A Recipe for my Wheat-Grinding Friends

This is Tammy N.'s recipe that she shared at the wheat-grinding enrichment. I got to take home a container of it and used it up in no time. I recently made up my own batch and still love it. It's so quick to make the waffles, we even have time to make and eat them before the big girls go to school. We had them today and that's what inspired this post.


Pancake/Waffle Mix

6 cups of wheat, ground
1 1/2 cups dry milk
1/3 cups baking powder
4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar

Mix thoroughly and add 1 cup of either shortening or oil. The shortening has to be cut in, the oil requires a Kitchen Aid or Bosch in order to incorporate it at a high speed.

To make the pancakes: To every one cup of mix add 1 egg and 1/2 cup water (and some vanilla if desired).

To make the waffles: To every one cup of mix add 1 egg and 3/4 cup water.


When I made it, I stirred in the oil by hand because I don't have a shield for my Kitchen Aid like she did and didn't want to cover my kitchen with flour. I imagine that a food processor would also work but I don't have one of those either. Also, grind the wheat on the finest setting on your wheat grinder.

Dream in the Making

I have a dream to someday have a super-organized pantry and today I got one step closer to it. I went to Aldi and they had these storage containers that I have fallen in love with. I love everything about them: the straight sides for maximizing storage space, the dual spouts for big pouring or small pouring, the handle for easy grabbing, the way they'll keep out pests and humidity, and the price--only $3 something each! I'm gonna have to go back and get some more because I keep thinking of other things I could put in them. Now I just need to figure out how to organize the rest of my shelves and maybe someday my dream will come into fruition.

Smoothie Spill

Just about every day I think about mopping the floor. Just about everyday something happens and I think, "I'm so glad I didn't mop the floor." Today while I was making dinner, Audrey spilled her smoothie on the floor. Then she decided to finger/toe paint with it. Then she slipped in it and cried. For some reason I just didn't feel sorry for her.

Free Coldstone

Mark your calendars. On Thursday, September 25 from 5-8 p.m. Coldstone is giving out free 3 oz. ice creams to benefit the Make-A-Wish foundation. You'll have your choice of Jack's creation (marshmallow ice cream mixed with Oreo cookies, chocolate chips, and fudge) or Emily's creation (Nutter Butter ice cream mixed with yellow cake, Kit Kat, and white chocolate chips).

Also, visit their website and sign up for their birthday club and they'll email you a coupon for a free "love it" creation on your birthday. You can even sign your kids up for it. And if you want a bigger size they'll let you just pay the difference.

I Can Do it Myself

Audrey has a tiny boo boo on her forehead that has already scabbed over. Today when she remembered it was there she cried about needing a band aid. Then she insisted on putting it on herself. Of course it got stuck in her hair and I had no choice but to cut it out.

Deal of the Week

I love bargain shopping. I've saved my family thousands, maybe even tens of thousands over the years just because of the way I shop. I figure since I don't bring in any money I'll do all I can to save us money. I think that even when we have our millions (ha, ha) I'll still be clipping coupons and combing the store ads. It's just fun for me. So I thought I'd share my favorite deal that it looks like I'll be getting this week.

For those of you who might make the Bishop Cookies but don't want to spend the money on a bag of caramels, Rite Aid has them on sale this week for only 99 cents. The regular price is $2.99. This is the only time of year that they go on sale so I stock up. They also have Rite Aid brand jumbo pack diapers buy one get one free at $9.49, so it's less than $5 a package! And while you're there, you can also pick up some milk. A gallon of skim is only $3.09 (yes, three ZERO nine) but they were all out of it so I bought 2% for $3.39. And that's not a sale price--it's the regular price. I also got Dove shampoo, buy one get one free for $4.99 and I had a $2 coupon. They also had some pretty good deals with rebates but I'm not a fan of rebates so I didn't touch any of those. And here's what makes the deal even sweeter: we have a credit card that gives us 5% cash back on all drug store, grocery store, and gas purchases and 1% on everything else. How did we get that? We called to cancel our Sears card and they offered us that deal to keep it open. So we did. And we've saved hundreds, maybe thousands.

Banana Bread Recipe

I Can't Believe it's Reduced-Fat Whole-Wheat Banana Bread
This is from the Sun and it says courtesy of recipezaar.com

Makes 2 loaves

1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup honey
3 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
5 ripe bananas, mashed (or lightly pureed)
3 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup turbinado sugar or brown sugar or honey
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup hot water
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In a large bowl, thoroughly combine oil, applesauce, honey and vanilla together. Add eggs and beat well. Stir in bananas. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar, salt and nutmeg, stirring gently to combine ingredients.
Add baking soda to hot water. Stir to mix, then add to batter. Blend in walnuts. Stir just until smooth.
Pour batter into 2 greased standard-size loaf pans. Bake for 60 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool on cooling rack for at least 1 hour before serving.

Bishop Cookies

I had a request to post this recipe after Jennilyn said on her blog that it's now one of their family favorites. It's from The Essential Mormon Cookbook (Great cookbook, by the way. One of my faves. Everything in there is delicious but very fattening.) and the full title of them is "Chocolate Caramel Bars for the Bishop."

These have no nutritional value.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 T butter or margarine, melted
1 (14-ounce) bag caramels (48)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 (12-ounce) package milk chocolate chips

In a large bowl combine first 6 ingredients to form a crumbly mixture. Unwrap caramels. Melt caramels and whipping cream in a saucepan over low heat. Sprinkle half of crumbly mixture into a greased 9x13-inch pan. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips over baked mixture and top with melted caramel mixture. Sprinkle remaining crumbly mixture on top. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Make a day ahead or several hours ahead to allow time for caramel to set.

When I made it, I used whole milk instead of whipping cream and semi-sweet instead of milk chocolate chips. And I might've even used quick oats instead of old-fashioned because that's what I usually buy.

And the Verdict is...

The yogurt turned out great! I have to admit, I had my doubts. I ate it this morning for breakfast with some strawberry freezer jam stirred in. I think my kids will eat it, even my non-yogurt loving one. She'll eat those Go-gurts and other kid yogurts, I think because they're more sweet and less sour. Maybe I stirred in too much jam, but what I had this morning was like that. Here's where I got most of my yogurt-making info if you want to try:

http://fiascofarm.com/dairy/yogurt.htm

I love how she says things like "if the milk is right out of the goat" and "feed it to the chickens."

Here's a fat-cutting tip: you can use nonfat yogurt in place of some of the oil called for in baking. In yeast breads, it makes it more chewy, which I really like. In quick breads, I would maybe only use it to replace half of the oil. It makes it a little heavier. Applesauce might be a better replacement in those recipes. Experiment and see what you like!

This is a picture of my yogurt and the I Can't Believe it's Reduced-Fat Whole-Wheat Banana Bread that I made last night. I clipped the recipe from the newspaper a little while ago. It was pretty good. My favorite banana bread recipe has a streusel topping but I guess this is healthier.

Pancakes That Actually Have Nutritional Value!

Buttermilk Pancakes
This is Marjorie's recipe.

Mix:
2 eggs, beaten
2-4 Tbsp. oil
2 cups buttermilk or yogurt

Add and mix:
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

The key to them not being wheaty is to put your wheat grinder on the finest setting (mine is "The Kitchen Mill" from Blendtec) to grind the wheat. I've made these twice now and it's a very thick batter--you'll need to spread it on the pan with the back of a spoon. I also add a touch of vanilla. Something I haven't tried yet, and would love to hear how it goes if somebody does, is what I usually substitute for buttermilk--a couple tablespoons lemon juice or vinegar and cup of milk and let it sit for a few minutes.

I made yogurt this morning and it is incubating right now! I'll let you know how it turns out.

Mormon Girl Becomes Mormon Woman

Lately I have been feeling like I need to feed my family better--more nutrients, less chemicals. It all started when I bought a wheat grinder a couple months ago. A bunch of sisters in the ward were getting together and ordering them to get a group discount. I thought, "Don't know what I'll ever do with a wheat grinder but we're supposed to have one, right?" So I bought it. Then a couple weeks ago we had a very informative enrichment entitled "From My Grinder to My Table: How to Use My Wheat." It was my light bulb moment. I found out that things made with whole wheat can be light and delicious and not heavy and, well, wheaty. I also learned that you can make yogurt from powdered milk and we had the most amazing buttermilk pancakes ever, which were made with yogurt.

So last week I decided to pull out my wheat grinder and grind some wheat. I felt so country and old-fashioned, like a real Mormon woman. So far I've only made pizza and the amazing buttermilk pancakes with it. I have a wheat cracker recipe that I'm going to make as soon as I have a chance. I want to start making bread to make the kids' sandwiches so they won't be getting all those preservatives and high fructose corn syrup and whatever else is in there, but we'll see if I actually get to that point. As for the homemade yogurt, I'm going to try that when I use up the store-bought container that I already have. I've also found several recipes that use dry milk, including blue cheese dressing that I'm especially excited to try because it also uses plain yogurt! Stay tuned for more of my adventures in food storage cooking...

Smiley Baby

Emma smiles all the time but this is the first time I was able to capture it in a picture. You know how it goes--she smiles, I push the button, she stops smiling, the camera takes the picture. But this time I got it...it's all about timing.

She also keeps getting chubbier. It looks like her ears are sinking into the sides of her face but really everything around them keeps getting fatter.