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

Doctrine and Covenants 89: 14, 16-17 (Known as the Word of Wisdom)

Our Blog Names

While playing around, we happened upon names that mean wheat. We kind of liked them so we adopted them as our blog names. We'll be signing our blogs with our "wheat" names.

Gwenith - Welch (female) is Honeybee
Basak
- Turkish (female) is Grandma
Zea - Latin (female) is Walkers

OUR QUEST

Basak: My quest is to understand and know why the Lord said, "Nevertheless, wheat for man". I want to know how to prepare and use it in the Lord's ways and thus, it will taste good and our families will want to eat it. I want to know why the word "nevertheless" was used, how much we need and why. My quest is to know it all.

Gwenith: Several months ago, the thought came to me. How will we eat in the Millennium? That sounds funny, I know, but what I mean when I say that is, 'What is a higher law of health and nutrition and how can I eat that way using my food storage?' This is what I am working on.

Zea: My quest... to learn and live the word of wisdom so that me and my family will be blessed to live a healthy life. In this process I've ended up having several "sub" quests, such as learning more about grains, herbs, what things in our diet and life are created by "evil and conspiring men", and needless to say one subject leads to another. Right now I'm trying to put the knowledge I've gathered so far (while still gathering more) into practice for me and my family... not an easy task when you have a picky eater!

And as we pursue our quests, we desire to help others.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Popped wheat experimenting and SUCCESS

Our Bishop's very favorite treat is popped wheat. Now I've tried it with the frying pan method and haven't been too impressed so I was quite intrigued. Things weren't working too well with him remembering how -- so search and experiment we've gone. I just knew if it was his favorite treat, it must be good!!

My husband learned what I was trying to do and waa laa -- he did some searching and came up with a couple recipes. He takes very good care of me!

I'm just a little twisted when it comes to more than one recipe and have to find out which one is the best. Causes LOTS of work but I surely learn a lot. And I always remember that practice makes perfect. LOL We finally had it tasting like corn nuts -- except it was wheat. We were pleased. We had the Bishop sample and we were very close. He then gave us a bag of what he buys -- so now we could really compare and back to experimenting we went.

Ya know -- sometimes it just takes many to succeed. We decided to use some white wheat and we considered it even more successful. My son made a suggestion or two and after another batch .......WE ARE SO THERE ....... but still want to do just a little tweaking.

To be quite frankly honest, I think we've succeeded pretty well with all of them because we've eaten about 10 batches and loved every one of them. LOL One recipe said to use soft wheat berries. I've changed my philosophy - which was that if it couldn't be made with hard red wheat, then I wasn't going to make it - and ordered some. I will make a batch or two just to see if they make it even more like the professionally made.

My husband is now eating LOTS of wheat. So typical -- we zap all the life out of it when we do things like this and then love it! WARNING -- this has zero - that's a big 0 - nutritional value.


Notice - there is still a little difference in the puffiness but I think that can be obtained by cooking it just a little longer. You want it to split and it will be kind of sticky.

And now -- the RECIPE!!!

1 cup wheat --- the above was cooked for 1 hr 15 min. If it were cooked longer, I believe it would be the puffiness I desire. Drain and put on a towel and let dry a bit (10-15 minutes). One cup of wheat before cooked will equal about six batches to be fried.

Put a couple inches of oil in a pot large enough for deep fat frying. Heat to 360 degrees.

Put 1/2 cup of the cooked wheat in a wire basket or strainer and put in the oil. Cook for 2 min 20 seconds or until it turns a good (deep) golden brown. (When you use less wheat at a time, the oil temp does not fall and that was a factor in the experimenting.) Drain on a paper towel and salt or season as you desire. Cool completely and store in a glass jar -- if you have any left. LOL (See recipe added on April 19 for the refined, tried & tested recipe)

I do not have a strainer that has small enough holes so the wheat does not fall through. So to get them out, I put a strainer on another pan and poured the oil and fried wheat into it. I then put the wheat on the paper towel and poured the oil back into the cooking pot. Whatever works!!

Some suggestions for seasonings and uses on the recipes we found were: salt; onion salt; garlic salt; barbecue salt; dust with powdered ranch dressing; sprinkle with Kraft Grated American Cheese Food (sharp cheddar flavor); use it as a cereal served with honey, butter and milk; add to dried fruit and chocolate chips for a great trail mix; wonderful on salads; cinnamon and sugar; mixed with granola or any trail mix; as a topping for ice cream and desserts; or just by the handful.

Basak

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A LITTLE ABOUT US

I'm Basak (Grandma). I'm married to a wonderful husband who spoils me and puts up with all my kitchen lab work and in my working to serve others. We have four wonderful children and they have blessed us with sixteen grandchildren. I always seem to be learning something new and I love it.

I met Gwenith a few years ago and she's become a very dear friend. We found we were kindred sisters in the preparedness world. We now live miles apart and yet, the kindred has never dwindled. When we talk, we find we always seem to be going down the same road in the thought process - a miracle in itself.


I'm Gwenith (Honeybee). I have a wonderful husband and two boys who are my jewels. I have known since serving a proselyting/welfare mission years ago that the Lord wanted me to be involved in the 'Provident Living' side of things.

The last several years have been an amazing learning adventure and I thank the Lord for allowing me to be an instrument in His hands in any way. Thank goodness I have a friend to share this adventure with -- Basak. Though Basak seems my peer, not my elder, I lean heavily on her wisdom, experience and most of all her strong spirituality. She is an example to me. My efforts to becoming closer to the Lord have benefited from watching her. Thank you, friend!