Getting Prepared

It's the start of a new year...time to get prepared! Each month we will focus on a different items you need to supplement your 72 hour kits, 3 month supply and long-term storage. This will be ongoing, so join in when you can. When we are finished we'll start over again. The items for the month will be posted along the sidebar (right side) and will be added to each month. If you have ideas or recipes that go along with the items focused on each month feel free to share with everyone!

Wheat

For those of you that missed the wheat class (which is pretty much everyone), here is the info we talked about along with some tried and true recipes. Wheat can be intimidating, and we may not know what to do with it if we have it in storage, but it really is easy to incorporate into our diets. Here is some info to help you get started.

• We all know the health benefits of wheat, we have discussed it at a previous enrichment activity (thanks Angie and Pepper). It is an important thing to add to our diet, but introduce it slowly if you don't consume it on a regular basis. I'll save you the details... but wheat will make you very "regular" if you know what I mean, so introducing it gradually will let your body adjust to it.
• Here is a breakdown of some of the wheat terminology so we know what some of the recipes are talking about. The wheat we buy from the store, cannery, etc is called either wheat berries or the kernel. Sprouted wheat is wheat that has sprouted from the kernel after being soaked in water. This can be used in salads, soups, in place of rice or in any other recipe you think would work. Bulgar is wheat that has been soaked and then baked to speed up the cooking time. This can also be served like rice. Cracked Wheat is a wheat berry that has been broken down into small pieces. You can crack uncooked wheat berries in a food grinder or processor.
• The flour we buy at the store has preservatives added to it so it can be stored at room temperature for a long time. When you make your own wheat flour or crack your wheat it obviously has no preservatives, so it won't last as long. If you keep it too long it will go rancid and smell bad. I don't know a definite time, but I have kept it for a few months with no problems. It just won't last years like the flour from the store. Anytime you have cracked wheat or flour and you don't use it all you can store it in the freezer in a sealed container to make it last longer. lds.org says the storage on wheat is 30 years, but it will last MUCH longer than that it will just start to loose some nutritional value after that long. Here is a rule of thumb though, anytime the outer shell is broken the 30 year rule doesn't apply any longer and must be used as discussed above.

Okay, so you have wheat now what do we do with it? There are two types of grinders: electric and manual. Both are just fine, you just need to weigh the pros and cons of each one. An electric is obviously quicker and easier and a manual is great for no electricity and quite a bit cheaper. Don't go out and buy one if you don't have one, I decided to ask for mine for Christmas because I wouldn't have been able to buy one right when I wanted it. If you don't have one there are still options to use wheat. You can soak wheat (sprout it) and make it into a hot cereal or into recipes as discussed above, you can crack it in your processor and also make this into cereal. This is similar to cream o wheat and we just add milk and either brown sugar or honey to sweeten it slightly. There are also a few blender recipes that you grind the wheat berries in. Any recipe that calls for flour would need to be done with a grinder though, so if you know someone with one go borrow theirs if you don't have one of your own.

Wheat Recipes

Okay, so here are the recipes

Whole Wheat Muffins

1/2 cup oil
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour
mix all except flour, then four into bowl containing flour and mix well with spoon. (I do in my mixer and it turns out just fine). Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. (check early). Makes 1 1/2 dozen


Whole Wheat Country Griddle Cakes
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup instant cream o wheat (dry)
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp salt
Cook on greased griddle until golden brown



Whole Wheat Blender Waffles With Coconut Syrup

1 cup plus 1 Tbsp wheat berries
1 cup milk
2 eggs
4 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp sugar or honey
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Blend wheat berries and milk on high for 4-5 minutes until batter is smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend on low for a minute or until Incorporated. cook on hot waffle iron (stir batter before pouring onto waffle iron, because any heavier wheat particles will settle at bottom). Makes about 10 waffles
To make pancakes instead of waffles, use 1 cup wheat berries and 2 Tbsp oil

Coconut Syrup

7-8 Tbsp butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp coconut extract
place butter, buttermilk and sugar into pot. Turn on stove to medium heat and stir until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and boil one minute. Remove from heat and add soda and add flavoring. It will bubble up; just continue to stir and give it a few minutes for the fizz to reduce before serving.


Whole Grain Apple Fritters

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup finely chopped and peeled apples
stir dry ingredients then add in wet ones. Fold in apples. Batter will be very thick. Drop by spoonfuls in hot pan with a little oil. Flatten a bit with a spoon and cook on medium heat until golden and flip and cook in the other side until done. Mix 1/2 cup powdered sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon. When fritter are done and hot, drop them in powdered sugar mixture and coat both sides, just a light dusting. You can dip them in syrup or eat them plain.

Chocolate Zucchini Mini Muffins

1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup oil
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups grated zucchine, small grater
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups chocolate chips, divided (I use mini and I don't use the full 2 cups)
mix all dry ingredients except for chocolate chips. Add wet ingredients. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips. Pour into mini muffin tins. Top with last cup of chips. Bake at 375 for 12-15 mintues. You can also bake this in a 9x13 pan or regular muffin tins. Bake at 325 for 9x13. This makes a lot and they freeze great.

Baby it's cold Outside!

Here's a Soup that we love....

Tortellini Soup

1 Tbsp. olive oil or butter
4 cloves of garlic
4 c. chicken broth (or 4 bouillon cubes & water)
1 -14. oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup parm cheese (powder kind works best)
10 oz. package cheese tortellini
1/2 bag fresh spinach
1 Tbsp dry basil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat butter or olive oil cook garlic 1 min. Stir in tomatoes, broth, basil and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med add Tortellini. Cook until tortellini is tender (5- 10 min). Then add Parm, stir until mixed stir in Spinach and cook two more minutes.Enjoy!

www.simplifysupper.com

For anyone that didn't watch Good Things Utah today ... this is for you. A web site called simplify supper.com is done by two young ladies that seem to have a great thing going. The site gives simple recipes and a months worth of ideas on a calendar. What a fabulous idea. All the recipes are for 4 people so you could easily double or have left overs depending on your situation. Gosh ... I wish this had been around when I had a young family. Check it out!! Melanie Butler

Buttermilk Refigerator Rolls

I tried these this last week and they turned out pretty good. I like them because once you mix the dough it can last up to 7 days in your fridge and you can have rolls whenever you want! Enjoy

3 cups Buttermilk (room temperature)
3 cups flour
1 T. yeast dissolved in ¼ cup warm water (first let rise a few minutes)
½ cup sugar
3 eggs, beaten with a fork
2 tsp salt
5 cups flour (sometimes you need a cup more--it should not be too sticky)
½ cup oil
1 tsp baking soda

Dissolve yeast in ¼ c. warm water and let proof a few minutes. Mix the buttermilk, flour and yeast together thoroughly in a large mixing bowl. Let this stand at room temperature until double in size, about 2 hours.
Add sugar, eggs, salt, flour, oil, and baking soda. Mix well and kneed for 7-10 minutes. Roll out what you want and place the rest in the refrigerator, covered. The next time you want some fresh baked rolls, take from the bowl what you want and again put the rest back in the refrigerator. It will keep for 7 days. (This is perfect for Sunday meals because you don’t have a lot of mess to clean up and it’s quick.)
Let rolls rise on baking sheets until double in size. Time depends on the room temperature, usually 1½ - 2 hours. Dough from the refrigerator will take longer because the dough is cold.
Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes. Brush with melted butter if you like.

Freezer Meals Group

The South Weber 1st Ward has been doing a few "freezer groups" which I have been wanting to get into for almost a year now, but am still on the waiting list. So instead of waiting another year, I thought I'd propose the idea to our ward/neighborhood and see if enough sisters were interested to get one started. Here's the general idea of what they do, but of course we could do it any way we wanted:

Myrt Hyer (if any of you remember her) made copies of her recipe book which has freezer meal ingredients, instructions, recipes etc. and I've got it to use.
They do six gals in a group and get together once a month. I believe they have a daytime group and a nighttime group for people that work during the day. Each person picks a recipe and buys the ingredients to make six of that particular recipe. All of the prep work (which is usually minor) is done at home, then they get together at someone's house and each person assembles their six meals using the ingredients that everyone brought. All of the recipes are meant to be stored in the freezer and then go straight into the oven or crockpot. One recipe feeds a family of six, so if you have a large family you go home with six freezer meals but if your family is smaller then it could be twelve or more meals if you divide them up. They split the costs evenly and on average spend about $50 a month.

I have more details of course, but that is the gist of it. If you're interested, email me at mollycollings@gmail.com

Molly Collings