Grain fed or Grass fed beef?

Okay - another one - this was really interesting to me, too. Do you prefer one over the other?

Meat scientists at Texas A&M University have reported that, contrary to popular thought, consuming ground beef from grass-fed cattle has no beneficial effects on blood lipids in people, while consuming ground beef from grain-fed cattle does have a positive outcome.

Dr. Stephen Smith, who led the team's work, said researchers first looked at previous studies and could find no scientific justification for statements that grass-fed beef is healthier and more nutritious than grain-fed product. 

Here is the rest of the short article - including the benefits to eating grain-fed beef.

Shopping for Health

The other day I was grocery shopping and remembered I wanted to buy some more cornmeal. (My friend gave me this great homemade cornbread recipe!) I haven't bought very much cornmeal in my life, so I was reading the labels to see what the difference was. Most of the cornmeal I found said something like bran and germ have been removed.

WHAT?!?!

Really?

I suppose most foods do have the germ and bran removed from them so they can sit on the shelf longer - but didn't anyone include the germ and bran in their cornmeal? I know that food is healthier for you if you have germ and bran included - it is the actual WHOLE grain form of the food. Whole grains are good for your body, especially when you include the germ and bran in the mix.

I searched and searched and ended up just grabbing one. They all read about the same.

So, I walked down the baking aisle a little more and happened upon a section of Bob's Red Mill packages. Well, lo and behold, Bob had a fine ground cornmeal that had the germ and bran milled with it and was not removed! I was so happy!!

Bob's Red Mill Corn Meal won. I went and put the other cornmeal back and bought Bob's. And you know, the price wasn't much different for the whole cornmeal than for the stripped cornmeal.

I'll go for health. Thanks, Bob.

Basic Differences in Spelt, Triticale, Kamut

Have you ever wondered what the differences really are in different types of grains and how they compare to wheat? Do you know what some of your grain options are if you find out you have gluten allergies? You don't have to completely eliminate grains and bread from your diet - you just have to be a little more creative in your baking.

Oh - you don't have to have gluten allergies to enjoy these grains - they actually have a nice flavor to them.

Well, here is a quick summary of a few grains for your grain reference.

SPELT

• Spelt has a lower, more fragile gluten content. This means that SOMETIMES, people with gluten allergies can actually eat spelt (but it is a good idea to check with your doctor first)
  
• Spelt has higher fiber than wheat
• Spelt contains 15-21% protein (which is higher than regular wheat)
• Spelt is higher than wheat in complex carbohydrates, iron, potassium, and B vitamins
• It contains nutrients that aid in blood clotting and stimulates the immune system
• Spelt is similar to cooking with wheat flour, but you might find you need a little less water (start with 3/4 of what the recipe calls for), or a little more flour and because of the lower gluten content, don't let your dough rise as high as when using regular wheat flour
• Spelt has a bit of a "nutty" taste to it
  

TRITICALE

• Triticale has a lower gluten content than wheat
• Triticale has a higher protein per gram than wheat
• Triticale has more amino acids and lysine
• Triticale flour is more similar to wheat in taste and can be easily substituted for wheat flour. However, if using leavened breads, you must add at least 50% wheat flour because of the very low gluten content of triticale.
• Be careful when kneading triticale. Do not over-knead the dough as this can damage the delicate gluten.
• Triticale is a cross between durum wheat and rye.
  

KAMUT

• Kamut also has a lower gluten content like spelt, so many people turn to kamut when they have gluten allergies (still a good idea to consult with your doctor first before eating this when you have gluten allergies)
• Kamut contains 17-19% protein - higher than wheat.
• Kamut has less fiber than wheat
• Kamut is higher in vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, pantothentic acid, copper and complex carbohydrates.
• Kamut is considered a "high energy grain"
• Kamut is similar to cooking with durum wheat, so you will have a heavier loaf of bread if you only use kamut. You can add wheat gluten for a lighter loaf - providing your allergies allow it.
• Kamut works great in cakes and pastas.

This summary is based on research done by The Preparedness Store in Idaho Falls, Idaho

WonderMill Wheat Grinder

Have you ever tried to shop for a flour mill so you could make your very own wholesome flour? It isn't always easy finding the information you need. I also think it is harder to know what I want when I cannot touch and feel the item I want to purchase.

My twitter friend told me about this article (hubpage) which is very informative about the WonderMill. If you are at all interested in flour mills, this is a must-read! (Especially since the author actually uses the WonderMill herself.)

Before I refer you to the article, let me just tell you that if you need more information on comparative grain mills or just want to know where to purchase a WonderMill - you can always find them on the HiStakes-Spelt.com website.

So? Happy reading...

(Link to the article about the WonderMill:) http://hubpages.com/hub/Wonder-Mill-Wheat-Grinder

Inside the Combine

On this occasion, we are visiting "dad" and riding with him for a minute. Maybe I shouldn't say we try to squish my whole family in the cab. Good thing we are small.
We are harvesting grain and are just finishing one little section - not the whole field, nor the whole harvest. We still have lots to go.
So, this is us - farming. I thought you might enjoy being a part of it all.

World Wheat Storage Drama

Would you like to know a really interesting fact? Let me tell a story to illustrate it.

Once upon a time in the future, we had a major world food crisis. War was going on, and life was not pretty. We needed food to survive and could not grow it ourselves. So? We took the world wheat supply and rationed it out to everyone. (Those who had wheat allergies could share their ration with whomever they chose.) You only got a little over 2 pounds of wheat. WHAT??!?!?! TWO POUNDS!!?!?! How are you going to live on 2 pounds? The world wheat reserves are not what they should be, they won’t last us very long if we each had to live on just over 2 pounds of wheat. How do you feel about that?

I just read a news brief from a few days ago saying that we should have a larger wheat crop this year than last year, but don’t expect prices to drop too much. Prices will be moderated, probably. The article suggests that prices will not collapse. That is good because costs of production has increased a lot. And a lot of countries most likely will be wanting to develop more of a strategic reserve than what they have, so should be considerable buying from them - particularly if prices moderate.

What is the moral of the story? Don’t count on your government to bail you out - they do not have the food reserves. Maybe you want to become better friends with neighbors and divide the food storage responsibilities. (I’ll get the grain, you get the fats, someone else get the…. and so on.) Or if you are able, get your food storage ready - you never know when you are going to need it.