Food Budget, Day 21 and 22

It is time to play catch up from the trip to Las Vegas. I am happy to report that Lamar did really well while we were gone. No fast food. He even made a veggie tray for the poker party he hosted. I know that he made spaghetti one night and pancakes one morning. He did not take the easy way out and go to the store for convenience food.

We got home on Sunday afternoon and I made bacon and Swiss stuffed hamburgers with potato salad. The burgers got rave reviews from Lamar and Shainne and were very simple to make. I just chopped some bacon and cooked it with some onion until done, but not crisp. I made two thin burgers and sandwiched Swiss cheese and the bacon mixture and sealed the edges. I then cooked them on the stove and finished them off in the oven. A huge taste with very little effort or cost.

On Monday I needed to make some bread. I ground my own wheat for this. I just love the flavor of fresh ground wheat in bread. There is something that is so satisfying to me on creating bread from scratch. I have finally troubleshooted my problems with rising. There is an enzyme in fresh wheat that will kill the yeast. I have found that adding gluten flour for rise and whey for tenderness produces a wonderful loaf.

I still have the Magic Mill stone grain grinder that I am borrowing from Linda. I do
not know what I am going to do when she wants this back - I have become so addicted to it!

Here is a picture of the wheat berries in the hopper as they travel down to the grinding stone.


Here is a shot of the wheat after it was ground. It has such a wonderful nutty smell.

For dinner tonight I used up the veggies that Lamar had cut up from his party. I just stir fried the veggies and added some pork from the freezer and served it with some soba noodles. A very simple dinner. Nora Beth even ate all her veggies!

I do need to make a trip to the grocery store for some fresh produce and milk. This should be my last visit for the month. We are still below budget!