New / Old Cabinet

I love the 1700 - 1800's and we live in a log cabin. When we moved from our 1st house, (which was my father's boyhood home and my Grandparent's first and only home), we took my favorite wall cupboard with us. The cupboard is a step-back and made of bead board. It had been built in place and had used the kitchen wall as the back of the cupboard and the floor of the kitchen as the floor of the cupboard. When we moved, my husband, Roger, added plywood for the back and built a floor under the cabinet. I had 'antiqued' the cupboard with a Avocado green, in the 70's. I removed the paint and brought it back close to the original color in the 80's. At that time my husband also rebuilt a bookcase that had been in my home when I was little. (Several of the boards where broken through being dismantled to remove it from the house when my brother was updating).
In our cabin, the stepback is sitting next to our front loading washer and dryer units in the eat-in part of our open floor plan kitchen.  Let me say that my husband strongly dislikes carpentry. Let me also say that I had asked him, (and he complied), to build me a 3500 sq. ft. log home, the kitchen cabinets, spice cabinet and kitchen island which I had designed! I have to pick and choose what I would like for him to build and a batch of my Grandpa Jenkin's Chocolate Chip cookies thrown in doesn't hurt! This time I asked him to build a primitive style cupboard which will house both my washer and dryer and would have a top part to store laundry supplies and perhaps additional kitchen supplies. (Just a small project! )
I started by researching some of the different primitive style cupboards online. I also drew a few sketches of the style and design that I had in mind. I would like it to look primitive and not be too expensive to build and I also wanted it to be functional. I wanted to be able to access the controls on the top of the washer.  Both the washer and dryer are both front loaders.  I also wanted the cabinet to be able to be removed in case of needing machine repairs. The back needed to be open for the hook ups of the washer and the dryer vent. The light switch and outlets, located on the wall behind the unit, also needed to be useable. 

 

The original cupboard was built using beadboard. I wanted to use beadboard to replicate the older cupboard, but the lumber was more costly and I decided that not all cupboards were made with beadboard during those times. So, we will be using the pine paneling which we were already installing as walls in our cabin. Tongue and groove pine. Grooved on one side, flat on the other side.
We could always flip it to the flat side if we decide not to us the 'right' side.

 

 

To be able to see what size space the new cupboard would take, I used a couple boards and several boxes to build a 'fake' cabinet.  I would have liked a smaller base to the cabinet, but I realized that it would house the washer and dryer and provide a top that would be useful for folding laundry.

 

 

No one has ever used the word 'Conventional' and my name in the same sentence! Hey! I'm the one who has a full size porch swing hanging in my kitchen! :0)
So, we visited Home Depot for 20 10ft? boards and a can of Min-wax stain. Today, Roger started building the cabinet with the help of Jenny. (Justin had a college class to attend so he will probably be helping later.

 

After class Justin helped out and Jenny went to help babysit at our daughter, Joy's house.

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for additional updates!

EXCITEMENT in the Air!

Today I will be making our whole wheat bread made from our own milled sprouted wheat berries! It all started about 5 days ago. I like to visit our local Amish country store and to loose myself in the many isles of basic 'Staples'. They offer different kinds of flour and spices and a lot of other interesting items. I recently came across "wheat berries". 'How COOL!', I thought. I bought some and took them home. The berries remained on my shelf until about 5 days ago when I again came across them. I suddenly had a need to find out just how to use them. On the bag it told me how to cook the wheat berries. It may have been a good way to eat them, but I wanted more than to just cook and eat them. As our neighbors can tell you I have been trying out different recipes for breads. I LOVE to cook and especially I love to bake! I have always been a 'do-it-yourself' type of person. (I even home-taught all 6 of our children,[with the help of my dear husband] :0) So I researched "Wheat Berries" and found that as I had thought, wheat berries can be ground into flour ...an ingredient of bread!! I also found that if you 'sprout' the wheat berries that the wheat becomes fortified! Wheat berries are whole grain and are an excellent source of dietary fiber. They contain folic acid, protein, B-complex vitamins and vitamin E. If you allow the wheat berries to sprout the resulting wheat grass is rich in Vit.A,B,C and E along with other minerals. The flour made from the sprouted wheat berries contains anti-oxidants The flour is also supposed to have anti-aging capabilities. The wheat grass is rich in chlorophyll and works directly on the liver and removes toxins. Wheat berries were created by God with a protectant covering which keeps the seed from germinating until it is time. This coating allows for some seeds, such as wheat, to have incredibly long viability. Wheat berries discovered in the Egyptian pyramids was found to be viable after thousands of years. The immediate benefits of sprouting wheat berries are not only to multiply nutrients, but also to neutralize the powerful inhibitors, which keep the seeds viable. These includes phytic acid, which inhibits absorption of several essential minerals including iron, calcium, copper and magnesium. If whole grains are consumed without prior soaking in a slightly acidic solution overnight or sprouted the phytic acid will bind with the essential minerals that we eat and keep us from digesting them. This will inevitably lead to mineral deficiencies and may play a role in the widespread incidence of osteoporosis. Enzyme inhibitors in the seeds are also neutralized. If the grain is not sprouted or soaked these inhibitors can neutralize our own enzymes in our digestive tract, which are essential to our good health. At the same time, enzymes conducive to plant growth are produced. These are very beneficial to us and are rapidly used up in the early growth stages. Hence, they can only be enjoyed by eating sprouted wheat berries. The process of germination dramatically increases vitamin content especially antioxidant vitamins. In a study at the University of Alberta it was demonstrated that Vitamins C and E and carotene, which were barely detectable prior to germination steadily increased to high levels. A study from the University of Camerino in Italy supported the increase in antioxidants and showed how they were able to prevent cancer cells from forming and attenuate existing cancerous cells. The antioxidants scavenge free radicals, which cause oxidative damage to DNA. (http://www.hivehealthmedia.com/health-benefits-sprouting-wheat-berries/) Livestrong also states; This germination enhances the availability of vitamins A, B and C; releases the elements iron, potassium and calcium; and markedly elevates protein levels. Herbs Are Special's wheat commentary states that after three days wheat sprouts' protein and vitamin contents can have INCREASED 300 TO 600 PERCENT!. WOW! What a way to use the Wheat Berries! Now I needed to 'sprout' these berries!

I had read that each cup of wheat berries would equal 1 1/2 cups of wheat flour. Since most of my bread recipes call for 6 cups of flour, I would need to 'sprout' 4 cups of wheat berries. I started with a container that I had to hold the 4 cups of berries and the water needed to soak them. I added the berries and more than covered the berries with water, (enough to allow the berries to soak up additional water).

I allowed the berries to sit 24 hours in the water. This allowed the berries to absorb the water and to allow the softening of the hulls to allow the berries to sprout. After the 24 hours the berries were placed into two strainers which were set over our kitchen sink. I drained the berries and rinsed them several times. I placed the berries back into the container without additional water. I have since read that the berries can at this point be wrapped in a wet towel and with the towel folded up around the berries, be left to sprout on their own. Since the details of sprouting wheat berries which I had first read differed, I continued on. The directions said to rinse the berries every 12 hours until sufficiently sprouted. (Twice daily).

Herbs Are Special's wheat commentary states that after three days wheat sprouts' protein and vitamin contents can have increased 300 to 600 percent. The following picturea are of my sprouting of the wheat.

Sprouted Wheat Flour for Breads Besides increasing their flour's protein and vitamins, germinated sprouts contribute carbohydrates that are easier for you to digest because their starches have already been broken down by enzymes. This reductive action in the presence of high protein and fiber levels does not necessarily lead to tough sprouts or dense loaves; the sprouts are finely pulverized when being milled into flour. Note that for baking sprouted wheat bread, Nourished Kitchen recommends that you buy organic flours that have been dried and milled at low temperatures and promptly marketed, since this preserves the sprouts' enzymes and nutrients. Sprouted Wheat Bread's Benefits for Conditions If you are sensitive to gluten, you will benefit from sprouted wheat breads' low-gluten or non-gluten options. Overcoming Gluten Intolerance details research by Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig that records sprouts' enzymes effectively breaking down gluten and other difficult-to-digest wheat components. If you are diabetic, sprouted wheat bread has a low glycemic index and does not cause post-meal blood-sugar levels or blood-fat counts to spike upwards. If you are reducing calories, sprouted wheat breads provide, ounce-for-ounce, more protein and nutrition than many pre-packaged, highly-processed "diet foods." If you are vegetarian, sprouted bread can accompany any meal, toasted, baked, fried, grilled, cubed for stuffing, mashed for pudding or stretched for pizza. If you are pregnant, sprouted wheat bread, being easily digested and nutrient-dense, is likely to support your health as well as normal fetal development. After the wheat berries were finished sprouting they needed to be dried to be ground into flour.

The sprouted berries were dried for 12 hours in our dehydrator on 95 degrees.

The next photo shows the unsprouted wheat on the left and the sprouted berries on the right.

I placed the sprouted wheat berries into the blender and blenderized it into flour. In addition to the blender I also tried grinding it with my little coffee grinder. (Which resulted in a coarser ground flour.)

The blender served best at grinding the berries into a finer grade of flour.

The flour was ground and ready to be made into bread. I now read that the flour should be used as soon as possible, or placed into the freezer until used as it will keep the nutrients viable longer. Ours was placed in a tupperware type container on the shelf for the two days prior to making it into bread! On the 2nd day, (today), I decided to make it into bread. I really wanted to make our first attempt at making bread using our own ground flour, without any commercial flour added in. I knew that there was a chance that the bread wouldn't rise high as it wouldn't have the benefit of the glutten that other flours have. However, I wanted to attempt it anyway. So I did make the bread using only our own sprouted wheat flour. The following pictures are of the bread as the dough was being made in our bread maker and of the bread rising before being baked.

I am attempting to show the coarseness of the flour. To aid in conditioning the dough, I added egg and Fruit Fresh, (vitamin C, which acts as a dough conditioner). I also addd Wheat gluten.

The bread was placed into bread pans and left to rise. The bread rose for about 1 hr. but still hadn't risen as high as a regular loaf of bread. I decided to bake it anyways.

I baked the bread which when baked turned out with a good taste and a texture not unlike a bannana bread, (the taste wasn't like bannana bread, just the texture, a moist and heavier loaf).

I intend to continue my quest to make a good lighter version of the 100% Sprouted Whole Wheat bread. So I guess, stay tuned! :0)