitamin C 


For further information:

https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/sprouting/how-to-sprout-wheat-berries/

https://sproutpeople.org/growing-wheat-sprouts/

https://keeperofthehome.org/getting-started-sprouting-wheat-berries/

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com 

Emergency Dog Food

Seasoned readers of this blog will recognize the similarity between this recipe and the one for Homemade Grape Nuts, and indeed, they are very close.  So, if you've made the Grape-Nuts, you'll have a pretty good idea of how long it will take, what it will taste like, and how big the batch will be.  For pets, the sugar is omitted and a little more flour is added to compensate.  No, it's not the ideal, but if we're living off our food storage, life in general may not be quite ideal.

Emergency Dog Food
7 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons chicken, beef, or ham bouillon
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk (2/3 cup dry milk, 2 cups water, 2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice and let sit for 5 minutes or plain yogurt)

Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly and then stir in the buttermilk.  Divide the dough in half and roll each half to fit on an ungreased cookie sheet. (Do not worry.  This will not stick to the pan too much, and what little does stick just needs to soak in water for a few minutes.)  This is most easily done by using some waxed paper and a rolling pin to roll the dough out to the edges of the pan. Bake at 350 until golden brown around the edges, about 20 minutes.  Remove from oven, turn the food over with a spatula, and break it into small pieces.  Lower the oven temperature to 200 degrees, and return the food to the oven to dry out thoroughly, about one hour. 

Let cool and break pieces into appropriate size for your pet.

Links to related posts:
Homemade Grape Nuts
Wheat
Dry Milk
DIY Chicken Bouillon

19 september 2021

Homemade Wheaties

I have never, ever been a fan of Wheaties.  In fact, for most of my life, the best thing about Wheaties has been the box.  I liked that they usually had photos of great athletes.  Not that I ever paid that much attention.

But certain members of my family like Wheaties, and as I mentioned last week in the post about making Homemade Grape Nuts, I am not a morning person.  Having a little cold cereal on hand is a lifesaver. 

Homemade Wheat Flakes
2 cups coarsely ground whole wheat flour
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt

Mix ingredients with a spoon or fork until no lumps remain.  Pour onto cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.  Use about 2/3 cup batter on a 13x18" cookie sheet.  Tip the pan back and forth to cover the entire surface, using a spatula to spread it if necessary. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until darkened.  Break into bite-sized pieces.

Yeah, that was easy.

Taste testers comments:  The son who will eat anything says that most people want some sugar in their cereal, but he likes them just fine.

Links to related posts:
Wheat
Homemade Grape Nuts

Basic Food Storage--English Muffins

I'm always on the lookout for recipes that utilize only food storage items and that can be prepared without electricity.  If they're easy, that's even better.
So when I ran across this recipe for English muffins, I was really intrigued.  Was it possible to make something that actually tasted like an English muffin, that used only food storage, that didn't require electricity, and that was also simple?

I'm happy to report that the answer to all of the above questions is a resounding YES!

English Muffins

3 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 cups lukewarm water

In a glass or plastic bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir just until moistened.  Do not mix or knead.  Cover with lid or plastic wrap and leave it on the counter to rise 2-18 hours.

Sprinkle work area generously with flour and with floured hands pat dough out to 3/4" thickness.  Using a glass or a cookie cutter, cut out muffins and dip each side in cornmeal.  Let rise 20 minutes.

Set the temperature of an electric pancake griddle to 300°F.  Place the muffins on the ungreased griddle and cook/bake for 15 minutes on each side.  Check muffins frequently to prevent burning. 

One of the great advantages of this recipe is that it can be prepared over a camp stove or a fire.  (However, first try these indoors on an electric griddle.  Then when you are cooking outdoors, you will have an idea of how to adjust your cooking temperatures.) Place muffins on a pancake griddle to rise for 20 minutes.  Then place the griddle on a camp stove set on medium-low or over a low fire and cook/bake for 15 minutes on each side. 

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com  

08.06.21

Basic Food Storage--Grains

As I was working on the blog the other day, trying to organize it and make information a little more accessible for my readers, I went looking for the post on grains for basic food storage.  And it was nowhere to be found.  I'd written on wheat, oats, rice, flour, and popcorn, but nothing on grains in general.  Embarrassing.  Time to remedy that.


Most long-term food storage programs have whole grains as the basis.  Whole grains, in general, store well, are nutritious, and offer the biggest bang for the buck.  Most food storage plans based on using long-term storage foods recommend a minimum of 300-400 pounds of grains per person for a year.  What people actually store is a matter of personal preference.  What do you eat?  Actually, what a lot of us eat now may not bear a whole lot of resemblance to what we will be eating in the future.  So maybe it's time to think about what we actually want to eat and make sure that we store those foods.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has long counseled its members to store food and other necessities for a time of need, and that's where the 300-400 pounds of grain recommendation initially came from.  Many others have adopted the Church's counsel (great!--everyone needs food!) and have expanded upon it with their own recommendations for the various kinds of grains and amounts.  There is no right or wrong.  But there might be a good, better, and best.  Some people just want to keep it simple.  However, I know from experience that food fatigue is real, especially in my family, and I really want a substantial variety of options in cooking and baking.

The chart below shows several examples of the recommended amounts of grains to store, just to give you an idea.  Websites for these recommendations are linked below, except for KISS (keep it simple, stupid) and my family.  Again, these are just examples.  I, for one, would never store millet. I don't even know what to do with it.  Amaranth and quinoa are the "in" grains now; maybe they're something you want in your storage.  I think cornmeal goes rancid too quickly, so I prefer to store dent corn, which I can mill later.  I also store masa for making tamales and corn tortillas.  

	KISS	AVOW	Mt Mahogany Stake	Highland Stake (satisfied)	Highland Stake (comfortable)	My family
Wheat	400	100	200	200	250	300
Flour		75	75	34	40	25
Rice		40	25	68	85	50
Pasta		40	50	33	40	30
Millet			20
Oats		20	15	33	40	30
Cornmeal		10	5	32	40
Popcorn			5			20
Dent corn						20
Barley			5
Mixes		10
Cereal		5
Total	400	300	400	400	495	475

Baking mixes have a rather short shelf life, which is one reason why I prefer to cook from scratch.  And they tend to have a lot of additives and preservatives.  And they take up more space to store. 

Whatever you choose to store for your family, store what they will eat.  Happily.  Store it well.  If your food comes in boxes or bags, repackage it.  Boxes often harbor weevils.  While they are harmless to eat and may even provide some protein, most people prefer other forms of protein.  Also, keep in mind that one pound of Frosted Flakes does not have the same caloric or nutritional value as a pound of wheat.  They are not interchangeable.

Links to related posts:
Food storage calculator
Wheat
Pasta 
DIY Instant Oatmeal 
Popcorn


For more information:
Highland Stake food storage calculator
Mount Mahogany Stake food storage inventory
AVOW food storage guide    (page 57)

© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com

16 may 2021