Now why in the world would you grind your own wheat when there is a perfectly good grocery store down the road with bread in stock? I know that I can pick up a loaf of bread for around a dollar and with a family of seven, I need several loaves for the week. Yet, when we make our own bread, from the wheat that we grind into flour ourselves, we need significantly less bread than normal. Why? Because the bread we make is dense, rich in nutrients, and fills us up way more than traditional sandwich bread.
I still remember the first time I tasted Ezekiel bread from the local health food store in college. My friend had made sandwiches for us while we were on a picnic, and after I took my first bite, I remember saying, “What IS this stuff?” I had never tasted anything like it in my entire life. I was so used to traditional sandwich bread that the first time I had “real” bread my senses were thanking me. I was much fuller after the sandwich and didn’t feel heavy or tired afterward. This bread was amazing, but still, it was frozen, not fresh. Later in life, my husband and I learned that the best kind of bread is made from freshly ground wheat. When I say freshly ground that is exactly what I mean. It has to be ground the day you want to use. This way, it will retain all of its nutrients. If you put it in the refrigerator or freezer or keep it on the counter for any length of time, you begin to lose nutritional value. Who knew? So, we bought our own wheat berries and began grinding it ourselves. I had already learned how to make bread from scratch. The hard part had been conquered. Then, we bought a grain-mill attachment for our juicer and began grinding wheat when we wanted to make our own flour for bread.
It was amusing at first when I planned to make a loaf or two each day because it didn’t take long to realize that I didn’t have to. The loaves were so dense and so filling that I didn’t need to make tons and tons at a time. Yes, I could make one a day to keep them fresh and nutritious, but for our family, making two every other day held us over. The bread wasn’t sitting out on the counter for weeks on end losing its precious nutrients and we were satisfied with smaller amounts.
Grinding our own wheat to make flour for homemade bread has been a game changer with growing boys in the house. They are full much faster, and having sandwiches for lunch is actually a nutritious option instead of an unhealthy cop-out.
If you have never considered grinding your own wheat, if you get an electric version you are in for a treat. If you are like my prepper friends you may hand a hand-cranked one but I will warn you that it is extremely time-consuming. If you are genuinely concerned about the need for one in the near future go ahead and get one but until you absolutely need it, I highly suggest an electric one. It is quick and easy and I even have my children ages ten and up take charge of grinding the wheat once in a while! Even the little ones like to help, with supervision of course!
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Stop by again next Monday for another Thrift Schooling Monday Memory, where I share my published content on other websites created to encourage, equip, and edify homeschooling families.
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