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Putting the eat into wheat
Deseret News, Tuesday, March 18, 2003
Authors tell what to do with all that wheat stored in the basement
By Valerie Phillips
Deseret News food editor
When there's talk of war and calamities, the rest of the country might snap up duct tape. In Utah, the tendency is to store wheat.
Laura Seitz, Deseret News
The recent surge of interest in food storage has sprouted new wheat cookbooks and classes.
The problem is, many people think of wheat as something to store, not something to eat, says David Green of Orem, who authored "Eat That Wheat" with his wife, Laurie. They put it in their basement and forget about it for 20 years.
If you're suddenly forced to change from the typical diet of processed foods to whole wheat, your digestive system reacts with bloating, diarrhea and other side effects.
It's better to gradually make whole wheat a regular part of your meals, said Sandy Phelps of Huntsville. She and Pam Crockett wrote "Wheat Cookin' Made Easy," which uses wheat in everything from crepes to casseroles — brownies, tuna casserole, fried wheat (similar to fried rice), tacos and sloppy joes. Besides helping your body adjust to it, you're getting the nutritional benefits of eating whole grains.
Most people don't use their wheat because they don't think beyond grinding flour and making bread, said Phelps. "Many women say they work, so they're busy and don't have time to bake bread. But they will usually make cookies, and we've got some great cookie recipes."
"Wheat berries" star in many of "Wheat Cookin' " recipes. The kernels are soaked in boiling water so they become soft and chewy. Then they can be stored in the refrigerator until ready for use.
"If I make my wheat berries on Sunday, I can make you a nutritious meal in 15 minutes," said Phelps.
But some skeptics may still be remember the big food-storage wave in the '70s, when they got turned off by their mothers' efforts to sneak wheat into everything.
"Some people have that problem, a lot of times it's the husband who doesn't like the thought of eating wheat," said Phelps. "In that case, I encourage people to use the hard white wheat, because when you bake with it, it looks just like white bread."
"Wheat Cookin' Made Easy" provides recipes for using wheat for everything from cookies to brownies.
Laura Seitz, Deseret News
When she did a cooking demonstration in Farr West (near Ogden), a man in the audience heckled her. "But by the time I was through, he came up and tasted everything, and he called me later telling me he tried making things and how good they were."
Crockett got interested in wheat out of necessity in 1999 when her husband got a great deal on 10,000 pounds of wheat from a farmer in Idaho.
"When we finally had it canned and put away, we asked ourselves, 'What do we do with it?' " she said. So she began experimenting with different recipes and was invited to share her knowledge in cooking demonstrations. That led to self-publishing a cookbook with Phelps. The two conduct classes in Macey's supermarkets and Bosch kitchen stores, and are scheduled to do classes in New Hampshire, Arizona and San Diego. They sell their book at the Crockett Country Store in downtown Ogden, at Deseret Book and on their Web site, www.crockettscorner.com.
Besides main dishes and baked goods, the women demonstrate an easy "Thermos Wheat Cereal" prepared by pouring boiling water over whole kernels in a thermos and leaving them overnight. In the morning, the water is drained off, and the softened kernels are served either with milk and sugar, or with a little frozen juice concentrate.
"Eat That Wheat: Harvesting the Power of Germinated Wheat," focuses more on germinated (commonly thought of as sprouted) wheat. The wheat kernels are soaked overnight and left to develop little shoots, or sprouts. You can eat them as is, or grind them up and put them in other dishes. (But, says Green, don't grow the tiny shoots into longer sprouts for salads, because they will turn bitter. They should be just about the same length as the grain.)
Pam Crockett and Sandy Phelps show how to prepare Chinese Fried Wheat.
Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Green said that germinated wheat can be added more quickly to the diet because it's easier on the digestion system.
"When the wheat is germinated, the starches turn to simple sugars, and you can eat it without the stomach upset, and it slightly increases the nutritional value," he said. At about 10 cents per cup of sprouted wheat, it's also a nutritional bargain.
Many of the recipes in the Greens' book call for regular white flour and just 1/4 cup of germinated wheat.
"We found that people are a little leery of jumping in with both feet into the whole wheat world, so a lot of the recipes use white flour so they can gradually get into it. Then they can start substituting whole wheat flour a little at a time, and use honey for sugar and so on."
The Greens got involved in the late 1980s while teaching a workshop on weight control, which included information about nutrition and healthful eating. While doing research, they kept running across references to germinated wheat.
"One day we tried germinating some wheat and added it to a batch of bread we were making," David Green said. "We couldn't believe how fantastic it made the texture and flavor. We began collecting information and ideas for incorporating it into the everyday diet."
The Greens wrote their book but didn't self-publish it right away. "We felt like the missing link was the amount of work it took to sprout the wheat," he said. It's not complicated — the Greens did it for many years using a quart-size canning jar. But it does involve some soaking and rinsing, or the wheat can become moldy.
"Then we stumbled across a sprouting kit that's hands-down the best kit we've ever seen. So it motivated us to self-publish the book."
The book is sold as a package with the sprouter kit for $24.95 at Lehi Roller Mill or its Web site, Lehimill.com. Either can be bought separately for $14.95. The Greens also have a Web site, grainmania.com.
Nutrition experts have long advocated eating more whole grains, which contain all the vitamins, minerals and fiber found naturally before they are processed. Whole grains (such as whole wheat and oats) are associated with decreased risks for cancer and heart disease, lowering cholesterol levels, and promoting a healthy gastrointestinal system.
But whole wheat isn't a cure-all for every ailment, cautions dietitian Maria Givler.
"Whole grains are an essential part of a healthy diet. But one must be careful not to put too much emphasis on one product. There's no miracle food. A varied diet including one rich in fruits and vegetables and whole grains is more advantageous than focusing on one food."
SLOPPY JOES
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup green pepper, chopped
1 can tomato soup, or tomato sauce thinned with 1 cup tomato juice
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
1 1/2 cup cooked wheat berries
1 teaspoon chili powder
Saute ground beef, onions and green peppers. Add soup or sauce/juice, salt and pepper, and cooked wheat. Add chili powder and simmer 20-30 minutes until desired thickness is reached. Serve on buns or over rice. — "Wheat Cookin' Made Easy"
BISCUITS
If you're not used to whole wheat, make this recipe first with white flour and then gradually increase the ratio of white flour to whole wheat flour each time you make it.
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup germinated wheat, chopped
1/2 cup shortening
2/3 to 1 cup buttermilk
Mix together flour, salt, sugar, baking soda and baking powder in a medium bowl. Cut germinated wheat and shortening into flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. Add buttermilk to mixture a little at a time until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead (no more than 10 times). Pat or roll out to 3/4-inch thickness. Cut with 2-inch cookie cutter and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve immediately. — "Eat That Wheat"
WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
This recipe uses many staples from a typical food-storage supply.
6 tablespoons yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup dehydrated potato flakes
4 cups boiling water
1/2 cup dry non-fat milk
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 cup oil
1 cup honey
2 tablespoons salt
1 egg
8 cups whole wheat flour
8 cups white flour
1/2 cup germinated wheat
Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1 cup warm water. Set aside. Mix potato flakes with 4 cups boiling water. Set aside. Dissolve powdered milk in 1 1/2 cups cold water in a large mixing bowl. Add oil, honey, salt and egg and mix well. Add potato mixture to bowl and mix well. Add yeast mixture and mix well. Add flour and germinated wheat and continue mixing. Knead 10 minutes. If dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour. Cover. Let rise in warm place until double in size. Punch down and form into loaves. Let rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Makes 4 large or 7 small loaves. — "Eat That Wheat"
WHOLE WHEAT PANCAKES
You don't have to have a wheat grinder to make these pancakes. Just soften the wheat and let the blender do the rest.
3/4 cup wheat
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon honey
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
Soak wheat and put in refrigerator overnight. In the morning, drain and blend softened wheat in a blender with milk for 4 minutes. Blend in honey. Add yolks and blend 2 minutes. Add whites and blend another 2 minutes. Cook on hot griddle. These make thin pancakes that are delicious. — Lisa Pantone ,"Wheat Cookin' Made Easy"
HOMEMADE WHEAT BROWNIES
1 cube butter, melted
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds
Melt butter in microwave and add remaining ingredients one at a time, beating after each addition with the exception of the nuts. Stir nuts in last. Pour batter into greased 8-by-8-inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. This recipe can be doubled and put into a 9-by-13-inch pan. — "Wheat Cookin' Made Easy"
CHINESE FRIED WHEAT
3 cups cooked cold wheat berries
1/4 pound finely diced ham or bacon
1/4 cup cooking oil
4 green onions, sliced or 1 medium onion, minced
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
2 eggs
Place meat in hot, heavy skillet and stir-fry about 5 minutes until browned and cooked thoroughly. Add oil, wheat, green onions, salt and soy sauce. Cook and stir until heated through. Hollow a center in the wheat and break in eggs. Scramble until eggs are cooked; then stir into the balance of the mixture. — "Wheat Cookin' Made Easy"
E-MAIL: vphillips@desnews.com
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