Grain Milling and Bread Making Demo!

About a month ago, I hosted several mom friends from my children's school over for a little grain milling/ bread making demo! It was a fun morning watching the ladies sample all of the baked goods I had prepared, and I then enjoyed demo'ing my little hobby for them. I don't think there is a mom out there that doesn't want to learn new ways to bring healthier food to their families table, so most of these mom's were here for that very reason. There is a ton of information under the Health Benefits section of this blog explaining why in the world any normal person would care to mill their own grains.  If this is a new concept to you, that would be a great starting point!  Then take a look at my first post, "How I got started milling my own grains...." for additional background!

For the sampling, I prepared Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls, Kamut Dinner Rolls, Ezekiel Muffins with Millet and Chocolate Chips, Honey Whole Wheat Bread, and Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Flax Cookies.

Rachel over at Simple Girl is owed all photo credits for this post. Not only is she savvy with the camera, she also has some mad skills in the kitchen....most notably in making cupcakes! Check out her blog and you will surely be inspired, or at the least, drool a little. We are so very blessed to have a multi-talented mom like Rachel at our children's school as she is constantly using her baking and photography skills (to name a few!) for all types of school events.....and sometimes just to simply bless the teachers with cupcakes!

Here are several of Rachel's beautiful photographs from the demo:

Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls

Kamut Dinner Rolls

Ezekiel Muffins with Millet and Chocolate Chips

Honey Whole Wheat Bread (not one of my "prettiest" loafs, but still delish)



Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Flax Cookies


Freshly Milled Hard Red Wheat Flour for use in a bread recipe

These are the 6 gallon grain buckets that I purchase from Breadbeckers. The green lid is Kamut, white lid is hard white wheat and the red lid is hard white wheat. I have more info listed under the Supplies tab on this blog detailing how to purchase the grains.

Hard Red Wheat

Ezekiel Blend of Grains and Beans (contains: hard red wheat, spelt, hulled barley, millet, green lentils, great northern beans, red kidney beans and pinto beans). I use this flour mostly for muffins, pancakes and waffles. However, you can also make a loaf of yeast bread with it, it will just be denser since the grain/bean combination lacks the gluten content necessary for a good rise.

Sucanat (this is your healthier alternative to refined brown sugar)

Sucanat with Honey or also called Honey Crystals (this is your healthier alternative to refined white sugar)

Maybe some day I'll charge a small fee to do classes like this? That's for sure a "maybe"........sometimes I just prefer to keep a hobby as a hobby and not as a business endeavor :) Thanks again to the ladies that joined us for the demo and sampling. A few of them have already decided this grain milling/ bread making from home is not at all as complicated or time consuming as they had imagined and have already purchased the goods to do it from their own homes!