# Excuse my ignorance but, wheat?



## Wester (Sep 6, 2010)

I'm just getting on board with really trying to stock up my everyday foods to build a good stockpile. I figure it's better than buying 50# buckets of "food" from warehouse retailers when I have no idea if me or my family will eat it.

Admittedly, I'm not much of a cook, but every time I see a new thread about food preps I see wheat being included. I have never once used raw wheat in an everyday meal, so why include it in preps, especially if it is going to require special equipment to process. Equipment most beginning preppers (like me) would not have? Is there a benefit that I am unaware of? I understand the usefulness of rice, sugar, salt, flour, beans, and canned goods but I think that me buying wheat by the bucket would be a waste. What am I missing here?


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## Elinor0987 (May 28, 2010)

Wester said:


> I understand the usefulness of rice, sugar, salt, flour, beans, and canned goods but I think that me buying wheat by the bucket would be a waste. What am I missing here?


I haven't bought wheat by the bucket yet either, but I would imagine that most of the people that buy it do so after they've already bought regular bags of processed flour. From what I've read about it so far, the grain millers are easy to operate and if you shop around you can find them at a reasonable price. Buying whole grain wheat in bulk quantities can be done at a fraction of the cost as buying the same quantity of processed flour, so for most people it might be a matter of their budget and thinking of longer term preparations.


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## carlnet (Jul 29, 2010)

Wester said:


> but I think that me buying wheat by the bucket would be a waste. What am I missing here?


Great question and one that whole books have been written about. The short version is that wheat stores for a very long time (think 15 to 25 years) whereas the things you can make out of wheat do not store anywhere close to that. Also you can do a significant number of things with wheat. For example; grind the wheat into flour, sprout the wheat to get green leafy veggies, roll the wheat to make rolled wheat for breakfast cereal, and a whole lot more. You are right that you will need to shell out a few hundred for a grinder but the up front cost is worth the storage length, versatility, an food value per square inch of of wheat.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

carlnet said:


> Also you can do a significant number of things with wheat. For example; grind the wheat into flour, sprout the wheat to get green leafy veggies, roll the wheat to make rolled wheat for breakfast cereal, and a whole lot more.


Like grow more wheat.  That makes it a renewable food source.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

UncleJoe said:


> Like grow more wheat.  That makes it a renewable food source.


Only if you can keep the two legged and four legged critters out of it.:gaah::rant: - (Sorry) I'm thinking next year some where ... I can see it from the house.

Yes, you will need a grinder ... check auctions, craiglist and yard sales (that is where I got mine... 20 bucks)

But like it was said before ... homemade bread, hot cereal (cooked wheat) and soups (again cooked wheat)


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## Wester (Sep 6, 2010)

Thanks for the replies. Guess I'll have to familiarize myself with what mills look like so I can watch for them, I'm big on garage sales and thrift stores.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

I got mine at the flea market for $25


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## SaskBound (Feb 13, 2010)

About the wheat, you might want to try food made from real whole wheat before investing in a bunch of it. It's not at all the same as the 'whole grain' stuff you get at the store. Real 100% home made whole wheat bread is much denser than you are probably used to. WW pasta takes some getting used to, also. Besides a grinder, you could think about investing in a good sifter. You can use it to take out the bran (use it in your porridge to preserve the nutrients) and get more 'normal' flour for bread and such.

Having said that, we do keep wheat at our place, mostly because it's what grows here, and is therefore cheap and easy to buy here. For us, it generally costs under $10 for a 25 Kilo bag. The buckets to store it in cost more  In comparison, rice is $15-20 for less than 10 kilos.


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## SurviveNthrive (May 20, 2010)

Variety and low cost.

You can also buy wheat and have options for cooking it. For example, while our culture is based on bread, for a good part of human history and even now, in parts of the world, with fuel, time, and other limitations, many grains aren't made into bread, they are ground, boiled and eaten or they are even used as whole grains, soaked, then cooked. 

With wheat grains you can soak them in water, allow them to expand and eat them either as a hot cereal or fry the kernels like a side dish. I realize that beyond my stored baking supplies and rice I want to have options, and I might want to have quick options. This is also a very cheap one and adds variety to the usual beans, rice and pasta.


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## Herbalpagan (Dec 8, 2008)

At some point, most preppers get to where they understand that having 30-90 days of food will not be enough. Then they realie that they need to prepare for longer term. Along the way, they realize that flour has a limited shelf life.
While learning about food storage and all the crap that this world is dishing out, it is learned that perhaps there is a better way of life, more practical. A better way of eating, more wholesome. So you have a dilema...quick storage vs long term, healthier eating vs what you can grab. Something you can grow and store (or at least store) for 20-30 years vs something that only lasts 3-5 years max (flour). Along this journey, you also learn that perhaps electricity isn't going to be available at a point...so what can you do?
Sotre wheat and a grinder (I spent less than $100 on mine). It makes sense, is inexpensive and lasts practically forever.
I still have a long way to go, but I have about 750 pounds stored. When money is worthless, I'll still be eating the staple of life - bread.


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## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

We have not bought wheat by the bucket either, because we do not have a grinder. When and if I find one we can afford I will stock up on whole wheat.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

Small amounts of wheat can be made into flour in a blender. I have a friend who does that and makes bread a loaf at a time, or biscuits or whatever. 

According to another friend, hard wheat works best with "yeast" recipes and soft wheat works best with "baking powder" and all the other recipes. 

However, Hard Red Wheat is the best for long-term storage.


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## catsraven (Jan 25, 2010)

gypsysue said:


> Small amounts of wheat can be made into flour in a blender. I have a friend who does that and makes bread a loaf at a time, or biscuits or whatever.
> 
> According to another friend, hard wheat works best with "yeast" recipes and soft wheat works best with "baking powder" and all the other recipes.
> 
> However, Hard Red Wheat is the best for long-term storage.


I use both hard red and soft white in my bread. It makes a good loaf and is not crumbly is soft. Yummm


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## Herbalpagan (Dec 8, 2008)

I get the hard white winter wheat. It's lighter in color and milder in taste.


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## SurviveNthrive (May 20, 2010)

I'd say get some wheat even if you don't have a grinder because it's so dang cheap and you can figure out ways of eating it, grinding if necessary, but grinding ain't necessary. It's going to be a lot easier to figure out how to grind the wheat or cook it without grinding it when you have it, than it is trying to figure out how to get food when it's short.


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## Wester (Sep 6, 2010)

I'll have to keep the wheat idea in the back of my head for when my other goals are met. I suppose I could always go old school and use two flat rocks to grind it if necessary. :idea:


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## carlnet (Jul 29, 2010)

Wester said:


> I'll have to keep the wheat idea in the back of my head for when my other goals are met. I suppose I could always go old school and use two flat rocks to grind it if necessary. :idea:


Flat rocks are great. Just don't use sand stone unless you like a bit of sand in your flour...


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

Just a thought. If a millstone was made out of a very high quality concrete, would it function similar to the old, original stone millstone?


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

I watched a video showing another way to grind wheat or corn. I'll try to describe it but it was much easier when there was a video included with the text.

Take 3 pieces of 1' long, 1" diameter pipe. Set them on end on a flat surface holding them together in the shape of a triangle. Wrap duct tape or electrical tape tightly around them to hold them together.
Now take a metal coffee can about 6" in diameter, put about 1" of wheat in it and use the pipe apparatus and grind it to a semi-fine powder. Pour out the powder and repeat until you have enough to use in your recipe. 
It looked easy enough in the vid and the parts are easy to come by. I've never tried it but the guy doing it made it look quite simple. :dunno:


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## mdprepper (Jan 22, 2010)

Husband says concrete contains silica. Inhaling silica can cause Silicosis when inhaled, at least that is what they told him in an OSHA class.


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## SurviveNthrive (May 20, 2010)

If nothing else, you don't need to grind the stuff...

Straying away from my Sat and Sun breakfast involving three eggs, steak or some form of pig meat, potatoes and toast, or creamed beef, toast, and an egg on top, I opted for hot cereal. 

Using a small portion from one of my unmarked bags of wheat kernals, I put some wheat 'berries' in a pan last night with water to let it expand. This morning I drained off some of the water, added some milk and heated it. The cooking time is brief so there's not much fuel used. Make sure that you've given it enough time to expand (overnight for some, two days for others) before you cook and eat it.

I ate over half of what was in the pan as hot cereal and became sated. I'll take half and form it on a plate (or leave it in the pan) and put that in the fridge. I can cut that once it settles into a bar and eat the slices or if I didn't put the sugar in there, it'd be usable as a base starch with some meat and veggies on top. This can be done with most hot cereals and it was a component of many people's diet and it's good for rationing it.*

Something I normally eat? 

Heck no! To me it beats oatmeal as I don't like oatmeal, but if I were in a very lean period, I'd be very happy to have a bowl of this to provide a filling meal or be able to have a convenient 'bar' to grab and eat without having to do a lot fo prep work. This definitely would be tedious fare, but it's just one of many options I'm exploring and it cost pennies for what I ate and it's actually healthy! (Or so they say, I honestly believe we were designed to eat fatty meat and green veggies, not starches that require prep...but the Roman Legions lived primarily on grains with meager supplements of meat, fat, fruit and veggies.)

A variation of this I sometimes make is as a starchy side. I expand the wheat overnight, and take a frying pan and mix in garlic, salt, and dried tomato, and fry it quickly with butter or olive oil. It goes good with fire seared meat or fondued beef or lamb.


I store wheat and corn meal in #10 cans for long-term contingency ration baking. I ain't grinding nothing if I can avoid it.


For a good part of human history, grains were eaten as a hot cereal rather than bread and in many parts of the world this is more common as it's economical, fuel efficient, and less labor intensive. It'd be good to be able to eat something like this regularly during normal times, it's cheap!


*On rationing the 'loaf' or 'bar' cereal product. What some folks did was make a batch of a hot cereal, pour it into a suitable container, like a dresser drawer lined with wax paper, the bottom of a crate, or whatever, and once it set, cut it into equal portions with a knife like some soap makers do with their product. Then it could be eaten as needed in that bar form which would be convenient in a time when there was little convenience, or reheated with hot milk or water. The problem with doing this is when folks are trying to live on this exclusively as it's obviously vitamin deficient.


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

I cook wheat in the crockpot over night. In the morning I scoup it out like oatmeal and add whatever I want. sugar,honey,raisins etc. dab of butter maybe. I also make like a bread pudding using cooked wheat. I also cook up a bunch of wheat and freeze it in 1-2 cup sizes and then it is ready for the pudding.


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## SurviveNthrive (May 20, 2010)

Frey, that's a great idea!


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

I've never heard of these ideas for cooking wheat, SurviveNThrive and Frey! Thanks for the information. More options means more variety in what could become a boring diet!


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## Ezmerelda (Oct 17, 2010)

*Why wheat?*

I'm surprised no one went into the nutrition of using whole wheat! The white flour you buy at the grocery store only has nutritional value because the miller added some vitamins and minerals back to it.

Present day commercial millers sacrifice the bran, middlings, wheat germ, and wheat germ oil, where virtually all the goodness of the whole grain resides.The natural oils, vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber in whole wheat are removed to increase the shelf life of white flour.

See the chart of what is lost in refining here: The Whole Grain Guide

You can also make a decent meat substitute with wheat (seitan) from what I've read, but I haven't tried it yet: SEITAN--THE VEGETARIAN WHEAT MEAT -- The Vegetarian Resource Group

I transitioned my family to whole wheat pasta a few years ago, using the wholewheat offerings from the local grocery store, and we've always eaten store-bought whole wheat bread, so transitioning to home ground wheat products has been fairly smooth.

Also, if you have a natural foods co-op, you can buy bulk grains (40 lb. pails) for less per pound than you can find them at the local whole foods market.


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## lanahi (Jun 22, 2009)

Wheat is one of the most versatile foods there is, here's just a few examples, but you can google "wheat recipes" for hundreds more:

Recipes from "Passport to Survival" by Esther Dickey
Thermos Cooked wheat
1 c wheat
1 tsp salt
Soak wheat for 10 hrs in just enough water to cover it. Drain off water into a measured container, adding enough water to make 2 cups. Add salt and soaked grain and bring to a visible boil. Pour into pre-heated on quart thermos bottle. Tightly cap botle and turn it on side. Leave for about 10 hours.

Toastum Drink
Parched wheat, crushed fine and simmered in hot water, makes a good and tasty hot drink. Use 2-3 tablespoons to 1 cup of water, simmer, and strain.
Wheat can be parched in one of 3 ways:
1. Soak whole wheat overnight and then broil in over until dark brown.
2. Parch steamed whole wheat in over until dried out and dark.
3. Parch dry whole wheat in a corn popper or pan on top of stove.

Variation: To toastum drink made from very dark brown parched kernels, add cream, honey, vailla, and nutmeg. 

Whole Wheat Crackers
1-1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
4 tbsp water
Combine dry and wet ingredients separately, then mix togehter thoroughly. Roll out on an oiled cookie sheet and score. Bake at 325 degrees 20-30 min.

How to Make Graham Crackers
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup milk
Cream shortening and sugar. Mix dry ingredients. Add vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with milk. Mix well after each addition. Chill dough until firm, several hours or overnight. Divide dough into thirds. Roll out each portion on floured surface to rectangle 1/8 inch thick. Trim to 5 x 15 in rectangle. Cut into 6 - 2 1/2 x 5 inch rectangles.
Make a line down the center of the dough with the back edge of a knife. Place on greased baking sheets. Mark each square with prongs of a fork. Bake at 350 10 - 12 minutes or until crisp and edges are browned. Remove immediately from baking sheets and cool on wire racks.

Popped Wheat
¼ cup shortening
2 cups cooked wheat
Heat shortening in a cast iron skillet. Add wheat and cook. Wheat pops inside but not out like corn.

PASTA
1 cup flour
1 t. salt
1/3 c. water
Mix, knead, and roll out on floured surface until thin. Cut into narrow strips with a wheel slicer to make noodles. Let rest for a few hours before boiling or store dry. 

CRACKED WHEAT SAUSAGE OR HAMBURGER
For hamburger mix together.
* 1 cup cooked cracked wheat
* 1 T. oil
* 1 T. brown sugar
* 1 egg
* 2–3 dashes each onion and garlic salt from large bottle
* 1 beef bouillon cube or beef flavor base
* 2–5 T. flour

For sausage add to above mixture:
* 2–3 drops liquid smoke
* 1 t. worcestershire sauce
* 1 1/2 t. sage
* dash cayenne/red pepper
Fry in small amount of oil after mixing.


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## lanahi (Jun 22, 2009)

I have a Back to Basics flour mill which is a manual grinder. Most places it costs around $50 and I think does a fairly good job of grinding grains of all kinds. For harder grains, like dent corn for cornmeal, I also have a Corona flour mill that is easier to grind those larger seeds. I got both of them at yard sales for less than $10.
Amazon.com: Back to Basics 555 Grain Mill: Kitchen & Dining

Since I am a wild plant food forager, I also grind wild seeds and acorns for acorn meal, and I think it is a great survival prep. It takes more elbow grease than an electric one, but you should only grind enough grain to use right away anyway so the flour doesn't turn rancid, and it can be used when electricity goes down.

I buy whole wheat from a feed store, also buy oats and whole corn from there. It is just as good as anything you can get in other stores...it all comes from the same fields. The price of these grains are around $8 for a 50 pound bag. You could buy it even cheaper than that directly from a farmer who raises it. You just have to ask for untreated seeds (for feed and not for planting...treated seeds for planting is dyed a different color because of the chemicals they put on them so the seed doesn't rot in the ground).

Because they are whole grains, they can also be planted, as can dry beans and lentils. They can also be sprouted for vitamins, especially vitamin C in the winter time. The sprouts can also be used in making bread and in sandwiches, salads, soups, etc.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

Another great batch of recipes.

Copied to the recipe section.


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

I saw a few posts back of one recommendation of a hand mill... any others? Something that is quality and will last? Something you've been using for years already yourself? I was checking some out on Amazon the other day and most had mixed reviews. Even older discontinued is fine as I can watch garage sales and such for one.


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

There are two great books out there on Wheat cooking one is:
Cookin' with Home storage and the other is Wheat cookin' made easy. I own both of these books and they are my kitchen bibles. 

I know that beprepared.com has both and probably amazon. Through Amazon they might have them used. 

wheat is something that we eat everyday. Be careful though at the start. It is very fiberous and may cause a stomach upset if you go at it too fast. Build your system up over a week or so before going gun ho!!! Then you will be quite regular.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*wheat?*

I learned about using wheat back in the 70's when I lived on a street with many houses of hippy types. We bought wheat in 50 # bags, ground it, and took turns making the bread for the houses. We had a huge garden and ate lots of fresh veggies and healthy food. If I had never lived in that life style, I don't think I would get it about wheat like I do. It is rare for me to buy white bread, but I am amazed at how much white bread I see people buying in the store.

I also took a class at a Mormon church with a friend about preparedness more than 30 years ago. They were about 4 basics of food storage: wheat, powdered milk, honey and salt. You can survive on those 4 foods, plus water, etc.

We live in a time when most of the food in the grocery store is overprocessed and refined. On the upside, as busy people, we don't really have to work hard to eat and we don't have to do much to clean up, currently.

If you think of the potential collapse of our society, think of all of that processed stuff now being unavailable. You cannot save enough chips, cheetohs, bread, donuts, crackers, soda, ice cream, etc. that will last you potentially for 10 years. Wheat however, has been found in caves in parts of the world that is 1000's of years old that still sprouted. Wheat will last. You can plant some and grow some more. You can't do that with cheetohs, ding-dongs, soda... I can tell you that when the SHTF, I would love to have some processed food. When I think of the possibilities, I know that wheat is a much better choice, nutritionally and in bang for the buck in preparedness.

But I also know that variety is necessary. I have not limited myself to wheat. But it was a great place to start. There are many blogs and sites that show the many things to do with wheat. I have downloaded 100's of pages of recipes to cook with food storage. I read that if it is important, download and print it. The day is potentially coming when the recipe will not necessarily be accessible on the internet. There are many good books written about what to store and how to use it.

The Mormons have an important saying when it comes to food storage: store what you eat and eat what you store. So, thinking of this, I heard one woman say she was not going to have food storage because, "Wheat?" She did not want to eat food made with wheat and to deal with wheat. I think she was young and was used to eating lots of fast food and highly processed food.

I know many people who do not cook. They will put food in the microwave or oven, but the actual assembling of foods and cooking them does not exist in their lives. We live busy, hectic lives, and cooking takes work and the clean-up is more work. Many of us are exhausted from all the other demands of life.

Beginning to change how you eat will actually be better for you if you start cooking from scratch. It takes time for you and your family to adjust.

Baking bread can seem daunting. It is not a turn of the dial on the microwave! Consider a bread making machine. I found grinders, one electric and one hand at garage sales and craigslist. They were cheap but I looked for a while until I found them.

Consider breadmaking as a family activity. Get your family involved in making bread. If you make bread and it fails, try again. Try different recipes.

Best wishes! Start researching and trying soon!


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

No one around here has any grinders or mills... I have never seen one at a garage sale, ever.

I found my Nazco-Sunshine mill on eBay. I think it was $180 plus shipping.... a mere faction of what it cost new. I wanted a QUALITY one. If things go bad and I need to make edible stuff, I don't want to fuss with trying to make a "junky" mill work right (or keep working at all). I did buy a cheap hand-cranked mill with steel-burr wheels for a back-up. The flour is not as fine as what my stone ground mill makes, but it will do in a pinch.

As for stones.... are you familiar with powered "bench grinders"? Those grey stones that go round-and-round for sharpening shop tools is what the grinding stones on my mill appear to be made of


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## danerogers (Apr 30, 2011)

Thanks everyone for some great information about wheat. I've stored and eaten whole wheat for about 35 years. I have an electric mill and a Corona hand mill. These days I consume most of my wheat as whole berries cooked in a rice cooker. I have used the low energy method of placing a cup of wheat berries in a Stanley steel thermos, then filling with boiling water and leaving over night. Ready and still warm by morning. Very simple and efficient when my only heating source is wood.

I wanted to make a comment on what you said SurviveNthrive:



SurviveNthrive said:


> ... and it's actually healthy! (Or so they say, I honestly believe we were designed to eat fatty meat and green veggies, not starches that require prep...but the Roman Legions lived primarily on grains with meager supplements of meat, fat, fruit and veggies.)


Naturally, people should only store what they are willing to eat and most recognize that Americans don't usually make the healthiest choices. I would not argue (well, I do sometimes) with peoples choice of foods but I want to share a bit of science that is more pro-starch than Americans presently believe. Apparently most primates are limited to the tropical zones as their principle source of calories is fruit which is available year round in the tropics. As this paper describes, when comparing human DNA to other primates, we have on average, three times more copies of the gene to produce amylase which is the starch digesting enzyme produced in saliva. I suspect a principle reason humans were able to move out of Africa and colonized the entire world, is we developed the ability to utilize the energy storage mechanisms of plants - that is, starches. So we should never fear utilizing starches, especially for preparation storage because of all the attributes mentioned previously by others plus .... we are designed to digest them! The research paper can be from the following citation and link.

Perry GH, Dominy NJ, Claw KG, Lee AS, et al. Diet and the evolution of human amylase gene copy number variation. Nat Genet. 2007 Oct;39(10):1256-60. Diet and the evolution of human amylase gene copy number variation.


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## Hopetobeready (Apr 13, 2011)

I am in the storage process and there is a product called Hard White Wheat that you can use for bread, having a grinder of course. Don't know if it's ok to post this or not, but my supplier is beprepared.com. A #10 can is $8.25 and a SuperPail is $46.95. That is my next thing to buy. I am stocking dehydrated, freeze dried, dairy, etc. Having a large storage area is a problem because high temps tend to deteriorate the products which makes storing in a shed a problem. All we can do is all we can do, right?


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## Hopetobeready (Apr 13, 2011)

I'm not good at the research thing. Got a hint how to get to some of the blogs you were talking about? Sure do have a lot to learn.


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## Centraltn (Feb 21, 2011)

I have the Wonder Jr grain mill. It's fully manual. In about 15 mins you can grind 3 cups of wheat (or corn, for that matter) into 1 1/2 cups of wheat flour (or corn meal.. corse cornmeal if once thru the mill. Fine cornmeal = twice thru the mill). Don't grind the grain 'till you are ready to use it. It looses food value quite fast after grinding.


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

A great book to read is Food in History. It has all kinds of great info that can be applied to a survival situation.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

Near the top of this page weedygarden stated in her post: "I also took a class at a Mormon church with a friend about preparedness more than 30 years ago. They were about 4 basics of food storage: wheat, powdered milk, honey and salt. You can survive on those 4 foods, plus water, etc."

I'd like to elaborate on that. At first glance I thought that couldn't be right because there is nothing from the vegetable/fruit catagory and without vitamin C in the diet, a person would be at risk of scurvy. 

Then I thought of something. Whole wheat can be sprouted and eaten, and the greens would provide at least small amounts of vitamin C, enough to maintain health. Sprouted wheat looks like rich, green flat-bladed grass. No leaves. 

Something to try if a person needs to, to balance out some emergency rations.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

gypsysue said:


> Near the top of this page weedygarden stated in her post: "I also took a class at a Mormon church with a friend about preparedness more than 30 years ago. They were about 4 basics of food storage: wheat, powdered milk, honey and salt. You can survive on those 4 foods, plus water, etc."
> 
> I'd like to elaborate on that. At first glance I thought that couldn't be right because there is nothing from the vegetable/fruit catagory and without vitamin C in the diet, a person would be at risk of scurvy.
> 
> ...


That is right GypsySue: the wheat can be sprouted for the vegetable group.

Wheat is very versatile.

My mother grew up in the Great Depression. Recently, at a family funeral, my uncle told me they would buy wheat by the bushel. It had to be cleaned and they would sit around the table and sort out the rocks, seed by seed. Whole wheat was boiled for breakfast. There were 7 children in the family and a bushel of wheat lasted them about a month as breakfast food.

Her mom, my grandmother, told me about a time when they had nothing to eat. They learned what weeds they could pick to eat. They would cook the
leaves like greens. Not used to eating greens? I grow them in my garden and cook them with garlic, ham and seasonings and make cornbread. They can be seasoned to taste good and they have lots of nutrition if they are not overcooked.

I think it is a good idea to experiment with foods like wheat that is so inexpensive and stores for such a long time. I wish I had 30 years worth of wheat. Many people get a year's worth of food, thinking they can use some seed to grow some more. I am not sure that would be so easy to do.

Read food storage blogs. Experiment. Maybe have one day a week that is food storage food, eating things you don't normally eat. I am not talking about hitting up your 6 months supply of canned food, I am talking about trying new things such as homemade bread, beans, rice. You will learn new things and your family will slowly learn about wholesome foods.

When I read that some people don't really cook, I understand. Busy lives, convenient food, easy food, picky families. But I feel scared for you. Some people were not raised to know how to cook. Some people were not raised in homes where the family cooked. I've met people who grew up on t.v. dinners (old fashioned type). Gross!

I had a kid tell me that his school served gross food. They even serve chicken with bones in it. What has happened to us? I'll bet there are many children and people who would rather go to bed hungry than eat boiled wheat or weeds (not just any weeds mind you). Would your kids eat chicken with bones in it? Many wouldn't.


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## danerogers (Apr 30, 2011)

weedygarden said:


> ...
> My mother grew up in the Great Depression. ... Whole wheat was boiled for breakfast. ...I think it is a good idea to experiment with foods like wheat that is so inexpensive and stores for such a long time.


Shortly after getting into food storage 35 years ago, I started eating cooked whole wheat. Now, I cook it in a rice cooker. My favorite cereal as a kid was Wheaties. No point in paying General Mills to "process" my wheat into flakes (while loading it with sugar and salt) when I can have the better health of whole grains far cheaper.

People in difficult times such as the Great Depression, resort to simple foods such as "boiled wheat". Such fare then gets associated with poverty and it is avoided as a means of defining social status. In my opinion, we are far better off to voluntarily chose to move down the food chain (simple whole unprocessed plant foods) while simultaneously improving our health and greatly simplifying food storage. Win/Win!


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

danerogers said:


> Shortly after getting into food storage 35 years ago, I started eating cooked whole wheat. Now, I cook it in a rice cooker. My favorite cereal as a kid was Wheaties. No point in paying General Mills to "process" my wheat into flakes (while loading it with sugar and salt) when I can have the better health of whole grains far cheaper.
> 
> People in difficult times such as the Great Depression, resort to simple foods such as "boiled wheat". Such fare then gets associated with poverty and it is avoided as a means of defining social status. In my opinion, we are far better off to voluntarily chose to move down the food chain (simple whole unprocessed plant foods) while simultaneously improving our health and greatly simplifying food storage. Win/Win!


 We use to eat Cream of Wheat.The kids liked grits best,but I always liked the wheat cereal.I don't think wheat grows here in Fl.though.


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

gypsysue said:


> Whole wheat can be sprouted and eaten, and the greens would provide at least small amounts of vitamin C, enough to maintain health. Sprouted wheat looks like rich, green flat-bladed grass. No leaves.


Our cats love sprouted wheat! In stores, this "cat grass" is $4-$5 for a maybe 5" x 5" tray of it. A pound of wheat berries, a bag of potting soil and a couple of flower pots (maybe $10 total) and you've got a years supply for them.

I also planted a section of our garden this year with wheat just to get some experience with growing it... and later this year harvesting, threshing, etc. If I end up with enough even for just a single loaf of bread it will be worth it as I'll have the experience of growing it myself.


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