The Wonders of Wheat

  WHEAT You have stored it obediently, Now What?

How much wheat should we plan to store?

400 lbs. of wheat/grain per person for a 1 year storage

Grains would consist of:
Wheat, Rice, Oats, Flour, Spaghetti, Macaroni and others.

All of the above items have a shelf life of 30 years according to the church specialist, if stored in a cool dry, dark place and packed properly. White flour, has a 10 year shelf life.

WHOLE WHEAT BERRIES

Here’s a quick, easy, and full-proof recipe for cooking whole wheat berries.

1. Measure 4 cups of raw/dry whole wheat kernels.

2. Pour the dry kernels into a large slow cooker.  Add 10 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of salt.

3. Stir.

4. Cover the slow cooker with its lid, set temperature on LOW heat and cook for 10 hours or HIGH heat for 5 hours.

5. Stir the finished 12 cups of cooked whole wheat berries and spoon into 4 Ziploc bags to be stored in the freezer for later use.

(Tutorial courtesy of Liesa Card http://www.idareyoutoeatit.com/ with her permission and blessing. Besides, it couldn't possibly be my crock pot. My crock pot ended up topless after the last chili cook off. )

Once you have wheat berries on hand you can easily add them to meals without the extra thought or work. It will help in extending your meat to go further, added to soups, salads and casseroles. Plus it will help your family get use to eating the wheat (without them even knowing it).

What if the power went out, or you just wanted a real easy way to cook grains. Then try this...

First get yourself a good thermos. Not the kind from your children's lunch pail. A really good one that holds the heat for several hours. I purchased this one at Wal Mart, and probably paid @ 20.00. Wait until you see what it can do. It's not just for hot chocolate anymore. Although I would still like to own one just for that.

Next, get 1 cup of wheat kernels. Go ahead and rise them. I forgot to do that, but there is a benefit to doing it first and I'll will save that bit advise for later.

Get your tap water really hot, or boil some on the stove, and fill up the thermos and set it aside with the lid on. Then boil another 3 cups of water.

 Now that the boiling water is ready, dump out the hot tap water from the thermos. It was in there to get the thermos ready to go. Pour your cup of wheat kernels into the thermos and pour in the boiling water from the stove. Secure the lid onto the thermos and shake it up.



Lay the thermos on it's side and leave it there to do it's thing. I did this at night before I went to bed and it was ready in the morning to eat.

Look at what cooked for me over night while I slept. Add milk and sugar, maybe some fruit or whatever you like and you are starting your day super charged.

Remember the water that sat in the thermos over night with the wheat? When you drain that off, save it. I understand that wheat water is very good for you. So drink it rather then sending it down the drain.

 I packaged 1 cup servings into two baggies and put them in the freezer for a later use. Maybe to add to ground beef for lasagna or sloppy Joe's as a meat extender. Or in some brown or white rice for a pilaf...imagine the possibilities. What an easy way to get your family use to eating this nutritional grain.

Wheat isn't the only thing you can cook like this in a thermos. Do some experiementing with it. Great for camping or back packing too.

For breakfast the other morning I had some wheat berries with milk, sugar and cinnamon. Then I added a few sprinkles of homemade granola. It was really good.

Challenge: TRY IT, please.

Stay tuned, lots more to come. You're going to Love your wheat!