I wanted to show the process for grinding grain with a Kitchen Aid grain grinder. The first few times I tried to use it, I tried for a fine grind and had the speed on low. It didn’t work very well. I went out and did some research on how to use it and found that I should be doing multiple passes on high speed. So this was my first try at it. I used Wheat Montana’s Bronze Chief wheat. I also used my wild caught starter (which I mix up with bread flour to sit overnight.)

Grinder in use. It should be on the coarse setting at high speed.

This is what it looks like after the first pass. I’d call this graham flour as it’s pretty coarse.

Another view:

This is the second pass. I turn it to the finest grind and run it back through. Check the machine to see if it’s getting too hot. If it seems to be, you may want to do three passes.

Another view of the finer grind:

This is two pint jars of wheat kernels, ready to use.

This is my first rise. I just use flour, salt and water. I use the dough hook to knead the dough, then let it rise in the bowl for around an hour and a half. Then I move it to the Dutch oven and let it rise again. I bake this at 450 degrees, covered, for fifteen minutes and I usually splash a little water on top of the dough before baking. I drop the heat to 400 degrees and finish it uncovered.

It’s tasty, but didn’t rise as much as I’d like. I think I will shift it next time, to make a lighter flour. And I might let it rise in a warmer area. Every loaf of bread turns out differently. I have some hard white wheat that I want to try next. And I want a big old sack of spelt. I really like spelt. I know that some folks are truly gluten intolerant, but it does not seem to bother me. One loaf of real bread gets the two of us through the week. We usually split a slice, since they are fairly big. I don’t think I would ever get tired of making bread!

I have been writing down the prices of my groceries recently. I write it in a Field Notes notebook. It’s interesting. I have been stocking up. I don’t have anywhere near what I’d like to have on hand, but at least I’m working on it. Here’s today’s interesting lesson: milk prices are really going up. I bought several pounds of instant milk at Winco. We are talking about purchases made today and on the 5th. That’s 11 days. It was $3.95 a pound on the 5th and $4.17 today. That’s an increase of 21 cents! I buy whipping cream for my tea. On 8/16, I paid $3.28 a quart. Today it was $3.48. If prices are like this now, what are they going to be like this winter? I picked up 25 pounds of oatmeal and another 25 pounds of wheat. I can feed Loretta with oatmeal and milk, plus protein. I’ve fed dogs on oatmeal before and they love it. I bake a loaf of bread every week. I love my wild caught starter! I let the sponge work overnight, then use my Kitchen Aid to knead it. I could do it by hand, but I have the machine so why not? I have the grain grinder for it too. And that’s a funny thing. Lon bought that by accident when Kate was alive. And now it’s finally getting used. You have to make two passes to get flour, without overheating the machine. But I think I have that down. I use starter, salt and flour for my bread, although I like to add a cup of Bob’s Red Mill 12 grain cereal. I bake it in a cracked dutch oven that belonged to Lon’s mother. It’s tasty stuff.

I bought some sprouts from Sprout People. I wanted to try their Big Bird Mix and get some seed for cat greens. I ordered their starter sampler. Still trying this out. I think that it would be good to start using sprouts. Lettuce seems to upset my stomach, so I don’t eat it very often. I think this will be a good, cheap way to get some fresh veggies into our meals in the winter. I will plant some fall crops in the garden at the river, but I don’t expect much out of that.

I try to limit carbs, but I don’t see any way to really stockpile fresh veggies and meat. I’m just not willing to be in a situation where we are stuck at home with nothing to eat. It just makes sense to shop ahead. I still need to take inventory of what we have and figure out what to get on the next shop. I’d like a 25 pound sack of beans and maybe the same of popcorn. And I’ll keep buying instant milk every time I go. I really hope that more people will try to shop ahead like this, but I doubt that it will happen. I’ve seen what the Camas Safeway looks like when snow is predicted.

Did you see that even the Wall Street Journal has gotten the news? Link They call it Return on Investment. Food is likely to continue to go up in price, in the same way that gas prices keep climbing. It’s a good idea to start small, just buying a few extra items of the things you normally use each time you shop. If you’ve been living on prepared foods, it’s high time you learned how to cook from scratch. Prepared foods are going to get considerably more expensive than the basics. If you lose your job or have to seriously cut back, it’s great to know how to make a cheap and nourishing soup for dinner. Anyone can learn.

If you’ve already started with food storage, it might be a good time to consider tools or supplies that would be handy to have. I’ve read that the government stimulus checks are supposed to start showing up as direct deposit or in the mail starting May 2nd. It would be good to have a plan if you are likely to have some extra money coming in.

I haven’t written much on food storage and frugality lately. Just haven’t had the money to stock up. We’d run things down below my comfort zone. So, since I did get the state tax refund, I went shopping on Saturday.

First stop was Bob’s Red Mill. I bought 25 pound bags of cornmeal, brown rice, popcorn and wheat. I bought white rice flour and coconut flour. Found some fruit spread without sugar for Jeffrey and also bought jars of sorghum and molasses. While I was wandering around, an older lady asked me about the bulk items. So I explained to her why it was a good idea and how we used this stuff. We still have beans left from purchases last year. So the grains really give us several months worth of meals.

Next was a trip to Costco, my first in years. The amounts they sell are almost scary. I did buy some basics like oil, powdered milk, meat and a few other things. Then I went to Gateway Produce where I pick up my tea. Also bought some bulk coffee and another jar of honey, plus some veggies. Finally, I hit Winco where I picked up anything missed in the other trips. It was tiring work and took some time to get everything put away at home.

It’s really worth it. If nothing else, we have food. There’s food for the animals too and I can use this bulk stuff for the animals if I have to. I can buy a few fresh items over the month and we’ll do fine. If you want to be able to get buy on very little, you really need to be able to stock up a few times over the year.