Making the Most of Powdered Milk

Hello Fellow Galaxians, 

Recently, I was in another state and saw that milk was almost $5 for a gallon. I nearly choked right there in the dairy aisle . . . Holy Cow!  

I grew up drinking powdered or goat milk with the occasional treat of whole milk. When grandparents visited, they came armed with fresh homemade English muffins and a carton of whole milk. I can tell you that after drinking powdered milk or goat milk, it was a treat. My husband also grew up with reconstituted milk when his family was stationed in Guam.  

In addition, powdered milk stores wonderfully for a long time, sometimes up to 30 years, depending on which brand you buy and how it is packaged. 

Not only is powdered milk great for storage . . . and having it when you need it, but you can also use it to make yogurt and cheese, which we will address in a future blog post.    

As a parent, I tried saving money by buying nonfat powdered milk. I made the decision of saving money over taste. While there's no substitution for the taste of whole milk, I learned from experience how to pass it off to the rest of the family without too many complaints. 

A few ways to make powdered milk tastier:

1. Add a small amount of sugar and vanilla to the milk. 

2. To get rid of lumps, blend the powder and a small amount of water in a blender. 

3. Leave the powdered milk in the refrigerator before using it. 

4. Shake the powdered milk before pouring it. 

Reconstituting Regular Nonfat Powdered Milk

Start with 3 to 4 tablespoons per cup of milk. If you need a stronger taste, go up from there. There’s really no hard and fast rule to how much powdered milk needs to be mixed with water to make a cup of milk. This will vary due to the type of product that you use and your personal preference.

 

Reconstituting Instant Nonfat Powdered Milk

It takes approximately twice as much instant powdered nonfat milk to make a cup of milk as it does using regular powdered milk, but it dissolves faster. Start with approximately 6 to 8 tablespoons per cup of milk. However, each brand of milk differs, so be sure to check the packaging for the proper measurements. This milk has a tendency to clump and is sometimes hard to mix. I like to mix mine in a blender where I whip it into submission. 

OTHER WAYS TO USE POWDERED MILK: 

Baking with Powdered Milk

Powdered milk should work perfectly in any recipe where whole milk is used. For baking, add the dry milk mix to the dry ingredients and then the water to the moist ingredients. This will keep you from having to take the time to reconstitute it first. 

As a substitution for Buttermilk  

Many great recipes call for buttermilk. I don’t use buttermilk enough to justify buying a quart of it, so I like to make it up as I go. Mix 1 cup of milk to 1 tablespoon of either lemon juice or vinegar and then let is sit for about 5 minutes. Making buttermilk is as easy as that.

As a substitution for Evaporated Milk

Mix 1 cup of dry milk with 1-1/2 cup of water. 

As a Whipped Topping for desserts

With equal amounts of powdered milk and ice-cold water, beat the ingredients until they form soft peaks. Place the whipped topping in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes to an hour. Slowly add ½ cup sugar while beating the milk. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and continue to beat until everything is mixed. 

As a substitution for Sweetened Condensed Milk

Mix 1 cup of powdered milk with 1 cup of sugar. Pour ½ cup of hot water into a blender.  While it is mixing, add the sugar and powdered milk mixture. Blend until it is smooth.  

So, there you have it. When the cost of milk spirals out of control, or you run out of milk before you can get to the store, use powdered milk . . . hopefully without too much complaint. 

Go forth and save $$$. 

Peace Peeps, 

Broke Girl

Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck

Hello friends,

The happiest ten minutes of my life is when I check my bank account and find that my pay check has been deposited. It lasts about that long because as soon as I pay my bills, it is almost gone.

This GIF shows exactly how I feel......

I know what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck. Seeing all the money saving advice of “pay yourself first.” Sure, that works if you don’t need to put gas in your car or pay your phone bill. How can you pay yourself first if you need every last cent of your paycheck?

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

Write down every single cent you spend from one paycheck to the next and create a budget. You may be surprised at where your money is going. I tried this and it was tedious, but it was a good lesson. I found that I was running to the gas station next to where I worked and overpaying for lunch items. I hadn’t even given it a thought before, but when I realized it had become a habit, I was wasting extra cash on a daily basis and it had to stop. Keep a small notebook with you so you can jot it down.

Pay attention. Look around you to find ways to cut costs on a daily basis. Many times we spend money on conveniences like fast food restaurants. If you’re working full time, this is hard to avoid. When I’m starving and I don’t have a lot of time, I just want to go through the drive-through and grab something to fill me up. However, prepackaging snacks from home is not only healthier, but cheaper. This requires preparation and knowing what part of day you will need a pick-me-up and what it will take to satisfy you.

Preplanning. I promise that you’ll save money at the grocery store by planning your meals. Once a week we sit down as a family and decide what we want to cook the following week. We go through the pantry, find ingredients, and then make a note of what we don’t have. By doing this, we avoid impulse purchases and overspending at the grocery store. We also avoid wondering what we're having for dinner any particular night. 

It’s fine to go out to lunch once in a while, but be sure this is built into the budget and decide ahead of time how much you will spend. If the social aspect of going out with friends is important to you, try ordering from the a la carte menu or choose a place that is within your budget. 

Do it yourself. High costs are built into prepackaged foods. Cut costs by making your own meals. Not only is cooking a great skill to have, but it is healthier to learn to cook whole foods and cheaper in the long run. If you're careful, bulk ingredients can be less expensive than prepackaged foods. My husband likes to make oatmeal in the mornings and then add his own touches (walnuts and maple syrup) to it. It's healthier and cheaper than the little prepackaged packets you find in the grocery store. 

Cut the cable. Purchase a ROKU or other device that will stream television and you can get rid of cable all together. Sign up for Amazon Prime, Hulu or Netflix, and you can enjoy hours of television and movies at a very low cost compared to what you were spending for cable. I found a Roku on Craigs List for half the cost and it worked perfectly.  

Save on electricity. Unplug all unused appliances, even if they are on a power strip. Even if an appliance is off or the power strip is off, you may still be drawing electricity. Why pay for it if you’re not using it? It may take a while, but you’ll see a difference in your electric bill.

Be the family power Czar, if a family member is not in a room and the lights are on, train them to turn them off. Also, check to see if your home is properly insulated to save in heating and air conditioning (I mentioned this in a previous blog post). A little extra insulation will go a long way in saving you money.

Lastly, change out all light bulbs to LED. They are cheaper, last longer and use less energy. I’ve been using LED lights for eight years now and you couldn’t pay me to go back to incandescent bulbs. Actually, to be honest, you could pay me--but it would have to be a lot of money. It's true--I can be bought.    

The bottom line--you need to know where your money is going before you can start cutting costs.

   

 I know from personal experience that budgets aren’t fun, but it may become a necessary evil when trying to figure out where your money is going and how to get off the roller coaster of living paycheck to paycheck. 

Peace my Peeps,

Broke Girl

How To Get Rid Of Pesky Flies

Hello fellow Galaxians, 

Wow! Summer isn't here yet, and the flies are already driving me nuts. I absolutely hate them. They seem to enjoy taunting me day and night. One way we take care of the fly problem is to make a fruit fly trap. 

We accidentally left strawberries and an apple core on the counter one weekend. When we came home, we found a swarm of fruit flies buzzing the kitchen. Short of fumigating the house it was almost impossible to get rid of the pests. There are several great fruit fly traps sold at the hardware store but why pay the money when you could throw a couple of ingredients into a jar and catch them by the hundreds. 

Fruit flies love ripening fruit and are always hovering close by. With excellent senses they can detect ripe fruits from far away. Most of the time they hitch a ride home from the grocery store on your fruits and vegetables. There is a good chance that fruit flies have already laid eggs on the surface of the fruit you just bought and a new generation are about to hatch. Once they hatch, a swarm of uncontrollable insect will plague your kitchen. With a very short life span, going from egg to adult flies in 8-10 days, which means you will have hundreds in no time. They love moist, damp places, such as sink drains, and are attracted to any food scraps left on the counter. 

Don’t worry too much about the fruit fly invasion because the traps will eradicate them. The first plan of action is to get rid of any fruits or vegetables on your counter. Put them all in the refrigerator. Clean your kitchen counter tops and look carefully at the places they are landing because you might have missed some crumbs. Keep the area around the sink drain dry and the garbage lid down. To keep the fruit flies from breeding in the sink drains, pour a little cleaner or bleach in the drain. 

First, experiment with a little cup of apple cider vinegar to see if the fruit flies are attracted to the vinegar. They love the smell of fermentation, and apple cider vinegar is made from fermented apples. The point of this experiment is to see which types of vinegar work the best. If all you have is white vinegar and no flies are attracted, then we know the trap will not work. You must go buy some apple cider vinegar. If the vinegar is in fact attracting the flies pour enough in the bowl so they have room to drown. Next, add a few drops of dish soap to break the surface tension of the liquid so the flies can’t just sit on top of the vinegar but sink and drown. Now, some of the dish soap smell good to us but might repel fruit flies so check to see if the combination of vinegar and soap is attracting or repelling. 



Items Needed:
Mason jar or glass jar
Plastic funnel or rolled piece of wax paper
Apple cider vinegar, one cup
Couple of drop of dish soap
Ripe fruit or an apple core
Dab of Vaseline or tape
  
Step by Step:
Add the vinegar, dish soap and pieces of fruit to the bottom of jar. If you don’t have a funnel, then roll up a piece of wax paper and secure with a piece of tape. 

I have found a little dab of Vaseline around the mouth of Mason jar helps to seal the gap between the jar and funnel. 



I have seen those little buggers climb up the side of jar and escape through the gap. The flies will enter the jar through the funnel attracted by the vinegar, but won’t be able to figure out how to get out, and will die. If they don’t die than take the jar outside and dump. Clean it out and reload with fresh bait.



Using a toothpick poke 4 holes in the plastic wrap big enough for the fruit flies to crawl through. Once inside the jar they won’t be able to escape. Set these traps throughout your house where fruit flies seem to be gathering. The flies will be drawn into the trap through the holes in the plastic wrap, but won’t know how to get back out. Eventually, they will drown in the liquid. Once you have caught your limit than rinse out he jar, refill, and repeat! 

 So, there you have it--a cheap way to fight the good battle. It's us or them--humans versus flies. Maybe this will give us the advantage. 

Peace Peeps,

Broke Girl

When The Lights Go Out Make Your Own Candles

Hello Fellow Galaxians,

How many times have you been without light when there's no electricity for an extended period of time. When we lived in Atlanta, we endured an ice storm that lasted for a week. Roads were sheets of ice and power lines were down. There was no help in site. Although we had a generator and flashlights, batteries wore down after time.

I consider candles an important staple on our homestead. I pick up used candles, even ugly ones, at yard sales and second-hand shops for pennies on the dollar.

However, if you find yourself without candles . . . just make some with items laying around your house.

So, here's how you do it. . .

First, there are so many ways to make candles and everyone has a different opinion. Candle hobbyists will spend a lot of money on supplies to produce beautiful, sweet smelling, high quality candles. Sure, I would like to have that . . . but my bank account doesn't allow me this option.

A lard candle is easy to make and will burn as well as a wax candle, provided it is housed in a glass or metal container. To make lard candles, we recycle our small glass jars that are normally thrown away. Just clean them out, add a wick and fill with melted lard. Add a couple drops of peppermint or lemon extract and within ten-minutes, you have a candle that cost you almost nothing.





You can also make your own candle wicks from wax and string.

Yes, candlewicks are available at all the hobby stores or on line, but it feels great to make them yourself. It is a fairly easy procedure of melting wax and dipping the cotton string into the liquefied wax. Use a wooden skewer to push the string around in the wax. Once sufficient wax has coated the string, remove the wick and place it on some wax paper. Let cool and your finished.

Items Needed
Cotton string or Mop Head
Pyrex Glass Dish and  a Wooden Skewer
2-Tablespoon of Salt
6-Tablespoons of Borax
2-Cups of Water
Scissors and Tape
Flat Metal Washer

Step by Step
1—Remember to cut the strings longer then you need, so you have extra room for knots. Start with 3-strings of equal length and tie one end together. To make it easier tape it to a flat surface and begin your braiding. Tie the other end to keep it from unraveling. Repeat and make several braided wicks.



2—Mix 2 tablespoons of salt, 6-tablespoons of borax and 2-cups of water. Then soak the braided cotton strings in the salt mixture overnight or for 24-hours. Hang the wicks up to dry. 



3—When the braided wicks are dry, slowly heat the wax in a Pyrex glass dish floating in a pot with two-inches of water. When the wax has melted, dip the braided strings into wax. Use the wooden skewer to move the wicks around until fully covered in wax.

4— Remove the wicks and let them cool on a piece of wax paper. Once cooled, attach one end of the wick to a flat washer and you are ready to make candles.


Making Lard Candles
Most people have heard of making candles with tallow, which is beef fat, but they haven't tried working with lard. This is a byproduct, which comes from rendering pork fat. While tallow is more popular, lard is easier to come by. So we thought, why not use lard instead of tallow? Sure enough, we found lard to be readily available and fairly cheap at our local grocery store. Another way to make the candles is to use Crisco vegetable shortening. We located an old can hiding in the back of our pantry that has been there for 16-years and when opened, it looked brand new. Wow! Go figure!

Items Needed
Can of Lard or Crisco Vegetable Shortening
Homemade Candle Wicks
Glass jars or Metal Containers
Small Cooking Pot
Two Wooden Skewer and several Small Rubber bands
Flat Metal Washers



Step by Step
1—Place two wooden skewers together and wrap both ends with rubber bands. Pull one end of your candlewick through the two wooden skewers and tie the other end to a washer.



2—Slowly heat the lard or shortening in a pan, stirring, until it is completely melted. All you are doing is melting it into a liquid, so careful not to let it smoke.

3—Lay the wooden skewers across the top of the jar and let the wick dangle,so the washer rests on the bottom of the jar. Pour the lard into the jar, around the wick, ensuring that the wick is centered in the middle.

4—Add a couple drops of sweet smelling extract to the liquid lard. Let the candle rest until the lard solidifies around the candlewick.

Light and enjoy!

So, there you have it. With a little effort, you can make your own candles in a pinch. So get to work and make some candles.

Peace Peeps,

Broke Girl

The Valentine's Day Chainsaw Massacre and My Personal War on Weeds

Hello Galaxians, 

Today, being that it is Valentine's week, I thought I would share a personal story of love and despair. 

The weeds around my home contain a special gene that makes me believe they were created in a lab by a mad scientist or they've had some kind of radiation that turns them into super-power weeds. In one season, the area in and around my garden turns into a gardeners version of hell, with weeds that are upwards of 18-feet tall. In fact, I spend more time weeding my way into the garden than actually attacking the weeds around the vegetables that I plant. I've tried everything--putting down old carpeting, plastic, cardboard boxes for pathways and yet the weeds seem to grow right through everything. Every year, I don my armor and head out to battle.

One Saturday in 2012 was just such a day. I was out clearing the weeds around the garden with the chainsaw. Yep, you heard it right, I was clearing weeds with a chainsaw. You have to understand that we have these tree sapling type weeds that are about 5 inches in diameter and laugh in the face of tree trimmers. They block the sun from entering the garden and put out giant leaves that cast shadows. My harvests end up being very small because what tomato can compete with that?

So there I was, standing on uneven ground using my chainsaw to cut the tall weeds when it bumped back and grazed my thigh. Before everyone gets too excited, it really wasn't that bad. I've had serious injuries before and this was more like I'd tripped on a gravel road and tore the skin off my palm. Anyway, bottom line, my favorite jeans were ruined and of course I hurt from grazing my skin. I didn't feel any pain at first, but saw blood and knew I'd been cut. So I shut off the chainsaw and hobbled out of the woods.

Here's where we get to my Valentine's story. The chainsaw was a Valentine's Day gift. However, it would be ridiculous to blame my husband for my injuries. I've used that chainsaw many times over and never cut myself, but the rule of odds weren't in my favor that Saturday. But I do want to bring up the fact, that as an American woman I received a chainsaw for a Valentine's Day gift? Really, a chainsaw? I know I'm lucky to get anything at all. I've heard all the arguments, that Valentine's Day is really a made-up holiday to get money out of men......blah, blah, blah. With that I roll my eyes. I've also retorted with, "it's sad you guys need to be reminded that you have a special someone. You may choose another day if you'd like, but I do require at least a small token of appreciation." For you guys out there, please don't get your ladies Tupperware, blenders or chainsaws for gifts. If your lady needs these things, just come home with them randomly and you will get a better response than if you'd given it to them on Valentine's Day--I promise. It's simple---flowers and chocolate. I'd so like to not associate the skin missing on my thigh with Valentine's Day (even though I don't blame my husband-had to throw that disclaimer in there).

Okay, so there you have it--my Valentine's story. Just so you know . . . I'm still married and this Valentine's day, I received flowers for a full week before-hand. Classy and I'm loving it. He's happy because he says the price of flowers goes up right before Valentine's Day, so he beat the price gouging. I can dig it.

Happy Valentine's Day friends, 

Broke Girl  

Save Money on Your Heating Bill

Hello Galaxians,

It's cold outside! I don't know about you, but every year I'm concerned about losing heat in my home. I live off-grid and I don't have an electric or gas bill, but I still have to worry about the cold air that comes into my house. If I had better insulation in my home, I wouldn't have to shove so much wood into the wood stove.

When we first built our home, we used plenty of pink insulation under the house. Over the years, animals have ripped the insulation from beneath the house. This is a weak spot in our plan to stay warm and save time and energy cutting wood. We performed a home energy audit to determine other places to insulate as well. After doing this, I definitely suggest you try this on your own home to save money. 

Why perform a home energy audit? The air in your home is fighting a constant battle of equilibrium with the outside air. When it's hot outside, the heated air is trying to push its way into your cool home and when it's cold, the same principle is true. It's always seeking balance.

You can either download an audit from the Internet, or have one professionally done. Some local electrical companies may come out and perform this for free. By doing this, you can save between 5% to 30% in savings by conducting a home energy audit.

1. First, check which spaces in your home are heated and make a notation of the unheated spaces. Is your garage or basement hated? How about your attic? The areas between the heated space and the unheated space should be well insulated, otherwise you will lose much-needed heat to those areas.

In the attic, make sure there's a vapor barrier under the attic insulation which will prevent air movement between the unheated attic and the rest of the home.

2. Check for air leaks. Look for gaps inside the home where cool air breezes in. If you can see daylight, you've got a problem and you will need to caulk, add foam or install weather stripping. 

There are two ways to determine if there is air leakage. One way is to visually inspect problem areas, such as around the windows and doors. The second way is to note the actual air movement. Air movement is easily detected on a windy day by simply moving your dampened hand over suspected areas. You should feel a cool sensation when there is air flow. 

CHECK FOR AIR LEAKS
1. Turn off all gas burning appliances, such as stoves, water heaters, propane refrigerators and any other flame source.
2. Shut all windows and exterior doors. Don't forget to close the fireplace flues.
3. Light an incense stick and pass it around the edges of common leak sites. If the smoke wavers or is sucked out, or is blown into the room, there's a draft.

Another way to check is to shine a flashlight at night over all areas you suspect has a gap outside the house while a second person watches for the light inside the house. This works on larger gaps, but smaller holes may be harder to detect.

An additional way to check for air leaks is to shut the door or window on a piece of paper. If you can pull the paper out without ripping it, you're losing energy.

SUSPECTED AREAS INSIDE THE HOME: 
1. Baseboards and ceiling trim. Check the area around baseboards and where wall and ceiling meet. Use spray foam or caulk any area that has air leakage.

 2. Electrical outlets and switch plates. If you feel coolness when you place your hand over the outlet then you're losing precious energy. Make sure the electricity is turned off so outlets are not "hot." Don't remove the cover plates until you do this first. Check all outlets, not just the ones on the outside walls, because you have electrical wires and sometimes pipes that are located in inner walls and these pipes and wires are sometimes exposed to the crawlspace or a drafty attic. See if these outlets and switches contain rubber or foam gaskets and if they don't, you could save money and energy in the long run by installing them. Rubber and foam gaskets can reduce your energy usage up to 20% by sealing off the wall cavity behind the outlets and switch areas. 

3. Doors and window frames. Check for cracked or missing weather stripping, cracked caulking, and any broken latches. Look for cracked window panes that rattle and need to be reset in the frame or secured with window putty. Install weather stripping on the doors and caulk any air leaks. 

4. Electrical, gas piping, cable television or phone line entrances. Seal any widened holes into the house. There are often gaps in the wall where pipes and wires pass through. Sealing this will cut down on rodents and snakes entering your home. Seal these with spray foam. 

5. Fireplaces. Check the fireplace damper and stove pipes. Any large holes need to be filled with fire-related sealant. Make sure it is tightly sealed when closed. 

6. Attic hatches. If there isn't a proper seal between the attic hatch and the heated portion of the house, then add weather stripping around this area.

7. Window air conditioners. Check wall or window-mounted air conditioners for any gaps.

8. Dryer vents and fans. Check dryer vents and other miscellaneous vents and fans for gaps.

9. Attic space. Check for nail holes in the roof that aren’t sealed. If you can see the light of day, you’ve got a leak. If you have an attic room that is heated, check the walls to ensure they are properly insulated.

10. Walls. Are your walls properly insulated? Make a cavity in an unobtrusive place in the dry wall to see what kind of insulation is there and if it has settled. Considerable heat is lost through the ceiling and walls of your home if insulation levels are less than par. If you have an older home, insulation can sag in the upper parts of the walls near the ceiling. Also blown in insulation can settle leaving the upper portion of your walls un-insulated. We found this to be true when we took off the dry wall for a remodeling job in the garage and discovered the insulation that was stapled up years earlier had come loose and sagged leaving the upper portion of our outside wall without insulation. We always wondered why that part of the house was so cold during the winter months and hot during the summer. 

11. Recessed lighting. Recessed lights are famous for having air leakage. They should be “Air Loc” models or rated for insulation contact. Rated fixtures have a sticker inside that says “IC”.

12. Joints. Check the joints between different construction materials such as brick or stone and the wood walls, foundations or wood siding.

13. Cantilevered floors. Cantilevered floors are the part of the home that juts out past the foundation wall including bay windows, window seats or bump-outs. Floor insulation is often overlooked in these areas and can cause a huge problem with air leakage. 

SUSPECTED AREAS OUTSIDE THE HOME: 

1. Exterior corners. Look for gaps in siding and trim. 

2. Outdoor water faucets. Look for gaps around piping. 

3. Pipes or electrical lines. All areas that have pipes or electrical lines coming into or out of the home, which includes dryer vents, vents for the compost toilet, water pipes, wires, plumbing and sewer pipes. 

4. Foundation. Check anywhere the foundation meets the exterior siding. 

5. Windows and doors. Check around windows and doors. If doors or windows rattle with movement, you have air leaks and this is definitely an area that needs to be fixed. 

6. Fireplaces. This is the area that usually has the most damage, but often goes unnoticed. Undiscovered leaks can go on for years and cause structural damage. Check the junction where the fireplace meets the roofing material to ensure this is sealed. 

7. Skylights. This area demands close attention. Check for leaks of any kind that have gone unnoticed. 

Besides making sure you’re not losing heat from the walls themselves, there are two other places that need close attention that can make or break your home energy efficiency; one is the attic and the other is underneath the house. 

1. Attics. Check to see if there is a vapor barrier (tar paper, the paper attached to fiberglass batts, plastic sheeting) under the attic insulation.  If there isn’t a vapor barrier, consider painting the interior ceilings with vapor barrier paint to reduce the amount of water vapor that can pass through the ceiling. Moisture can diminish the efficiency of insulation and cause structural damage. Also check to ensure attic vents are not blocked by insulation. Seal any obvious holes and check that electrical boxes are sealed with flexible caulk. If the insulation isn’t up to par, consider adding more insulation to the floor and ceiling. 

2. Basements. If your basement is unheated, check that you have at least an R-value of 25 on the ceiling.  Also verify that all water heater, hot water pipes and furnace ducts are properly insulated.  Heated basements have a common problem of air leakage where the wood frame of the house meets the concrete or block foundation. 

Another area where leakage is found is at the rim (or band) joist where the rim joist forms the perimeter of the floor framing above it and the floor joists butt into it. Multiple cavities are created along the length of the wall inviting air leakage. 

3. Crawlspaces. If there is a major draft in this area, ensure it has proper venting, as well as that the underside of your floor to your living space is well insulated. 

As always, consult the experts. 

https://www.energy.gov/public-services/homes/home-weatherization/home-energy-audits

Stay warm fellow Broke Galaxians and I hope you save on your energy bill, 

Peace Peeps, 

Broke Girl 

Sprouted Wheat--The Wonder Grain

Hello Fellow Galaxians, 

I'm always on the look out for new ways to eat healthier on the cheap. As such, I buy whole grains when I can find them. One grain that has multiple uses and is particularly healthy, inexpensive and useful is wheat berries. You can order wheat from many different Online Stores, but if you're lucky, you may also find it at Walmart. If not, you can order it from them online and they will ship it right to your door. 

Wheat is versatile. If ground into flour, you can make anything you would make with regular flour. You can grow it into wheat grass, which has wonderful health properties and you can sprout it. 

Wheat Sprouts 

You can get the most nutrition from wheat by sprouting it. It can stimulate food enzymes, boost vitamin content, and counteract anti-nutrients like phytic acid, which prevents you from fully absorbing needed nutrients. And, in the sprouted form, you can enjoy massive increases in B vitamins, E vitamin, and fiber by as much as three times more. 

What Can You Do With Wheat Sprouts?

Wheat sprouts can be added to most recipes for an extra boost of nutrition. Some sprouts will have to be put through a food mill or blender beforehand. It will come out as a green mushy mess, but don’t let that stop you. This can be added to breads, cereal, rice dishes, stir-fry, casseroles, cookies and brownies, muffins, pancakes, sandwiches and salads. Wheat sprouts can be dried in a dehydrator and then ground into flour to be used in tandem with flour for breads. For a nutty flavor and texture, toast the wheat sprouts in a frying pan with a little oil. As a side note, sprouted wheat bread has been around for centuries and is a great non-gluten option for those with allergies. 

Let's get started!

How to Sprout Wheat

§  Rinse the wheat berries

§  Place about ½ cup of berries in a jar.

Fill up the jar halfway with water then cover the top with a nylon net or cheesecloth. Secure it with a Rubber band or a canning ring and soak for 12 hours or overnight.

§  Drain the water from the seeds.

§  Place the bottle in a dark area, such as a cupboard.  Be sure you haven’t covered the lid as the sprouts will need air. 

§  Twice a day, rinse the seeds with room-temperature water. 

§  In about 3 to 4 days, you’ll have sprouts.  I let them sit out on the counter for a day to green-up, but that is a personal preference.

Store your sprouts in the refrigerator and plan on using them within 6 days. 

How to Make Sprouted Flour

§  When your grain has just barely sprouted and the sprout is barely visible at the tip of the kernel a day or two into the sprouting process, it’s ready to use. If the sprout is too long, it will be harder to grind. 

§   Pour the grain in a thin layer and dry it in a dehydrator or oven of about 105° to 110° F. It’s better to use a dehydrator, than an oven. Grind the dried grain in a grain mill for flour. 

If you want to get started with sprouting and don't want to make your own sprouter consider in investing in one. 

This is for the serious super sprouter

And there you have it--you've just added valuable nutrition to your diet.

Happy Sprouting, friends.

Peace Peeps,
Broke Girl