Grain foods mixing and baking system

Cakes and muffins made out of minimally processed nutritionally dense ingredients can supply a large portion of your dietary needs. A basic recipe can be altered to supply what ever blend of elements your body needs for a given activity or environment.

For example, take a basic biscuit recipe:

2 cups flour

1 tblsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

¾ tblsp salt

5 tblsp shortening

1 cup milk

And Replace the

2 cups flour with 2 cups grains, seeds, and or sprouts

5 tblsp shortening with flax meal, and olive oil, grape seed oil, sesame oil, hemp oil, honey and/or blackstrap molasses

And the milk with almond milk, rice milk or soy milk or just mix hot water and nut/seed meal to make milk.

You can do the same with any recipe. Look for nutritionally dense preferably organically grown ingredients to replace the more conventional ones. Flax seed meal in combination with pumpkin seed meal, or hemp seed ground fine replaces any oils butters, or shortening, called for in a baking recipe, with natural high protein oils that contain balanced omega oils.

Ground almonds, soy nuts hazel nuts or walnuts, soaked in hot water can be used instead of milk for baking, or strained through a cheese cloth or fine strainer for milk to drink. This eliminates the packaging and need for refrigeration while guarantying freshness.

Sprouting the grains and seeds prior to baking with them greatly increases the nutritional value. All of the nutritional elements in a mature plant are contained in the seeds, in the first couple of days of sprouting the nutritional value is at peak. Dry the sprouts back and grind them to a meal or just add them green.

Grind the dry ingredients into fine flour using a hand grinder or blender. Mix in pre-ground flours, the spices you want to use, add baking soda and or powder which is optional and some believe unhealthful. Then add the honey, black strap molasses, and oils. Mix this semi dry batter with a large wooden spoon or spatula until it is moist yet crumbly. This step is called cutting in the butter in a conventional biscuit recipe. Next add the milk or water and mix to a sticky moist consistency.

The batter should be sticky enough to need to be spooned into the oiled muffin tin or onto a cookie sheet using a second spoon to slide the batter off. You can also use two wooden spoons to form rounded patties. The thicker you make what ever form you use the longer it will take to cook and the longer it will remain moist. Bake at 200 degrees or less to keep from degrading the oils. The baking time will vary according to the moistness of the batter, the temperature, and cooking method, as well as the shape and thickness of the baked good. You want a somewhat solid feel on top when you press down with your finger. Overcooking dries them out.

The cakes come out soft and moist about the consistency a good fruitcake. They stay moist if placed in a zip lock baggie or re-sealable container. They should keep for several days. Do some shelf life tests to get an idea of how long the biscuits would keep under various conditions where you are. Temperature, humidity, and exposure to air would all be conditions to consider.

If you want muffins make the batter a little looser and add extra sweeteners, an egg or fruit if you like to mix fruit with proteins. Using a little six muffin tray would allow you to add different ingredients to each muffin to make breakfast lunch and dessert muffins at the same time. Pour the muffin mix into the cups or muffin pan, add peppers, berries, herbs, spices, or medicinal plants to each individual cup. Adjusting the recipe to be dryer and more savory, instead of sweet, results in something like a scone. Use beans, cooked rice or TVP with peppers, sage, basil, or oregano, and flatten into patties, to make veggie burgers.

PICTURES OF CAKES AND MUFFINS BAKING, COOLING, STORED

These recipes can be composed in such a way that they contain more digestible protein than steak, over a gram of balanced omega oils, a full spectrum of amino acids, complex carbohydrates and practically everything else you would need in your diet in one neat portable package.

Want to do the math?

Check out http://www.nal.usda.gov for the official word on nutritional values.

This page http://nutrientfinder.com looks real complete. Foods effect different people differently. Genetics and past eating habits will effect the way you process different foods. If you’re not used to whole grains your body will need time to adjust to them, introduce them gradually in to your diet.

A good grinder for grinding seeds, grains, nuts, berries, and sprouts into flour, as you need them would reduce spoilage and maximize the nutritional value of your ingredients. Any food looses nutritional value during processing, so minimize the processing that occurs. Flours can begin to turn rancid within days of being ground just like vegetables quickly begin to degrade once they’ve been chopped up. A good hand grinder can grind up enough for a dozen biscuits, patties or muffins in about 15 minutes.

Check out this review on grinders http://www.waltonfeed.com/self/grinder.html

Packing the “Cooler”

A Portable, Air Tight Kitchen Cupboard

Using an ice chest to store grains, seeds, and other baking goods, helps to stabilize the temperature and keep things from getting too moist or too dry. The tight seal of a good cooler keeps the bugs out, using this method prevents losing any grains to bugs or mold. Don’t store fruit or vegetables in the same cooler as the moisture will cause problems.

PICTURE OF COOLER PACKED

Zip Lock style freezer bags are tough and reusable and will help to keep the smells and tastes of the various ingredients from mixing. They also change shape to fit the contents and save space. If you’re storing your honey, molasses, and oils in the same cooler make sure the containers are clean and dry before putting them in with the dry goods, and put them in a zip lock for added protection from spills.

This is what you might want to have in your cooler:

Baking Soda (aluminum free)

Baking Powder

Salt

Flours

Wheat Rye Spelt Soy Amaranth

Brown rice Buck wheat Pumpernickle Mesquite Corn Meal

Grains and seeds for grinding or sprouting

Spelt Berries Hard red wheat berries Soft wheat berries Barley Acorns Almonds Walnuts Hazelnuts Rolled oats or a multi grain cereal

Flax Seed golden and red Chia seed Hemp seed Pumpkin seed Sun flower seeds Sesame seed Fenugreek seed Alfalfa Garbanzos

Sweeteners, oils, and spices

Black Strap Molasses Honey Olive oil Sesame oil Grape seed oil Cayenne Wheat Germ and Nutritional Yeast

Cinnamon Carob Brown Sugar Turmeric Cardamom Coriander Ginger

Baking in a sun oven at low temperature or in a dehydrator preserves the nutritional value of the ingredients while eliminating the need for fuel. If you do use a gas or electric oven keep the temperature below 200 degrees.

I have been using an old blackened pizza pan, a clear oven safe mixing bowl and a wooden spoon/spatula to make the cakes. You mix the cakes (dry ingredients first) in the bowl spoon them out on to the pizza pan and then, after cleaning and drying the bowl, turn it upside down on the pan covering the biscuits and place it off the ground and in the sun. Cooking time is 2-3 hours depending on the time of day, the season, cloud cover etc. If you put this assembly in a solar oven or a box lined with foil you will significantly reduce the cooking time.

PICTURES 0F STORE BOUGHT SUN OVEN AND A COUPLE OF HOME MADE

If you want to build your own solar oven check out http://www.solarcooking.org/plans.htm

Or buy one at http://www.sunoven.com

Try these basic ideas, use as much local fresh ingredients as you can. Expand upon the recipe to include your own special blend of flavors textures and nutrition. Adjust your recipes to fit your dietary requirements and personal tastes.

Enjoy

Barton Hiatt