Tip of the day! Well maybe a few!!!

Greetings all!

I wanted to talk about wheat. Wheat is a must in your pantry. As I'm sure you are aware of, the corn crop here in the US for this year has almost been completely destroyed. With the intense drought and floods these past few months we will see a huge spike in grain prices! Not to mention our food prices will shoot up!

This is the time to purchase your grain supply! You will want to stock up on dried corn, red wheat, white wheat and oats. These are major players in your "Survival pantry"! Not only will you need grains but you will also need a grain mill. These can be purchased on line... Make sure you get a hand mill, this can be used for nuts and coffee beans as well.

Wheat will keep well for a really long time if kept dry, sealed and out of the direct sun. Wheat has a 30 year life. You need it to make flour and can also eaten as a main course.

You can make "Thermos berries" that are very easy to make and be eaten as a breakfast, lunch or dinner! It basically depends on what you put with them! Here's a recipe!

You first will need a quart thermos. Put 1 cup of dried wheat (Either white or red) into the thermos. Then add boiling water , about 2 cups. Like with rice, you add double the amount of water to your wheat. Place lid on it and let stand over night. The wheat swells from the water and are called "Wheat berries".

breakfast berries:
You can add sugar and cinnamon, butter and milk and eat as a cereal.
or add concentrated fruit juice for a special treat!
Mixed with a little dehydrated onion and dehydrated ham or sausage would make a super hearty breakfast!!!

Dinner berries: These can be used just as you would use rice or any cooked grain. The red wheat is a more hearty wheat with a bit of a stronger taste. The white wheat is less intense.

Stir  fry the berries with a little olive oil, add carrots, onions, spinach, mushrooms, broccoli. Stir fry until vegetables are tender. Add garlic salt, pepper and soy sauce to taste. You can add meat or fish to this as well, whatever your preference

Wheat berries can be cooked in a crock pot and stored in the refrigerator in a sealed container for a week.
If you arnt used to eating wheat like this or any grain, you may want to play around with it and add it as a filler until your family gets used to it!

In the Greek culture they make a salad called Tabbouleh. Using the wheat berries they add olive oil, lemon juice , fresh mint,garlic, diced cucumbers and tomatoes. Its wonderful!!!!!This is served cold.

So I HIGHLY recommend gathering your grain supply ASAP! There are many great web sites that carry grains by the can or the bucket!


The next tip I want to share is make sure to stock shortening! With shortening you can bake, fry and make homemade tortillas! For me shortening has always been a problem..
 #1. I don't use it up fast enough and it always goes rancid! No matter what I do it just doesn't seem to last for me.That and i just dont use it! BUT, You need it to make tortillas, some breads, baking cookies...Frying meats...REMEMBER, this will keep for you during dire times! Here's all you have to do! Buy a can of shortening and some pint canning jars and lids! Being VERY careful, heat your shortening in a pot until melted, DO NOT OVER HEAT!!!!!! Then carefully pour into clean pint jars and seal in a water bath. This will seal your jars and shortening and it will last you years until its opened! Another great thing is they do have powdered shortening available.

And last but least my last tip for today......
When baking something calls for an egg, you can use Knox unflavored gelatin as a egg replacement. I DO NOT recommend using it as a egg replacement in anything other than baking! So, make sure to pick up a few boxes to keep on hand!

Thats all for now! Enjoy your evening! Until next time......
Peace , Sherry