Making Blends Using Lentils

The most common varieties of lentils are brown, yellow, red, and French green.  Split lentils, called dhal,  come in many varieties as well.  Many varieties of dhal can be found in an East Indian market.

French Green Lentils

Lentils have slightly different cooking times.  French green lentils have a longer cooking time than others, but keep their shape better.  Similar to beans, you do not want to add salt or acidic ingredients until the end of the cooking period.  Adding oil while cooking will help the lentils hold their shape.

Lentils are often added to soup blends with beans, rice, grains, and pasta.

Before cooking lentils, sort through and take out any foreign material you may see. Rinse the dust from the lentils with cold water.

Lentil Blend:

Mix equal parts of lentils (brown, yellow, and red) and store in an airtight container.

Rinse before cooking.   Add 2 cups liquid to every 1 cup of lentils.

Lentil Soup Blend:

2 parts Lentils, any variety or a mixture of yellow, brown, and red lentils

2 parts Split Peas, any color or mixed colors

1 part Barley

1 part brown rice (opt.)

When cooking, add 2 cups liquid to every 1 cup of the soup blend.

To use as a soup base, mix 1 part blend to 4 parts stock or water. Add desired seasonings, being careful to add any salt towards the end.

Increasing the amount of rice and decreasing the amount of split peas and lentils will give you a nice rice blend.

Vegan Tacos-

(Altered from “taco style lentils and rice”)

I found this recipe on hillbillyhousewife.com and my family really likes it.  If you are looking for a meatless taco filling, I recommend this.  I tweaked the recipe slightly according to what I had on hand and this is what I came up with:

¾ cup dry lentils

¾ cup brown rice

4 cups water or vegetable broth (can use beef or chicken broth for an un-vegan version)

2 tsp chili powder

½ tsp cumin

1 tsp onion powder

¼ tsp garlic powder

Rinse lentils and add remaining ingredients to a microwaveable rice cooker. Cook on steam cook for 45 min.  Let stand 5-10 min before opening.  Use as a taco filling in corn or flower tortillas along with your favorite toppings. 

This recipe makes a lot of filling, but you can freeze your unused portion.  This recipe also works well as part of the filling to rice and bean enchiladas.  Feel free to alter this recipe even further by replacing a portion of the rice with millet or quinoa.

Transitioning to Whole Wheat

100%  whole wheat is packed with fabulous nutrients, and freshly ground whole wheat ensures those nutrients.  If you are trying to eat healthier and want to incorporate whole wheat into your diet, there are a few things you should know.

Start with Hard White Wheat:
I recommend starting with hard white wheat due to its mild flavor.  Hard red wheat's flavor is robust and may be unpleasing if you are used to traditional white bread.

 Switch Over Slowly:
If you are used to white all-purpose flour, drastically switching to 100% whole wheat may not be the best choice for your body.  It's not a race to prove to people that you have converted over from processed foods to unrefined, whole grains. Take it slowly and in the end, your body will thank you.

Drastically switching to whole wheat may result in symptoms such as:

• Diarrhea
• Constipation
• Upset Stomach
• Bloating
• Excessive Gas

It takes some time for your body to adjust to the whole grains and unprocessed foods you are putting into it. Just as it is important to take gradual steps when introducing a baby to food, so should you take gradual steps when introducing your body to less refined, healthier options.

When using recipes that call for flour, I would recommend starting off with 1/3 whole wheat flour and 2/3 unbleached all purpose flour.  When you feel that your body is handling it well, increase the amount of whole wheat to 2/3 and decrease the unbleached flour to 1/3.  Eventually you will be able to use 100% whole wheat.  If you can't seem to adjust to 100% whole wheat because of the flavor difference, then find a ratio of whole wheat and unbleached flour that you can handle.  In the end, it is still a healthier option from the typical bleached all-purpose flour.

A Wheat Grinder Isn't Necessary:
The typical person doesn't necessarily have a wheat grinder in their pantry, especially if you are new to using whole grains or whole wheat.  Many stores sell 100% whole wheat flour. Typically whole wheat comes in 5 lb bag.  Just read the bag thoroughly to know whether you are buying red wheat or white wheat. 

Cook the wheat berries / kernels whole. There are many recipes out there that incorporate whole wheat berries or cracked wheat. If you are in the adjusting period and come across a savory recipe that calls for wheat berries, you can replace a portion of the wheat berries with brown rice.

Whole Wheat Berries

Wheat is packed with nutrients.  Among the list of nutrients, wheat contains high levels of  fiber, magnesium,  phosphorus, potassium, folate, and calcium. Wheat also stores very well and has an incredibly long "shelf life".  If stored properly, wheat can last 25+ years.

There are many types of wheat, but among them the most common are:

• Hard Red
• Hard White
• Soft Red 
• Soft White
• Durum 

Hard Wheat:

Hard wheat kernels/berries are smaller in comparison to the soft wheat kernels.  They are high in protein and gluten, making them good candidates for bread making.  Generally, hard wheat contains 15-16% protein.

Red Wheat

When baking your own bread, hard white wheat is most commonly used.  Hard white wheat is lighter in color and has a milder taste than hard red wheat.  Hard white wheat will give you a lighter, fluffier bread loaf.  Hard red wheat on the other hand, will produce a more dense loaf with a stronger, more robust taste.

Hard wheat can also be cooked in its whole kernel/berry form and can be used in chili, soups, casseroles, hot cereal, and just about any way imaginable. It has a nutty, chewy texture, similar to that of brown rice.

Soft Wheat:

White Wheat

Soft wheat is not nearly as hard and is a good wheat to use if wanting to roll/flake the wheat.  Soft wheat does not contain as much protein and gluten as its hard counterpart. Soft wheat contains about 9-11% protein. It is commonly ground to use as pastry and cake flour for making cookies, quick breads, cakes and other things not requiring a larger percentage of gluten.

Durum Wheat:

Durum Wheat

Durum is the hardest among all the wheat varieties. It also has the highest amount of protein, but it won't develop enough elastic gluten for baking. Durum is used to make pasta of all varieties.

Semolina is used to make pasta as well.  To help with the confusion, semolina is the endosperm (heart) of the durum wheat kernel. It is more nutritious to use the whole kernel versus the center of it. 

 Cost:
  
For some people, the expense of purchasing a grain mill to grind various grains at home is unrealistic. There are so many types of grain mills to choose from and they can be quite expensive. I fell into this category. We just couldn't afford to buy a grain mill with the hope that I would use it enough to get my money's worth out of it. I have never spent that much money on a small appliance before. The key here is to do the research, save your money, and use a different method in the meantime. From my research, I  narrowed my choice of grain mills down to three:

• Nutrimill
• Wondermill
• Country Living Grain Mill (hand grind with the option of adding a motor and by far the most expensive)

It took me a little over a year of saving, but I finally ended up purchasing the Nutrimill. At the time, the Nutrimill was priced at $239.00. I had a specific envelope label "grain mill" and would put $20-$30 in it every  feasible month. Meanwhile, I continued watching certain websites, and one day a private seller on Amazon listed the Nutrimill. It was brand-new, undamaged, in the original packaging for $180 (including shipping). Apparently she had several because even after mine had arrived, the listing was still up for another week or so.

My suggestion is this - don't settle for something else unless it is incredibly cheap.  In the long run you'll just be disappointed. I finagled with the idea of buying a $150 grain mill, but I'm glad I didn't. Unless the mill is super cheap, just save and wait.

Before I really started making food from scratch, I longed for the day that we could buy a Bosch or a Kitchen-Aid mixer (much cheaper than a Bosch). One summer I came across a yard sale that was selling an old (and I mean old) stand alone Kenmore mixer.  The price was only $4 so to take it home an find out it didn't work was no loss. I figured I could use it until it died. This would be a test to see how much I really would use such an appliance, and would justify the expense of a new one. Well I took it home and to my surprise, it worked. It has now been five years, and crazy enough it still works. I still would like to purchase a Bosch someday, but for right now I'm just fine.

My Story

There are different ways of saving money on groceries. I have used coupons and still do occasionally, but with change in how my family eats, I have found that buying food in bulk or buying food in the bulk sections of my local grocery stores have brought us the best savings.

Being a stay at home mom & wife of a teacher has given me the opportunity to look outside the box. I wanted a healthier lifestyle for my family, but I didn’t want to break the budget doing it. I wanted to incorporate more whole grains and less meat along with healthier options for my children without the additives.  Initially, the terms organic and unrefined meant expensive.  I didn’t know how I would be able to manage a frugal budget with the prices I saw at the store, but with research and patience, I am succeeding.

For us, the key to a frugal, but healthy lifestyle is creating food from scratch. I buy my produce, grains, beans, and herbs at the best price I can find, so I can still buy the specialty items we use, which  are never on sale, and generally carry a higher price tag.  Winco and Costco are among my top local stores for bulk purchases, with Mountain Rose Herbs being one of my top choices for online purchases.