You Grind Your Own Wheat?

When you read the title of this post , are you  picturing me with a mortar and pestle, or turning the handle on some sort of meat grinding contraption?  Would you feel a little less intimidated if I told you that I have an electric grinder that sounds something like a vacuum cleaner when it's grinding?  Here is a picture of the Wondermill, my handy dandy wheat grinder.
  So much for the image of me in my pioneer apron wiping the sweat off my brow.  Would my image be completely blown if I told you that we didn't use a butter-churn to make our own butter?  We use a blender.  I prefer an urbanized version of the simple life.

So, I have been asked to blog about bread making, and  the reason behind our decision to go this route.  There is a source to blame for this course of our life.  A book named What the Bible Says About Healthy Living was our introductory course in nutrition in the early years of our marriage.  In it we learned a great deal about the kernel of wheat and it's amazing nutritional value.  It also went on to inform us of the nutritional problems that occur when wheat is processed with bleaching and fortification, leaving an end result of a high calorie food that has almost zero nutritional value.  I will leave you to discover the rest of the story of wheat on your own, but we began to research more and more, and made the decision to begin learning how to make our own bread.
  We were surprised to find that there was a growing movement of home bread-makers in our part of the world, and many were ready with advice for us.  We spent a few years gathering information, and with baby steps we started moving toward making our own bread with store-bought flour just to see if we could make it successfully at home.  Eventually, as we increased in skills, we decided to get the Wondermill and grind our own wheat for the exponential health benefits it provides.  With that purchase, it followed that we had to find a source from which to buy whole kernels of wheat.  Each time we moved, we had to find a new source.  But, now we order our wheat once a year with a co-op of numerous families in the north Georgia area who also make their own bread.  (The number of families would shock you.)
  On to the present, and our family has mastered, loaves of honey wheat bread, rolls, pancakes, biscuits, tortillas, coffee cake, muffins, and the like.  We have even learned to make our own granola for morning cereal, and it costs far less, and tastes much better than the store bought equivalent.
  Once or twice a week I make 2-4 loaves of bread and 1-2 batches of tortillas, and a dozen biscuits.   Many times I have to cook one extra loaf that we call the sacrificial loaf,  because it is instantly cut, buttered and devoured within minutes of coming out of the oven.  With the use of my Kitchen Aid mixer I am able to make multiple loaves at once without manually kneading the dough, therefore cutting down on the time of labor.
  It isn't always the most convenient way of getting a meal on the table.  I have to plan ahead and make sure the bread is there to make sandwiches, french toast, or whatever.  With anything new there is a learning curve, where it takes more time and effort to do a task than it does when you have gained the experience.
But things that are of value, are seldom too convenient, so I have found.