Sunday, October 9, 2011

REAL Cream of Wheat

Have you ever made homemade cream of wheat?  It does not even resemble the stuff you buy in the box and it is YUMMY, and so good for you.  I made some this week and took pictures in case you have not tried it. 

First you need to grind the wheat very coarsely.  My electric wheat grinder can't do coarse enough.  My hand grinder can but it's too big of a pain to drag out so I use this handy little coffee grinder.  (You can also use a blender with the pulse setting.)

Just put a handful of wheat in there and grind it until it looks roughly like this:




I actually usually don't do it quite this fine because I like the larger pieces in my cereal. They kind of pop in your mouth when you are eating them and they are SO good! Anyway, once you grind your wheat, bring about 1 cup of milk and a pinch of salt almost to a boil on the stove and then add 1/2 cup of your ground wheat. Whisk it to prevent lumps.




Cook over low heat 10-20 minutes depending on how fine you have ground your wheat.  Use the longer time for more coarse wheat.  You also may need to add more milk to get the desired thickness.  Continue to stir ocassionally.  When the cereal is cooked add a half a tsp of vanilla and brown sugar if you want - I definitely do!


Yea I do stir that in before I eat it  :)

One of my favorite breakfasts on a cold morning, and it is really good for you (minus the brown sugar maybe  :)

Also, I found Ghee on sale at Costco this month!  If you don't know what that is, it's clarified butter.  Keeps for 6-12 months and does not need to be refrigerated.  I bought a Costco sized bottle for just $15 which is a screamin good deal for Ghee.


The guy at checkout was fairly dubious I knew what to do with this.  He said, "Do you know what this is?"  I promised him I did.  He was not convinced and said, looking at my lilly white skin "You know Indians are the ones who use this."  HaHa!


Ghee on homemade bread
 Anyway, if you've never used Ghee it does taste like butter but has a more grainy texture.  It will become hard if you put it in the fridge but on the counter stays at a more liquid state.  It does melt normally on toast and stuff but definitely takes some getting used to.  Believe me, if it's all you had, you would LOVE it.  However, it does need to be rotated regularly with such a short shelf life so if your family doesn't like it enough to use it now it might not work for you.

Also, if you live near a WinCo - ours began carrying Gamma lids a short while ago and they are just $6.49!  That is a great price and I love these screw on lids for 5 gallon buckets.  It's so much easier to get in and out of my buckets and keep things rotated.  I did notice that Emergency Essentials also has them on sale right now if you need some and don't have a WinCo.