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This post is so long in the making it’s sad. We have owned a grain mill for almost a year and let me tell you we will never go back! Grinding your own flour is easy, making your own gluten free flour mix…not so much. It’s taken a while to figure it all out but in the end it has saved us a decent amount of money.
When we first started grinding our own flour, we just threw a bunch of different grains in and hoped for the best! It was actually cool to see that some of the mixtures turned out! One time I made buckwheat/brown rice/tapioca flour pancakes. They were flat because I didn’t add anything to make them fluffy…but they were still super yummy with strawberries on top.
There are several reasons why we have benefited from owning a grain mill:
1. It saves money. Although there is an initial investment up front, it has saved us money in the long run. It has already paid for itself. Buying pre-made mixes run from $12-$17 for 4 lbs, some are even around $20!
2. You control the quality of grain that goes into your body. You can make mixes including buckwheat, brown rice, and quinoa, instead of store bought white rice flours. In order to create a flour, my rule of thumb is to break it up into three parts and add a starch. I like using potato starch for a little more moisture but sometimes all I have is tapioca pearls, which can be ground up using the mill.
3. You hold on to the integrity of the grain. Did you know that by the time flour hits grocery store shelves, it’s already lost about 75% of it’s nutritional value?! That’s a ton! Especially for someone with C/GI. We need every ounce of nutrition we can get! So your body benefits too!
4. The taste. There is nothing like the taste of freshly ground flour in your recipes. It is more dense and certainly more fresh. YUM!
The grain mill we have is Blendtec’s, Kitchen Mill. I love it because it’s affordable and easy to use. I have never used a grain mill before this so it’s economical for the performance it offers. It is extremely easy to use. My favorite part is that you can make the grade texture as fine as you’d like!
Here are a couple books I have that I love. They will help you build your own flour and you can use them for AMAZING recipes!!
The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook
The knowledge I’ve gained from this book is absolutely invaluable. They break things down so you can actually understand WHY things aren’t working out. They tell you WHY to add certain ingredients and they give suggestions. It’s amazing.
Deliciously G-Free: Food So Flavorful They’ll Never Believe It’s Gluten-Free
I love the way that Elizabeth Hasslebeck explains each ingredient and tool that she uses. Her recipes are so good!
Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread: (Biscuits, Bagels, Buns, and More)
WOW. This is an amazing book filled with nothing but BREAD recipes!!! I’ve learned so much from this book and my taste buds were thinking they were getting the royal treatment. There is a learning curve to this book for sure. There’s a lot of prep because her flour recipes call for ingredients that can be difficult to find. Also, I had never used a food scale before so I had to get familiar with this helpful tool. But the more I tried the recipes, the more I learned and felt comfortable with it. She also offers a lot of help on her blog at Gluten Free on a Shoestring. I love it and recommend it to everyone!
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