'Tis the Season for Hot Breakfast Cereal

Well as much as I HATE to admit it . . . it's time to break out the hot cereal. 

I have a tendency to only do certain things in the cold season - like crochet, make soups and chili, plan my gardens, plan my next school year - and make creamy, hot cereal for breakfast!

I can cook and eat oatmeal most any time of year, but I get a hankering for cream of wheat when it gets cold!  I grew up on the old fashioned Farina . . .  Oh my gosh, even the picture looks familiar!!!  Now I'm not sure how good this particular cereal is for you, my guess is that it is highly processed and has no fiber left in it.  :(     But I do remember it tasting so good!

So what is farina anyway?  Well, basically it is a whole grain made into a meal or powdered form for cooking.  My suggestion would be to try Bob's Red Mill Farina if you are looking for the convenient kind.  Or you can make your own by grinding your own whole wheat finely in your grain mill or blender.  According to Sue Gregg's Breakfast Cookbook, you want to use approximately 4 parts of water to 1 part ground grain.  Make sure you check out my Books page this week as Sue Gregg's Cookbooks will be the additions!

These days, creamed cereal comes in all kinds of varieties . . .

                               Chocolate??  Really?!!

But you want to remember to check your ingredient list!!  Anything that needs to sit on the shelf for any length of time may very well have undesirable things added to it AND desirable things taken out of it (like your germ and bran)!!

Sue Gregg's Breakfast Cookbook gives you many different creamed cereals to try -    like millet, rye, and rice.  Actually any grain that you can run through your mill will make a creamed cereal. 

AND don't forget about oat bran!  That is another of my cold season favorites . . .
Here is one of my favorite recipes from my Sue Gregg's cookbook . . . with my own twist, of course!

Oatmeal Bran Cereal - p 109
(my version - single serving - a large portion really!)

1 cup water
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup oatmeal
2 Tablespoons oat bran
2 Tablespoons raisins
Pinch of cinnamon

Bring your water and salt to a boil.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Turn down to low heat and simmer until creamy or desired consistency.

I like butter and sugar in mine - I know, some old habits are hard to break! - But you can add honey, agave nectar, or anything that suits.  Actually, I have added walnuts to this mix before too and I enjoy that as well.

HAVE FUN!!!!

WonderMill (aka WhisperMill) vs NutriMill . . . and maybe some others!

This post has probably been a long time coming.  Obviously, it is impossible to use whole grains unless you have a grinder - well not impossible, but that is another post in itself!  ;)  This is a subject given to much opinion, and I too have mine!

For the last 20+ years I have used a WhisperMill (now being sold as the WonderMill).  I LOVE MINE!!!  I am not planning on changing any time soon, and when this one dies I will probably buy one just like it (old habits die hard).  But this machine has at least ONE major drawback . . . you have to turn it on BEFORE you pour in the grain OR you can tear it up.  Thankfully, this has only happened to me one time and I immediately turned it off and dumped it over to get everything out . . . I was blessed!!!  The only other possible drawback is the loudness, but I remember when my sister-in-law had a mill that we literally had to wear ear plugs with because it sounded like a jet engine . . . this mill is NOT that loud, but WhisperMill?? -- naw, that's probably why they changed the name.  ;D  The WonderMill has fine to coarse adjustments, is easy to clean, just an all around awesome machine.

The other machine worth mentioning is the NutriMill.  When we were in business a few years back I did carry this one.  I like the fact that the NutriMill has a hopper that you can fill and turn on and off at will.  That is a wonderful feature -- need two cups today, grind the wheat you need, need two cups tomorrow of the same thing, turn it on, grind a couple of cups, turn it off . . . AWESOME!  I have not owned one of these personally but I have a friend that has one and loves hers.  She has been through two WhisperMills and one other NutriMill.  My friend has a larger family than mine and she grinds corn with hers - which I NEVER do - not because it can't grind corn, but because it scares me to do it!  Crazy, huh?

I have also known women who own a KitchenAid with the grinder attachment.  You know the important thing is to find something to get started with.  When I first got started grinding wheat, my husband found a $10 wooden grain mill in our local trader and purchased it for me.  I was tickled pink to have something to start with.  We used it for years before we invested in a modern one and I gave that one to a friend.  Little did I know what it would be worth now - hee hee!!

Find something that works for you - and get started!!!