A month or so ago, I ordered 250 pounds of wheat from Whole Foods. They sell it for .59/pound and if you buy a whole bag (50 pounds), you get 10% off that which makes it just a bit over .53/pound which is a great price, unless I get it from my wheat growing friends for free! Only problem is, my wheat growing friends are in Owensboro, KY or Oklahoma and with the cost of gas, .53/pound sounds real good. My friend, Becky, in Owensboro saved me some wheat and she and I are going to meet up with our friend, Elaine, for a girls’ weekend hopefully in September. My friend in OK is going to send me some but shipping is probably outrageous as wheat is heavy! So, I figured I’d buy some while I could get it for a reasonable price. We’re in Kansas City enough for other reasons that we can pick it up when we’re there so I don’t have to add the cost of gas.
When we were in KC over the weekend, we thought about going by Whole Foods to see if it was in but then Vince had to be back there two days this week and I have to be there one day next week. I told Vince I could go by there when I’m in town next week but Wednesday, he was right by there so he stopped and got the wheat. Only problem was, I’d spent most of the day cleaning — seriously cleaning! I was on my hands and knees vacuuming the baseboards, down the edges of the stairs, behind the ironing table, underneath the longarm — that kind of cleaning! My back was hurting and I had decided to sit and prop my feet up and knit last night. I never get to knit during the summer!
Right at 6:00 p.m., Vince called to tell me (1) he wasn’t going to be home for dinner . . which I’d already cooked and (2) he had the wheat. That got me in high gear! We only had about 50 half gallon jars left and I knew it wasn’t going to be enough but I went ahead and washed those. Here’s one group of those.
About 8:30 p.m. Vince got home with the wheat! 250 pounds is a lot of wheat! OK . . you wheat farmers, stop laughing. It’s a lot of wheat at one time for someone like me!
Got it all put up but ran out of jars before I finished the 4th bag so I ended up with about 12 big ziploc bags full and I put those in the freezer. Then Vince came in from work yesterday with 2 gallons of blackberries he bought from someone at work. My freezer is full!
Usually, I grind my flour right when I’m going to use it but I went ahead and ground enough for next week. I’ll probably still run out since I’ll be making double batches of bread next week but . . I can guarantee that I will not run out of wheat for a while! 🙂
And, Vince was telling me about a wheat salad they were sampling at Whole Foods. I looked on their web page and found the recipe and made it. Vince was so happy when he came home at lunch and saw that salad! He’s pretty easy to please! 🙂
The recipe is here. Even Chad likes it! If it has “salad” in the name, Chad usually won’t even try it. I think he’s on his third bowl of this stuff. It’s so healthy (especially considering he just came home with a big batch of fried calamari for us for a snack!) . . I’ll be making the wheat salad often!
Jan says
Hey Judy! You can also get buckets that are food grade, very tight seal lid etc. That will hold appox. one bag of wheat. Glad you found it! Hope you find time to relax today!!
Vicky says
I’m worn out just reading about your day! The salad looks wonderful!
Barbara (in Tennessee) says
Hey, Judy, I’m a lurker mostly, but I really enjoy reading your blog and am QALing with your BOM this time, and I just wondered, what kind of grain mill do you have and where did you get it? Thanks, Barbara
Karen L says
Yes Judy, I am laughing……when I think of handling wheat…..we do it by the semi load. Here’s the math….900 bushels at 60 pounds a bushel equals 54000 pounds per load…..so your 250 pounds gives me a chuckle.
Here’s a websight that handles food grade plastics pails in various sizes
http://www.consolidatedplastics.com
Enjoy your day.
Karen L
Teresa says
Hmm…never heard of buying wheat before, much less making a salad with it and you grind your own wheat? I am truely impressed! I wonder if you can buy wheat in South Carolina?
Suzanne says
Thank you for the recipe. I’ll try it in the next while. At book club, we got into a big discussion about wheat and storage, though wheat had nothing to do with the book we are reading. The whea prices are pretty good here. It’s dry/powdered milk prices that are so high!
Deb Silva says
Whew!!!! All that and I know you are still ready for the Quiltathon this weekend. ;^)
Judy in Michigan says
What is “wheat berry”? Is that unmilled wheat?
Lori says
I laugh when I read about you “buying” wheat. I used to take mine out of the bin by the ice cream pail. Made the most delicious wheat bread–you softened the kernels overnight and then mushed them somewhat in the blender. They are harvesting wheat right now, will have to ask the neighbor for a pail full!