Sprouting Wheat (for real this time)

Sprouting Wheat

Nutritional appology first: my last post was wrong regarding the vitamin C content in sprouted wheat. Very sorry. I will post nutritional facts later as it's a whole chapter and my kids are crawling all over me! Also, I hope to post ways to eat the sprouts as requested by Tristan, too! :)

(These instructions are taken from http://www.sproutpeople.com/ -- a very good website!)

Yields approximately 1 Cup (1/2 lb.) of Sprouts

Step One:
Put 2/3 Cup of seed* into a jar.

Add 2-3 times as much cool (60-70 degree) water.

Mix seeds up to assure even water contact for all.

Allow seeds to Soak for 6-12 hours.

Step Two:
Empty the seeds into your sprouter if you're using one. If you don't have one, you can leave them in the same jar.

Drain off the water.
Rinse thoroughly with cool (60-70°) water.

Drain thoroughly.

Set anywhere out of direct sunlight and at room temperature (70° is optimal) between Rinses.

(What the wheat looks like after the first soak compared to wheat that hasn't been soaked.)

Step Three:

Rinse and Drain again in 8-12 hours.

And, perhaps one more...Rinse and Drain in 8-12 hours.
We usually stop here. We like our sprouts small.

Depending on your personal preference - You may Rinse and Drain again at 8-12 hour intervals for several days. However - we prefer to sprout only to the point where most of the seeds have sprouted tiny (1/4 inch) roots, which is typically after just 2 or 3 Rinse and Drain cycles.
As always, we suggest that you taste your crop at EVERY RINSE - including the very first - just after the Soak period. The soaked seeds are already alive and though they may not be their most nutritious they are still very nutritious - they are already without enzyme inhibitors (a very good thing indeed) so they'll digest themselves and nourish your cells without requiring anything from your body!

Experiment! Have Fun! It's All Good!

Harvest

Your sprouts are done 8-12 hours after your final rinse. Be sure to Drain them as thoroughly as possible after that final rinse.
The goal during the final 8-12 hours is to minimize the surface moisture of your sprouts - they will store best in your refrigerator if they are dry to the touch.

Refrigerate

Transfer your sprout crop to a plastic bag or the sealed container of your choice - glass is good too - and put them in your refrigerator.

Tuna Cracked Wheat Casserole

Okay, so all meals can't be gourmet, especially when it comes to moving through food storage. (Ha, ha--that's for sure.) I was organizing our food storage a few nights ago and discovered that a case of our tuna expires December 2008. I know it will go a lot longer than that, but I will still concentrate using it in the mean time. Therefore you get this delightful gem. I love that this Tuna Casserole incorporates cracked wheat!!! I love sneaking in whole grains every where I can. Although it may not sound appetizing, it's surprisingly delicious and can be one of your "meals ready in a bag" for the 3 month storage rotation recommended by the church, but it also incorporates your long term staple storage of powdered milk, grains, etc.

Step One: 2 cups cooked cracked wheat (the cracked wheat recipe below makes exactly the amount of cracked wheat you will need for this recipe).

Step Two: Add the following ingredients
2 6 1/2 oz. cans of tuna, salt & pepper to taste
1 medium onion, chopped (I sautee mine first, but the recipe doesn't call for sauteeing it first. You can also use dehydrated onions from your storage.)
1 can peas (I use frozen and almost double this as I like peas.)
1 small can mushrooms, drained (optional)

Step Three: Mix together and place in casserole dish.

Step Four: Topping -- Recipe calls for 1 can evaporated milk or 1 1/2 cup fresh milk, but I recommend using half this amount. Add 1 cup grated cheese over the top. Next, top with bread crumbs or cornflakes and add an additional 1/2 cup grated cheese and pats of butter.

Step Five: Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Taken from my favorite recipe book: Wheat Cookin' Made Easy

Basic Cracked Wheat Recipe

Hand grinders make great cracked wheat. By turning the dial you can choose a range of desired consistencies from flour to very coarse. Hand grinders are great to put in your food storage since it requires no electricity and they're very reasonably priced if you don't want to by large, expensive grinders. They're not great for large quanties of flour like when you make a batch of bread, however. Hand grinding takes a long time! On a positive note, though, you can develop beautifully, toned arms. :) Although I've never needed it for reasons of crisis, I do use mine all the time because I can't find a grinder that grinds grains so coarse for a cracked grain effect. The recipe for cracked wheat is easy and is an important ingredient for many main dish recipes, as a meat extender, and as a basic breakfast with some sweetner, raisins, milk, etc.

Step One: Grind whole wheat into cracked wheat.


Step Two: Measure 1 cup cracked wheat to 2 1/2 cups water and 1/2 t. salt to boil for 10-20 minutes.

Your final product looks like this.

May be tightly covered and stored for two weeks if you make lots.

Sprouting Wheat

The coolest part of storing wheat is that it becomes a fresh vegetable if you sprout it. You can have an incredibly nutrient-rich greenie without soil! The vitamin C increases by 600% when you sprout wheat. Although there are no pictures yet, they'll be coming. I've just been negligent with no excuses. This is my hook for loyal readers who are just SOOOOOOOOO interested in this information that they're hanging on the edge of their wheat buckets for the next gem I'm going to give them. (HA!) Nonetheless, coming soon.

Yummy Granola from Emily!!!

I'm currently on hiatus. Emily sent me a killer recipe book and my cooking time has gone to that... Thanks so much Emily!!! Anyway, she has a delicious granola recipe that is a perfect use for those storage ingredients calling to be enjoyed. To see the recipe go here:

http://thesellicksix.blogspot.com/2008/06/granola-chix.html

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

EASY, FAST, DELICIOUS!!!

You will not be disappointed with this recipe. It's a staple for lunch at our place. The best part about this recipe is you do NOT need to grind the wheat first.

Step One:

1 cup whole wheat (uncooked)
(Yes, look closely, those are whole wheat berries!)

Step Two:

1 1/2 cup milk









Step Three:

Blend milk and wheat for three minutes.









(Blender grinds grain to a fine powder mixed with the milk. It's a beautiful thing.)

Step Four:

Add Remaining Ingredients.
1-2 eggs (The recipe calls for one, I like two.)
1 t. salt
1/3 cup oil
2 T. sugar or honey
Blend for one minute.

Step Five:

Add 2/3 t. baking powder
"Jog" for only a couple seconds.





Yum, bake them up.

Cream of Chicken Soup Substitute

In any recipe calling for concentrated Cream of Chicken Soup, the following can be substituted:


1) Grind 5 Tablespoons white beans into flour.

2) Bring 1 3/4 cups water and 4 teaspoons chicken boullion or soup base to boil.

3) Add white bean flour to boiling water and chicken base. Whip on high for one minute.

4) Turn to medium and cook for two more minutes. Mixture thickens as it cools.

This mixture can be refrigerated up to one week and used in place of canned soup. Up to 1/4 cup chicken chunks can be added, if desired after blending.

Breakfast of the Champions

This cereal was adapted from the baby cereal below. The only thing different is I add adzuki beans, applesauce, and cinnamon. It is my family's daily breakfast, from Mike down to Alcy. I experimented with these grains in a lot of breakfast elements, such as milk and honey, etc. However, eating it with the applesauce and cinnamon is hands-down the most delcious. We are all addicted to it. Even Christopher will ask to have it for other meals besides breakfast, and he often gets it.

1) Since all of my grains and beans are in huge storage buckets in the basement, I mix a smaller container for easy access in my kitchen. I mix equal parts of all the grains I want: barley, millet, brown rice, and oat groats. There's no science, but I try to add equal adzuki beans to grains. Swish your hand through the mixture to mix them all up. (It feels so good!)

2) I have my family's portion down to a science now, but you may have to experiment based on the amount of mouths you feed. For the four of us, I grind 8 Tablespoons of cereal mixture in my coffee grinder until almost fine. (We used to grind it in the hand grinder to get a "cracked" cereal effect, but we all decided it was more palatable ground more finely. Plus it's so much faster in the coffee grinder.)

Voila: grinds in seconds!

3) Pour the grain/bean flour in 4 cups cold water, whip, and bring to boil.

4) Once it comes to a rapid boil, time it for five minutes, stirring occasionally, and it's done cooking.

5) Add two 15 oz cans of applesauce.

6) Sprinkle cinnamon to taste. (I think I use about a tablespoon.)

7) Makes 4 healthy servings. Yes, both my babies eat those huge bowls in one sitting. We send another off to work with Mike. Hmmm, delicious and packed with a punch of health.


Try it and let me know what you think!

Recap at a Glance.

Breakfast of the Champions:

8 T grain/bean mixture, ground
4 cups water

Whip. Boil. Cook for 5 minutes.

Add 2 cans 15 oz applesauce
1-2 T cinnamon

Serves 4.

Baby Food 101

First things first. Every maternal economist must have a coffee grinder (i.e. grain and bean grinder). Hand grinders and large electric grinders are important, BUT for daily jobs it is so much EASIER, CLEANER, and FASTER to pull out a tiny coffee grinder, push a button for a few seconds, and be done. I literally use mine every day. It's worth far more than it's weight in gold and you can buy them for any where between $20-$40.

Now for the baby food recipe. You will never go back to refined rice cereals again. I say this on the assumption you already know why whole grains are so much better for your babies than refined. Without belaboring obvious knowledge, let's just say "they" may add nutrition back, but it's a VERY SMALL percentage compared to what they've taken out, let alone all the other things they've taken out. This topic should be a post in and of itself. Anyway, below you can see how easy it is to fill the grinder with grains, push the button, and voila, instant baby food powder.

Babies need to start with rice as their first grain. Therefore, buy brown rice as it has superior qualities to white rice. Use brown rice solely until your baby has established it internally before adding additional grains. Oh yes, the recipe. I nearly forgot, it is that simple and easy.

One Serving Baby Food:

1 Tablespoon grain flour

1/2 cup water

Stir flour into water with whip until boiling. Let cool until warm. Add smashed fruit or veggies. This literally takes a couple minutes from start to finish.

After rice has been established, add millet, then barley, and then oat groats. The combination of all those grains is what you're after, but you do have to wait a week or so before adding each of the additional grains. My babies tolerated each additional grain fairly quickly so I didn't wait that long between additional grains. Don't believe it? Look at my babies; they're beautiful, vibrant, and healthy! This cereal was THE MEAL every meal for my little babies, varied only by the different fruits or veggies added to it. Cost? I buy my grains in huge quantities. I'm too lazy to do the math, but pennies, and it's a meal that makes a super mom and super kids.

I only have experience with the Bosch coffe grinder and have loved it for years. I posted the Krups one below additionally only because I noticed it was a lot less money. I'm not sure how they compare.