"McDonalds" Pancakes

Me: "Good Morning, what would you like for breakfast today?"
The Brood: "Pancakes"
Me: "What kind of pancakes would you like?"
The Brood: "McDonald's Pancakes"

McDonalds pancakes.. easy. Now I don't make these like the restaurant. I don't use preservatives, weird oils, and "white" flour. Originally I made these using a few tablespoons of cannery vanilla pudding, but since I am out of that, I just add some vanilla.

Now mind you, I don't use store bought flours. I know, I am weird. I make my own all-purpose flour. Yes I grind the grains myself. Remember you can use beans for oil, which I did today! The kids didn't notice a difference either. Give this recipe a try.

Our version of McDonalds Pancakes:

1 egg
2 TBS oil, or bean puree
3/4 cup sour milk (usually reconstituted powdered milk, and I put 2 tsp lemon juice in it)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 TBS sugar
1TBS baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 handful of oatmeal

Mix it all up and cook it on a hot griddle. Now for our family I did multiply this by 4. IF any leftover batter, then I store it in a jar in the fridge. Usually someone wants pancakes when everyone else is having eggs.

It will never happen to me.

Ok I have a story for you to read. My friend Crystal posted this on her site. Please read it.. I hope it opens your eyes.  There is a recipe, but more importantly read the story under the recipe. We are running out of time.

Grain mill, cooking source??????

OH CRUD!!!!  What can you do? I STRONGLY, no, I VERY STRONGLY suggest you get a Family Grain Mill. I am still willing to put together a group buy on this. This awesome grain mill is awesome (hee hee). You can do so much with it. .... Flake grains, grind meat, grind spices, slice veggies

Grains.. with out a grain mill there is only really two ways to use it. Sprout it and boil it.  Ok, So that is one thing you can do with your wheat. IF you have your grain mill you can grind your wheat into flour, cracked wheat or even farina (cream of wheat). So right there you have 3 different textures to work with. Now if you have the flaker, WOW you can make wheatmeal or oatmeal because if you have wheat or oats you can flake them.

StoveTec Deluxe Metal Lined Wood Stove

Here we are talking about heating and eating cereals and such and how on earth will we cook them??? IF you have access to electricity or natural gas, then it is easy peasy.. but what if it is like we expect, no power, no gas.. And not at home?  Well there is always fires ... but I have found something really neat called a Rocket stove, it uses wood or coal to heat. It is really  neat and will fit just about anysize pan. Again, trying to do a bulk buy on these!!!!  Here is a picture of the 3 wood models available. These are great as you can also make charcoal in them.

StoveTec Eco Ceramic One Door Woodstove



StoveTec One Door Economy Stove (The Original!)

Ok, so lets say we have a way to cook, now you can make your cereals. You could also use your Saratoga Jack Cooker for some things if you had one.



Saratoga Jack Cooker



Also, butane single burners are a neat thing, and the fuel is not expensive if you know where to get it.

So here it is, I am willing to do a bulk buy on the Family Grain Mill, Saratogoa Jack Cookers and Rocket stoves, I just need everyone to let me know. I plan on doing this as our Christmas gift to our family. And yes with a group buy we do get much better pricing!!  Saratoga Jacks is an LDS company.

All Purpose Flour

Here is my recipe for All-Purpose Flour:

I use a 4:1 ratio.. mostly.

4 cups soft white wheat
1 cup kamut
1 cup triticale
1 cup oat groats (not rolled!)
1 cup barley
1 cup rye (if I have it)
1 cup raw buckwheat
1/2 cup cheap white rice

I mix these grains then put them through my grain mill on the finest setting. I use cup for cup in place of store bought all-purpose flour.   If I don't have any of the 1 cup or less grains then I just go with out them. No big deal. Usually all-purpose flour is made from just barley and soft white wheat. But I like to get more grains in there. Occasionally I will throw in a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of lentils too.. Just to add some protein.

OR try this one as I know alot of those grains are not easy to get. Again, I use a 4:1 ratio

4 cups soft white wheat
1 cup barley

Preparedness... why we do it.

I have been trying to come up with a post for a week. I have been so busy doing other things, that even the ones I had in draft I thought were lousy. SO, LDS Preppers wrote a FABULOUS!!!!!   article and I'd like to share it with you. Please go check it out. It is a little long, but a good read!

I have been a member of LDS Preppers for a long time, but I do not write anything there, I glean info and learn. But please go check out this article that someone wrote. Thanks!!!

Questions and answers on Grain mills and wheat/flour.

Thank you for last night!! It was fun. Here are more questions and answers :) I would like to do a bulk grain mill order, I have done 3 of these before for my homeschool group. Please share this info with others!! Especially if they are not on my email list :) The group grain mill order is extended to everyone, but picking up grain mills will be at my house, this way we save money on the large order and on shipping.

Kitchen Mill by Blend-Tec (the LOUD one)

FGM = Family Grain Mill (it was the one in the middle, cute, little) here it is with pictures of the attachments too!!!!

CLM = Country Living Mill (the big pretty one with the big fly wheel)

How much does each grain mill cost?

Country Living Grain Mill approx $410 FREE S&H

Kitchen Mill by Blendtec (the LOUD one) $200

Family Grain Mill (just the grain mill with hand crank base, no other attachments) $140 FREE S&H

with Motor $270

**IF you have a bosch or kitchen aid, the FGM has an attachment so you may use that as your motor!! ALSO, I have a place that will give me a deal on FGM and attachments if ordered together!

attachments for the FGM include: Flaker, Vegetable processor, and meat grinder usually about $75 EACH.. But again, I can get lower pricing if these are ordered WITH the mill.

If you could only get one grain mill, which one would you get?

Great question! At first I would say the CLM because I have always wanted it. But that would be my heart, not my practical mind. So in all honesty, if I could only get one, it would be the first one I ever got, the FGM. Why? I can do a coarse or fine grind, yes for bread I would have to do a fine grind and grind the flour twice, but that's ok with me. Also, the FGM is LIGHT, STRONG, easy to pack. I take this camping with us. I can set it up just about anywhere and use it. I would NEVER get the KM again!!! In all honesty I think this was cheaply made, and it is sooo loud! Even double ear protection hurts my ears. I love my CLM, but I can't use it for meat or as a veggie processor; and it is so heavy I wouldn't want it in my hand cart! The FGM is easy to pack, and if you just want it for emergencies, the price is good.

What protein content for wheat do you use?

First off, depending on where the wheat comes from and what kind it is will determine a lot! I do not like Utah wheat, the protein is about 12% which is the lowest for a hard wheat. It also is usually a bag full of rocks and dirt clumps!

You want to be choosy with your wheat. The best wheat is Montana wheat, it's protein is usually 15 to 16%, the highest you can get. I use Prairie Gold, which yes, is a hybrid, but makes wonderful bread. I order my Prairie Gold Montana Wheat or Bronze Chief Montana Wheat through Champion Grocer in Issaquah on Maple Street.

How much flour do you get from a 50-lb bag of wheat?

Ok, fun stuff.. 50-lbs is not even a bushel!! A bushel of wheat is 60 pounds, which usually makes 90 or more loaves of bread, alot matters, how fine the grind, humidity, how big the loaf is. AND if you use only hard wheat.

How do you make all-purpose flour?

Well, I just go out into my back yard, pick a bunch of grass seed and grind away.. NAH, just kidding. I use low protein, low gluten grains for my all-purpose flour. I use SOFT white wheat, barley, rye, triticale, kamut, buckwheat, oats and sometimes add in some rice. So the other day I used 2 cups of soft wheat, and 1 cup each of barley, triticale, rye, kamut and oats. It was close at hand. I mixed all the grains in a bowl, then add to my grinder. I also stir my flour before using.

When I tried to make whole wheat bread it didn't hold together well. I got my flour from costco..

Ok, the flour at costco is pastry flour. So in other words soft wheat, LOW gluten. You need gluten to make a gluten bread like a yeast bread. It would make better cookies than bread.

Your bread is so moist, how do you make it?

HA HA, well I watched Grandpa Harry make it several times, but he used white hard flower from a mill in Seattle. And he used a big Hobart mixer...I don't have either of those. But he did teach me how to handle doughs. BUT I have only changed how I roll my bread, I still roll my rolls the way he taught me. I have been making bread from scratch for 11 years now, everyother day, except Sundays.. ok, not true, sometimes i make french bread on Sundays (cravings).. When I say by hand, I mean at home; I use a bosch type mixer. I use 8 cups hard white spring wheat, I also use 7 cups of my all-purpose flour. Sometimes I use sugar, sometimes I use diastatic malt (I'm out of it right now). It's hard to explain. I could come to your house and teach you with your own equipment.

Why do you make bread and everything from scratch?

um... I need to. My daughter and I are allergic to corn, although I still sometimes eat it in short amounts, I am not as reactive to corn as she is. Corn is in EVERYTHING, whether in its whole form or scientifically made. Corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, food starch, sorbitol, xylitol.. ALL CORN. I found out from my corn allergy board that there is corn in all-purpose flour too!! So we no longer use that stuff. It isn't hard, and it is actually healthier for us to eat this way.

How do you store wheat and the flour after you grind it? Can I grind the entire 50-lb bag and store it?

ALL food storage should be kept under 60 degrees, ideally 40 degrees, but in reality, some people are lucky to keep it lower than 70 degrees. The higher the temperature the shorter the shelf life. You want a dry area, do not store any food items on cement or on the ground, moisture will permeate, and cement has some toxic stuff in it that will transfer through plastic, and metal will rust. Light, heat and moisture are enemies of food storage!! I store my wheat in white food safe buckets and in canning jars (they look pretty that way, and I use those up usually in a week or less). I store my beans this way too.

If you can fit 50-lbs of fresh ground wheat in your fridge, then sure go ahead and grind it and store it; IF not, then only grind what you need, and keep leftover flour in the fridge in airtight container (canning jars with lids work great!). Flour goes rancid quickly, and loses more and more nutrients and vitamins as it sits out. You can also freeze leftover flour.

We also stopped buying flour from the store as usually it is rancid before you buy it (yum).

How often do you grind wheat and or make bread?

I grind wheat or other grains daily. I make bread about everyother day. I make 6 loaves at a time. First I make up my all-purpose flour and grind 7 coffee cups full (extra flour goes in the fridge for later use, usually all used in a day!) then I put that flour aside and grind 8 or 9 coffee cups of hard white wheat. Again, extra goes in to the fridge.

What is vital wheat gluten and do you use it?

Vital wheat gluten occures naturally in all wheat and wheat derived white flours. Some white flours have more or less than others. In a dry form, it is used to give the yeast a boost because it contains a high amount of gluten forming proteins. Vital wheat gluten only does one thing, it helps improve the rise and texture of bread.

Use it in your heavier breads that rise slowly, such as rye, whole grains, or ones loaded with sugar, dried fruit and nuts. Do not add it to regular bread recipes. Some use it all the time for their bread machines especially when using whole grain. Generally if you are using store bought white bread flour, you don't need to add any, BUT sometimes whole grain flours need it.

I use Vital Wheat Gluten in my rye breads, and sometimes in my everyday whole wheat bread. ONLY 1 teaspoon per cup of whole wheat flour is needed!!

The bread I made for the meeting did NOT have Vital gluten added. My gluten strands were amazing and it didn't need extra gluten added.

Anymore questions please ask!! Love to help you,

Blue Chip Group/Augason Farms Close Out sale!

IF you live in Utah, you are in luck, or if you are visiting. Blue Chip Group, now Augason Farms is having a close out sale to get rid of the old label. One of the awesome deals is Red Feather canned butter. This butter is amazing, and is good for 15 years!! So worth the sale price! They have quite a few things on sale, red wheat, oats, morning moos, spiff-y whip, potato stuff, dry cream of soups,  etc..  So if you are in Utah or going to be VERY soon, stop by Augason Farms in SLC. Get some stuff for you food storage for great prices :)

Granola

9 cups rolled oats, or rolled grains (kamut, rye, barley, wheat, oats)

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cup white flour

2 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 1/2 cups coconut

1 teaspoon salt (optional)

2 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 TBS real vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup oil (I use grape seed)

3/4 cup cold water

Combine dry ingredients, in separate bowl combine vanilla, oil and water. Pour wet ingredients into dry mix. Mix well, breaking up clumps. Spread evenly on cookie sheets. Bake in HOT 325 degree oven for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking. When done, let cool completely on cookie sheets then put in air tight container.

Wheat Thins

Deseret Recipes 1981

Mix in large mixing bowl:

   1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

   1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Mix in blender or beat:

   1/3 cup oil

   3/4 teaspoon salt

   1 cup water

Add liquid mixture to dry, mixing well but as little as possible.

Roll as thin as possible on unoiled cookie sheet- not more than 1/8" thick. Mark with knife for size crackers desired, but do not cut through. Prick each cracker a few times with fork. Sprinkle lightly with salt or onion salt if desired.

Bake at 350 degrees until crisp and light brown, about 30 minutes.

** My notes. We just mixed the oil, salt and water in the pyrex measure cup with a fork. My rolling pin would not let me roll them that thin on the cookie sheet, so instead I divided the dough into 4 pieces and rolled each out on my tupperware pie crust plastic thing, then inverted it on to the cookie sheet and gently with out stretching let gravity help the dough fall onto the cookie sheet. We used REAL salt to sprinkle with.. Jaslyn LOVED these! So did Evelyn. 30 minutes was perfect timing, but you have to roll them  super super thin! which does not take much work. Loading my kids into the truck to go somewhere was harder than making these!  They were not sticking to the cookie sheet at all!  We removed them to a wire rack to cool. When cold, we carefully broke them along the score marks. Awesome!  Honestly, this is one of the few Deseret recipes I have tried and it was success!  Guess we need to dig out our old Deseret cookbooks! 

How do I make my bread taste sweet with out sugar?

Good question don't you think? When you think about it, do you really think the pioneers used sugar as much as we do? If they did, they would have needed 2 or 3 wagons just for sugar for their families!!  We American's eat so much sugar it is sickening.. TRULY!  We should only take in about 5 tsp. of sugar maximum a day. This is just the kind you add, not the naturally occuring sugars in fruits and veggies. So, are you using margarine on your store bought bread you turned into toast? The amount of sugar in your storebought bread and 2 to 4 teaspoons of margarine is enough sugar for 1 1/2 days! Again, margarine is not permitted in our home, we use butter. When out of butter, I know it may seem gross, but I go back to my quaker heritage and use bacon drippings (lard) by browing my bread in that to use as toast.

Ok, so how to make bread with out using a ton of sugar. Honestly, you don't really need to add sugar to your bread. You don't need it to make bread. BUT, our palates have gotten so used to too much sugar, that you wouldn't eat bread with out it in there. So here it is.. ready..

You're in luck because you can do what the Europeans have been doing for years. Sweeten  your bread with diastatic malt -- a malt you can make yourself at home! Diastatic malt adds a little extra flavor that is really appealing, it also helps bread stay fresher longer.
In order to make the malt, place one cup of wheat grains (wheat-berries) in a wide-mouth glass jar with a netting cover (I use old nylons or tights). Rinse the berries twice a day to keep them damp. Leave the jar on your counter or windowsill until the wheat has sprouted to the lenght of the dry berry, or a little longer. It should take about 2 to 3 days. At this point, drain the sprouts well and spread them out evenly in a thin layers on two baking sheets. You can dry them in your oven in about 8 hours at a maximum temperature of 150 degrees F.  OR use your excalibur dehydrator and set it for a low to medium temp like 100 to 125 degrees F.
Using a blender or grain mill, grind the dried sprouts into a fine meal, (one cup at a time in the blender). This will make enough diastatic malt for about 100 to 150 loaves. Use about ONE teaspoon per loaf when making your dough. Store the malt indefinetly in a tightly closed glass jar in the fridge or freezer. Not necessary to warm to room temp to use.
I substitute the sugar or honey with equal amounts water and one-half teaspoon of malt per loaf.  (water is for the honey).

Medically Compromised

Ok, I was going to write this huge article on the medicine world, the natural meds and herbology and natural foods. But my friend Kellene must have been reading my mind as she posted just before I got online! And her article is on almost all I was going to talk about. So here is Kellene's article. I am going to add to it it below, but please read her article first! Or mine might not make much sense.. Also, check out these awesome articles on Evaluating what your family eats and Raise Healthy Eaters blog. VERY good info!!

Ok, so now that you have read Kellene's article, I will go forward on my thoughts on this subject. First off, THANK YOU Kellene for writing what you have, and helping me with this. ok, ok, I'll get to it.. if I remember what I am writing about.. Ha HA.. ya it's been one of those days.

I am currently on a ton of herbs, vitamins and  meds.. Why?...
I went in for my yearly exam in July 2009. I hate these exams.  Four days later my doctor calls and wants me in immediately for more blood work.. I find out later it's because I have super low Red Blood Count and VERY iron poor blood, ok, not just iron poor, they couldn't find any.. AT ALL! In fact they wanted me to have a blood transfusion!! But my doctor knows me so well, she knew I wouldn't do that, so I am on some major iron supplements. Red blood cells are supposed to be a beautiful rich red, very plump circulars and shiny!..  Mine were, um, light pink, tiny and shriveled. They couldn't believe I could even get out of bed! 

Next, my white blood count was TOO LOW! My doctor wanted me in the hospital for a blood transfusion for the red blood cells, and wanted me in quarantine so I didn't catch any illnesses. She truly thought if my kids so much as sneezed I would get super sick and die.
Well, I didn't go to hospital, I didn't get a transfusion, and I didn't get super sick when my kids came down with influenza. Infact, I just got more tired is all. ok, exhausted!  I was in bed more than I was out, but I had 4 kids in bed with me, and I was the only one not sick with flu.

They still haven't figured out where I am bleeding to cause such a low blood count, but I finally after 6 months have my ferritin (iron stores) up to 2..WOO HOO A whoppin 2 !!  That's more than 0. But still you'd think it'd be higher.

Herbs I take??? lots!!  Iron complex (from my doctor!!), RRL (red raspberry leaf tea), cranberry (kidney infection that I have been dealing with since December '09), Adrenal support herbs, GSE (grapefruit seed extract) which is AMAZING!!!, Redmond Clay (to clean out buggies and toxins), Melatonin (to help me get to sleep as I don't very well), OXYGEN (for migraines, yes I include this in my HERBS as it is ALL NATURAL).

Meds: Synthroid for low thyroid
Vitamins: Multivitamin;  magnesium ; calcium; Ester-C

The hard part is trying to eat between all this stuff!  My goodness. So what to eat?  Well, as the WONDERFUL AWESOME IN YOUR FACE HONEST ABOUT FOOD  JAMIE OLIVER says, You are what you eat!! So what do I eat? Well, most of it is made at home from scratch. Whole Wheat bread (NO AP flour in it!!); avocados (we eat them like candy over here!); fruits and veggies; pastas, spuds, rice, homemade tortillas, meat, beans, beans, beans, quinoa, millet, beans, and um BEANS!! 
Yes I love LOVE LOVE beans!!!!  pinto, black, navy, lima, baby lima, cranberry, adzuki, anasazi, black-eyed, split green peas, lentils, etc.. Legumes are much loved here. Mostly by Dev and I. BUT everyone eats them! If I make taco soup or chili I make Peach's bread (millet bread! tastes better than nasty corn bread!) .  If I roast a whole chicken, I serve it with rice or spuds, salad. If I make baked lentils, I serve it with rice and whole wheat tortillas and toppings. Split pea soup gets honored with fresh french bread (ya, AP flour there owell...) and salad.  BBQ limas get served with roasted chicken and salad.  We do have desserts, but we limit them and what they are. Sometimes dessert is apples or oranges.

Brigham Young told us to eat wise. He warned us that certain foods would be detrimental to our health. We have been advised many times to eat veggies, fruits whole grains, and sparingly - meat. We do that here. I heard in California that a certain town has made it so you have to have a meatless day. I just laughed, how are they going to enforce that one? good luck. We do not eat meat daily, well unless you count eggs, but I am sorry we don't.. eggs are eggs. not a muscle (meat). I completely believe the food pyramid to be leading our country to obesity. I'm sorry but white rice and white bread are NOT healthy! They are pure starch and when they hit your saliva, become sugar! And I'm sorry but 11 servings of grains a day DOES NOT MEAN processed grains!! It means WHOLE GRAINS! Processed means turned into flour.

Ok, so what does food have to do with health? EVERYTHING! We did an experiment here. We served cold cereal that was corn free to our kids for a week. Guess what happened? Do you know? They got sick! Between the diarhea and other things it just isn't worth it! What do we do for breakfast? oatmeal, cream of wheat, eggs and toast, egg burritos, toast and tea, fruits, yogurt, granola, muffins, pancakes, waffles, egg mommuffins, etc.. all cooked at home. Burritos are made from just ground whole wheat flour or oat flour. Granola, again made at home. No we don't do juice often, it's just sugar and the fiber from a whole orange is better for them than a large glass of OJ. Plus it's better on their blood sugars.
Lunch: chicken salad sandwiches, or on lettuce; lettuce wraps; leftover soups; fruits, yogurt, veggie sticks, leftover dinner stuff; PBJ, stir fries, quesadillas...
It does matter what you eat. Eating better will improve your health. Sure it's not a fix all, but taking some or all of the processed foods out of your diet will help you a ton!

What about fats????  Margarine is not permitted in my home. for any reason. Why? Well, I have a problem with eating something that is ONLY ONE molecule different from plastic!!  Plus it is made with soy and corn, both of which we don't eat here. Unless you are a woman going through menopause, you shouldn't eat soy very often.  Why? VERY EXTREMLY high in estrogen. Infact they have found some children developing early due to soy! Like what? how about a 3 year old with breasts (both girls AND boys!!) and  5 to 8 year old girls with their monthly?!  Due to intake of soy!
Ok, so good oils:
Grapeseed oil, great to cook with, can withstand high heat
Olive oil, more for salads, high heat can actually make it toxic!
Canola oil, um ok, if you have to (we do as it's cheap), but rapeseed where they get canola poisons the ground
Avocado oil, if you can afford it, use wisely! This amazing oil is $$$$ but so yummy for you
Hazelnut or Almond oil, if no nut allergies is again $$$$ but very yummy
Coconut oil, Wow, yummy! good for you, they make different grades for cooking and baking
Palm Oil, I use palm oil shortening. It is solid at room temp, NOT hydrogenated, can be used instead of crisco.

I know there are more oils out there, but honestly I have only used the ones above. And the $$$$ I only bought once. What's in my pantry? Honestly? Grapeseed oil, olive oil, Coconut oil, Palm Oil Shortening, and Canola. I hate using canola, but right now my budget says I have to.

Well this has gotten long!!!  So do this for me. Change the way you eat, eat better.  Also, make sure you are taking your meds, herbs, vitamins correctly and at the right times!!  You know so they aren't cancelling eachother out like taking calcium and iron together, might as well throw both in the trash as your body will absorb nothing!  Take Vitamin C, or drink a high vitamin C drink with your calcium and iron to absorb them better!  So now that your butt is numb from sitting here reading this long post, get up, stretch, take a walk while chewing on some celery or carrots, and think about all this info.. Hopefully you didn't get information constipation, I hate that!

Cinnamon Graham Crackers

OH YUMMY!!!

1/4 tsp salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp. real vanilla
1/2 cup milk
3 TBS granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Stir together first 5 ingredients, set aside. Cream brown sugar & shortening till light. Beat in honey & vanilla till fluffy. Add flour mix alternately with milk to cream mix. Beat well after each addition. CHILL dough several hours or overnight. Divide into quarters. On WELL FLOURED surface, roll each quarter to 15x5-inch rectangle. Cut rectangle crosswise into 6 small rectangles measuring 5x2.5-inches.
Place on ungreased baking sheet. Mark a line crosswise acroass center of each small rectangle with tines of fork. Scor a pattern of holes on squares with fork tines.
Combine granulated sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over crackers. Bake 13-15 minutes. Remove from pan IMMEDIATELY to wire racks to cool.
Yield: around 24

Bagels

Instead of ruining copyright stuff.. I will just tell ya where we found a recipe for Bagels and made them. :)  We made ours with the whole wheat recipe provided by the Better Homes and gardens cookbook (we call it the checkerboard cookbook) as it is red and white plaid.  It's in the breads section, and well, we won't ever buy bagels again! super easy!  BUT instead of having one batch making 12 we use it to make 8 otherwise they were small. ANY BHG cookbook should have the recipe as it has been in there since the 70's. Here are some pics:

bagels rising

bagels broiling on the first side

boiling bagels on the first side

bagels draining after boiling for 7 minutes

bagels after baking

Now because bagels do NOT have fat in them, it's a good idea to use them with in a day or so.  They were very yummy and I used our first batch this morning to make bread pudding, yumm!!  My first time making bagels I made 5 batches!!  Kids had the first 2 for lunch!.. the second 2 for dinner and the last batch was used for bread pudding.   These really are easy, and my kids LOVE them!

Whole Wheat Tortillas

Ok, we made these tonight, filled them with sticky rice and chicken. They are great!

Whole Wheat Tortillas (from Food Storage Made Easy)
4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
1 cup warm water (may need a little more)
1/4 cup oil

Mix all ingredients to make a nice pliable dough.
Knead 1 minute and rest 5 minutes.
Roll dough into a thick snake; Cut into 18 equal pieces.
Roll into balls
Roll each ball very thinly.
Cook on hot nonstick griddle or cast iron pan on both sides---they cook quickly.
Keep covered in towel.

I halved this recipe and made 16 small tortillas about the size of my hand.. 4 to 5-inches in diameter. No they were not perfect circles, but they were yummy!