Money Saving Tip #1~ Living Amish-like with wheat

Over the next few months and years, I will be adding posts to help people (such as myself) live a simpler, cheaper, but still happy life. I have always been amazed at how the Amish can get by with so few conveniences, and how fun it out be to know that the stuff you are using is stuff that you made yourself. What a sense of accomplishment one would have after building their own house (not mention some sore muscles)!! I have a lot of ideas, some which I have done in the past and others that are new. For my first post, though, I am going to tell you about wheat. For Christmas, we received a mill and 45 pounds of white wheat from my parents. I started grinding this morning, and decided to make a big batch (so that I wouldn't have to do it over and over again. For those of you that have a mill or find yourselves grinding your own wheat, please read below on important information you should know before you get started. If you want to go true Amish style you may not use an electric mill. You will need to get a hand grinder (I bought mine on Ebay a couple years back). It is a lot of work to grind by hand, but if you keep at it, you can also save money on gym membership fees!!!:

Fresh ground whole wheat flour shelf life varies according to the temperature of where it is stored. The whole wheat grain flour is a living food that is perishable. When the grain is ground into flour and its outer layer is no longer protecting it from the elements, including air, it goes rancid from oxidation.

Yes, the wheat germ oil in the flour starts to go bad once exposed to oxygen. This living food starts to degrade like all living foods normally do. Also, the vitamins and minerals within the flour will decrease as time goes by. So just like with all foods, the fresher the food, the higher the nutritional value.

Left on Your Counter - The whole wheat flour shelf life is 3-5 days. After that time frame, the flour will many times start to smell like stinky socks and develop a bitter taste. This fowl odor is nature's way of telling you not to eat it. This rancidity will negatively affect the flavor of the bread or your other baked goods.

Refrigerator - Fresh milled whole wheat flour will be good for 10 days.

Freezer - Fresh milled whole wheat flour will be good for 30 days.
(information taken from: http://www.healthbanquet.com/whole-wheat-flour.html )