Did you know that grain has been found in the pyramids in Egypt stored perfectly in ceramic vases. The vases kept it dry and kept bugs out. When it was planted some 2,000 years later, it still sprouted. That's amazing until you look at how God designed the wheat kernel, as well as other grains to perfectly store the nutrients within. Once broken open, as in milling, the nutrients immediately begin to oxidize. Within about 72 hours 90% of over 30 nutrients are virtually gone. Many people think that they are providing their family with healthy bread when they purchase bags of whole wheat flour at the grocery store, but the nutrients oxidized weeks earlier when the flour was milled. And, unfortunatley many whole wheat flours that you buy are really regular old refined white flour with some wheat germ blown back in to make it look "whole wheat."Prior to the 1900s, most flour was milled locally, purchased from the mill every few days and the bread baked at home. Since the flour could not be stored, only enough grain was ground fresh each day to meet the needs of the community. However, in the 1920s new technology allowed enterprising millers to separate the wheat components. By removing the germ, germ oil, and the bran the remaining white flour could be stored indefinitely. This began to eliminate the need for local milling and people began to relinquish their own responsibility of preparing their bread daily.And of course, we found lucrative things to do with the nutritious "by-products" of this new milling process. The bran and wheat germ were sold as high protein food supplements for cattle. Local mills went out of business in no time because the large roller mills could produce huge volumes of the long lasting white flour quicker and cheaper.This appeared to be a great advance in technology. However, cases of beriberi and pellagra began to drastically increase in just a short time. Both of these diseases are the result of vitamin B deficiencies and health officials traced the problem to the new white flour. The new milling process strips the B vitamins as well as about 24 other nutrients from the wheat kernels.Health officials urged mills to return to producing whole wheat flour again but they did't want to lose their profitable market of selling the germ and bran as cattle feed. Instead, millers chose to "enrich" the white flour by replacing 4 vitamins for the 25-30 that are removed. This solved the problem of beriberi and pellagra; however, we are now plagued with many diseases that are directly related to our consumption of white flour (appendicitis, diverticular disease, hiatal hernia, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and more!).Over 5 years ago, our family purchased a small counter top grain mill and some buckets of wheat groats, oat groat and various other grains. I started milling our flour and making homemade bread, biscuits, muffins, cakes, cookies, pancakes, waffles, croutons and so much more. You can really taste the difference. It is like eating something alive and full of taste versus eating something refined and dead (like most everything you would find in the store). We also noticed a huge difference in our health: warts just disappeared, we were very "regular," our energy level soared, we just didn't get sick anymore. There are so many extra nutrients in the fresh four that I use along with loads of fiber. It works like liquid plumber for your system. Toxins, viruses, and fungus just zoom right on through the body, if you know what I mean.I am working on building an online store at CookingWhatsLeft.com. And, one product that I will carry is a grain mill. I believe that it is one of the best (and tastiest) investments that you can make in your family.Enjoy this yummy gingerbread recipe. If you can get freshly milled flour, by all means use that. If not, I would suggest King Arthur's whole wheat baking flour or Bob's Red Mill whole wheat flour as a satisfactory substitute.
To Your Health & A Long Life,
Lori
Old Fashioned Gingerbread
Ingredients:
- 1 cup ghee
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup buttermilk or kefir
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup raw honey
- 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup sucanat, or brown sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9 X 9 baking pan. Melt the ghee and let cool.
- Crack the egg into a mixing bowl. Beat with a wire whisk. Add the buttermilk, molasses, honey and ghee. Mix well.
- Measure all the dry ingredients into a bowl. Mix well. Make a well in the center and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Mix well to make a smooth batter. Pour the batter into the baking pan.
- Bake the gingerbread on the center rack of the over for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Great served warm or at room temperature!
To print a copy of this recipe Click Here.
Lori Winders, "The Cooking Diva," is an international cookbook author, online entrepreneur, speaker and founder of Cooking What’s Left . She knows what it is like to sit across from a doctor telling her what all she can’t eat any more because she is “allergic.” And, asking the question, “What’s Left?”
She also knows that America is killing itself slowly with our fast-food, unhealthy, toxic laden diet. There are too many people young and old being diagnosed with auto-immune disorders, diabetes, Alzheimer's, lupus, fibromyalgia, cancer, and the list goes on. Something has to change.
Her goal is to make healthy eating quick, easy and available to anyone who wants to make the change. Keep up to date on the latest from Lori here at her blog…The Cooking Diva.
