A new adventure!

I am starting a new adventure, once one very important piece of equipment arrives.  I'm not really sure what started me into researching it, but I started looking into milling my own flour.  We use so much of it, as we bake bread *a post devoted to bread making is here*, make pancakes/waffles, bagels, cookies, etc.  We do a lot from scratch.  I like to do it and the girls love it.  If I let them, they'd stand in the kitchen and eat an entire loaf of homemade bread...plain.  Of course, being a good momma, I don't let that happen...much.

So, I ordered my mill.  I was all set to order the Messerschmidt grain mill attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer *seriously, I had it in my virtual cart* when I was reviewing the specs on it...again.  The big thing that stuck out was that you need a Kitchenaid mixer with a max wattage of 325.  I had thought that all mixers were about the same, but I figured I'd look at mine to be on the safe side.  I'm glad I did!  When I flipped my beauty over, it said 250.  Then I went about looking to see if it was necessary to have 325 watts and out of all the sites I looked at, only one said 250!  Let's be clear about something, I love my Kitchenaid mixer.  My grandparents gave it to me *and hubby...I suppose* as a wedding gift.  And really, it's mainly mine.  I'm pretty sure the only time hubby has touched it has been to wipe the top of it or around it.  Moving on.  I use it A. Lot.  I use it for baking: cakes, cookies and bread.  I use it for canning:  applesauce, spaghetti sauce and ketchup.  I've used it for making baby food and grinding up chicken.  I have pictures of my oldest standing at the mixer, 'helping' momma, and she has the same stance I do when I'm working at the mixer *one hand resting on top of the mixer*.  I've got a couple of the attachments, so it seemed logical to order the grain mill.  It is not logical to buy the grain mill and then have it burn up my motor, then have to buy a new Kitchenaid mixer *I really don't want to live without it, so I'd want a new one.*

With all that said, I've purchased a Nutrimill grain mill.  Expensive.  That's what I have to say about it right now.  I've done my research on freestanding grain mills too.  I saw some that were over $400.  I saw some for about $30, but those were hand mills, and let's be honest, do I really want to try and hand mill my flour?  Probably not.  The price per pound for wheat berries is actually cheaper than buying the generic whole wheat flour from Fry's *aka Kroger*.  And since we go through a lot of flour *I figured we'd have gone through at least 10 pounds of whole wheat flour this month...maybe more*, this seems like a logical step.  At some point, we will recoup the cost of the grain mill.

My mill should be here by Monday.  In the meantime, we'll be using my store bought flour. 

Oh and our new favorite bread recipe can be found here.  It is so yummy!  I do tweak it just a little because I don't want to buy powdered milk right now.  So, I use half milk and half water.  I also double the recipe to have a bigger loaf.  I didn't have millet before, but I picked some up at our whole food store on Monday.  I also like to split the sugar into different kinds; sometimes I use brown sugar and white sugar.  Other times, I use honey, but you have to watch the amount of liquid you have in your breadmaker so you don't have 'soupy' bread.  I think I may try molasses in a future batch.  I'll keep you posted.

And one other thought about fresh milled flour.  Apparently, once you go fresh, you don't want to go back.  Hmm, we'll have to wait and see.  Stay tuned for more blogging regarding our new adventure.