We just finished reading The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. After three huge snowstorms in the Midwest, this story brings the reality of preparedness home. Supply lines can be cut a million different ways causing shortages in grocery stores. The Ingalls family survived on a little wheat ground in a coffee grinder to make one loaf per meal.
We started the morning serving "footballs." These are wheat berries cooked in the crock pot over night. They soften and puff up to form a chewy hot "cereal." One child exclaimed "Yes! We aught to have this more often." And the three year old said, "These footballs are for me. They're my favorite." He has never had them before but he finished off a 1/3 cup with butter and salt. Most of the children ate them with honey and milk. Uncooked Red Wheat has nearly 30 grams of protein per cup as listed at www.nutritiondata.com . That is an equivalent of 4 eggs. The protein to carbohydrate ratio is 1 to 4 yielding just under 20 percent of total calories from protein. Of the recommended fiber intake, 94% is in the one cup of wheat. What does this mean in the course of a day? It means that energy is sustained by a long slow absorption of sugars. The sugars are balanced by an excellent source of protein, along with iron, and B vitamins. Having wheat in storage is an excellent choice for anyone who is not wheat sensitive. We really enjoy wheat mush (cracked cereal) bread, and footballs.
Lunch: We made individual pan pizza's to celebrate a birthday.
Sack Lunch: muffin, carrot stick, cheddar cheese squares, 2 no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies
Dinner: We made egg drop soup minus the mushrooms, spinach and eggs. We substituted 3 times the vermicelli to make a rich noodle soup that was easy to drink with sore throats. It was delicious. I stock ground ginger in a jar purchased from the Indian stores just so I can make this soup. It makes all the difference in a few dishes like this Chinese Egg drop soup and teriyaki sauce. In the refrigerator, the ginger paste will last a year or more.
My favorite football topping is fruited yogurt. Mix the hot footballs with the cool yogurt and it comes out with the perfect temperature and great taste. YUM!
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh out loud when you said you had just finished THE LONG WINTER. I guess it's not really that funny but it seems like winter has had it's hold on us for a very long time. Hope the kids start feeling better soon.
ReplyDeleteyou can also put fresh ginger root in a zip-lock freezer bag and then grate it (while frozen)....
ReplyDelete