My New Toy - KitchenAid Grain Mill

Some may not consider a KitchenAid grain mill something worth getting excited over but to me it is one of the coolest things. There is something very comforting to me about getting back to the old way of cooking. I know that I am doing the very best I can to keep my family healthy with nourishing foods. Each time I attend a Weston Price conference I am more convinced of this. So much vitality and positive *emotion* flows from the people there. It's inspiring.

So now I have a grain mill. Why did I want this? For two reasons. Gluten free flours are more difficult to get quickly. This way I can stock the grains and grind as I need them. No more bags all over the house of 20 different flours. Of course there will be some that still remain like teff and sorghum. But brown rice and white rice are easy now. Second, as I read more I am learning that as soon as the kernel of the grain is broken it begins to deteriorate. The wonderful vitamins and oils within it begin to diminish and go rancid. Since we are eating food to be nourished it makes little sense to use something that is less than optimal. I have also read that rancid oils can be damaging to our bodies. That got my attention!

So now you can see what the grain mill looks like attached to the end of my mixer. A little tip for those of you who may want to buy one. Take your 20% off Coupon to Bed Bath & Beyond and have them order the grain mill for you. If you get it before the end of the year you can send a refund offer into KitchenAid for another 20% off. It's a great deal!

This is the end knob. You can see how it turns 360 degrees around to go from fine to course grind.

This is the top of the hopper - see the rice in the bottom. It's almost finished......

And here it is....... my first batch of freshly ground white rice flour. My next step is to learn how to soak my flour to get it to break down the phylates that make grains hard to digest. Nourishing Traditions book (by Sally Fallon) here I come.......

Keep watching my blog to see how my new adventure with a grain mill goes.

To your health.

Stephanie

Gluten Free Almond Bars

As Christmas approaches once more my memories return to my childhood of cookies and bars that my family made each year. One of these were almond bars. I loved them. That sweet center of gooey almond paste was hard to resist. But this year (and in recent years past) these old recipes remained a memory as they were loaded with gluten. As my skills have matured in converting old favorites I return to them one by one to re-create them. So yesterday I set out to make these bars. They turned out great and my children fell in love with them. They kept saying "Hmmmm.....Hmmmmm..... These are SOOOOOO YUMMY!" Yes I am raising true Dutch children with a passion for almond paste. So here it is.

Mix Together

1/2 lb Butter - softened

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1 Tsp Vanilla

In a Separate Bowl Sift Together
2 Cups Gluten Free Cake Flour Mix
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Combine sifted ingredients and butter mixture and chill.

Roll out 1/2 of the dough and place it in a 9 x 13" pan. (roll out between two pieces of waxed paper)

Filling - Mix the following together

3/4 lb Almond Paste

3 Eggs, unbeaten

1 Cup Sugar

Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes.

Put tilling on top of the dough in the pan and cover with the remaining rolled out dough.

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Merry Christmas!

Stephanie

Gluten Free Cut Out Cookies

We made gluten free cut out cookies tonight. I tried a recipe last Christmas but they just weren't like the ones we always made before going gluten free. So I set out to find another one. Google is my best friend in times like this. I stumbled on a recipe on the Land O Lakes website. This is a website I would have never thought to look for gluten free recipes. They turned out delicious! As you can see my children enjoyed piling in the sprinkles too.

Go here to see the "Star Cut Out Cookies" recipe.