Milling my own flour kind of scared me. It seemed a huge step to take and so I put it off for years, all the while reading about the wonderful health benefits of freshly milled flour.
While pregnant with number 6, I tried to eat especially healthy to prepare for my first home birth. I found a friend through my raw milk co-op who baked freshly milled bread for me. I expected to gag the dry stuff down for the health of it. Boy, was I shocked when I tasted it. Honestly, the first warm loaf did not make it home. We scarfed it down together in the car. It was delicious!
About a year later, I asked my friend to teach me how to make bread and mill my own flour. I got a mill and wheat grains for my birthday and she spent the day with me.
I have no clue what made me so scared to take the plunge because what I realized is that I already knew how to make homemade bread. The difference was pouring grain into a mill, pushing a button and waiting for flour to come out! It was that simple. The bread was superior to what I had been making and the nutritional value couldn't even compare.
So we are hooked. I make about 4 loaves every 2 weeks. I sometimes make dinner rolls and homemade pretzels too. My goal is to totally wean our family off of using white flour for baking and substitute with the good stuff. We are not quite there yet. Sometimes mixing water with pancake mix just sounds more simple to me in the mornings. I'm not quite sure if my famous chocolate chip cookies will be as well loved if I make them whole wheat, but we are taking baby steps in the right direction.
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