Growing Grains

http://sevenyearsofplenty.blogspot.com

From Seven Years of Plenty Blog

Wheat and other grains are essential to our basic food storage. In 1876 Brigham Young instructed the women to gather wheat and store it against a day of possible need. President Hinckley reflects upon this instruction, "Through the years hunger was alleviated because of this program. It reached its culmination in 1918 when the Relief Society wheat was sold to the United States government and used to alleviate starvation that had resulted from the scourge of the First World War. The money gained was reinvested."
“Ambitious to Do Good”", Ensign, Mar. 1992, 2

Sheri Dew also talks about the Relief Society storing wheat and helping those in need. She said, "Wheat, which had been stored since 1876, was sent to survivors of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and to World War I victims (the Relief Society sold 200,000 bushels to the U.S. government). During this period the Relief Society adopted the motto “Charity Never Faileth.”
 "“Something Extraordinary”", Ensign, Mar. 1992, 51

What great examples these early Relief Society sisters were to following the counsel they had been given. They also got to see the benefit of following that counsel. Aside from only storing wheat, this year I am going to try to grow some grains. It is very inexpensive, low-maintaince, and it is beautiful grass.

The best grains for home gardening are wheat, corn, oats, barley, buckwheat, millet, rye, and amaranth. Grains are simple to grow, as many grasses are. The book, “Homegrown Whole Grains: Grow, Harvest, and Cook Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rice, Corn, and More" is a great resource. There was an article about this book in the Richmond times a few weeks ago.

Oats - Germinates quickly but difficult to harvest unless you go with hull-less variety

Rye - Easy to harvest, very hardy. Has no hull.

Wheat - Easy to manage in gardens. Very common ingredient.

Buckwheat - Broadleaf plant with a strong flavor that often is milled into flour for pancakes.

Corn - One of the easiest crops to grow. It can be eaten fresh, ground into cornmeal or popped into popcorn.

Millet -Tasty when served like rice or added to foods for it’s crunch. Loaded with protein, B vitamins and minerals.

Amaranth - Tall, broadleaf plant that forms feathery plumes. The leaves can be cooked and eaten like spinach. Grains have a peppery taste and are rich in protein and other nutrients.

Roasting Squash and Pumpkin Seeds

How to Roast Squash and Pumpkin Seeds

October/November 2011
http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/roast-pumpkin-seeds-zmrz11zalt.aspx By Tabitha Alterman

Enlarge Image For a super snack, roast the seeds from your pumpkins and winter squash. PHOTO: TIM NAUMAN/WWW.TIMNAUMAN.COM

Pumpkin and squash seeds are loaded with protein and fiber, and they make a great energy-boosting snack or crunchy addition to many meals. Save these delicious and nutritious seeds from ending up in the compost heap in five easy steps.
Step 1: Soak
Scoop out the seed mass of the squash or pumpkin, and rinse the seeds in a strainer under running water. Don’t worry about getting all of the pulp off, because soaking them for a while will make it easier to rub the pulp off later. Allow the seeds to soak in a bowl of brine (half a teaspoon of kosher salt per cup of water) for a few hours.
Step 2: Rinse and Dry
Rinse the seeds in a strainer again, rubbing them between your fingers to loosen any remaining pulp. Scatter the seeds on a clean towel to dry for a few hours, or until they are dry to the touch.
Step 3: Season
Use whatever sounds yummy. Sweet and savory both work — be creative. First, toss the seeds with a little honey or oil to add flavor and help your seasonings stick. Try these tasty combos:
Sweet: honey, cinnamon, sugar
Spicy: olive oil, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, salt, pepper
Zingy: peanut oil, soy sauce, crumbled seaweed, ground ginger, spicy red chili sauce
Addictive: melted butter, thin slices of garlic, coarse sea salt
Step 4: Roast
Place the seeds in a baking dish and roast at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 to 15 minutes, tossing them around once or twice. They’ll be done when they’re golden, and they’ll become crunchier as they cool.
Step 5: Eat Up!
Try sweet seeds as a topping on yogurt or applesauce, and savory seeds on soups and salads. When eating the roasted seeds as a snack, you can bite off the pointed tip to crack the shell and enjoy the tasty inner seed meat.

Everyday Home Storage

Ensign/2012/03/everyday-home-storage

From the March 2012 Ensign

By Emily Jamison

Making home storage a part of our everyday lives.

When my husband, Brian, was a graduate student, we worked hard to stretch his small income so that I could stay home full time with our children. During one semester, unexpected school expenses significantly depleted our savings. We approached the birth of our second daughter with little more than condiments left in our refrigerator. Anxious about the future and unsure of what to do, I prayed.

As I prayed, my feelings of concern gave way to a calming reassurance that the Lord would provide. I’m not sure what I expected, but what the Lord sent was an idea: I recalled that my mother-in-law had given us some food storage a few months earlier. I searched through recipes, and the Lord inspired me with ways to use the canned goods to make tasty, nutritious meals. Although it took some creativity, our food storage sustained us over the next few months until the end of the semester.

That struggle helped me realize the importance of family home storage. My husband and I resolved to make a conscious effort to acquire more food, water, and savings for our growing family. For us, the best way to accomplish this was to find small ways to make family home storage a part of everyday life.

Starting Small

Over the next several months, I began to gradually build our home storage. Before each grocery shopping trip, I checked my list for items that would keep for at least three months and purchased additional quantities of those items. I made sure to buy food that was part of my family’s normal diet, which made it easier to rotate through it on a regular basis. Every few months, I bought wheat, rice, flour, and oats until we had built up a long-term supply. Our parents and others saw our determination to gather food storage, and they gave us some of their surplus. I frequently experimented with the storage items, using them to make homemade tortillas, bread, pasta, seasoned rice, and granola rather than purchasing these products from the grocery store. I also learned how to make my own yogurt and cheese using powdered milk. Whenever I wanted to make a certain recipe, I would consider whether I could make it from scratch and substitute ingredients that I already had in my house rather than purchase ingredients from the store.

Because we had limited space, we had to be creative. We kept our food storage under the bed. We also covered boxes and buckets of supplies with tablecloths and used them as decorative end tables.

Reestablishing our savings—our “financial storage”—was also important. Instead of dwelling on the limitations of our small earnings, we focused on making saving a regular practice. With every paycheck, we paid our tithing and then designated a percentage of the remaining funds to deposit into our savings account. Anytime we happened to receive extra income, we put the money in savings rather than use it to buy new furniture, fancy electronics, or other unnecessary items.

We made an effort to live on less. We separated our wants and needs by determining if items were essential or simply nice to have. Essentials included tithing, food, and shelter. We also decided that a phone was a necessity, but we chose a more basic option rather than the latest technology. We had resolved early in our marriage to not incur credit card debt. When Brian or I were tempted to buy something beyond our means, we helped each other maintain perspective.

As we took small steps, our savings and food supply grew at a steady rate. Within a year we had a long-term supply of grains, a three-month supply of food and water, and several months’ worth of savings. Living on less was hard, but it enabled us to build our home storage and be better prepared for the future.

Facing Adversity

Having met our home storage goals, we enjoyed a sense of security—for about a month. Then one morning a police officer called and asked me to come to the hospital emergency room right away. Brian had been in a bicycle accident on his way to school. Even though he had been wearing a helmet, he had sustained a traumatic brain injury.

When I got to the hospital and saw him in a coma-like state, I was scared. I was afraid that he might not live, or that if he did, that he might not be able to talk, read, or lead a normal life. Would he be able to continue his schooling? I felt anxiety not only about him but about our family’s future.

The doctors could offer no assurance that Brian would recover. But that day he received a priesthood blessing in which he was promised that he would fully recover and that his brain would function properly again, according to his and my faith. At that moment the Spirit whispered comfort to me and confirmed that the promises in the blessing would come to pass. With resolve, I chose to have faith and dismiss all doubts.

When my mind turned to how we would get by in the coming months, I was grateful that we had gotten our home storage in order. I knew that our family’s immediate needs would be taken care of for several months before I would need to consider obtaining employment.

Because our basic needs were met, I was able to focus on supporting Brian during his recovery while also remaining at home to care for our two girls. Priesthood blessings, prayers, and special fasts helped Brian recover quickly. He spent only five weeks in the hospital. Only three months after the accident, he was ready to go to work and school part time.

Moving Forward with Faith

Brian soon recovered his health enough to work full time, but by then the worldwide recession had hit. Most of his co-workers had been laid off, and his former position was no longer available. While Brian searched for adequate employment, we lived off of our food storage and savings. Through some temporary jobs, kind help from friends and family, and the blessings of the Lord, we did not have to go into debt, even though Brian’s search for employment went on for months.

When more than a year had gone by, we had very little left in savings and our food storage was running low. Although our circumstances seemed bleak, we had faith that the Lord would provide. Just in time, Brian was offered a position with income that was more than sufficient to meet our expenses. As soon as we were able, we recommenced our efforts to build our savings and food supply.

For us, home storage has become more than an item on a to-do list. It is an important part of Heavenly Father’s plan to provide for our families. Having our three-month supply helps us feel empowered and secure even during troubled times. We have reaped spiritual and temporal rewards by following the Lord’s counsel. When we are doing all we can to provide for ourselves and our families, He makes up the difference. He loves us, and He’ll make sure that our needs are met. We take comfort in knowing that as we move forward with faith, our family is prepared for whatever lies ahead.

For more information, visit the home storage section of providentliving.org or refer to the pamphlet All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage.

Start Establishing Family Home Storage Today

Here are some helpful tips to start establishing food storage and a financial reserve:

• • Designate an area in your home where you can keep your food storage.
• • Each time you go grocery shopping, pick up a few nutritious items that will store for several months to add to your storage.
• • Stock up on items when they are on sale, and buy in bulk when practical. Be sure to check expiration labels before you make the purchase.
• • Buy only items you know you’ll use so you can easily rotate through your food storage.
• • Store water in sturdy plastic juice or soft drink bottles that you have emptied and rinsed.
• • Order basic long-term food items such as wheat, flour, and oats from a Church home storage center or other trustworthy organization.
• • Designate a percentage of your monthly budget for food storage.
• • Start putting a percentage of your income or a certain dollar amount in a savings account each month.
• • Help others establish home storage by giving food storage items or money for savings accounts as gifts.

“We encourage Church members worldwide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings.”

The First Presidency, All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage (2007).

“With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve.”

The First Presidency, All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage (2007).

• Recipes that use food storage basics
• Food storage under bed
• Extra food storage disguised as a decorative end table
• Additional food storage purchased during regular shopping trip
• Money reserved for savings account
• Budget allocating money for food storage and savings

Cooking With Pumpkin: a Creative Challenge

September/October 1973
http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/cooking-with-pumpkin-zmaz73sozraw.aspx By Barbara Bambinger

Enlarge Image Though their vines are prolific, cooking with pumpkin can be a challenge. PHOTO: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF

We may well have had the smallest pumpkin patch in Quebec last fall ... but even so, its productivity overwhelmed us. We'd never grown the crop before and hadn't expected the vines to proliferate so generously.
We were pleased with our success but at the same time in a quandary as to what could be done with our healthy harvest. How were two stomachs going to dispose of 21 "symbols of harvest" before the first frost? Making one jack-o'-lantern and giving three pumpkins to each of our two neighbors still left us with 14 offspring ... not enough to set up a stall in the market, but far too many to convert into pies.
To the rescue (for the thousand-and-first time) our French neighbor! ... who informed us that in the old country pumpkins are used to create delicate soufflés, hearty soups, intriguing main or side dishes, and an endless variety of desserts. Sure enough. With just a little effort, we soon found more pumpkin recipes from all over the world than we were able to try with only 14 of the delicious gourds.
Cooking with pumpkin is as rich in its challenge to creative cooks as pumpkin pulp is rich in vitamin A. Being rather bland, the pulp lends itself beautifully to stuffings, spice mixtures, and imaginative combinations. One pound serves two people generously.
To steam pumpkin, clean and peel the fruit and cut it into small pieces. Cook the chunks in a covered pan, along with a small amount of water, until they're tender ... 25-35 minutes. Serve the dish with butter and a dash of nutmeg, or mashed in place of potatoes.
To bake one of the gourds, slice it in half or cut a lid from its top, and clean out the inner seeds and pulp. Brush the inside with butter and sprinkle it with brown sugar or pumpkin spices. Set the golden globe in a 350° oven until it's tender ... about an hour if the fruit is whole, less if it's cut in small pieces.
Pumpkins can be used interchangeably in recipes which call for winter squash. Here are just a few of the many other possible ways to prepare this truly international comestible (all recipes serve six):

Sopa De Abobora

(Brazil)
Puree 1 1/2 cups of cooked pumpkin, place the pulp in the top of a double boiler and add:

  3 cups bouillon
  1/4 cup minced green pepper
  1/4 cup minced onion
  1 tsp. basil or chervil
  dash of nutmeg
  salt and pepper to taste

Heat the mixture over water until it boils. Combine and add:

  1 -1 /2 cups heavy cream
  3 egg yolks

Cook and stir the dish briefly until the desired thickness is reached. Serve it hot with croutons or fresh parsley garnish.

Jack-On-The-Table

Cut a lid from the top of a pumpkin and remove the seeds and strings as you would for a jack-o'-lantern. Brush the inside of the cavity with butter, replace the cover and bake the gourd at 350° for 40 minutes.

Baste the inside of the pumpkin with one-half of this warm mixture:

  1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
  1/4 cup honey
  1/4 cup apple juice
  1/2 tsp. fresh-ground nutmeg

Bake the "Jack" 40 minutes more, or until it's tender. Then place the pumpkin on the table and scoop out servings from the inside or cut the wall into wedges. Top each portion with some of the remaining warm butter mixture.

Calabaza con Arroz

(pumpkin with rice)
  2 cups cooked pumpkin (mashed)
  1 1/4 cups cooked rice
  1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
  1/4 cup butter or rnargarine
  2 Tbs. honey
  1 tsp. salt

Cook and stir these ingredients over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes.

Tumpa meo Protein

(Swedish pumpkin with protein)
Preheat the oven to 450°. Grease a baking dish and sprinkle it with fine
crumbs.
Combine:
  2 cups cooked pumpkin (mashed)
  2 cups cottage cheese
  2/3 cup honey
  2 eggs, slightly beaten
  1 tsp. cardamon
  1/2 tsp. each of clove, mace and ginger

Put these ingredients in the prepared dish and bake them 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325° and cook the pumpkin 40 to 50 minutes longer until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Pickled Pumpkin

Peel and cut into one-inch cubes:
  4 cups pumpkin pieces
Bring to a boil:
  1 cup sugar
  3/4 cup white vinegar
  1/4 cup dark corn syrup
  1/2 cinnamon stick, crushed
  6 whole cloves
  2 tsp. fresh-grated ginger

Add the pumpkin and cook the mixture slowly until it's tender ... about 45
minutes. Pour the pickle into a quart Mason jar, covet it tightly and
refrigerate the mixture.

Halloween Ice Cream

Cook and stir over gentle heat until well blended and hot but not boiling:
  1/2 cup milk
  1/4 cup honey
Combine:
  1 cup cooked pumpkin (mashed)
  1/4 tsp. each of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt

Stir the milk and honey into the pumpkin and chill the mixture. Fold in:
  1 cup heavy cream, whipped

Freeze the ice cream until it's solid.

Kabak Tatlisi

(Turkish Pumpkin Dessert)
Peel, clean and cube a small pumpkin. Sprinkle it with 1 1/2 cups of brown
sugar ( or honey) and steam it gently in a small amount of water. Garnish the
dessert with a scoop of plain yogurt and chopped or ground walnuts.