Butterbeer in Hogsmeade

Bikini Beach Babe

A Few of My Favorite Things

A “Wheatie” Plane Ride

My daughter and I sat by a really nice Grandpa on our flight to Florida. He gave his extra cookies to her, and she let him play “Temple Run” on our iPad. I had a nice chat with him, and during our conversation I discovered that he owns a little farm in Minnesota. I told him about my Backyard Chickens and asked him what he farmed. When he told me he grew wheat I actually squealed and said “I have a basement FULL of wheat!” I think I took him by surprise. lol. He was impressed that I grind my own wheat and cook with it, and he was awesome about answering my questions for the next thirty minutes or so.

Winter wheat versus spring wheat
A few years ago we did a post about the different Types of Wheat, so I was proud of myself that I could ask him what type he grew and sort of know what I was talking about. However, I discovered I was not very well-educated on spring versus winter wheat. I assumed he grew winter wheat since Minnesota is so cold, but he told me it’s the opposite. Winter wheat is germinated in the fall and then sits dormant over the winter, it resumes growing as the weather warms up and is harvest in early summer. Spring wheat is planted in April or May and harvested in August or early September. Very cold regions have too harsh of winters to be able to plant in the fall for winter wheat. This totally makes sense to me now. Also winter wheat produces more wheat per square foot, but spring wheat has a higher protein content.

Home-grown wheat
After learning about HIS wheat, I proceeded to hound this nice gentleman with questions about growing my own wheat in a small space. He told me I could grow wheat from my stored wheat kernels (as long as they will sprout you should be able to use them for crops). You can grow as much or as little as you have room for. If you have a yard that’s 20 feet by 50 feet, you could plant 6 pounds of wheat and harvest nearly 50 pounds of grain (source). You will need to learn the proper harvesting methods for home harvesting, but that information seems to be readily available online.

I told my new farmer friend that I would love to try to grow a little wheat and see how it works in my area. Then if some major long-term catastrophe occurred I would know that I could tear up my whole yard and plant lots of wheat if I had to. By the end of our flight he had asked for my address because he wants to send me a little packet of his wheat to try growing in my yard next spring. I thought it was really cute and nice of him and I’m excited to give it a whirl. I may even try doing a couple different kinds of wheat (using some of my stored wheat as well). We’ll see how ambitious I get!

Who knew you could have a food storage adventure in the middle of a Florida vacation?

I’ve been making homemade whole wheat tortillas for awhile now by hand. A friend of mine called me a couple weeks ago and said she wanted to make a lot of them for lunches and snacks and wanted to know some of my tricks for making and storing them in bulk. When she asked me this, I had to confess I only really make them for this one recipe because rolling them out is actually kind of annoying. It’s totally doable, and I did a post about it awhile back, but making them by hand takes enough time that I shy away from it.

Well then, we were asked to come to a food storage fair where we needed to bring samples for 150+ people. The recipe we made called for tortillas. Homemade ones. Using fresh ground wheat. Well, I wasn’t about to make enough for THAT many people by hand. Oh – we’ll be sharing the recipe Thursday, so you’ll just have to stay tuned for that. Anyways, that’s when I called my other friend and asked to borrow this beautiful tortilla maker from her. The magic machine FLATTENS AND COOKS the tortilla in a fraction of the time and they turn out PERFECT!

Making Tortillas Using a Tortilla Press

This is the recipe I used. I followed the directions, then instead of rolling the balls of dough out, I just flattened them in the maker and waited for them to cook. It was like watching someone ELSE do a really annoying job… Now if only I could find a way for my laundry to magically clean and fold itself.

Directions:
1. Mix all dry ingredients together.
2. Add the oil, then the water. Knead 5 minutes
3. Roll the dough out so you can easily make equal pieces
4. Let dough rest 10 minutes
5. Form into 12
6. Roll thin (spray pam to help if there are sticking or dryness problems)
7. Grill on both sides, they cook quickly (no need to grease the frying pan at all)
8. Eat! It doesn’t take long to cook.

When I asked my friend where she got her press, she said she did her research and the best place to get this one was on amazon. Check it out here

Making Tortillas By Hand

I know fancy tortilla presses aren’t in everyone’s budget, so for a full post on making these by hand, check out the post here. Here are some kitchen tools that may make making them by hand a little easier.

I use a little hand roller that helps a lot and since I use tortillas mostly in recipes where they don’t have to look perfect, I don’t feel so bad when they don’t turn out in perfect circles… (Although I’m sure I could trace some lid from a bowl and cut around it if I really cared)

My sister uses this kind of tortilla press and she says they are much faster and easier to make using this than a rolling pin.

 

Hope you like these!

We DO remember what it was like to find all these tools COMPLETELY overwhelming.

So from now on, we’ll post most of our weekly attempts at cooking a meal without power on our Summer Adventures page. You may want to bookmark that page, or subscribe to our new YouTube channel to get immediate access to the videos (more on our YouTube channel next week). We’ll still mention it on facebook and here and there on the blog, but we’ll be back to a variety of the posts next week.

Since Jodi tried her Sun Oven with rice last week, I worked up the courage to try something in mine. Bread is a staple around here, and I just have to know I could keep cooking it without power. I’m actually going to try bread in the Wonderoven, the Volcano, the Cardboard Box Oven and a Dutch Oven too this summer. I like the idea of having multiples ways of cooking it depending on fuel, and sunshine situations.

Check out this video to see how it went!

Little tidbits of information about the experience:

• The oven took 40 minutes to preheat, but Jodi said hers took 15… so we need to investigate this. Time of day? Positioning? What?
• I did have to reposition it to keep it going faster- however if I hadn’t I think it would have just taken longer and still been good
• There wasn’t a noticeable difference between the two types of pans I used
• I cooked the bread for about 50 minutes. They say to cook things about 20 minutes longer, and this worked just fine
• The bread turned out extra moist

I’m so excited to keep trying new things and to experiment with bread using the other methods.

Before we forget – remember the SunOven sale is ending June 21… here are more details.

Global Sun Oven SALE PRICE

We always sell the Global Sun Oven for the lowest prices available online (just $255 for the oven, with free shipping!) However, until June 21st we are also offering an amazing accessory package for only $35 more (retail price is normally $57)! So for $290 you get your Sun Oven plus all of the cooking tools below:

-2 Stackable Black Covered Round 3-qt Pots (Retail Price $12.00 each)
-1 Set of Two Loaf Pans (Retail Price $12.00
-1 Set of Two Cookie Sheet/Brownie Pans (Retail Price $13.50
-1 Water Pasteurization Indicator – WAPI (Retail Price $8.00)
-A computer CD with over 80 SUN OVEN recipes, cooking tips, FAQs, written & video operating instructions, a video on how the SUN OVEN works and emergency preparedness tips

The Electric WonderMill is great for quick, everyday usage grinding big batches of grains and legumes. It totally gets you into the habit of cooking with your food storage. However, the Wonder Junior Deluxe is also a wonderful preparedness tool since it can be used in a powerless emergency, and has the bonus value of being able to grind things that an electric mill CAN’T grind. On our Facebook page, we have been asked several times lately if we are selling the NEW Wonder Junior Deluxe models, and the answer is “YES”! We just didn’t have time to change our product info page yet. Here are some details about the great new features.

THE WONDER JUNIOR DELUXE JUST GOT EVEN BETTER!!!

FASTER Than the Country Living Grain Mill
You may often hear people recommend the Country Living Grain Mill as the hand grinder of all hand grinders. We always thought that the Wonder Junior was a good mid-range mill if you couldn’t afford one of the higher-end hand grinders. But now, with the NEW grain auger in the new Wonder Junior Deluxe models, this hand grinder grinds 65% faster than the Country Living Grain Mill at about half of the price! Check out the speed test video below.

Cleaner and more convenient than ever
Most hand grinders are a little bit notorious for getting flour all over the place just be the nature of how they work with the stones grinding together. Not only does the Wonder Junior Deluxe have a strong and secure table clamp that is one of the best on the market, but it now comes with a flour guide and cleaning brush to keep grinding mess to a minimum. This makes cleanup a breeze. The NEW flour guide effectively guides the flour to fall into you container, instead of all over your table. The cleaning brush is simple but perfect for the task of cleaning off the stones after you are done grinding. Both are now included at no extra cost when you buy the Wonder Junior Deluxe.

New Drill Bit Attachment COMING SOON!
This is a great way to get even more use out of your Wonder Junior if you don’t have an electric mill too. Using this new drill bit attachment and a household drill you can achieve amazing things with your hand grinder.

THEY WILL BE BACK IN STOCK APRIL 10!!!
If you aren’t already convinced about how awesome the NEW Wonder Junior Deluxe is click here for even more details. With all these great new features the hand grinders quickly went out of stock. However, the good news is they should be shipping again as of APRIL 10. WonderMill will ship out starting on April 10th based on when you placed your order, so you may want to consider purchasing your new Wonder Junior Deluxe asap to get in the queue.

p.s. If you have one of the older models but would like the new flour shield and/or cleaning brush we are looking into some options to be able to make those available to you from our site so stay tuned!

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup oil
Nuts, dates, raisins (opt)

Directions:
Mix all the dry ingredients. Then stir in the applesauce, oil, and nuts or fruits (opt). Bake in a 9×9 pan at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Top each piece with warm apple sauce when serving.

Special Notes:
When serving this cake do NOT leave off the dollop of warm applesauce on each piece. It balances out the sweetness of the cake and makes all the difference.

We’ve been so busy with the Seven Day Challenge, One Second After group book discussion, and the Thanksgiving holiday, that we haven’t done a segment in our Food Storage Makeover series for a few months. Today Jodi shows Grandma Lori how to convert her favorite homemade chicken noodle soup recipe into a fabulous food storage recipe that is easier, faster, healthier, and just as delicious!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe – food storage style

Soup
3 large chicken breasts
1/2 c. dehydrated celery
1/3 c. dehydrated onions
1/4 c. dehydrated carrots
9 cups of water
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Noodles
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1/4-1/2 c. water

Directions
Add all ingredients into a pressure cooker. Cook according to your pressure cooker’s directions for chicken breasts. Using the Cuisinart Electric Pressure Cooker this was 15 minutes on high pressure (we used frozen chicken breasts). While the chicken cooks, prepare noodles. Knead for 5-10 minutes in a mixer with dough hooks. Roll out to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut with a pizza cutter into 1/4 inch strips about 3 inches long. Separate the noodles and let dry out a little bit. When chicken is done cooking, remove and cut into bite-sized pieces. While cutting, set your pressure cooker to a browning setting and throw in the noodles to cook. Add the cut up chicken back in and cook until noodles are soft. ENJOY!

VARIATIONS
One of my favorite things to do is make a batch of this soup without the noodles. Then I make a big batch of brown rice in the pressure cooker. I separate the rice into lunch-size portions and put the soup in a large tupperware. Every day I mix a little bowl of soup with rice added in and it is a delicious, healthy, low-fat, quick, easy lunch for me!

Another favorite family recipe made easier and faster using food storage is Chicken Tortellini Soup. The basic soup is very similar to the above recipe. I’ll share my tricks on that one another day!

Benefits of Wheat

• Wheat provides you with a whole grain
• Wheat can be stored for over 30 years if kept in a cool, dry place
• Whole wheat retains all of the vitamins, minerals, and fiber
• There are no preservatives or additives in wheat you grind yourself
• You can sprout wheat and use it in smoothies, salads, soups, etc.
• You can use wheat to extend your meat

There are many different kinds of wheat you can read about in our Types of Wheat post. Our favorite all-purpose wheat is hard white wheat. If you don’t have a local source for wheat, you can buy it (along with tons of other food storage products) with only $4.49 shipping anywhere in the contiguous US at Honeyville Grains.

Wheat Grinder Options

To use wheat as flour, you need a wheat grinder. Here is a short video on a couple of options you have for grinders.

We have been huge fans of the Wondermill Electric since we both got ours 2 years ago, but have never really touched on the Wonder Jr Hand Grinder. We haven’t talked much about it because we use our Electrics several times a week and have never been faced with a powerless situation.

In our 7 Day Challenge, we had a mock emergency where there was no power for one of the days. Also, in our Group Discussion of the book One Second After, there was an extended amount of time where there was no power. The thought of living without power for more then just 2 or 3 hours has started to feel a little more possible, so we decided it was time to practice on the Wonder Junior. When Julie used it for the 7 Day Challenge to make her family pancakes she was amazed at how easy it was to use, and how finely it ground the flour.

When choosing a wheat grinder, you just have to ask yourself some questions. Am I getting this for everyday cooking, or for a powerless situation? If there were a powerless situation, would I know how to use my wheat and my grinder? Do I store wheat (and other grains) I know how to use in recipes for daily living, and for emergency situations?

Basic Wheat Recipes

Whole Grain Waffles
Whole Wheat Tortillas
Whole Wheat Pasta Noodles
Whole Wheat Bread

Black Friday Sales

Shhhh don’t tell anyone, but you’re getting in on the good news early. We’ll be sending out an email Wednesday with a bunch of Black Friday – Cyber Monday sales. The Wheat Grinders will be at the lowest price we’re allowed to sell them for, and FREE SHIPPING. We already have it in the system, so you can be an early bird shopper today.

It’s been awhile since we have shared with you what’s going on with the Extreme Food Storage Makeover for Grandma Lori. Since Grandma Lori bought her Wondermill, Jasmine has been wanting in on the experimenting (Jasmine is Grandma Lori’s daughter and she’s the one who showed us how to make multi-grain waffles with their Wondermill). With the 7 Day Challenge coming up, you better believe one of the tasks throughout the week will be to make a loaf of bread, so pay close attention!

There are a lot of great bread recipes we could choose from to get Jasmine going on her bread making. The one we had Jasmine try first comes from Deals to Meals. You do this thing called “sponging” to the dough, and it makes an incredible dough that makes bread awesome! For the full recipe go here. Check out the recipe, and while you’re there, read Friday’s post. They are letting everyone try their service FREE this week only! After you try and like it, make sure you tell them we sent you.

Another great bread recipe is from Crystal at Everyday Food Storage. This is the recipe Julie used to get her first successful loaf of bread when she first started making bread. Crystal also shares some great bread making tips in case you need some extra help or practice on her Bread Q and A post.

Next up we’re going to show Grandma Lori and Jasmine how to make something else fabulous USING their food storage. We still haven’t decided what it is yet. Maybe we’ll let THEM choose.

When we started the Extreme Food Storage Makeover for Grandma Lori early this year, we knew exactly what we were going to do…..NOT! Well, we knew how we were going to do her ePrep stuff, and we knew how to tackle the 3 month supply. We were secretly a little concerned about how we would go about her Long Term Food Storage.
If you’re new to this project, visit our Grandma Lori Makeover Page for the full scoop, and see the journey as it has progressed so far.

Anyways, we were worried Grandma Lori might not be into baking bread, and grinding wheat the way we have come to love. What we saw happen though, was so exciting. As we used our food storage more, she got curious. She was especially interested in how we have been putting all sorts of grains into breads, pancakes, pizza dough and more. Since the Wondermills are on sale for the summer, she took advantage and bought one.

Check out how easy it was to set up. She had a great idea to store it somewhere she knew she could use it easily, and not tuck it away in a cupboard. The bonus is she can keep her grains all together in one place. Where is she keeping her mill? Just watch and see.

Oh -and make sure you watch to the very end to see how Julie’s husband teases her… REALLY JEREMY? At least he teases Jodi just as much.

Next up, Julie is going to show her little sister-in-law Jasmine how to make her favorite waffle pancake recipe, using multiple grains in the new family Wondermill. Jasmine is Jodi’s sister. Julie is Jodi’s sister-in-law who married Jeremy. Jodi also has 2 other sisters whose name starts with J- We may have to make a family tree graphic to help ya’ll keep it straight…. but for now:

My favorite recipe I’ve made since venturing into cooking with Food Storage is an Enchilada Pie recipe. I told you all about it back in my cooking challenge post.

Since then, I’ve added another twist on the recipe. I realized I was out of enchilada sauce MID RECIPE a few weeks ago. I had gotten far enough that there was no turning back, but I DID not want to run to the store. Does that EVER happen to any of you? I somehow got confused about how much enchilada sauce I had stored (My husband forgets to tell me we’re down to 2 or 3 left when I get him to get one out of the basement for me).

Anyways, I found this recipe on allrecipes, and to my amazement it turned out great, and used ingredients I always have on hand. Now I wont need to bother buying Enchilada Sauce.

Ten Minute Enchilada Sauce
(anything with the title “ten minutes” in it, is my kind of thing)

Ingredients

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons self-rising flour (I used regular)
1/4 cup New Mexico or California chili powder
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion salt
salt to taste

Directions
Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in flour and chili powder, reduce heat to medium, and cook until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning flour.
Gradually stir in tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, and onion salt into the flour and chili powder until smooth, and continue cooking over medium heat approximately 10 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt.

So go ahead, give yourself a challenge! Try this out with the NEW twist!