A friend and I went yesterday to a place called Bread Beckers in Woodstock, GA. We have another friend who mills her own grain, and we were interested in doing that if the benefits seemed to be worth it. We both came to the conclusion that it was, so we both purchased a grain mill and some grain. I got hard white wheat, soft white wheat, and hard red wheat. Her main purpose is to help with some health issues her son has. My main purpose is to help regulate my blood sugar, as well as for overall colon health.

Why mill yourself instead of just buying whole grain flour? Well, this is how it was explained to me. You should only mill what you are going to use RIGHT THEN. The hull on the outside protects all the vitamins within. When the grain is milled, oxidation begins and the vitamins start disappearing. The sooner you use the flour, the more vitamins you get to keep. You can mill extra and store it, but you will lose a lot of the vitamins, although you will still have the protein and the fiber. It took me about 30 seconds to mill what I used last night. Because, even though it was late, I just had to try my first batch of bread. I was skeptical of the taste, although I was willing to tolerate it if it had the health benefits claimed. It tasted amazing! I had a slice last night, and for breakfast this morning, I had some with homemade paneer cheese fried in butter. The bread was a nice brown color, partly from the red wheat and partly from the honey. As a diabetic, I was a little uneasy about using honey, but I realized that there was just a little bit of honey, and the whole grain probably balanced out everything. Some people make the mistake of thinking diabetics aren’t supposed to eat carbs. We are supposed to eat GOOD carbs, such as whole grains and beans. Not so much white bread.

Okay, what does this mean about eating out and eating bread or hamburger buns that aren’t whole grains? I believe in moderation, not obsession. So, yeah, I’m going to eat bread at O’Charley’s or burgers at Steak N Shake. But not ALL THE TIME. I’m not going nuts about this, just like I didn’t go nuts about only using homemade beauty products. I do what I can, but I don’t go crazy with it. I plan on making lots of bread with this new milled grain. There’s really no reason to buy bread in the store anymore, so I know I’ll always have healthy bread at home. This means not only will I be eating healthier, I’ll be SAVING MONEY. I don’t know if my husband will be on board with this or not, since he was already gone to work when I got home last night. We’ll see. 🙂

Incidentally, this store is a cook’s dream. All kinds of kitchen gadgets, large and small. And they have all kinds of grains, not just wheat. They have beans, brown rice, spelt, corn…just about everything. I wish I could have afforded a bread maker. I have one, but it doesn’t make a large 2 lb. loaf. My friend ended up spending LOTS of money there. I was a little more conservative since I’m broke. LOL