Me, too!

I second Gwenith's disclaimer!

I have Gwenith to thank for my copy of the book. It is extensive and GOOD! It's going to take many moons until it becomes "mine". It addresses wild yeast and starters -- which I have a great desire to understand so a benefit to me on my journey. It adds more understanding to the enzyme factors.

Basak

Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads

I wanted to let you know about a book -- a good book about bread. Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor (2007) is a book with very advanced techniques on making breads. It is for people who are serious about learning how to make good whole grain bread. This is an advanced breadmaking course - the graduate level! There is history and science here. There is technical detail and scientific precision. There is laying things out step-by-step and explaining them in detail. His delayed fermentation process not only makes the bread taste better but it makes the bread more nutritious. There are also many recipes for all types of bread: sandwich breads, buns, artisan breads, crackers, etc. This guy knows his bread and I recommend his book to any of you who really want to get deep into breadmaking!

(Disclaimer: I (Gwenith) am not a master or an expert on this subject by any means! I was therefore interested in learning more and I have read the book and have tried a couple of recipes so far. I have learned much from this book and still have much to learn and I am grateful to have it!)

Gwenith

Whole foods

Woke up this morning thinking about whole foods. We've not addressed this yet -- so here goes.

There is a great movement in the world today -- and that is to eat healthier by eating whole foods. Miracles in health have resulted!!

Should we find this amazing? I don't think so if we really think about it. God created all foods and they have the nutrients to feed man and help our bodies work properly. The more we eat the processed, modified and altered foods, the more our bodies lack what they need to sustain it and the unhealthier we will be.

Over 15 years ago I went to a church meeting. One of the segments was on the damaging effects our teenagers experienced because of using facial products for acne and other products. We were given a handout. It listed the "chemicals" in these products (all names none of us can say) and the known side effects -- depression, moodiness, sleeplessness, -- and the list went on and on. I remember how this so made an impression on me. Think about the difference between 15 years ago and now in the amount of chemicals used in everything -- including food!

Since that time, I've read labels. This carried over with our food. It is very hard to purchase food without additives. I was very surprised when I saw bacon on the shelf - and not in the cooler section. What do these things have to have in them to preserve them that they can be kept on the shelf? And what do these additives do to our bodies? And imagine my surprise when I went to purchase some bacon and read the label and gluten was used as a binder. Then I started to notice how many other things used gluten as a binder and it was in everything. No wonder we are maxed out in the "gluten" department; but we surely aren't getting it into our bodies in the form that is good for our bodies!!!!

One time after one of my body cleanses, I was eating whole foods. We had company and I'd sliced an orange, yellow and red pepper. I was so overcome by the sweetness of the peppers and especially the red pepper and commented on it -- how sweet and wonderful it tasted. Everyone just looked at me like they didn't know what I was talking about. They surely weren't experiencing it. It was awesome to experience the deliciousness that existed. Sorry to report that it wasn't long before I'd eaten enough of the world's "good" food that I could no longer identify that sweetness.

And then there's sugar. Man is constantly trying to find a substitute for sugar. We have all the man-created ones that have been proven to be very damaging. Did God created sugar? I believe He did. Wheat can be made into sugar. Sugar does serve a purpose; but moderation in all things. Man is out of control -- myself included!!!!!

This trend of the world in eating whole foods is a good one. Whole foods benefit man. And -- wheat and other grains are whole foods.

Since Gwenith and I talk a lot about this -- I think I can say "we" ---- we are working hard to incorporate whole foods (foods that can reproduce themselves) into our diets and we hope you, too, will desire, work toward and progress in using the foods God created for us for the benefit and use of our bodies.

Happy Healthy Eating!!!!!

The basic of the basics - cream of wheat cereal

It was amazing to me when I fed this to my grandchildren. We add a little milk. stir and then drizzle a little honey on it. They LOVE it!! I've personally always found this warming, comforting and good and it's soooo basic and simple. I've given the raw ground wheat to others and ground some for many more and most have reported that they love it.

1 cup boiling water
1/4 cup cereal
salt to taste (1/8-1/4 tsp)

Add cereal to boiling water while wisking. Cook 5-7 minutes.

Left: raw cereal Right: cream of wheat cereal

A blender can be used to grind wheat to make the cereal. Cereal can also be made from flour.

Turn your blender into a grain mill VIDEO

Basak

Sanitizing solution - hydrogen peroxide & vinegar

Here it is....the info on a great little sanitizing solution! First is an excerpt from a website. Following that is my correspondence with the scientist clarifying some issues. Finally are a few of my comments. Enjoy!

________________________________________________________________________
Excerpt from:
Science News Online
www.sciencenews.org
September 28, 1996

“It takes more than a tap water rinse to dislodge E. coli and many other microbial squatters. Though high temperatures kill them, cooking is hardly a viable answer for lettuce, sprouts, and tomatoes that go into your fresh salad. For these and other foods that are to be eaten raw, consider another solution …suggests Susan Sumner, a food scientist at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, in Blacksburg.

While at the University of Nebraska (which she departed last month), Sumner worked out the recipe for just such a sanitizing combo.

First, she squirts a vegetable with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide, the same strength available at the drug store for gargling or disinfecting wounds. She follows this up with a mist of mild acetic acid (vinegar). In truth, she says, which solution is sprayed first doesn’t matter…She uses 2 regular spray bottles.

The solutions represent an adaptation of a chlorine-free disinfection scheme she had been working on for red meat, and which turned out to be effective for decontaminating carcasses. In the course of her more recent studies, Sumner found that vegetables not only tend to come from the garden or farm bearing far more germs than red meat does, but they also hold onto germs more tenaciously.

Overall, most germs that show up on produce come from the soil and are benign. However, worrying that more toxic germs spread by feces could show up in organic foods fertilized with manure, and realizing there have been reports of Shigella on cantaloupe and Salmonella on raw vegetables, Sumner decided to develop a bactericidal treatment for restaurants and other purveyors of salads.

In her tests, she deliberately contaminated clean fruits and vegetables with Salmonella, Shigella, or E. coli O157:H7 – all capable of inducing gut-wrenching gastroenteritis. On its own, the hydrogen peroxide was fairly effective against all three germs, she found. But the best results came from pairing the two mists. For instance, she told Science News Online, “If the acetic acid (vinegar) got rid of 100 organisms, the hydrogen peroxide would get rid of 10,000, and the two together would get rid of 100,000.”

What I really liked about this treatment,” she adds, “is that every [microbe] that drips off is killed.” So you’re not just transferring disease-causing contamination from your food to the sink, drain, or cutting board. Speaking of which, she notes that the paired sprays work well in sanitizing counters and other food preparation surfaces – including wood cutting boards.

As for taste, the peroxide didn’t leave any lingering flavors and the vinegar, when applied to the skins of tomatoes and peppers, proved hard to detect. While vinegar’s trace could be picked up on lettuce, even that isn’t necessarily a major drawback, Sumner notes, especially if it’s destined for a salad to be dressed with a vinaigrette.”

Peters, D., Sumner, et al. 1996. Control of pathogenic bacteria on fresh produce, a paper (abstract #168) presented in Seattle on July 2 at the 83rd annual meeting of International Association of Milk, Food and Environmental Sanitarians.
_______________________________________________________________________

Email to Susan sent 6/16/2008:

Dear Susan,

I read your article from Science News Online from September 28, 1996 regarding spraying raw produce with vinegar and 3% hydrogen peroxide and found it valuable info for use in the home. Seeing as this was published 10+ years ago, I was wondering if this is something you still recommend? Is there something that works better that can work easily in the home?

If you still recommend this procedure, can you mix H2O2 and vinegar together in one spray bottle and use it that way?

Susan’s response:

Gwenith,

Still a very good idea. We only tested the surface of different produce, but we are starting an experiment this summer using different surfaces.

You may mix the two (hydrogen peroxide and vinegar) together in one bottle, but it must be used immediately. The advantage to keeping the solution in separate bottles is that you can keep the solutions longer. Leave the solution on for at least 1 minute before rinsing thoroughly.

Susan

............................................................
Gwenith’s comments:
Vinegar has an indefinite shelf-life.
Hydrogen peroxide -- 3% and 6% food grade hydrogen peroxide are relatively safe (they will cause vomiting if swallowed; however, no long term side effects). 3% and 6% food grade hydrogen peroxide are heat stable; it will last several years (they will not degrade because of being exposed to heat). Keep it in the dark bottle for longer shelf-life. Plus, the bottle is clearly labeled as to its contents. Hydrogen peroxide 8% and above will degrade. The higher the concentration, the faster it will degrade. 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide is highly corrosives (not a safe household product). *Reference: Hydrogen Peroxide - Medical Miracle by William Campell Douglass, MD
Don’t dip anything into the hydrogen peroxide. Screw a spray bottle head (after sanitized) onto the hydrogen peroxide bottle and use it that way. It fits!
Leave the solutions on for at least 1 minute. Please remember to rinse the vegetables thoroughly after spraying with the solution!

Gwenith

I can mess it up!

Grandma,

Do not worry because if anything can be messed up, I can do it! My second batch of no-knead bread was a total flop! My yeast would not do a thing. I even tried adding more yeast the next day and after no rising dough, I just decided to cook the thing and be done with it. Well, I cooked it about 3 times longer than you are supposed to and it was still so flat and so dense that it was still doughy in the middle! I am going to test my yeast before I make another batch!

By the way, I just grew my first batch of mold along with the wheatgrass I was growing! After cutting the wheatgrass, I rinsed it, then sprayed it with our favorite sanitizing combo - hydrogen peroxide and vinegar (we need to post the article on that fabulous little find of ours). Then I put it in the refrigerator. When I used some the next day I rinsed it again and sanitized it again and then 'salad spinnered' it to death before juicing. Its a good thing I'm making all these mistakes now - I guess that's how I must learn...

Good night!
Gwenith

Oh -- so we're talking about our FAVORITE!

This no-knead bread was the BEST find!!! I'm beginning to wonder if you can mess it up. I've tried several times. LOL Our favorite is 1 1/2 cups white flour and 1 1/2 cups of a 7-grain flour mix which includes about half wheat flour. The only thing bad about it is -- we eat the whole thing in one sitting! We also really enjoy the whole wheat -- and add some vital gluten. It is sooooo easy and sooooo fun to make and sooooo good to eat!!!!!

Because of the fermentation that occurs, it's doing neat things with enzymes. I will continue to work on perfecting the whole wheat but will probably often add some of the 7-grain flour just because it's wonderful. It definitely helps get more wheat into our bodies!

Basak

No-Knead Bread

If you're like me, you want that breadmaking to be easy and simple. If this is you, then you must watch this video clip! Mark Bittman is the chef who writes for the New York Times. He visited a NY bakery to learn an incredibly simple, quick way to make bread (quick meaning takes little of your time - you actually do let the dough sit for a day). In the column for the NY Times he writes that this works for whole grains even though the video shows white flour. Now I have to say that I have only made this once and I totally messed up (I used the speedy recipe ingredients for the regular recipe instructions) and it was still really good bread. I also used the white flour recipe for my first time but I did 2 parts white flour to 1 part whole wheat flour -- still very good bread despite all of these changes! I used a cast iron dutch oven that I have for camping to cook the bread in.

Video - from You Tube and the link to the NY Times story from 2006. (Recipe)

Happy bread making!
Gwenith

Green wheat sprout smoothie surprise

I made our green smoothie this morning and used 6 leaves of green leaf lettuce, 2 cups water, 2 1/2 smaller bananas, 2 T chia seeds and 1 cup of wheat sprouts (made one quart of smoothie). I've put sprouts in them before but it's probably only been about 1/3 cup. I just had this thought to taste it and I was pleasantly surprised - it was quite good. I then decided to make it even more desirable and put some frozen mixed berries in (was probably 1 1/2 cups because it fell in in a clump) and it didn't taste nearly as good.

I do know wheat sprouts are extremely sweet and you can make diastatic malt with them; but I have to admit, I was quite surprised because it didn't taste "wheaty" to me at all. This just expanded my thinking and onward and upward with experimenting I'll go!!!

Basak

Enzymes and such

Forays into nutrition:

ENZYMES

While I don’t agree with 100% of the information in their books, I do like much of what the following authors have to say regarding this topic:

• Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon, New Trends Publishing, 1999.

• Enzyme Nutrition – The Food Enzyme Concept , Dr. Edward Howell, Avery Publishing, 1985.

Many of the following ideas come from their books.

Enzymes are the catalysts that allow every single chemical reaction in our bodies to occur. Every thing that happens in our body requires an enzyme – digestion, metabolism, repair, growth, moving, even thinking involves some enzyme activity! No mineral, vitamin, or hormone can do any work without enzymes. Enzymes convert the food we eat into chemical structures that can pass through the cell membranes of the digestive system into the bloodstream. They are needed in running the heart, kidneys, liver, and lungs. They aid in converting ‘building blocks’ into new muscle, flesh, bone, nerves and glands. Every organ and tissue has its own particular metabolic enzymes to do specialized work. There are thousands of different enzymes at work in your body.

One type of enzyme, digestive enzymes, have three main jobs: digesting protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Many of the body’s enzymes are manufactured in the pancreas. The pancreas has a limited production capacity. Digesting food has priority over other enzyme needs in the body. If the food you eat contains no enzymes of its own, the pancreas must manufacture digestive enzymes to aid in the breakdown of that food.

Nature’s plan calls for food enzymes to help with digestion instead of forcing the body to produce enzymes to digest food. If enzymes contained in the food we eat do some of the work, the enzyme producing potential of our body can allot less activity to producing digestive enzymes and have much more to give to the myriad metabolic, repair, growth, and healing needs our bodies have. If the human organism must devote a huge portion of its enzyme potential to making digestive enzymes, it spells trouble for the health of the whole body because there is a strain on production of metabolic enzymes. There is competition between the two classes of enzymes.

To get enzymes from food, we must eat raw food. All life, whether plant or animal, requires the presence of enzymes to keep it going. Therefore, all plant and animal food in the raw state has them. Nature has enclosed all raw foods with the correct and balanced amounts of food enzymes either for human consumption or eventual decomposition outside the human body. But heat destroys enzymes. Enzymes are destroyed above 160 degrees F. All foods from a food factory have been heat processed by one means or another. This is what keeps the foods from going bad but also kills the enzymes.

We can see from this short explanation that getting enzymes into our food is very important – that the diet we mainly eat today is not going to give this to us.

I don’t think the answer is to take things too far and become a raw foodist and eat exclusively raw foods. “While we should include a variety of raw foods in our diets, we need to recognize that there are no traditional diets composed exclusively of raw foods…Some nutrients are made more available through cooking and cooking also neutralizes naturally occurring toxins in plant foods.” (Fallon, p. 47)

How can we eat wheat in a ‘raw’ form? We can eat wheat sprouts and wheatgrass juice. Even wheat that is soaked overnight has started the germination process enough to increase enzyme activity.

Let’s take our study of nutrition a little bit farther….

Enzyme Inhibitors

Why don’t seeds break down and rot? All seeds have enzyme inhibitors which keep them from growing until moisture is absorbed by the seed and it begins germinating. Eating seeds, which includes grains, nuts, legumes, etc. also causes the pancreas to have to produce digestive enzymes to break these down. Whereas sprouting or soaking the seed in warm, slightly acidic water will inactivate the enzyme inhibitors and make the enzymes available for the digestion of that food.

Phytic Acid – Friend or Foe?

Phytic acid is considered by some as an anti- nutrient component found in the bran portion of all grains and beans. Phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc in the intestinal tract and block their absorption. It is said that a diet high in unfermented whole grains supposedly can lead to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss. It is also suggested that long term consumption of these untreated phytates can be hard on your digestive system and may lead to irritable bowel syndrome and other serious adverse affects. Sally Fallon and Dr. Edward Howell recommend soaking and/or fermenting grains, seeds, nuts, and legumes to help neutralize the phytic acid.

On the flip side, it is also being discovered that phytic acid, among other things is an antioxidant, chelator, has anti-cancer benefits, and actually stimulates the small intestine to produce phytase which increases the body’s ability to absorb minerals.

See the following website for a one person’s take on these issues: http://www.breadbeckers.com/phytic_acid_friend_or_foe.htm

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

So which is it? Is phytic acid good or bad? What about enzyme inhibitors? We haven’t even discussed oxalic acid! I can’t answer these questions but Grandma and I have been thinking that if we eat grains in a VARIETYof ways, sometimes in raw form, sometimes cooked, sometimes soaked or fermented, then we are being ‘moderate in all things’ and getting the benefits of all forms and probably avoiding the possible ill-effects we read about.

............................................

Proverbs 19:21 - "There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand."

Gwenith

Food to "stay alive"

On Provident Living, it talks about longer term storage of food. It says:

"For longer-term needs, and where permitted, gradually build a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive, such as wheat, white rice, and beans."

The words "stay alive" intrigue me. Could it just be the foods recommended will help us stay alive and live healthier than any other foods? Will they help us stave off disease? To me the Lord has spoken twice -- "Nevertheless, wheat for man" in 1833 and today in his direction through our Prophet and those who serve with him. There's more to this than meets the eye. We don't want to hear -- we don't want to eat the basics because we don't know how -- we have too much of the world's "good" food and LIKE IT! Ahhhhh --- it might be time to make a choice --- follow the Lord (the arm of God) or follow the world (the arm of flesh).

Basak

Green smoothies we did and do

We both did the green smoothie learning and love them!! It is important in healthy eating but other than adding wheat sprouts and rejuvelac from time to time, it seems to be only a small part, if any, to the answers we are seeking. However, as progress goes, this may be more than we now think it is if we were to use wheat in them more often.

Basak

Paying the price

Have you ever noticed that it seems if you really want something, there is a price to be paid? It seems to work in all things.

Someone gives us some homemade bread. It is scrumptious. We ask for the recipe. We make it and it doesn't turn out like the bread they gave us.

It seems like every time I begin learning, I always have to go through this "testing" period. Maybe it's to see if I really want it badly enough that I will keep trying or maybe there are other things I'll get to learn as I go through the whole process.

An example is growing wheat grass. I was thinking just this morning -- I'm so glad I'm where I am instead of when I was beginning. There have been so many variables (water, air, temperature, season, mold) and the learning took many trays. All were able to be harvested but it is nice when one can then look at what is going on and kind of know the whys.

It was the same with sprouting the wheat. I taught an email class on sprouting a couple months ago and this is part of the instructions:

There are many instructions out there -- like the temperature of the water. If I'm hot, I use cold. If I'm cold, I use warm. It really does not matter. Some tell you to use filtered water. Tap water works just fine. Some say to put the container in the dark. It's just fine on the counter - in the light. The only thing you do NOT want to do is let the container come into direct sunlight and this applies throughout the whole process.

Now -- what if you forget to rinse? Just do the next step when you remember. It'll just be a little slower accomplishing what you're doing. What if you forget and the soak process was 24 hours? Just drain, rinse and continue the process

When I was learning was it like this? NOT!!!!

I've found this with bread also. I've been looking for the "perfect" bread recipe for years. A couple weeks ago, I had some sprouted wheat that wasn't sprouting like it should. I didn't want to throw it out so decided to blend it up and use it in bread. I used some of the liquid called for in the recipe in the blender and when I put it in the mixer, I went with the rest of the recipe and then went with looks and feel. It turned out wonderful. I was in awe -- once again -- knowing that there were MANY things that could be done and it'd be good!

Thinking upon these things -- when wheat is planted, it does its thing and does not have to be watered everyday. Sometimes it gets soaked for days. Why would sprouting and growing wheat grass be unlike planting it in the ground? And with making bread -- in the beginning, that someone had to come up with the recipe by looks and feel.

Sprouting, growing wheat grass and making bread - I've decided - are very forgiving. We've been inundated with lots of good information, but this causes me to want to take everyones' input and come up with the "perfect" result. I realized that I truly make things too complicated.

Just maybe, the answers we seek will be just as simple.

Basak

Search for word meanings

Many times, with a little searching and study, one can determine an enlightened understanding of why a word was used. I know we can all interpret things the way we want but as I went on this word search, I tried to feel what the Lord was telling me.

"All grain is ordained for the use of man, to be the staff of life.... Nevertheless, wheat for man."

ordained: established

use: in particular service or end

staff of life: a staple of diet
staple: the sustaining or principal element; a commodity for which the demand is constant
principal: most important

nevertheless: nonetheless; notwithstanding; however; in spit of that; yet; still; at least.
archaic - although; in spite of the fact that; even though

And from a site that helps with Hebrew and Greek: www.blueletterbible.org

nevertheless: but rather;
scarce: deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand and
implies falling short of a standard or required abundance

Could the "demand" and "falling short" pertain to the body? Will we yet find our bodies, indeed, do not get enough?

The quest continues. Basak

Husband sick blues

Ah -- glad wheat grass has been introduced. After reading Ann Wigmore's books, I knew there's something to this -- and the rejuvelac (but we'll talk about that later).

My husband had his first angioplasty when he was 48. Scared me!!! They said after he got finished he'd feel like dancing. I went into the room as he was telling the nurse his chest really hurt. She called others. I stepped into the corner and watched as many others came into the room and put all the monitors on him and the meds under his tongue. I thought to myself, "This surely doesn't look like dancing to me!" The doctor came in and said it must have closed again and they'd do it again the next morning.

At 55 he had complete kidney failure because of kidney stones. At 58 he had a stint put in his heart. Of course, all of that requires many medications.

Stress is also a big factor in all of this and he has always had BIG stress in his work - some self inflicted (but don't we all). Family heredity is the usual for all he has goin' on.

Of course, my desire was to help with his health and I began growing wheat grass. He had to go have some blood work done and he'd been drinking the 2 oz a day for a few days. He had the best lipid profile he'd had in years. Of course, he thought it was the oatmeal he'd eaten the previous morning. lol

We made the decision that he should quit that stress. The most wonderful thing for me is I have my "real" husband back ---- but we have no insurance. Prescriptions eventually ran out. There had to be a better way. We now faithfully use wheat grass juice. We do take a break for a day every 7-10 days (depending on where the growing is).



I use a little hand juicer that I absolutely love! I'm sure it can be found in other places, too.

Everyone has a story. The good thing about a blog is one can check to see if it's been posted before. Teehee

Basak

The Korea Blues

I got sick the last couple of weeks in January. It dates back to the old days (17 years ago!!) when I lived in Korea serving a mission for 18 months and got sick. I don't know if its some kind of 'critter' or what but it continues, to this day, to come back and wallop me.

This makes me all the more keen to continue my forays into learning how to eat better. I have grown 3 crops of wheatgrass which I have juiced and drunk ( 2 oz.) per day and my fourth crop is almost done.

Michael Bergonzi's DVD (www.hippocratesgreenhouse.com) on growing wheatgrass was invaluable in learning how to do this -- not because its hard to do, but because you can easily and quickly learn the do's and don'ts and get down to business and not waste your money buying needless stuff.

I am also going to try to cut MSG out of my diet and if you think that's easy to do, just go to www.msgmyth.com and read what foods contain MSG!!! Everything contains MSG!!!! Everything except 'whole foods'. So you know what that means - you have to spend lots of time in the kitchen cooking everything from scratch! Yet, even if it doesn't help me, will it help my husband with his frequent headaches, my youngest son with his asthma, and my older son with his anxiety? Can I not try for the sake of my family? Can I find the energy to do this?

Gwenith

A story - not being able to eat wheat

I spent a season speaking about food storage years ago traveling to wards in our stake and that usually included a 2 hour drive. As I prepared for this, I found a story. It was one of those things that I've regretted many, many times not saving.

There was an older gentleman and he had trouble eating wheat.

He said he'd read the counsel of the Lord and knew wheat was for man. He desired to know why he could not eat it. He pondered this for awhile and decided he needed to fast and pray and ask.

His answer was: "Eat less sugar."

He cut back on sugar and no longer had any problems eating wheat.

This may not apply to everyone today but is some of our not being able to tolerate wheat caused by too much of the other things we eat?

Honesty with ourselves will serve us well.

Basak

My story

One day I looked at my four small children and had the thought, “what would I do if I did not have food to feed them and how would I feel as they cried of hunger because I had not prepared?” I cried and then I began to prepare!

My first experience that I can remember with wheat is at thrashing time. My job was to push the wheat to the back of the bins when it was unloaded. And this was the time we always renewed our efforts to chew it and make gum.

I remember us loading up a bag or two, taking it to the mill and returning with flour.

When I began preparing, I started using wheat to make bread and fed my family cream of wheat cereal. I thought I was doing pretty well. During this time, I’d heard two ladies give presentations on wheat. They both shared the miraculous health experiences of people who began eating whole wheat. I was in awe and knew inside that what they said was true.

I studied the Word of Wisdom and then knew why I knew what they said was true. I marveled at the direction given, “wheat for man”.

When I was instructed by the Lord to use wheat more than just the bread and cereal and to learn all I could about it, a unique thing happened to our family financially. I call it the tithing in reverse principle. You see, I had several promptings but did not get with it as quickly as I should have. Finally, our situation "changed"! Our income was the same, our outgoing was the same -- and yet, we had no money. I now call this the tithing in reverse principle. And by the way, as soon as I finished learning, things went back to normal.

I used wheat flour for everything. We ate gluten in all its various ways. I used the starch as a thickener and made bran flakes and used them in bran muffins. We used cracked wheat in casseroles and cooked whole wheat in soups, spaghetti sauce, and anything else a handful or two could be put in.

I have to admit that wheat was not my favorite thing to eat. I just did not care for the taste of it and because of that, I was apprehensive to use it when having to provide food to others.

My son received his Eagle Scout award. I, of course, had to provide refreshments and we had many cookies in our recipe file – this time all made with whole wheat flour. I was a bit worried that they would not be eaten and what people would think. And what a moment it was for me when a few adults told me how wonderful the cookies were as they had their third and fourth ones and when cleaning up, all were almost gone. (And there weren’t that many scouts there so the being gone cannot all be blamed on them. lol) Have to admit, I needed that and what it did for me.

Years have passed and I continued off and on to use the wheat. I taught classes. However, in the past couple of years I've again found myself thinking often about “nevertheless, wheat for man.” I’ve studied these words many times but once again, my quest came to the forefront. And the learning has again begun!

Basak

Here a little, there a little

This gift Honeybee has for researching is not something I have -- so I am in awe! I scan my information and understand it and know what I need to do but it is hard to relate the understanding to others. I'm a shooter from the hip kind of gal and because of that, I go faster than I should, make silly mistakes and get much practice. LOL I love to make it work. I think we make a good team and it is surely fun!

We seem to be led. It's like Isaiah 28:10 says, "precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, and there a little. It's been a time of learning and understanding. I’ve learned and Honeybee has studied the things known by others and we understand the importance of the knowledge they've gained. And we knew we would not be given the added light and knowledge until we had learned these things and applied them.

And -- we know there is more --- even some the world does not yet know.

Basak

Provident Living 'Graduate Student' Progress:

My goal is to follow the prophets to prepare for the future (the term we use in the Church is 'Provident Living') and to help others learn what I have learned.

There's a lot to this Provident Living thing - if you take it seriously and if you want to know and do it well enough to teach somebody else - a full graduate course, to be sure. Obviously there is no set curriculum so we just jump in with both feet and press forward!

My personality qualifications for being a graduate student in this course of study: Type-A, perfectionist personality and an extreme, this-doesn't-come-from-me drive that fuels continuous motivation to keep on going that leads me to an insane penchant for researching something to death until you know everything about it, its background, history, molecular structure, etc.,etc.

Source of this motivation: is it because I'm apt to worry about the 'signs of the times'? That may be some of it but I know the Lord has a hand in it as well because normally, in many areas of life I'm quite a lazy person who never finishes anything and jumps from one thing to the next faster than a grasshopper!

Now on to food: We have learned a lot the last several years but there is still much we don't know. We are searching for the CORRECT information about nutrition.

There is a vast ocean (in a former life I would compare it to a data warehouse from a fortune 500 multinational corporation filled with decades worth of data from 100 different computer systems) filled to overflowing with information about nutrition out there and we need the Lord's help to sift out the truth from the rest....and to sift out what works for me and my family from what doesn't work for us (but may work for other people). Only the Lord can do that. We put it into His hands and ask for His help.

Gwenith