Thursday, August 30, 2012

A lesson in simplicity

Yesterday on Twitter I received some Earth shattering information.

Well that might be a slight overstatement...but seriously I was pumped when I learned

I could grind my own flour.

And not with a fancy grinder mind you with my Vita-Mix.

I was tweeting with Janae of Bring Joy and she said making her own flour was as simple as a few seconds in her Blendtec.

Well my excitement mounted because I was really not wanting to spend tons of money on oat flour, millet flour, chickpea flour, rice flour...you get the picture.

So when I got home last night I put her simple words to the test.

And you know what? 

She was right, it is easy.

I took a cup of white rice (I happen to have a 15 lbs bag of organic rice from Costco on hand...doesn't everyone?), and it made this:



Beautiful fine powdery flour.

Next up were some dried chick peas that I had on hand.

 

I was a little concerned that these might be a little big to grind up.

Nope not in the least.




Out came this beautiful pale yellow flour (now it did make an awful lot of noise in the blender at first...but the monetary savings are worth it).

I haven't decided what I am going to do with my rice flour, although I think I am going to make Silvana Nardone's gluten free all purpose flour mix.  I would like to experiment with a little more with gluten free foods.

As for the chickpea flour I have had my eye on socca for quite a while.  And not just any socca...this socca from Laura at Sprint 2 The Table. 

This weekend it will be mine (hopefully it turns out ok and doesn't get stuck to the pan).  Pray for me please.

Just as an aside 1 cup of chickpea flour has 10 grams of dietary fiber and 21 grams of protein...holy smokes!

So have you ever made your own flour (please don't let me be the only person who didn't know you could do this)?

Do you bake gluten free...any recipe tips or suggestions?

11 comments:

  1. Oh wow. I had no idea that it was that easy.... Now I have a silly question for you though. What do you make with rice flour and chickpea flour?

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  2. I've never tried making my own chickpea or rice flour. I've done oat flour before by grinding oats in the food processor and almond flour by doing the same thing with almonds.

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  3. so what doesn't the vitamix do? i haven't tried making flour (ever) but good to know it's possible especially if a recipe calls for something you don't have on hand! so super cool, resourceful and homesteader-ish.

    If you'd like, please join our Photo Friday blog-link-up tomorrow. Any of your favorite photos are welcome- even if they're in a post.

    Cheers!

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  4. I'm so going to make my own chickpea flour because I've had my eye on that exact same socca too!!! I always grind my own oat flour for cookies. And the rice flour is a great tip because I've been mixing my own gluten-free flour too: http://www.treatswithatwist.com/2012/08/gluten-free-all-purpose-flour.html

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  5. This is too cool! Lauren @ Oatmeal Before Spinning did this recently too. You guys totally impress me.

    Thanks for the socca shout out! I also use chickpea flour in my TVP "Chick-less" nuggets.

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  6. Wait, what?? You can make your own flour? That really is some news! Now I just need to get a Vitamix. Thank you for sharing, Rachel! I can't wait to see your socca!

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  7. Hi Rachel! I'm finally back home, on the computer, sitting here with a lovely cup of herbal tea and ready to catch up with your wonderful blog :)
    Your home made flours look so fine. The vitamix sure is a powerful beast (and hopefully one day I'll be able to try one for myself... if I ever receive a windfall ;) ).
    I always make my own oat flour, but I tend to buy gram (chickpea) flour as it's super cheap in the Indian aisles of our big supermarkets. Socca pancakes are super easy to make, very robust and don't stick at all if you have a non-stick frying pan. I only brush the smallest amount of olive oil in the pan and they easily flip over.
    I've never tried making rice flour. I'm still confused about the whole toxicity issue with rice. Our government advises that cooked rice be refrigerated within an hour of cooking to prevent food poisoning. I'm not sure how raw rice or food items cooked with rice flour fit in with this regulation. I'll have to find out...

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  8. This is genius! GF flours can be so expensive. I don't know why I never thought to do this!! Thanks for the awesome idea!

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  9. Hey! I just stumbled upon your blog - and isn't making your own flour awesome?! I so agree! I often times make my own flour in a coffee grinder. Unfortunately I don't have a Vitamix yet ;) As for Gluten Free recipes; I love a good veggie bread with millet flour: my recipe is on my blog @ http://eatandgetmoving.wordpress.com/2012/08/21/my-best-recipe-to-date-for-broccoli-bread-gluten-free-anti-candida-diet-vegetarian/ I have more gluten free recipes on my blog + many more to come. It's just taking me a while to make pictures and edit them (oops) :) On a final note: Love your blog! Love, Leanne

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  10. Grinding your own flour! You really were serious about being self-sufficient and making all your own food!

    Ahhh, no...definitely don't have 15 pounds of rice hanging around in my pantry. I do have around 15 pounds of honey though... :o)

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