spiphywarfare

Category: Food

  • To Wheat or not to Wheat

    This article was originally published on November 26, 2013.

    There is plenty of disparaging information available about grains in general and wheat specifically. Some of the best arguments against grains one can find are from Mark Sisson. Of course, these are usually calls for complete cessation of grain consumption. It certainly seems that an all-out war against grain is going on. Much of the information is compelling and well-researched.

    I find it hard to beat that drum loudly here when “a land of wheat, barley” is part of the description of The Promised Land. Proverbs 11:26 promises blessings on the one who sells grain. Reconciling my personal results with these and many other references is something I felt the need to do.

    There are some who feel that wheat is bad for you not because it is a grain but because of what we’ve done to it. Wheat itself has been bred and modified to bring farmers the most money possible through high yields, and for properties that appeal to bakers. It’s never been modified for nutrition. Then there is the processing of the wheat into flour. It is ground, separated, bleached, enriched, and maybe recombined to make “whole wheat” in some cases. This is a far cry from the when the disciples picked some heads of wheat, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them.

    I’ve therefore taken it upon myself to test this. I purchased some organic wheat and used the Vitamix to grind it into flour. It only takes about a minute per cup to get fairly fine flour. I started to consume a bit of this. Last week I had a little Irish Brown Bread made from this freshly ground wheat. Then one morning I had biscuits and gravy. The taste was fine in both bread and biscuits though the fluffiness found in highly processed wheat was lacking. I plan to change little else and see what happens with my health.

    I will carry this experiment on through the holidays and put the results out after the new year.

  • Smoked Mixed Peppers

    Smoked Mixed Peppers

    7 ounces of hot, smoky, powder.

    That represents an entire summer of growing and several pounds of peppers. A mix of jalapeño, poblano, and serrano peppers.

    It also represents 6 hours on the smoker followed by two days on the dehydrator at the lowest setting. That was followed by a morning of cleaning/sorting and grinding.

    It may seem like a lot of work for a small amount of spice but man, is it worth it! One small bit of this to anything adds a hint of smokiness and a bit of heat that comes on slow.

  • Lunch

    Soup made from tomatoes, onion, basil, and serrano peppers straight from the garden. Keto-friendly grilled cheese had a total of two carbs.

  • Smoke time

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    Smoke time
    Love playing matchmaker Just introduced these guys to a pork butt I know

  • Our Little Garden

    One of the things that has become apparent during the events surrounding COVID-19 is that our supply chain for everything runs like a well-oiled machine, but right on the edge. Whether it’s parts to build cars or ingredients to build a dinner, a shutdown in one part sends waves throughout the entire system.

    With some foods getting more difficult to get and my general need to eat better, the wife and I decided we’d start growing a tiny bit of our own food.

    Episode 1 Our Little Garden

    We’ll be sharing our journey in a series of videos. I hope you’ll  join us as we go. Maybe you’ll learn something and I definitely plan to be asking questions in the videos as well for help from those with more experience.

    Thank you, stay safe, and God bless.

  • Healthy, Frugal, and Better Than I Expected

    Healthy, Frugal, and Better Than I Expected

    The July 4th holiday of this year found us out camping in Copper Breaks State Park, which, incidentally, is one of only 73 International Dark Sky Parks in the world as of this writing. In July it also has the potential to be rather warm. This particular day was one of the warm ones.

    One rather warm evening my wife and daughter came up with an idea. Brilliant? I hardly thought so. I figured the two of them may have been in the sun too long and should go cool off. They thought we should try to eat healthier. I am certainly good with that. After some major personal changes in life and a bout with a rather complicated health concern, I’m not exactly where I want to be weight-wise or fitness-wise. But there was more.

    They wanted to do this on $100 per week. $100 per week for a family of four with two teenagers, one of whom is a teenage boy. I chuckled to myself, a little more loudly than necessary, and said, “Sure, we can try that.”

    We just started the second week. The first week I ended up eating things like chicken salad, bacon and eggs, shrimp, two large tuna steaks, and plenty of other good, healthy food. The daughter seems to have taken it as something of a personal challenge when it comes to the shopping. The wife has had to cook a bit more, but that’s actually great as cooking together has been one of my favorites things to do since before we were married.

    I’ve been wonderfully surprised by their shopping ability and have loved eating a more healthy selection of foods than what I have been recently. I’ll keep you updated.

  • Breakfast

    Breakfast

    As I was preparing my breakfast this morning, it occurred to me that certain famous fitness people would not approve.

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  • Watch “Epic Bar Beef Review” on YouTube

    My review of the Epic Bar. Beef with Habanero, Walnut, and Cherry.

  • Fathead Breakfast

    So I spent some time making up several batches of fathead pizza crusts the other day. It was very convenient to get up and throw some cheese onion, bacon, and an egg on part of one.

    Tossed it in the oven for 12 minutes at 400° and had breakfast.

    Yum!

  • Beef Jerky

    Low-carb eating goes really well with a smoker. And the two of them go great with an unexpectedly cool, still morning. That’s what I was blessed with this morning, the first time I tried my hand at smoking some jerky. Why was I doing that? I love jerky but finding any pre-made without sugar is near impossible.

    While I was at it, I decided to read outside this morning. Today was Psalm 19 that starts with “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.” The birds were giving some proclamation off in the distance as well. This little video sort of sums up how the whole process made me feel.