food war

in light of our current food crisis in this country, i am still thankful that i have a few options: i can buy local; i can buy organic; i can grow my own food, and i can also cook almost anything from scratch.  currently, the last two options are what make the most sense to me and my family. unfortunately, however, i do not feel like i can grab a box of graham crackers off an ordinary grocery store shelf without feeling like i may be eating something quite unordinary, something quite genetically modified.

as long as this country continues to hold our food hostage, under the brand name of monsanto, i will continue to make every effort to ensure that my children and family are nourished by the best possible ingredients and the best possible foods, with lots of extra love poured into every bite.

at the everhart residence, we have decided to start small: i decided that while chad is out tilling our land, preparing our ever-growing garden, i would embark upon my own adventure in baking bread.

 

while a loaf of bread may seem easy, there are times when my entire day might revolve around the length of time it will take for my bread to rise in order to create that perfect consistency and flavor.  i also didn't consider how much bread we really do use. one loaf simply can't do the job...what about dinner rolls, yeast rolls, pizza crust, biscuits, crackers, tortillas, and the list keeps growing.  i know most people are one step ahead of me already, but you have to start somewhere, right?

 

the good news is, this is what i did not have to eat: unbleached enriched flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, wheat gluten, whole wheat flour, rye flour, wheat bran, soy flour, soybean oil, dough conditioners that contains sodium stearoyl lactylate, monoglycerides....and i don't even feel like typing the rest! while some of these ingredients may have some nutritional value, i read somewhere the other day that if you can't pronounce it, then you shouldn't be eating it!

 

...and about those graham crackers; these were much more fun, and taste pretty darn close to what you would find at the store...i won't bother telling you everything you're NOT missing out on (as far as ALL the ingredients in the store bought ones) with this nice little 8 ingredient recipe, and as you can see, the kiddies can't keep their hands off of them!