Homemade Cream of Wheat

This is your chance to add an old favorite that is packed with nutrition to your diet for only pennies. Homemade Cream of Wheat, or ground wheat cereal without the brand name, is packed with whole grains and fiber, and can be a great source of vitamins and minerals if done right. If you're a food storage buff (or learning to be one), this is a great way to make use of those buckets of wheat.

The trick to making the best, most nutritious ground wheat cereal is grinding it yourself. You'll probably have a hard time buying ground wheat that is coarse enough for this anyway. A wheat grinder is one of the best purchases for healthy cooking you'll ever make, if you haven't already. A hand grinder can be used, but a good electric grain mill is worth the $150-$300 investment. I have the Nutrimill and love it.

Grind your wheat on the coarsest setting possible. Depending on your mill, it will be coarse flour or cornmeal consistency. It grinds much faster than fine flour and will only take a few seconds with an electric mill. The best time to make your cereal is right after you grind it, as the vitamins quickly deplete from wheat after it's ground. Let's be realistic, though. You won't make this very often if you have to grind it every morning before breakfast. Keeping it in a closed container in the fridge or freezer will help it last longer and make it easily accessible for a quick breakfast.

In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup cereal to 4 cups water. I find that this serves 3-4 people, so adjust accordingly. Cook on high, stirring almost constantly until it thickens, which will only be 2-3 minutes or so. Simply serve with milk, fruit, brown or white sugar (or substitute), cinnamon sugar, or honey. You can feel good that you're spending next to nothing to eat a high fiber whole grain with no additives, preservatives, sodium, or cholesterol. It's low fat, and you can control the sugar (calorie) content, which is sure not to exceed what you'd get in most store-bought cereals.