How Much Will Your Years Supply Cost?

Thank you Rhonda (Melissa's Sister) for sharing this!

How much will your year’s supply cost you? I just got an emergency supply store’s catalog in the mail; they advertised a year’s supply of food for ‘just’ $3649.95**. For one person. Is it really that much money to get a year’s supply?

Adding up all the essentials, a month’s worth for one person is $ 16.23
A year’s worth for one person is $194.76
Figure in that you’re getting your year’s supply after building your three-month supply; that knocks it down to getting nine months’worth;
$146.07 per adult.
To finish your YEAR's supply!

SO, if you really want to spend $3649.95 plus tax, you could buy a full year’s supply for not just one person, but for NINETEEN people. Yes, it’s different food than that ‘gourmet’ version, but here’s the counsel we’ve been given:

"We encourage members world-wide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings.” “For longer-term needs….gradually build a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive”

(from All is Safely Gathered In, First Presidency pamphlet)

Here is the cost breakdown (early 2010 prices):

Grains, 300 lbs - if you get just wheat and oats, at the cannery they cost between $5.80 and $8.15 for 25 lbs. depending on if you get white or red wheat, quick or regular oats. If you average this out, it will cost you $6.98 per person, per month. $83.70 per year’s worth.

Milk, 16 lbs - is $1.40/lb at the cannery, which is $1.87 per month, $22.40 per year.

Sugar, 60 lbs - is $ .56/lb there, $2.80 per month, $33.60 per year.

Oil, 10 qts - this isn’t sold at the cannery, but the price at Macey’s last week was $2.50 for 1 ½ quarts (48 oz.) At that price, after tax, it’s $1.43 per month, $17.17 per year. It’s only $14.38 if you buy it at Sam’s Club ($6.98 + tax for 5 qts.)

Salt, 8 lbs - 4# box at Costco or Sam’s Club is a dollar; $ .16 per month, $2 per year.

Legumes, 60 lbs – the cannery sells black beans, pinto, and white, from $14.10 to $16.30 for 25 lbs. Averaging the prices, it’s $2.99 a month, $35.92 per year.

Water, 14/gal/person - You can store this for free by using 2 and 3 liter pop bottles, or juice containers (not milk jugs- they break down). Or use the 5-gallons square jugs or big blue barrels; they’ll run you about $1 per gallon of storage.

When you’re done storing these items, you might decide to add things a few ‘gourmet’ items- but that’s just extra stuff.

Notice that the costs were just for food, not containers to store them in. Most of my storage containers cost nothing. You CAN get buckets for free, with a little effort- most bakeries give them away; all their frostings and fillings come in those buckets. Plan on washing them at home. There are two main sizes; 5 gallon and 2 gallon. I keep packages of dried fruit in the smaller buckets, also cornmeal or other things that I don’t use as much. They are a great size for a pantry, too. Some of the buckets have gaskets, some don’t. The ones that don’t seal well are still good for storing sugar.

If you want all your wheat, powdered milk, sugar, and legumes in #10 cans from the cannery, it will cost you $85.83 more for a whole year's worth; $64.37 if you're just adding 9 months more.
Here’s that breakdown and quantities- this is for the whole year, not for 9 months: 51 cans of wheat $137.80, 11 cans of beans $48.95, 10 cans of sugar $46.50, 4 cans of powdered milk $28.20.

I don’t can my wheat, sugar, or beans because we go through large quantities; one batch of bread would use a whole can. Pretty silly storage for me. Besides, it’s easier for me to find space for 10 buckets than 60 #10 cans; they hold about the same amount of food.

Children do not need a full adult’s portion. For them, figure age 3 and under= 50%, ages 4-6= 70%, ages 7-10= 90%, ages 11 and up= 100%.

Obviously, kids' ages are always changing, so when I calculate what to have on hand ( I inventory every Conference), I project out six months to a year. For instance, if someone is 6 years old, I count that child as 7 years. That way I'm not always slightly behind when it's time to replenish.

**Prices are from February 2010

Sweet Birthday Gift Idea

Here is an amazing birthday gift idea that come from the heart and not your pocketbook.

60 (or the birthday age) Postcards: Kalyn's Kitchen shared her best birthday present ever. Her sister and children surprised her with sixty postcards in the mail telling "Sixty Things We Love About Aunt Kalyn." You can also write "Sixty (or the birthday age) Memories We Have About _____".

The only cost associated with this is the price of stamps and cardstock for making your own postcards. You will be able to get 4 postcards (4.25 x 5.5) out of one sheet of cardstock.

For a friend or family member who lives close by, you can cut out the cost of stamps and deliver them yourself. If you don't want to mail or deliver the postcards one by one, put them in envelopes with numbers on each one. Then the birthday girl or boy chooses the appropriate number and opens one per day as a countdown to their birthday.

What's for Breakfast? - SRS Meeting February 4, 2010

Buy it: Oats are very cheap to buy and when sealed probably can be stored for 30+ years. You can buy oats from the LDS Cannery in 25 lb bags or in #10 cans. Oats can also be bought in any grocery store or wholesale stores like Costco. Oat flour must be stored in the fridge or freezer, it will go rancid quickly. For long term storage, store only whole oats. Oats can be easily ground into oat flour when needed.

Store it: Oats can be stored in almost any airtight container. I have my oats in #10 cans and in kitchen platic storage containers. Here is the original post on Storage Containers.

Use it: Besides making a wholesome breakfast, did you know that you can add oats in with your ground beef to make a healthier meal? You can also grind your oats into oat flour to make healthier baked goods.

Newsletter: The entire newsletter can be downloaded here. Click on the links to view our posts on Types of Oats, Baking with Oat Flour, Basic Oats Cooking, Green Living (Homemade Baby Wipes) & Recipes! The link to last years class (April 2009) on oats can be found here.

Baking with Oat Flour

How to adapt recipes to boost fiber and nutrients using oat flour.

Have you heard of baking with oat flour? Even if you don’t have a wheat grinder at home to have the benefits of fresh ground whole grain wheat, oat flour easily be made in a blender or food processor or home blender. The oat flour then can be used in place of a portion of white flour in a baking recipe. This boosts fiber and whole grain nutrition. Also, oat flour retains moisture in baked goods, which reduces the need for additional fat.

Oat flour is so easy to make! Simply grind regular or quick oats in your blender or food processor until the consistency of flour. Try low speed and grinding or processing in 30 second increments. As a general rule, grind small batches. Try 1- 2 cups at a time, more than that might be too much for your blender. A VitaMix blender handles about 3 cups with no problem. It will take about 1 1/3 cups oats to make 1 cup oat flour. If you have ground more than you will use in a recipe, store the flour in the refrigerator or freezer; oat flour goes rancid fairly quickly.

Replace refined flour with oat flour at a 1:1 ratio; if you’re replacing 1 cup wheat flour, simply add 1 cup oat flour. For muffins, cookies, and breads, try substituting 1/3 of the recipe’s refined wheat flour with whole grain oat flour. Try replacing up to ½ of the flour for waffles and pancakes. Just experiment, and see what you like!

Another option is adapting a recipe to include rolled oats that are not ground into flour. Just use 2 times rolled oats as the portion of refined flour you’re replacing. A quick bread recipe, drop cookies (like pumpkin, banana, zucchini, etc) and muffins would probably be good candidates. For example, turn banana bread into banana-oatmeal bread. Pumpkin cookies into pumpkin-oat. You probably wouldn’t replace more than 1/3 of your refined flour with whole oats. Maybe up to 1/2 if you want true oatmeal cookies or something.

For most recipes, you do not want to replace all of the wheat flour with oat flour. Oat flour used alone in a recipe generally produces a dense, gummy texture. If you cannot use wheat flour, or do not want to, try pairing oat flour with rice flour. The dense and gummy properties of oat flour complement the properties of dry, gritty rice flour to make a satisfactory combination. A 50% oat/50% rice flour works well in drop cookies(such as banana, zucchini and pumpkin), wholesome muffins, and quick breads. Try adding 1-2 tablespoons tapioca starch or potato starch per cup of non-wheat flour used, to help lighten the product a bit. If you’re baking often without wheat for allergy reasons, I recommend xanthan gum as well; the baked product will be less crumbly. Use ½ tsp. xanthan gum per cup of gluten-free flour. (1 tsp. per cup if using in yeast breads or pizza crust).

If you’re looking for wheat-free recipes using oats, Melissa’s blog has several, including really good yeast bread!

Fruit crisp, oatmeal cookies, and oat pie crust work pretty well with all wheat flour being substituted with oat flour. I also like a particular recipe for brownies that uses only oat flour. See Melissa’s blog post, “Vegetable Brownies?”

Basic Oats Cooking

Measure the amount of water into a medium saucepan and bring to a full boil. If desired, add ¼ tsp salt to the water. Slowly add the grain and return to boiling. Cover and simmer for the time specified or till most of the water is absorbed and grain is tender.

Rolled Oats, quick cooking – 1 ½ cups, 3 cups water. Simmer for 1 minute. Let stand, covered, for three minutes. Yield 3 cups

Rolled Oats, regular – 1 2/3 cups, 3 cups water. Simmer for 5-7 minutes. Let stand, covered for 3 minutes. Yield 3 cups

Oats, steel cut – 1 cup, 2 ½ cups water. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
Yield 2 ½ cups

Source: “Bee Prepared” Book

Types of Oats

Oats are the edible cereal grain produced by the cereal grass of the same name. Oats are light tan in color. They have a nutty flavor and a chewy texture and are high in vitamin B1. They also contain vitamins B2 and E. Oats must be hulled before they can be eaten. Whole oats minus the hull are called groats.

Rolled Oats: Oat groats that have been steamed then flattened by steel rollers into flakes. They are also known as old-fashioned cut.

Quick Cooking Oats: Oat groats that are cut into several pieces before rolling to shorten the cooking time. Quick-cooking and rolled oats are interchangeable in recipes.

Instant Oatmeal: Oat groats that are cut into very small pieces and specially processed so that they need no cooking, just the addition of boiling water. Some brands of instant oatmeal are flavored with sugar, spices, or fruits, and usually salt.

Steel-Cut Oats: Oat groats that have been sliced by steel blades. Also know as Scottish or Irish oatmeal, steel-cut oats have a firm texture when cooked. It is usually found in specialty markets.
Oat Flour: The finely ground grain. Usually found in health food stores. Oat flour sometimes is used in baked goods.

Oat Bran: The ground outer layer of the oat. Used in cooking and as a hot cooked breakfast cereal, oat bran in considered a good source of fiber.

Source: “Bee Prepared” Book

Pantry Peanut Butter Cookies

image from Betty Crocker

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookies

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1 teaspoon vanilla
Sugar
About 36 heart-shaped milk chocolate candies, or chocolate kisses

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir milk and peanut butter until smooth. Stir in Bisquick mix and vanilla. Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Roll tops in sugar. Place sugar side up 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until bottoms of cookies just begin to brown. Immediately press chocolate candy into top of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

My notes: With no eggs & no fresh milk, these are perfect for a panty cookie. I made these today and although I would prefer cookies from scratch with eggs and milk, these cookies are very good and VERY sweet! You can always make these without the chocolate candies, just flatten each cookie with a criss-cross fork pattern before baking.

Recipes with Powdered Milk

Morning Moo'd

½ cup water
¾ cup non instant powdered milk
2 cups ice cubes
1/3 cup nesquik
half or whole banana
2 TBSP peanut butter

In a blender combine the ingredients until smooth. Makes approximately 2 servings

Potato Soup (this was the one sampled on Thursday)

2 TBSP oil
2 TBSP flour
¾ cup powdered milk
2 TBSP butter or margarine powder
3 ¼ cups water
½ tsp salt
1 ¼ cups diced cooked potatoes
1 TBSP minced onion

Add flour to the oil and blend. Add the butter or margarine powder. Stir in all remaining ingredients and cook on low heat until thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 4

Note: To rehydrate dried potatoes, add enough water to cover. Let stand until all the water is absorbed. Then you can us as you would fresh vegetables

Potato Soup Mix
by Heart for Home

1 ¾ cups instant mashed potatoes
1 ½ cups dry milk
2 TBSP instant chicken bullion
2 tsp dried minced onion
1 tsp dried parsley
¼ tsp ground white pepper
¼ tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp turmeric
1 ½ tsp seasoning salt

Combine all ingredients. in a bowl and mix. Makes 6 servings. Place in 1 quart canning jars to store.

Instructions to attach to jar:

To serve:
Place ½ cup mix in soup bowl and add 1 cup boiling water. Stir until smooth.

Healthy Peanut Butter Balls

1/3 cup crunchy or creamy peanut butter
½ cup nonfat dry milk powder
2 TBSP wheat germ
1 TBSP honey

Mix together and shape into little bite size balls. Refrigerate any uneaten ones :)

Recipes with Oats

Don't forget to check out the Quaker Oats website for more oats recipes!

Instant Oatmeal Packets

Blend ½ cup oats until powdery. Into each of 10 zippered sandwich/snack size bags combine:

¼ cup quick or instant oats
2 TBSP powdered oats
pinch of salt

To use: Empty packet into bowl, add 2/3 cup water and microwave for 1 ½ minutes or add ½ cup boiling water and stir until thick.

Variations - to each packet add:

Apple Cinnamon: 1 TBSP sugar, ¼ tsp cinnamon, 2 TBSP chopped, dried apples
Raisins and brown sugar: 1 TBSP packed brown sugar, 1 TBSP raisins
Wheat germ: 2 TBSP any kind of wheat germ
Blueberries & Cream: 1 TBSP non-dairy creamer and 18 dried blueberries. (do not use powdered milk, it tends to go bad too quickly)

Oat ‘n Berry Bars (just like Great Harvest’s Mazurkas)
by Tonya Leavitt

1 cup butter
2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 ½ cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
3 cups quick oats
fresh or frozen berries (I like Costco’s frozen berries called Nature’s Three Berries: raspberries, blueberries, marionberries)

Cream butter and brown sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt, mix into butter mixture. Add oats, mix again, just until combined. In a 10x16 cookie sheet with lip, press down 2/3 of dough to form bottom crust. Top with a few handfuls of berries, do not completely cover dough. Drop remaining dough randomly over berries. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Granola Bars (these were the ones sampled on Thursday night)
by Alton Brown

8 oz old-fashioned rolled oats, approximately 2 cups
1 1/2 oz raw sunflower seeds, approximately 1/2 cup
3 oz sliced almonds, approximately 1 cup
1 1/2 oz wheat germ, approximately 1/2 cup
6 oz honey, approximately 1/2 cup
1 3/4 oz dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup packed
1 oz unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
6 1/2 oz chopped dried fruit, any combination of apricots, cherries or blueberries

Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved. Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Apple Betty
by Becky Gamett

apples
2 TBSP lemon juice mixed with ¼ cup water
½ tsp cinnamon & ½ cup sugar mixed together
1 cube butter
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup of oatmeal
½ cup of oat flour (pulse oatmeal in blender to make oat flour)

Slice enough apples to fill a greased square pyrex baking dish & pour lemon juice & water mixture over apples. Sprinkle cinnamon & sugar mixture over the apples.

Mix butter, sugar, salt, oatmeal & oat four together until it is a crumbly consistency. Place on top of apples, covering all the apples. If you make a 9x13 baking dish full of apples, double the crust recipe. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Top with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, roasted chopped pecans, and a dollop of whipping cream.

Apple Crisp

Filling

1 2/3 cups dry apple slices
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
2 ½ cups water
2 tsp lemon juice

Mix all dry ingredients together, then add water and mix well. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring occasionally.

Topping

3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup butter
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup rolled oats
6 TBSP sugar

Mix together thoroughly and spread over pie filling. Bake in a 8x8 pan at 375 for 25 minutes.

Fruit Crisp Topping
by Melissa Lords

Make a large batch and store it in a cool place. Then it’s extra fast to make a fruit crisp anytime! This recipe is for one 9 X 13 pan. Double, triple, etc. however you like. My mom stores hers in an ice cream bucket in the basement storage room; I store mine in a freezer bag in the freezer. This is a low fat recipe.

3 TBSP melted margarine
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour(try making ½ whole wheat)
1 cup quick oats

Stir all ingredients together until well mixed. Store in a cool place in closed container.

To make a fruit crisp, put one quart bottled fruit filling in bottom of 9X 13 pan, or slice fresh fruit and throw in pan until about 2/3 full(allow room for crisp topping), or reconstitute dehydrated fruit. Top with crisp topping. Bake 375 degrees about 40 min.

Suggestions: peach, apple, strawberry-rhubarb, cherry-apple, blueberry, etc.

Suze’s Buttermilk Oatmeal Scones
from Melissa Lords

These are healthy and wholesome! During college, I often packed these as part of a nutritious lunch or snack.

2 2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp cinnamon
¼-½ tsp salt
5 TBSP butter or margarine, softened
2 2/3 cups regular(old fashioned) oats
¾ cup golden raisins(or regular raisins- that’s what I use)
¾ cup walnuts(opt), toasted
1 ½ cups buttermilk (add 1 TBSP lemon juice or vinegar to regular milk and let stand for 5-10 minutes until curdles)
1 egg

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in oats, fruit, and nuts. In separate bowl, whisk egg and buttermilk together. Pour the egg and buttermilk mixture into dry mixture, reserving ¼ cup. Plop 12 blobs onto a cookie sheet. Then dab/spread remaining buttermilk/egg mixture on top of scones. Bake 20 minutes at 400 degrees and then 10-15 more minutes at 375 degrees.

Garbanzo-Oat Waffles
by Melissa Lords

These have an amazingly good texture for having no eggs. If you use lentils and grind them instead of garbanzo bean flour, everything in this recipe is from food storage! See notes below for grinding legumes.

2 cups oats(regular or quick oats)
1 cup Garbanzo Bean Flour*
2 ½ cups water
2 TBSP vegetable oil
1-2 TBSP honey
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

Grind oats in blender to make flour. Add other ingredients and blend. Let sit for a few minutes, then blend again for a couple seconds. Pour into heated, oiled waffle iron. (use pan spray or spray oil). You may replace the water with one egg.

*I’ve found garbanzo bean flour at Whole Foods. The garbanzo flour makes a nice creamy waffle, with egg-like consistency. I also make the waffles with home-ground lentil flour. The lentils can be ground in a blender! This is much cheaper than buying the garbanzo flour. It’s the way I most often make the waffles; they’re not as creamy as the garbanzo ones, but are good and wholesome. Yellow split peas, red lentils, and green lentils all can be used for the recipe and ground in the blender; each has a slightly different flavor, but each are mild. My favorite of them is the regular brown(?) lentils. The ones that are most commonly sold.

NOTE: I have changed the waffle recipe for when I make it with lentils. It turns out nicer if I use only ½ cup lentil flour and then use the 2 cups oats.

ONE MORE NOTE: If you have a wheat grinder, check to see if it grinds legumes, and if it can grind garbanzo beans, white beans, lentils… You can grind your own flour of all sorts at home! This recipe does work with white beans, I’ve tried it. I do prefer the lentils or the garbanzo beans though. The white beans are a little bitter; I add a drop of molasses to help with that.

These waffles offer a combination of protein and complex carbohydrates. They’re very good with maple syrup. I personally find fruit purees delicious and satisfying, and have not been using maple syrup. Try applesauce, peach puree with coconut, strawberries, and blueberries on top; pear sauce, or prune spread. I like prune spread mixed with a strawberry sauce that I keep in my freezer. The sauce is simply blended strawberries, slightly sweetened and thickened with fruit gel.

Green Living - Homemade Baby Wipes

Trent Tribe has a great picture tutorial for these wipes.

Homemade baby wipes
From “The Duggars: 20 and Counting”

Our friends Gil and Kelly Bates, now the parents of 16 children, shared this recipe with us years ago.

Ingredients

One roll of Bounty paper towels
One-gallon ice-cream bucket, clean and empty
Two cups water
Two tablespoons baby oil
One tablespoon rubbing alcohol
One tablespoon baby bath (optional)

Cut a whole roll of Bounty paper towels into halves. (We've found that Bounty is the only brand that works. Use an electric knife for best results.)

Place one of the halved rolls vertically into an empty and thoroughly cleaned one-gallon ice cream bucket. In a large measuring pitcher, mix two cups water, two tablespoons baby oil, and one tablespoon rubbing alcohol. (Some families also like to add a tablespoon of baby bath.)

Pour the liquid over the halved roll of paper towels in the ice cream bucket, and soak for 30 minutes. Remove the cardboard center. Feed the top corner of the paper towels through an X-shaped slit you've cut in the lid of the ice-cream bucket so you can pull out and tear off one "wipe" at a time.

Self Reliance in All Things - Financial & Resource Management

Financial and Resource Management

Just like the visiting teaching message this month, the third way in which we've been counseled to be self-reliant is in the area of financial and resource management. "The prepared person should establish financial goals, pay tithes and offerings, avoid debt, wisely use and preserve economic resources, and save during times of production for times of nonproduction."

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

In St. Luke, Christ taught a very simple principle concerning this,

"Take heed, and beware of covetousness; for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."

We know, rather, that we ought to lay up treasures of heaven and live within our means. Elder Robert D Hales also stated, "It takes great faith to utter those simple words, 'We can't afford it.' "This month, let's strive to make and stick with a budget, that we will be more consciences of our in-comings and out-goings.

(for more information, see All is Safely Gathered In: Family Finances)

Thanks to Stephanie for this post!

Introduction post here.

Sweets with Wheat!

Lemon Bars (with Whole Wheat)
by Jamie Perkins (page 179 in the Galleria Gourmet)

Crust:
1 cup butter
½ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp salt
2 cups whole wheat flour

Filling:
4 eggs, slighly beaten
2 cups sugar
½ tsp baking powder
¼ cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup lemon juice

Cream butter and powdered sugar. Add other crust ingredients and mix. Pat into 9 x 13 greased pan. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Mix filling and pour over hot crust. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

Master Recipe for White Flour Dough

3 cups lukewarm water
1 ½ tablespoons granulated yeast
1 ½ tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt
6 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
cornmeal for the pizza peel

Mix with a spoon in a food-safe bucket, let it rise at room temperature for 2 to 5 hours, then into the fridge for two weeks. Tear off chunks, shape, rest, and bake as needed.

More detailed instructions here, as well as the You Tube Video

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day and Zoe (co-author) both have wonderful websites that has more recipes, and links on how to buy their books!

Wheat for Breakfast!

Cracked Wheat Cereal
by WheatFoods.org

1 ½ cups water
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cracked wheat (cracked wheat are kernels/berries of wheat that has been crushed into small pieces - NOT finely ground)

In a small saucepan, bring water and salt to a boil. Quickly stir in the cracked wheat and continue to stir to prevent lumps. Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Serve with a variety of condiments such as chopped apples, raisins or other dried fruit, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon sugar, coconut, fresh berries or bananas.

4 Blender Pancake Recipes

Here's a few different recipes for you to try. See which one you like best!

Blender Pancakes
by I Dare You to Eat it

1 ½ cups buttermilk
2 eggs
2 TBSP butter, melted
1 cup uncooked whole wheat kernels
2 TBSP cornmeal, heaping
1 TBSP brown sugar
½ tsp baking soda
1 TBSP baking powder

Heat an electric frying pan or griddle to medium heat. Pour buttermilk into blender. Add the wheat kernels and blen on high for 10 minutes. It will sound like popping corn at first but will gradually become quieter. Add cornmeal, brown sugar, eggs, and melted butter, and blend another minute. Then add baking soda and baking powder and blend only a few seconds longer. Stir batter a little by hand to completely combine ingredients. Spoon onto hot griddle.

Blender Pancakes
by DVO.com

1 cup golden whole wheat
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Blend 1 cup of milk with wheat for 2-3 minutes add rest of milk and blend for another 2-3 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend. Cook on a hot skillet until done.

Blender Pancakes
by Everyday Food Storage

1 cup milk (translation for powdered milk is 3 TBSP milk and 1 cup water)
1 cup wheat kernels, whole & uncooked (also known as wheat berries)
2 eggs (2 TBSP powdered eggs ¼ cup water)
2 tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp salt
2 TBSP oil
2 TBSP honey or sugar

Put milk and wheat kernels in blender.Blend on highest speed for 4 or 5 minutes or until batter is smooth. Add eggs, oil, baking powder, salt and honey or sugar to above batter. Blend on low. Pour out batter into pancakes from the actual blender jar (only one thing to wash!) onto a hot greased or Pam prepared griddle or large frying pan. Cook; flipping pancakes when bubbles pop and create holes.

Berry Syrup

2 cups mixed berries
3 TBSP sugar

Mix together and let stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Here is a link for Everyday Food Storage Blender Pancakes YouTube video . It is a GREAT video, so check it out. It makes blender pancakes a lot less scary :)

Pre-Soaked Wheat Blender Pancakes
by Bee Prepared

If you are worried about your blender being able to handle Wheat Blender Pancakes, try this recipe.

1 cup whole wheat berries
1 cup milk
1 ½ TBSP honey
3 eggs
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder

Cover wheat with about 1 cup of water and soak in the refrigerator overnight. Next morning, drain and blend with milk in a blender for 4 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend 3 more minutes. Cook on hot girddle.

There's More to Wheat than Bread... Cooking with Wheat Berries

Here are some more ways to use wheat berries. First is the recipe for basic cooked wheat berries.

Crockpot Wheat Berries

4 cups raw whole wheat
10 cups water
1 TBSP salt

Oil a large (4 quart or larger) slow cooker and fill with wheat, water, and salt. Cover and cook on low all night, 8-10 hours.

If you don't have a crockpot, here are 2 more ways to cook Wheat Berries!

Carroll Shelby’s Chili

1 package Carroll Shelby’s Chili Kit (found at walmart)
1 lb cooked hamburger
1 cup cooked wheat berries (red wheat works best, so it will "hide" in your meat)
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
2 (8 oz) cans water
2 TBSP sugar (optional)
1 (16 oz) can pinto beans

Mix together and simmer with cover on for about 15 minutes. For thicker chili, mix Masa flour (White Packet) with 1/3 cup water, stir in and let simmer for 5 more minutes. Carroll Shelby’s Chili Kit comes with cayenne pepper for some added spice, I don't use any. Serve over white rice topped with Fritos and cheese.

Wheat Berry Pineapple Chicken Salad
by Self Reliance by Jamie

1 can (15-1/4 oz) crushed pineapple, drained
½ cup mayonnaise
½ tsp salt
1 can (10 to 12½ oz) chicken, drained
½ cup slivered almonds
1 cup cooked whole wheat berries

Mix together the pineapple, mayonnaise, and salt. Add chicken, almonds and wheat. Stir well. Chill several hours before serving.

Wheat Berry Salad
by Barefoot Contessa

1 cup cooked wheat berries
1 cup finely diced red onion (1 onion)
6 TBSP good olive oil, divided
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
3 scallions, minced, white and green parts
½ red bell pepper, small diced
1 carrot, small diced
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Saute the red onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat until translucent, approximately 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the remaining 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) of olive oil and the balsamic vinegar.

In a large bowl, combine the warm wheat berries, sauteed onions, scallions, red bell pepper, carrot, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the pepper. Allow the salad to sit for at least 30 minutes for the wheat berries to absorb the sauce. Season, to taste, and serve at room temperature.

Wheat Nuts (like Corn Nuts)
by Self Reliance by Jamie or Hillybilly Housewife

Cooked Wheat Berries
Oil
Salt

Make sure the wheat is well cleaned before you cook it. Drain the cooked wheat in a fine mesh strainer in the sink. Allow the wheat to sit in the strainer for about half an hour, to make sure it is as dry as possible.

Heat your oil up to 375F. Put in no more than 1/4-cup of cooked wheat at a time because the fat will bubble up something fierce. Fry the wheat for about 2 minutes. It won’t pop the way popcorn does, but it will puff up pleasantly. Remove the wheat from the hot oil and place it on a brown paper grocery bag or paper toweling to dry. Repeat until all the wheat is cooked. Salt the Wheat-Nuts and eat like sunflower seeds or peanuts.

If the wheat is chewy instead of crispy, it wasn’t fried long enough. Put it back into the oil (a little at a time) and fry it for another minute or two, until it is crispy. (Jamie always frys her's twice)

Check out Food Network for more great Wheat Berry recipes!

Making Raw Wheat Meat

see Jamie's Wheat Meat Class for more information!

Wheat Meat may be used in any recipe requiring ground beef. If the texture doesn't seem quite right, remember the form is not as imporant as the flavor. Be patient and continue to practice.

10 cups whole wheat flour
5 cups cold water

Combine the flour and water in a mixing bowl and use the dough hook to kneed for 5 minutes. Cover and let rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes while the gluten further develops. If desired it may be covered in cold water and refrigerated overnight. Divide the dough into fourths and work with one at a time, keeping the others covered. Immerse the dough in a deep bowl of cold water and squeeze and stretch, keeping it intact while working out the bran and starch. After several minutes you will feel the sandy texture leaving (bran) and the dough will resemble bubble gum. Place in a fresh bowl of cold water and repeat the procedure with the other fourths in the same water. Save this water after you are done for other uses.

For "Ground beef", form the "globs" into orange-sized balls and bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350 for 45 minutes until firm and leathery. Remove from oven and cool. Then tear into smaller pieces and run through a food or meat grinder. The coarse product resembles ground beef and can now be flavored, pressed into a cookie sheet and baked at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Tear apart and use as "ground beef" adding at the last minute to recipes to keep from getting soggy.

You can also steam it. Just place your gluten pieces in the steamer for about 30 minutes, turning them over after 15 minutes.

The milky water contains most of the vitamins and minerals found in the wheat and is too valuable to throw away. Refrigerate overnight and you will see 3 layers. The top clear layer of water can be used for anything from mixing drinks to watering plants. The next layer is starch and can be used for thickening gravies and soups (use 4-7 TBSP starch per 2 cups liquid). The starch should be used in 2 days. The last layer is the bran. Rinse in water until it runs clear and use in 4-6 days or freeze, or dry it by spreading on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes at 300 degrees.

source: Bee Prepared

February Self-Reliant Challenge

Here is the Self-Reliant Challenge for February

Invite a friend to join you at a Self-Reliant Sisters Meeting or invite a friend over to prepare a meal using food storage items.

Recipe Challenge: Make breakfast or a dessert using oats or powdered milk.

Document Challenge: Document each family member’s medical history. This should include: prescriptions, allergies, blood type, medical and insurance cards, and doctor & hospital information. Remember to laminate or place in a zip-loc bag.

You can also download the entire 2009-2010 challenges in pdf form here.

Each meeting we will also be passing out monthly challenges prepared by Rachelle. We would love for everyone to become “Self-Reliant Certified” by completing all the monthly challenges. Our last meeting will be dedicated to those who have completed some or all of the challenges. Prizes will be awarded to those who have completed all the challenges.

January Self-Reliant Challenge

Here is the Self-Reliant Challenge for January (I'm sorry this is late!)

Prepare one food item using Wheat or grind wheat at one of sisters’ homes.

Examples: Cook wheat berries in your crock pot overnight.
-Eat with milk & sugar for breakfast.
-Prepare spaghetti or sloppy Joes. Substitute half of your ground
beef with wheat berries.

Prepare blender pancakes.

Substitute wheat flour for white flour in your normal baking.

Call a friend who has a wheat grinder and arrange a time to grind wheat.

Document Challenge: Visit Ready.gov and download or create your own “Family Emergency Plan”. This should include meeting places and contact numbers. Great Idea for family night! Remember to laminate or place in a zip-loc bag. http://www.ready.gov/america/_downloads/familyemergencyplan.pdf

You can also download the entire 2009-2010 challenges in pdf form here.

Each meeting we will also be passing out monthly challenges prepared by Rachelle. We would love for everyone to become “Self-Reliant Certified” by completing all the monthly challenges. Our last meeting will be dedicated to those who have completed some or all of the challenges. Prizes will be awarded to those who have completed all the challenges.