What Would 400 lbs of Wheat Make?

I received this in an email and now can't find the source. If anyone knows the original creator of this information please let me know.

What will 400 pounds of wheat make?

I believe it will help you get a better idea of what you can do with your storage and why you need so much wheat. Remember that sprouting increases the nutrition and variety as well. You need all the other ingredients to make the bread and pancakes, etc., but you already know that! I found this interesting and very important information that all need to know about regarding what can be produced with 400 pounds of wheat. Measurements are approximate.

Here goes:

400 lbs. wheat = 67 #10 cans

1 #10 can of wheat = 6 lbs. or 14 cups of wheat
1 #10 can wheat = 21 cups of flour
1 #10 can wheat = 7 large loaves of raised bread
1 #10 can wheat = 10-12 loaves of "quick" bread
1 #10 can wheat = 10 batches of pancakes (15-4" size pancakes per batch)
1 #10 can wheat = 10 batches of biscuits
1 #10 can wheat = 10 batches of chocolate chip cookies

Just multiply 67 by the number of loaves of bread, pancakes, cookies, etc. and that is what can be produced with 400 pounds of wheat.

Hope this is useful in your planning and preparing storage

Whole Wheat vs. All-Purpose (White) Flour

Whole Wheat Flour is a coarse-textured flour containing the bran, germ and endosperm. The presence of bran reduces the gluten development, therefore, baked products made from whole wheat flour tend to be heavier and denser than those made from white flour. Whole wheat flour, however, is rich in B vitamins, vitamin E and protein, and contains more trace minerals and dietary fiber than white flour. It also contains only five percent fat. In most recipes, whole wheat flour can be mixed half and half with white flour.

All-Purpose (White) Flour is the finely ground endosperm of the wheat kernel separated from the bran and germ during the milling process. After bleaching for further brightness in color, it is enriched with some of the vitamins that were stripped in the first place, however white flour still does not come close to the amount of fiber and nutrients as its whole wheat counterpart. The greatest single cause of iron deficiency – anemia – is connected to the refining of breads, cereals and sugar. Now that our breadstuffs are refined, no foods rich in the B vitamins are ordinarily eaten on a daily basis. Enless the package says “whole wheat” first, it is not truly a whole wheat product, but refined and enriched.

So why do we even have white flour? Because it was engineered to have a longer shelf life. The wheat germ contains fatty, essential oils which oxidize once milled and shorten the shelf life of whole wheat flour. In the olden days, they couldn’t process and use the flour quickly enough to keep it from going rancid, so this was their solution.

White flour is thus better for longer storage use of pre-milled wheat, although it has less nutritional value. That is why the Church encourages us to store wheat kernels instead. They store almost indefinitely (much MUCH longer than white flour) and still retain their nutritional value.

Wheat and Dietary Fiber

A kernel of wheat is made up of three parts: the endosperm which is the inner part of the wheat kernel, the bran or outer layers of the kernel, and the germ or embryo part of the kernel. All three are necessary to gain the full nutritional benefit of wheat. Wheat bran is an excellent source of dietary fiber.

According to the Mayo Clinic, dietary fiber, or roughage, includes all parts of plant foods that your body can’t digest or absorb. Unlike other food components such as fats, proteins or carbs – which your body breaks down and absorbs – fiber isn’t digested by your body. Therefore, it passes relatively intact through your stomach, small intestine, colon and out of your body. It might seem like fiber doesn’t do much, but it has several important roles in maintaining health.

1. Dietary fiber increases the weight and size of your stool and softens it, decreasing your chance of constipation.
2. A high-fiber diet may lower your risk of developing hemorrhoids and small pouches in your colon (diverticular disease).
3. Soluble fiber helps lower total blood cholesterol levels by lowering LDL or “bad” cholesterol levels, as well as reducing blood pressure and inflammation of the heart.
4. Fiber can slow the absorption of sugar, which reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes as well as helping balance blood sugar for diabetics.
5. High-fiber foods also aid in weight loss by making you feel fuller longer, consuming fewer calories for the same volume of food.

Good sources of fiber include: grains and whole-grain products, fruits, vegetables, beans, peas and other legumes, nuts and seeds.

Upcoming Gardening Classes

Acacia Demonstration Gardens

Here are some great FREE gardening classes starting in March at the Acacia Demonstration Gardens (50 Casa Del Fuego Street, Henderson, NV).

• Indoor Plant Care - Saturday March 6, 9:00 am to 10:00 am
• Backyard Wildlife Habitat - Saturday March 20th or April 17th, 9:00 am to 10:00 am
• Growing Vegetables 101 - Saturday April 3rd, 9:00 am to 10:30 am
• Putting Worms to Work, A Family Project - Saturday April 17, 9:00 am - 10:00 am
• Ask a Master Gardener - Saturday May 1, 9:00 am to 10:30 am
• Acacia Tree Tour - May 1, 9:00 am to 10:00 am
• Sprinkler Clock Demonstration - Various Saturdays from March - April, 9:00 am to 11:00 am

You can register for all classes now at www.cityofhenderson.com/parks.

Self Reliance in All Things - Literacy & Education

Literacy & Education

"The prepared person reads, writes, and does basic mathematics; regularly studies the scriptures and other good books; and uses local resources to teach these skills and habits to all family members. Parents and children should take advantage of public and other educational opportunities."

-A Little Bit of Planning, a Lot of Success," Ensign, Jun 1977

We are blessed to live in a country where most of us are literate, however the scriptures have reminded us to "seek y diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith." Our education is never done. We must strive to be life-long learners and encourage our families to do the same. The more we know, our quality of life is improved and we are more prepared for the future. Resources like the public library are invaluable.

Challenge yourself to try to learn one new thing everyday - whether it is a new word, a geography fact, or a scripture.

Thanks to Stephanie for this post!

Introduction post here.

Self Reliance in All Things

The church has a new section on LDS.org called "Self-Reliance" and I was very excited to see our Visiting Teaching Message this month is "Becoming Self-Reliant". The following is an excerpt from a talk by Lane Johnson which explains the 6 different areas of self reliance. Each month Stefanie will be highlighting a different aspect of becoming "Self Reliant in All Things".

"President Marion G. Romney has said that welfare is the essence of the Church. Personal and Family Preparedness is an essential part of welfare. Its purpose is to encourage the economic, intellectual, physical, and spiritual preparedness of family and members.

What is this Personal and Family Preparedness that is so central to the purposes of the Church?

Personal and Family Preparedness encourages families and individuals to become self-reliant in six different areas: 1) literacy and education, 2) career development, 3) financial and resource management, 4) home production and storage, 5) physical health, and 6) social-emotional and spiritual strength. (see the model attached)

Welfare in the family is by no means food storage alone. Home storage is an important part of family welfare, but it is only a half of a sixth of the whole program.

Personal and Family Preparedness isn't just preparation for some kind of disaster; it's preparation for life - the foreseen, anticipated, almost expected needs which can be met through wise preparation.

You can scarcely think of a problem that could arise in the life of any family member-or the family as a whole-that could not be taken care of if preparation were solid enough and early enough in one or more of these six areas. Through this kind of 'provident living', families in most cases really can live happier lives because economic, physical, and emotional problems are held to a minimum and the things that make life worth living are encouraged to a maximum."

(Lane Johnson, "A Little Bit of Planning, a Lot of Success," Ensign, Jun. 1977, 6)

Thanks to Stephanie for this post!

Lose 10 lbs in 2 Months

It's time for a new year and a new you! Last year our ward/church group participated in the "Lose 10 Pounds in 2 Months" Challenge created by Jamie. You not only get points for losing weight, but also for eating right, exercising, getting enough sleep and saying prayers. It was so much fun and we lost weight while doing it. Another ward in California did this program, and as a whole, lost a total of 273 pounds and 211 inches!

Here are the Rules, Personal Weekly Chart and the Team Charts available for download. Here are a couple other clarifications that came up during our challenge last year.

1. Small Children Interrupting Your Sleep (no, husbands don't count as small children) - If you are a nursing mom and up with a baby in the night, then I think we need to be a little more fair in your points. If you are trying to go to bed at a decent time and you are up to nurse/feed, then you go back to bed - as long as you are getting close to that sleep time, then go ahead and count your points (cause really we know you are half asleep anyway). But use your best and "honest" judgment with that. If you were up for a long period of time and didn't really get a full nights rest, then maybe don't count that. Just do what you think is fair.

2. Fast Sunday - We have a few weeks for this one, but on Fast Sunday (or if you need to fast on another day for other personal reasons) here are the rules for fasting days. If you do an "honest" fast then this will be a freebie day where you can count all your points for fruits/veggies and water regardless if you got them in or not. Again let me stress "honest" fast. This does not mean that you all of a sudden decide to make each day a fasting day and starve yourself to get the points! Ha. (I know where some of you were going with that one...especially those of you who struggle with the fruit/veggie department). If you don't fast or if you can't fast (nursing moms, pregnant ones, or health restrictions to fasting, etc.) then you are still accountable to get them all in...you don't get a freebie. Sorry

3. Points for Reading Scriptures - Feel free to add this one in!