Archive for Feeding the Family
Local Food is THE Best!
Posted by: | CommentsI love this time of year best!! All winter long I have lived without sunshine and fresh, local produce. Parden the whine, but I neeeeed the sun. I neeeed a fresh tomato. That’s all there is to it.
This week, our local farmer’s market had its opening night! Selection is limited at this point, because the growing season in Nebraska is just beginning. But lookie what I got…
Cost for everything…$7.
Value to me right now to fulfill my desparate need to eat fresh food…priceless.
Right out of our garden (for free), we’re enjoying all kinds of salads!
Joy of joys…my friends with a huge strawberry patch
invited me over for some strawberry picking fun!!!!
Oh yes…I did have fun.
I then proceeded to trade my friend some strawberries for some fresh eggs. What a deal!
And well…while he isn’t produce or eggs…this little fella does happen to be locally grown too. After our travels over the weekend and a busy day playing hard in the sun yesterday, he just laid down on the floor and fell asleep. On the floor. Now that’s one tired kid.
Great food…cute kids. Isn’t summertime the best?
Have you scored any great deals on local food lately?
What’s in season where you live?
How to Store Bulk Grain
Posted by: | CommentsRemember that 500 pound order of hard white wheat I ordered and brought home a few weeks ago? (Yeah, like you could forget.)
You may be happy to know that I’m down to only 447 (give or take) pounds of wheat now. And you were worried that I wouldn’t use it all up quickly…
Anyway, many of you asked how I would store all my bags of grain…and several of you suggested that I “critter proof” it. Yes. Very, very good advice. If it’s one thing I can count on having at my house…it’s critters. {shudder} Although I don’t think snakes or birds should care too much about my wheat…we do see our fair share of bugs and the occasional mouse. Eeeww. I do NOT want mice getting into my big stash of wheat. That would just be maddening.
And so, ever since I brought home all the wheat in February…I’ve been on a quest for big huge buckets for my grain storage. I needed some with lids that seal very well (obviously). The fabulous buckets with gamma seal lids I found online are pricey! Great quality, no doubt…but I needed around 20 buckets. I could have spent at least $80 for what I needed, and that was JUST the lid…not the bucket! Ouch.
Instead, I began asking around at my local grocery stores. Did you know that the frosting used in a bakery often comes in big five gallon buckets?! Yes indeed. That’s a lot of frosting! Did you know that most bakeries go through several of these big five gallon buckets in a month? Yes indeed. That’s a lot of frosting! And did you know that bakeries generally don’t want to keep their empty buckets after they’ve used the frosting out of them? Yes indeed. That’s a lot of empty, unwanted buckets.
One store asked me to “fork over” an entire dollar per bucket with lid that I took from them. Big buckets with lids for a dollar each? Okeedokee!
The other store practically threw their buckets with lids into my cart and wouldn’t let me pay one penny for them. They were almost giddy about the fact that I was so happy to take the buckets off of their hands. For free. Yes indeed.
And so…long story longer…I came away from my grocery store bakery departments with 20 buckets with lids for a total of $6.00. Yes, that was SIX dollars. Total.
I washed and dried the buckets thoroughly, then got busy scooping all of the wheat into them. I found that it took two – five gallon buckets for each 50 pound bag of wheat.
I now have a big stash of white frosting buckets full of hard white wheat just waiting to be turned into bread, tortillas, muffins, pancakes, cakes, pies, cookies, pretzels, donuts, buns, bagels…the possibilities are endless!
And the critters? They can go pick on someone their own size.
Huh. I’m suddenly remembering another time I bravely and fearlessly used big buckets to defend myself from attack. Wow. Who knew buckets such as these would be such a helpful aid for a wimpy woman such as I. Between big buckets and cottage cheese containers…I’d say I am well protected. What do you think?
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This post is linked to Frugal Friday.
My Great Big Wheat Order
Posted by: | CommentsYou know that 500 pounds of wheat I had ordered? I picked it up yesterday. (And by picked it up, I literally mean that I picked-it-up. Lifted it. Fifty pounds at a time. Over and over.)
Actually…I picked up 1,000 pounds of wheat because my friend Anne went with me and she was also crazy enough to have ordered ten – 50 pound bags of wheat.
So there we were, heaving twenty – 50 pound bags of wheat into the back of my husband’s truck. We looked really cute. I’m sorry you missed it.
Matt and the boys weren’t home when we got back, so Anne and I got to lift them all over again while we carried them into our house (and then into her house).
Here are all twenty bags stacked in the back of the truck.
I had so much fun interviewing myself back on this post, I thought I’d interview myself again, based on any questions you might have concerning my 500 pounds of wheat:
Me: Wow, Laura. 500 pounds of wheat? Are you crazy?
Me again: Do you even have to ask?
Me: Why did you order 500 pounds of wheat?
Me again: Because I heard of a local gal ordering a big truck load of Wheat Montana. Apparently if you get enough people together to divide a truck load of their wheat, you can save a bunch of money. I usually order my wheat from Azure Standard, but sometimes it doesn’t come in. I never like running low on wheat. It’s not like I can just run to the store and get more, you know? So I ordered…a lot.
Me: So, what in the world are you going to do with all that wheat?
Me again: I grind my own flour and make from scratch all of our bread, tortillas, pancakes, waffles, bagels, cookies, brownies, quick breads and anything else that requires flour. I LOVE baking with freshly ground flour. It tastes incredible and is SO much healthier for us.
Me: How long will 500 pounds of wheat last you?
Me again: I’m thinking it should last about one year. I ordered 10 bags based on the fact that we go through almost 50 pounds each month.
Me: You go through almost 50 pounds of wheat in a MONTH?????
Me again: Well, there are six in our family. Five out of six are male. Four out of six eat like grown men. Plus, we have a LOT of company. Plus, I love to bake for others. Plus, we almost never buy any grain products from the store. Plus, no…that’s all.
Me: Will the wheat keep that long, or are you afraid it will go bad? Where are you storing it?
Me again: Wheat will keep for YEARS. As long as I keep it dry, it’ll be fine. I’m keeping it in a room that was once a garage, and is now just a storage room.
See? It doesn’t take up THAT much space.
Me: Can we see the rest of your storage room?
Me again: Are you kidding? That room is by far the scariest in my house. Nobody gets to go in there. They’d lose all respect for me if they saw that mess.
Me: How much did 500 pounds of wheat cost you?
Me again: I paid $210 for all of it. That makes it about 42 cents per pound. A great price for organic wheat!
Me: What kind of wheat did you get?
Me again: It came from Wheat Montana…and I ordered Hard White Wheat. I LOVE that stuff!!
Me: Why wasn’t Matt there to help you with all of that terrible, back breaking labor?
Me again: Oh, he offered. He actually had the day off when I needed to go pick it up. But, I really wanted him to have some time with the boys. Plus, I hadn’t spent time with my friend Anne for months. I kinda wanted the get-away. Besides, I’m much stronger than I look.
Me: No you’re not.
Me again: Okay, I’m not. But it really wasn’t that hard. I got a good workout.
Me: Will you keep us posted on how long the wheat lasts you and what all you’re making with it?
Me again: I’ll tell you more than you ever wanted to know.
Speaking of which…what else would you like to know?
Using Swagbucks and Amazon Cards for Organic Groceries
Posted by: | CommentsI have to share with you again what a wonderful blessing Swagbucks has been to our family.
Besides helping us buy about 50% of our school books and about 95% of our Christmas gifts in 2009…over the past few months I’ve been able to order all kinds of organic groceries. All with FREE Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks! This has been SUCH a HUGE blessing. I’ve been able to completely stock up on many basic, healthy foods we eat…plus our grocery budget hasn’t felt the pinch as we’ve fed all kinds of company. We are so thankful!
Here’s a list of the different organic and natural groceries I’ve bought with my Swagbuck earned Amazon gift cards:
- Organic whole wheat pasta
- Organic whole wheat spaghetti noodles
- Organic rolled oats
- Organic brown rice
- Kettle corn chips
- Tuna
- Molasses
- Canned salmon
- Organic unbleached powdered sugar
- Organic raisins
- Organic ketchup
- Organic minced onion
- Grade B maple syrup
- Rumford aluminum free baking powder
- Organic sucanat
These aren’t food, but sort of along the lines of ordering groceries…I’ve also ordered these fabulous products that I love oh so much for…you know…punctuation.
I have a couple of reasons for telling you this:
First, if you aren’t already using Swagbucks, you really should be!!! While it sounds too good to be true, there truly is NO catch. I promise. Once you sign up, upload the Swagbucks tool bar. Then, anytime you need to do an online search, use your Swagbucks toolbar. You’ll be earning Swagbucks before you know it! Then, you get to redeem your Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards and all kinds of other great gifts. I’ve explained a little more about how Swagbucks works here.
The key to making more swagbucks is to tell as many people about them as you can. When your friends earn Swagbucks, so do you. It’s VERY nice.
Second, I wanted to let you know what a great source Amazon is for organic groceries. I’ve been amazed at the great quality foods I’ve been able to find and order from Amazon. If you don’t feel like you have any good sources around you for organic groceries
If you have any questions about using Swagbucks or shopping at Amazon, let me know. I’m happy to explain more in detail to you! Swagbucks, Amazon and me? We’ve become very good friends. :)
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This post is linked to Works for me Wednesday.
Just in Case You Want to Stare at My Groceries With Me
Posted by: | CommentsJust a little reminder (and warning) for you about what a nerd I am: I really like looking at my groceries after I bring them home and before I put them away.
I also like looking at pictures of other people’s groceries. What is it with me and food?
It’s been a while since I took a picture of my Azure Standard food co-op order and shared it with you. Some of you have even written me and asked why I don’t do that anymore.
I don’t know. Sometimes I guess I just get busy putting away my frozen peas and forget to get out the camera. But far be it from me to forget my weird bloggy-ness by NOT taking a picture of all of my daily activities. (Check out this post for a reminder of what bizarre kinds of pictures are in my picture file.)
And now what you’ve all been waiting to hear. All SIXTY pounds of the apples I ordered from Azure Standard arrived on the delivery truck today. Check out these beauties:
I got twenty pounds each of organic golden delicious, gala and spartan apples. The total cost for these apples? $47!!! For sixty pounds of organic apples!!!! I love Azure Standard!
Here’s the rest of my order:
Fifty pounds of hard white wheat, three pounds of yams, two cans of black olives, six pounds of fresh pears, five pounds of cocoa powder, five pounds of white cheddar cheese, ten pounds of carrots, two avocados, one big cabbage, a huge head of cauliflower, five pounds of frozen peas and one tub of whole milk maple yogurt (special treat!).
The wheat will last us about two months and the cocoa will last longer than that. Everything else will be gone within the month (or by tomorrow).
Total cost with the apples and everything else (including delivery charges): $188.54
Ooh, and guess what else? Our friends shared a deer with us this week. Matt even got to go help process it! They were so generous to share it with us! Cost? A few freezer bags. Wow.
Not pictured: Red, raw deer meat.
You’re welcome.
The Promised Letter to Your Husbands about Why They Should Buy You a Grain Mill
Posted by: | CommentsDear Husbands of Heavenly Homemakers Readers,
First and foremost, let me tell you that you all have fantastic wives. They are among some of my most favorite people ever. Way to go and congratulations on choosing such a fine woman to be your help-meet.
And now I’d like to take a moment to encourage you to strongly consider purchasing a Grain Mill for your wife (for Christmas, or tomorrow would also be fine). I know how much she’d like one. I know how much she’d use it.
And the best news for you…I know how much you’d like the breads and other foods she’d make for you with the freshly ground flour her Grain Mill produces.
What? You don’t like whole wheat? I understand. But listen…the whole wheat flour that your wife’s new grain mill creates is like NONE other you have ever had. You’re likely to not even recognize that your bread is whole wheat. I promise.
Just think. After your wife serves you some hot homemade bread straight from the oven, she can experiment with other delicious whole wheat recipes like these whole wheat pretzels…whole wheat cinnamon rolls…whole wheat donuts…cinnamon swirl bread…
And while you think that you couldn’t possibly love your wife more than you do at this very minute…I think you will fall even more in love with her (even if she does have streaks of flour in her hair) after she bakes these delightful treats for you.
One of the best parts of owning a grain mill is how much MONEY it saves. Your wife knows how much you love to save your hard earned money. She’d be happy to use her new Grain Mill to help you save money.
Don’t know where to start looking for a Grain Mill or which Grain Mill to get? No problem. Just go read this. Don’t know where to buy the grain for your Grain Mill? Gotcha covered. Go read this.
Have more questions? Email my husband (coppinger6 at gmail dot com). He will tell you everything you need to know. He’s really, really happy that we got a Grain Mill. I think he also thinks I look cute with flour in my hair.
Or maybe he’s just used to it.
Sincerely,
Laura at Heavenly Homemakers
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Grain Mills Pt. 3: What Grains to Use and Where to Find Them
Posted by: | CommentsIn this little Grain Mill Series, we’ve talked about whether or not you should buy a grain mill…and if so…which one should you get and where should you get it? Now we’ll talk about which grains to use and where you can find them!
Which Grain to Use:
- I try to find organic or chemical free grain.
- My very favorite grain to use is Hard White Organic Wheat. I like it much better than Hard Red Wheat. It has the same nutritional value, but when you use hard white wheat, it hardly seems like you’re eating whole wheat at all! Hard red wheat seems to make my recipes a bit heavier.
- You can use Soft White Wheat to make pastry flour (for use in cookies and muffins) and Hard White Wheat for yeast breads. BUT I just use my hard white wheat for everything. It’s just simpler…I only have to have one kind of wheat on hand…and it just tastes good.
- I also love kamut and spelt…but don’t use them as much, usually because they cost a bit more.
- I grind my own corn into corn meal. This makes the BEST cornbread and cornbread muffins. I love freshly ground corn!
- You can grind rice and make rice flour if you like. It is actually recommended that you grind a cup or so of rice every few months through your mill just to clean it out! (I’ve GOT to remember to do that!)
Where to Find Good Quality Grains:
- First check around locally. Check out Local Harvest to find out if there is a good source of grains near you.
- I almost always order my wheat, corn and rice from Azure Standard. If you live in an area where there is an Azure Standard co-op delivery, I highly recommend purchasing this high quality grain from them. You can still order independently from Azure Standard, but shipping may be high.
- Paula’s Bread sells a few different varieties of grain on her site. She’ll ship it to you, or you can go pick it up if you live near her in Oklahoma.
- Pleasant Hill Grain happens to be right up the road from me!! I was excited to see the shipping is FREE on orders over $99!!!!
- Wheat Montana has great prices on wonderful wheat (I used to be able to get their wheat from Wal-mart for a great price). Shipping from their site is pretty pricey.
- Healthy Food Mall is worth checking into. Their costs are higher for the grain, but shipping seemed more reasonable.
- Don’t forget Amazon. I’ve never bought grain from them because shipping is high, but I keep checking there to see if there’s a reasonable option.
Grain will last for a long time. If you come upon a good resource for wheat, I say buy a LOT. It will store safely for years without going bad!
Okay everyone with a grain mill!! Share where buy your grain and where you live so that others in your area can learn from you!
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This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.
Grain Mills Pt. 2: Which Ones Do I Recommend? Where Should You Buy One?
Posted by: | CommentsIf you missed the first post of this series where I try to convince you that you SHOULD buy a grain mill because it saves a lot of money and is more nutritious and all of your baked foods taste better, go here. For fewer run-on sentences…keep reading. :)
Now…IF you decide to invest in a grain mill…which one should you buy? There are all kinds of varieties out there. Here are a few that I know something about:
I have a Nutrimill.
I’ve never had a different kind of grain mill, so I don’t have much to compare it to…but I LOVE my Nutrimill. Everyone I’ve talked to that has one LOVES them. The only complaint I’ve ever heard about Nutrimills is that it is a bit hard to clean them. My answer to that is: Clean them?
While I do clean mine occasionally…I find it hardly worth the effort. I use mine almost daily and while I sort of wipe off the outside a bit after each use…I don’t find it necessary to thoroughly clean it very often. (Also, if you run rice through them occasionally, that will clean the inside!)
While the Nutrimill grinds the flour it does not heat the grain in the process, preserving all of the nutrients in the grain. I’ve ground wheat (hard and soft), spelt, kamut, buckwheat, rye, corn and rice with my Nutrimill. It does give the option of grinding at a finer or coarser setting…although I’ve never found that changing the setting makes much difference. My flour is usually quite fine and I love it.
A friend of mine has a Whisper Mill.
If you own a Whisper Mill maybe you can offer a different opinion about it, BUT my friend really DOESN’T like it. She says, “It takes up a LOT of space. The two pieces make it hard to store… you have to hook up the ‘bucket’ with a plastic arm that breaks easily. Mine has never ground anything bigger than wheat very well.” Anyone else have an opinion on the Whisper Mill?
If you have a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, you can purchase this attachment for it.
Any of you grind your flour this way?
I’m also very interested in investing in a hand grinder…just in case we would ever need to grind grain without electricity. Here’s one I’m looking at. Do any of you have experience with hand grinders and want to recommend one?
Several of you mentioned a Vitamix on this post.
Sounds like there are mixed reviews on this one. It seems that if you grind a large amount of flour, it takes too long in the Vitamix. On the other hand, you can do other things with the Vitamix, making it a more multi-purpose investment. Read the comments here if you’re interested in learning more about the Vitamix.
Where should I buy my Grain Mill?
I would recommend looking at your options of grain mills at Amazon
Paula’s Bread has ALL kinds of great kitchen products and several varieties of grain mills. Read about Paula’s family here and consider supporting her business if you’re looking to purchase a grain mill! Her prices are very reasonable. I’m very impressed with all of the products she carries. (Side note: Paula’s Bread is a sponsor of mine, but she did not pay me anything extra to write this. I just really love her site and wanted to point you there in case you hadn’t seen her ad on my sidebar!)
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If you have a grain mill, please share what kind you have and why you like it or dislike it!!!
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This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.
Grain Mills Pt. 1: Should You Buy One? Does it Save Money?
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve been grinding my own flour for about four years now and I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!! I can’t say enough good about freshly ground whole grain flour. The taste is NOTHING like store bought whole wheat flour. The freshness is unbeatable. Because it is fresh, the nutritional value is much higher. I love my grain mill!
If you do a lot of baking and you want to bake with whole grains…I very much recommend saving up for a grain mill. (I sold baked goods at our farmer’s market one year to pay for mine!)
Here’s the investment payoff I calculated:
I have a Nutrimill, which cost me about $250…
I buy organic hard white wheat berries, 50 pounds for about $33.00, which lasts me about two months. I make all of our bread, tortillas, muffins, rolls, pretzels, crackers, cookies, cakes…everything that requires flour.
If I were to go to the store and buy the amount of bread and tortillas our family of six needs in two months, my rough calculating tells me that I would spend about $56.00. JUST ON BREAD AND TORTILLAS. That doesn’t include all the muffins and other grain products I make with my $33.00 bag of grain in two months.
AND…the products I bake are a bajillion (scientifically proven :) ) times healthier than what I can buy at the store.
Looking at those figures…it would seem that my grain mill paid for itself in about 10 months…although it’s really much less than that because again, my figures only included the cost of bread and tortillas and I get MANY MORE baked goods out of my bag of grain than just those (plus I was being conservative in my calculations).
So, I would say my grain mill paid for itself in about six months…and the savings just keep on keeping on! In fact, while I had my calculator out I figured out that I’ve saved approximately $552 in four years by grinding my own flour and baking whole grain food from scratch for my family. THAT was exciting to calculate!
There now. Would you like me to write a letter to your husbands, convincing them to buy you a grain mill for Christmas? I’d do it. :)
This post begins a short little series on Grain Mills and grinding and baking with whole grain flour. Coming up I’ll share about:
- Different kinds of grain mills, which ones I recommend and where to purchase them
- Where to buy grain and what kind to buy
- Tips on baking with whole grains
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This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.
Feeding the Family: More Organic Food Resources
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s been quite a while since I wrote a “Feeding the Family” post. Apparently I’ve been too busy feeding my family to write about it. You can catch up on the rest of this series here.
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Way back when (give or take) I talked about some of my favorite online or co-op resources for organic whole foods. I’ve been doing a little more research to see what other options are available. I love that it IS possible to feed our families good, whole foods without breaking the bank (or travelling 400 miles)!
Here are a few whole foods sources I’d like to highlight today…
Azure Standard
I know I mention them often, but Azure Standard is my favorite source for ordering food. This link will tell you if Azure Standard delivers to your area. And guess what?! This fall they are working to expand to parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas. I’d recommend looking into this more if you live in any of these states!
Quail Cove Farms
Quail Cove Farms is a family owned farm specializing in natural and organic foods. They supply free-range meats and eggs, hormone-free cheeses and butters, and organic produce. If you live in Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, and North Carolina you should check them out!
Country Life Natural Foods
Country Life Natural Foods is a wholesale and retail distributor of natural, organic and vegetarian foods. They are located in Pullman, MI. It seems that you don’t have to be a part of their food co-op to order, but that you can just have your items sent to you through UPS.
Peapod
Peapod is an online grocery store for those of you who live in: Chicagoland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia…and I think they have expanded to Wisconsin! I love that you simply place your Peapod order and they deliver your food right to your door! They do charge a small delivery fee but it is very reasonable (it’s less than what I pay for Azure to deliver).
Peapod has a whole line of organic products. I looked through their fresh organic produce and couldn’t believe all the great selection!!! I would LOVE to have that kind of variety of organic fruits and veggies at my fingertips. They also have quite a few choices of frozen fruits and vegetables…some natural sweeteners…and several other things that I would definitely buy if indeed they would be willing to drive to my doorstep in Nebraska. You’ll receive free delivery for the first 60 days after placing your first order. Plus…get $10 off your first order at Peapod. Click Here!
Amazon
Amazon is a great place to shop for organic groceries. Yesterday I spent some time looking through their grocery section and couldn’t believe all the pages and pages of organic foods. Most of their food items qualify for “super saver shipping” (which is free) because the cases of food are over $25. (And because the food is new, not used. I’m always much more inclined to eat food that isn’t used, aren’t you?) Spend some time looking through all the Amazon grocery options.
Frontier Co-op
Frontier offers many varieties of spices, herbs and teas, plus quite a few toiletry items. You can order directly from Frontier, but I recommend starting a food co-op with your friends so that you can receive their products at wholesale prices and receive free shipping. As far as I understand it, Frontier will deliver anywhere in the US.
Okay everyone. Help us all out with more great online and/or co-op resources. I know we all live in different places so please leave comments telling us all what resources you have in YOUR area so that we’ll all know what is available to us wherever we are.
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This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.
