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Q. Why do you recommend adding grains to almost every recipe?
A. The USDA recommends 6-11 servings of grains each day. That's 3-5 1/2 cups of whole grains! Most of those grains should be WHOLE, meaning whole, cracked, sprouted, or ground into flour, but NOT processed to refine out the bran (as in most commercial breads, cereals, cakes, cookies, etc.). It's easy to sneak in some barley or rice into a soup. Add rice or cracked wheat to a salad or sandwich filling, tacos or burritos. Add to a bowl of beans, or sprinkle on salads or pizza. Seasoned rices make great snacks!
Q. What do I look for in buying a mill to grind grains and beans?
A. 1) A good guarantee, in writing, that this mill will grind all types of grains and beans (with the possible exception of soybeans, which are very high in fat and tend to "cake" on mill parts). Any mill will grind grains, but some manufacturers say they will not guarantee their mill will grind beans.
Any mill is bound to malfunction at one time or another, but some companies stand behind their products and others make excuses why YOU should be responsible for payment on expensive repairs. I have had the best customer service with the K-Tec Kitchen Mill.
2) Look for one that mills at low temperatures to best preserve nutrients.
Q. What is the shelf life of bean and grain flours?
A. Beans and grains have a protective, full-of-fiber outer shell. Once that is broken (by cracking or grinding), nutrients decrease and deterioration begins. Fresh flours should be used within 1-2 weeks, or refrigerated. (Zip-loc freezer bags or wide mouth quart jars filled with bean flours freeze well and are easy to use.)
Ideally, flours should be ground just before using, especially wheat flour for making breads. As a test, I kept bean flours on the shelf for more than a year. While no flavor change was detected, I know that nutrients were lost.
Fresh, refrigerated or frozen is best!
Q. Why are wheat, beans and rice considered "basic" foods?
A. Grains and legumes combine to form a complete protein. Soybeans are complete by themselves. Vegetable proteins are more readily digestible and easier for our bodies to utilize.
Q. Why are cracked grains and beans used?
A. Cracking, like cutting or grating large vegetables, speeds cooking time. Bean flour, which is milled from dry beans, cooks in only 3 minutes, as compared to 3 hours for whole beans. Cracked wheat cooks in only 15 minutes, as compared to 1 hour for whole wheat.
Q. I wash beans before cooking. Do I have to wash them before grinding?
A. Some commercially packaged dry beans still contain bits of dirt and small rocks, but most are "triple cleaned" and require only a cursory inspection as they are poured into the grinding hopper.
Q. How can I add fiber to fast foods? Most of the time, that's all my family will eat! Usually, they only want what comes from a can or a box.
A. SNEAK it in! Find some of their favorite foods (pizza, tacos, hamburgers) and fortify them by adding beans, bean flours and grains.
Pizza: Sprinkle with 1 cup cooked brown rice and cover it up with chopped olives and cheese.
Tacos: Use cooked rice and beans instead of cooked meat. Once the taco seasoning is added, you can't tell the difference! (1 1/2 c. cooked rice, 1/2 c. cooked beans)
Burgers: If you use ground beef or ground poultry to make tacos or burgers, add 1/4 c. of bean flour and 1 cup of cooked brown rice to each cup of ground meat. Season with 2-3 t. beef or chicken bouillon, or a packaged seasoning mix.
Q. What kind of fats should I use?
A. Canola and olive oils are the best, but most vegetable oil is better than butter or other animal fats. To reduce or eliminate fats in baked goods or pancakes, replace fat with applesauce.
Q. When baking, why do recipes made with honey get so brown?
A. Honey darkens
when heated and browns at a lower temperature than sugar. Try
reducing the temperature by 25°.
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about Sprouts |
Q. My husband and family say they won't eat sprouts. How can I sneak them in so they won't notice?
A. Sprouted grains and beans (3-days or less) look much the same as regular grains and beans, so add them to soups, chili and chop them for patties and sandwich fillings.
Q. How many sprouts do we have to eat to get a full day's supply of Vitamin C?
A. The general rule of thumb is 1/2 cup. Sprouts with green leaves are the highest in ALL nutrients. Find some your family likes and keep them on hand, or grow your own. Clover and Buckwheat are my favorites.
Q. What happens to the nutrients in sprouts when they are cooked?
A. More than half the vitamins and minerals remain after cooking, unless cooked in water that is discarded. Stir-frying or lightly steaming sprouts would result in only a 20-30% loss of nutrients. However, raw is best, so try having adding raw sprouts to salads, sandwiches and drinks, or just eat them by the handful.
Q. How long do sprouts keep in the refrigerator?
A. For optimum nutrition, 3-4 days is best. Some varieties store longer before spoiling, but nutrients still decrease on a daily basis.
Q. What grains and seeds can be sprouted?
A. Anything capable of growing can be sprouted and eaten, but you must be careful not to use seeds treated with pesticides for use in gardening. They are POISON. Usually, (but not always) a pink dye has been added to treated seeds as a warning. If you're shopping for seeds and they are not labeled, ask before you buy! Seeds in a health food store would always be safe for sprouting, but seeds from a gardening or feed store should be checked out carefully.
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& Cheeses |
Q. What acids are used to curdle milk?
A. Any acid will curdle milk, but the best tasting 3-minute cheeses are made with rennet, fresh lemon juice, reconstituted lemon juice, white vinegar and ascorbic acid.
Q. What if I only have instant milk? Will that work in these recipes?
A. Instant crystals are fluffier than non-instant powder or instant powder, but they can be blended (dry) to reduce the crystal size, then measured and used in any of my recipes.
Q. How much non-instant milk does it take to make a gallon of drinkable milk?
A. When making milk, 3 cups of non-instant powdered milk makes 1 gallon of liquid milk. Most people have better luck if you mix milk 1/2 and 1/2 with regular milk. OR, add 1-2 cups of non-dairy creamer to each gallon.
Q. What seasonings can I use to flavor homemade cheeses?
A. Salt, onion
and garlic salt, seasoned salts, parsley, chives, sesame seeds,
caraway seeds, green chilies, hot peppers, olives, pimento and
buttermilk. If you mix these cheeses with commercial cheese and
use in a recipe, most people will never be able to tell the difference.
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