Homemade bread, the hard way

In my striving to be emergency prepared, I started thinking about buying whole wheat and grinding it myself. Last year I purchased a hand grinder (cheaper and less reliant on potentially non-existent power) and found a big sack of hard red wheat berries on sale at Walmart last month. I figured it would be better to practice making bread from hand-ground wheat before I actually needed to, so I gave it a whirl. The grinding was tougher than I thought it would be, but the breadmaking was easier.

Thankfully I had a bit of help grinding the wheat (actually, the whole family took turns and it took about 20 minutes to get six cups of flour). Electric grinders can be nearly $300, so it looks like my arms may be more toned by summertime.



After grinding the wheat (I even threw some steel cut oats in there and made a bit of oat flour), I followed a basic wheat bread recipe. I didn't use loaf pans, so rolled it out (again with help) and made a roll out of each loaf.



The recipe I used made two nice loaves, which were really tasty!

The bread was pretty dense, as I used all wheat flour (and a little oat). For a lighter bread, next time I will use a little white flour along with the freshly ground wheat. Now I know I can make bread from scratch using freshly ground wheat, which is very satisfying. I also ground a little extra and am storing it in the freezer, and have been using it. It's a lot cheaper than buying whole wheat flour and contains a lot more bran, so I think it's better for you too.

Save Time by Making Extra

I don't get home from work until after 5:00 each day. By then, everyone is hungry and it's hard for me to cook a nice nutritious dinner when my two and three year olds are tugging at my pants and wanting snacks.

Most of the cooking I do, I do on the weekends. I'll make a lasagna or roast a chicken or make a pot of chili and it will last for at least a couple meals during the week. When I do cook, I always make extra and freeze it.

Last weekend I made a lasagna to eat, and one to freeze. Here's a tip to avoid freezing your entire pan and having to go without.

Line a pan (I use 9 x 9 but you can use any size) with aluminum foil. Use two pieces placed perpendicular to each other and make sure the entire pan is covered.



Fill the pan with your casserole, lasagna or whatever it is you're making that day.



Wrap it with the foil and place it in your freezer. Once it's frozen, remove it from the pan, foil and all, and wrap the foil tightly around the frozen food.



If you use a 9 x 9 pan you should be able to easily slide this into a gallon-sized freezer bag (which is why I use this size pan). Otherwise, you'll want to wrap it in another layer to prevent freezer burn. Don't forget your label, and place it back into the freezer.