***Disclaimer, this is possibly a very boring yet informative post. Please still agree to come back to my blog, even if you fall asleep reading this. And the point of this blog is in the last paragraph so feel free to skip down there to get the gist of my thoughts.***
Food storage is something that has been ever present in my mind for the past three years or so. Food storage for Eric, and food storage for me is quite different however. Eric feels food storage is all about buying hugely in bulk, and then keeping it on your shelf for 50 years and using it when an emergency hits. Food storage for me is buying things we use regularly- so when I want to make dinner- I don't have to have even gone to the store for two weeks, and we can make a delicious meal out of what we have. For the record- I think we're both correct on what food storage is because guess what in each instance we're storing FOOD- and we do need and have both of these types of storage.
I feel I now have been blessed with the most food storage I have ever had in my life- and even with a smaller budget I am able to still get more "food storage" items every week- especially with the help of the pinching your pennies website. (Thank you again Julie for directing me to that site.) Buying things you use in bulk when on incredible sales also greatly helps your budget, and gets you more and better food than you ever thought you could. But that's a side note and maybe another whole blog post in and of itself.
All of this to say- I have recently been trying to use my bigger food storage items like hard red wheat and oatmeal. For one because Eric feels if a disaster hit many of us would die because our intestinal tract isn't used to whole wheat, and for another because making things from scratch can be healthier and more delicious at times. So I welcomed a USU extension class on wheat in September. What a great experience, and since then I have been trying to make whole wheat bread, and cracked wheat cereal, and add whole wheat to many other things. (I ground my hard red wheat at my grandma Barrus' house.) I am going to say it is for sure a learning process and things don't always work out, (like the "bread" I made last week was more like crumbling mortar consistency) but it has been great as I can tell a huge difference in me not being as hungry as I fill up on these wheat nutrients. (I hadn't made bread for about a week, and my other wheat bread from the store was out as well, so I had white breads and things instead and I was constantly hungry- rather than hungry every 2-3 hours, a very important difference.)
All in all I feel it has been a success, and it is so much cheaper to use my 25 lb bag of wheat from the cannery I got for 6.99, grind that wheat, keep it in the fridge and use it, than even use the white flour I get already processed in the bag.
My point here is I also just started using powdered milk in my recipes. O.k. started as in I opened my #10 can yesterday, and put it in some of the wheat bread I made. However today while looking around at some food storage things, I found some recipes ideas for powdered milk that I think I am going to start using. The website is here and has great recipes to make your own yogurt, condensed milk, smoothies, and even whipped topping! This is fantastic as I love whipped topping, but don't usually have it on hand in my storage when I need it- but now I can make it whenever I need it! Pinching your pennies also has a great thread on powdered milk and using it for even condensed cream soups and cream of brocolli soup. Go here for more info on that. Happy! I was just excited and wanted to share this with you! Have a great one!
P.S. There's another USU extension class next Thursday from 11 AM- 1 PM at the extension center in Provo. The topic for the class is holiday breads and traditions. The class is $2 prepaid and $3 at the door- and there is LOTS of food there- it's pretty much an incredible lunch for $2- and you learn a ton at the same time. If you want to go let me know and maybe we can go together!
Food storage is something that has been ever present in my mind for the past three years or so. Food storage for Eric, and food storage for me is quite different however. Eric feels food storage is all about buying hugely in bulk, and then keeping it on your shelf for 50 years and using it when an emergency hits. Food storage for me is buying things we use regularly- so when I want to make dinner- I don't have to have even gone to the store for two weeks, and we can make a delicious meal out of what we have. For the record- I think we're both correct on what food storage is because guess what in each instance we're storing FOOD- and we do need and have both of these types of storage.
I feel I now have been blessed with the most food storage I have ever had in my life- and even with a smaller budget I am able to still get more "food storage" items every week- especially with the help of the pinching your pennies website. (Thank you again Julie for directing me to that site.) Buying things you use in bulk when on incredible sales also greatly helps your budget, and gets you more and better food than you ever thought you could. But that's a side note and maybe another whole blog post in and of itself.
All of this to say- I have recently been trying to use my bigger food storage items like hard red wheat and oatmeal. For one because Eric feels if a disaster hit many of us would die because our intestinal tract isn't used to whole wheat, and for another because making things from scratch can be healthier and more delicious at times. So I welcomed a USU extension class on wheat in September. What a great experience, and since then I have been trying to make whole wheat bread, and cracked wheat cereal, and add whole wheat to many other things. (I ground my hard red wheat at my grandma Barrus' house.) I am going to say it is for sure a learning process and things don't always work out, (like the "bread" I made last week was more like crumbling mortar consistency) but it has been great as I can tell a huge difference in me not being as hungry as I fill up on these wheat nutrients. (I hadn't made bread for about a week, and my other wheat bread from the store was out as well, so I had white breads and things instead and I was constantly hungry- rather than hungry every 2-3 hours, a very important difference.)
All in all I feel it has been a success, and it is so much cheaper to use my 25 lb bag of wheat from the cannery I got for 6.99, grind that wheat, keep it in the fridge and use it, than even use the white flour I get already processed in the bag.
My point here is I also just started using powdered milk in my recipes. O.k. started as in I opened my #10 can yesterday, and put it in some of the wheat bread I made. However today while looking around at some food storage things, I found some recipes ideas for powdered milk that I think I am going to start using. The website is here and has great recipes to make your own yogurt, condensed milk, smoothies, and even whipped topping! This is fantastic as I love whipped topping, but don't usually have it on hand in my storage when I need it- but now I can make it whenever I need it! Pinching your pennies also has a great thread on powdered milk and using it for even condensed cream soups and cream of brocolli soup. Go here for more info on that. Happy! I was just excited and wanted to share this with you! Have a great one!
P.S. There's another USU extension class next Thursday from 11 AM- 1 PM at the extension center in Provo. The topic for the class is holiday breads and traditions. The class is $2 prepaid and $3 at the door- and there is LOTS of food there- it's pretty much an incredible lunch for $2- and you learn a ton at the same time. If you want to go let me know and maybe we can go together!
Comments
I LOVE making homemade whole wheat bread from my food storage though, and I make it every week. It's delicious!
Good work on the food storage- he who is prepared shall not fear! It is kind of lame, but I get such a high out of doing food storage. I just think about how safe it makes me feel for my family and neighbors if there were an earthquake, or Glenn was out of work- whatever... Surprisingly fun!
Can you tell me anything about the Winter Red Wheat? Does it taste the same? I have been wondering why the church is using it and how to use it.
We miss you guys!!!!