The Basics of Milling

After weeks of researching and gleaning insight from experienced millers (i.e. my sister and cousin), I have finally milled my own flour! It all started when my sister, Katie, heard a woman speak at her weekly bible study on the nutritional benefits of milling flour. After sharing the information with me, I was immediately hooked! I no longer felt okay about buying "whole wheat" breads at the local supermarket that offered little to no nutritional value. Here are the basics of what I've learned:

A whole grain is made up of 3 main layers.

1. Bran - the outer layer containing the roughage that helps move unwanted toxins and poisons through your digestive system. The bran also contains many vitamins, minerals, and proteins.

2. Germ - the health center of the grain, overflowing with vitamins B and E, as well as unsaturated fat and protein.

3. Endosperm - the starchy white center. Blah.

Now, whole grains comprise nearly 90% of all the vitamins, minerals, and protein your body will ever need! Unfortunately though, commercially milled products do NOT provide you these nutrients.

Why you ask? Once the whole grain is milled, the oils located in the bran and germ oxidize and turn rancid within just 3 days! So for commercial purposes, both the bran and germ—and all the nutrients contained therein—are stripped in order to allow product shelf life.

Yes, most of the bread you buy at the store is made up purely of endosperm! You’re basically eating gluten, starch, and sugar. For marketing purposes, you’ll see products claiming to be “enriched with vitamins and minerals!” Don’t be fooled. The fact that a product requires enriching is a warning sign on its own. Besides, most of the essential vitamins stripped are not able to be replaced through the enrichment process.

If you're like me, you may be thinking to yourself, "Who has time to mill their own flour??" But I can assure you that milling hasn't been nearly as time consuming as I originally imagined. Yes, it takes longer than picking up a loaf at your local grocery store, but the extra time is certainly worth the added benefits. Plus, if you have a bread machine, it does all the work - you just pour the ingredients straight into the machine and wait for your bread to be done!

If you are interested in milling your own bread, here's what you'll need to get started:

1. Mill - I have the Wondermill and love, love, love it! It's extremely simple to use and takes about 30 seconds - from start to finish -to mill a few cups of flour! Mine was a birthday gift bought off Amazon...you can also check out your local health food store.

2. Bread Maker - Although you don't have to have a bread maker to make your own bread, it cuts out a lot of time and effort needed to prep the bread for baking. Breadmakers can be expensive, so I recommend going on Craigslist and purchasing a gently used one for between $15 - $30.

3. Grain - I buy my grain in bulk (50 pound bags) because it's cheaper in the long run. Keep in mind, whole grains do not expire (only after the whole grain is milled does it have an expiration date). I found a vendor at my local farmer's market that sells bulk grains. Also check out local health food shops. You will probably need to request a bulk size order as most stores won't have 50 lb. bags hanging around. I store the grain in airtight paint containers in a closet. I have both Hard Red Wheat and Soft White Wheat which I usually combine in recipes.

Now you're ready to begin milling and baking bread! Remember, only mill enough flour for what your recipe calls for. Otherwise, it will be nutritionally depleted after 72 hours.

Here is a basic bread recipe to follow:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups hot water
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey (local honey is preferred because it helps in preventing allergies)
2 tsp salt
1 egg (optional)
2 Tbs. Lechitin (found at your local health food store)
1 tsp gluten (this makes the bread smooth)
4-4 1/2 cups freshly milled flour (equivalent to 3 cups of un-milled wheat berries)
1/2 cup ground flax (buy whole flaxseed and grind it in a food processor -- do not mill)
1 Tbs yeast

Directions:
Add all ingredients, except yeast, directly into your breadmaker in the order shown above. Make a little burrow in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the yeast. Follow the prompts on your bread machine for making wheat bread. Wha-la, you're done!

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Balls

These are so easy and they make a delicious, healthy snack for a child (or in my case, a hubby). Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked oatmeal
3/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1 cup of chrunchy, natural peanut butter (ingredients should be only salt and peanuts)
3/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 C. raisins
3 -4 tablespoons of ground flaxseed and millet (optional, but makes it super healthy!)

Directions:
Stir together oats, milk powder, flaxseed, and millet. Blend together peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and raisins. Stir mixtures together. Shape into small balls and store in refrigerator. Serve chilled.



Enjoy :)

E****, Nea Zoi, and More...

Tomorrow we leave for Camp Kalamos where we will be spending the week with 150 teenage campers. I won't have internet access, so I wanted to give an update before I left. Also, please pray that God would supply us with energy to finish the race strong. I can't believe this is our last week in Greece! We will need lots of energy this week, but will be getting little sleep. Pray that we would be the hands and feet of Christ and that the teenagers would be receptive to the Gospel. Finally, pray that our focus would be on serving this camp whole-heartedly and that our gaze would not turn to home.

We had a great time with E**** on Sunday. She was very reserved and seemed almost nervous when we first met, but by the end of the night she had completely warmed to us. She is 21 years old and it was obvious from our conversations that she's led a difficult life. When we took a photo with her, she became very nervous and fidgety. It broke my heart when she explained to us that she didn't know how to smile! We tried teaching her, but she looked embarrassed. She wants to go to the Greek Bible Institute next year, but lacks the resources to do so. Please pray that God provides the necessary funds for her to attend and that he would continue to grow in her a desire to know Him.

Wednesday was our last time to participate in the Nea Zoi ministry. It was an emotional morning for several reasons. First, I met a 21 year old prostitute, C*****, who is engaged to be married to her madam's son. The son fell in love with C***** and is helping her escape prostitution by sending her back to her home in Romania in August. He will then fly her back into Greece a couple months later and they will try to stay hidden from the Mafia. Please pray for C*****'s protection from the traffickers who have enslaved her to this work. Second, Chelsea and Sylvia (a Nea Zoi volunteer) were chased out of a brothel after sharing the Gospel with the madam and prostitute. They were accused of being heretics and Jehovah's Witnesses after attempting to explain the difference between Greek Orthodoxy and Protestantism. In Greece they have a saying that goes "To be Greek is to be Orthodox" and it's a precise statement! If you associate with any other denomination or religion, you are considered a heretic and a second-class citizen in Greece. I'm praying that God would soften these women's hearts to the Gospel. Needless to say, we're struggling with the idea of leaving here in a week and returning to our privileged lives while these women stay trapped in this prison. Third, I watched as a young boy about the age of 10 walked into a brothel with an older (but also young) boy. Although he was thrown out, it saddened me that a child would ever be exposed to this evil. Last week, Austen observed a father escort his son into a brothel for his first sexual experience. Unfortunately, this is not too unusual in Greece. Furthermore, it's quite common for married men to seek sexual fulfillment from prostitutes driving their wives to commit adultery in return. This perpetual cycle has created much cynicism from the younger generation towards love and marriage. Society is getting married later and later and many don't marry at all (although most are living with partners). We have been faithfully praying that God would do great things in Greece. We have seen his work and are confident that his spirit will continue to work in this country.

There is so much more I want to say, but it's time for us to leave for Kalamos. My deepest gratitude to those praying. God has truly blessed my time in Greece and I could never repay you for your prayer and financial support which has allowed me this opportunity.

Prayer Request

Today is a special day! We are attending church with E****, a prostitute from the New Life ministry. She is a Nigerian woman who was brought to Greece and forced into prostitution by her own cousin. In addition, she'll be accompanying us to Camp Kalamos for the day while we run a program for the campers. Please be praying for our time with E**** - that God would soften her heart to the Gospel and give her courage to leave the prostitution industry.

Also, I'm giving my testimony again but this time to a group of kids ranging from 6 to 18. Pray that God would give me wisdom in making my testimony appropriate for such a broad age range.

Redemption At Its Finest

I meant to post this before I left for Volos, but was so rushed that somehow I saved it rather than posting it. It's a bit outdated now, but here you go anyways:

As usual, we traveled into Athens Thursday evening to throw the children's festival. The only thing different this time was that Ron and Deborah, our mentors, stayed behind to have dinner with the pastor and his wife. Before leaving, I got the community center key (where the festival supplies are stored) from Ron and immediately threw it in my backpack which I bring with me every week into the city. As we were walking out the door an hour later, I decided, for whatever reason, that I didn't need my backpack this week, forgetting that the key was inside. I realized as we were standing in front of the community center that I had left the key at the Bible school. The festival lasts two hours and it’s an hour and half travel time each way, so going back to get the key was a moot point. I felt terrible, but my team responded graciously. Regardless, we headed to the park, wondering how we were going to entertain these kids.

At the park, anxious children swarmed us requesting face painting and balloon sculptures. I felt awful that I had disappointed the kids. Attempting to make it up to them, I suggested that we play some games. With a severe language barrier, it was very interesting and somewhat awkward explaining games, but they eventually caught on. Caroline, Emily, and I spent the next two hours racing around the park playing freeze tag, hide and seek, red rover, and red light/green light. The kids were thrilled and tirelessly begged us to continue playing again tomorrow.

After all of those nights of face painting, I bonded more with the kids that night than I ever have. I was so thankful that God redeemed the situation and gave me the opportunity to love those children in a way I wouldn't have experienced had I remembered the key. It was a good reminder that God is always working for the good of his children!

We're Celebrities!!

Dinner with the Assistant Mayor last night turned out to be a much bigger ordeal than originally imagined. We ate at the end of a long pier on the sea with the Mayor, Assistant Mayor, and some other important man that I can't remember his title. They ordered every kind of Greek food imaginable and I was coerced into trying lamb intestines....yuck! Thank you Austen for eating my portion. The Mayor awarded us medals along with a DVD and tour guide of the city. AND, they had the city's major news network come interview the pastor and a couple of team members!! It was a rare opportunity for the Protestant church to share about the ministry we participated in. The Mayor even inquired Melethes, the pastor we worked under, about the differences between Greek Orthodox and Protestantism! Oh, we're also going to be featured in the newspaper in the near future...so I guess you could say we are celebrities here in Volos :)

"One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure"

Picking up trash has turned out to be both extremely humbling and surprisingly encouraging. Volunteerism in Greece is practically non-existent, so most of the citizens have been incredibly grateful for our service. People have bought us drinks, honked their horns, volunteered to help us, and one old lady insisted on giving us her opened package of cookies. Even the Assistant Mayor pulled over on the side of the highway today to take pictures of us and invite us to dinner tomorrow night at his home! But most importantly, people have questioned who we are and why we are picking up trash on the side of the highway. This gives the Protestant church (there is only one in Volos) a great opportunity to connect with the community and share the love of Christ.

However, there have been a few people who have yelled at us for picking up trash. We're not certain why since we can't undestand them, but it was pretty obvious that they weren't happy about it. We've picked up several beaches while people laying out pointed out the trash that we missed. And last, but certainly not least, we've cleaned up former "homes" of gypsies which includes human feces and used feminine products. Don't worry, we wore gloves.

But God is good and provided us with the opportunity to swim in the sea after each day. It was the perfect rest needed after spending hours in the sun.

Aside from picking up trash, we assisted the pastor in the Wednesday night church service where I shared my testimony. God was gracious enough to give me the courage to step out of my comfort zone and calm all of my fears. Thanks for praying!