Ever since reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, I have been even more dedicated to eating as natural as possible. This is especially easy now that the farmers markets are back in full swing. The weakest link to eating completely like my great-grandmothers would have is flour. I make my own bread, but I do use white flour in it. Now many people may be shocked by this, but white flour is very different from what it was a hundred years ago, and is not nearly are natural.
White flour nowadays is treated with all sorts of chemicals to separate out every last bit of the germ and bran. Where as flour that is stone ground the old-fashioned way keeps intact the nutrients and also don’t strip as much of the bran. All this is well and good, but it is nearly impossible to find stone ground white flour. Even whole wheat is rarely stone ground and therefore has many of its nutrients lost due to heat.
I have finally found a source for great, old-fashioned flour. Wade’s Mill is an old mill that is still working in Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains. This coming weekend, hubby and I will be taking a trip down to see it and stay at a nearby b&b. My birthday happens to fall over this long weekend, and I am thankful that we are going to get to celebrate it by enjoying the mountains and little towns along the way.
What a great birthday trip to take…hope your birthday and weekend are terrific!!
I just wanted to drop in and thank yo ufor your prayers and well-wishes yesterday as we had the fire scare. Thankfully, it turned, and we’re safe! THANK YOU for your support, and of course, we’re thanking God 🙂
Wonderful idea for a road trip!
Your post inspired me to look for someplace closer to home to find stone ground wheat. Turns out there is one not too far! They don’t offer white, but it’s all natural and in a beautiful location! I may grab some inspiration from you in the coming weeks!
Robbyn – I’m glad that things turned out alright!
Sadie – I’m glad that you found a local mill. I was so surprised to find one near us. I had no idea that the old-fashioned mills still existed.
Happy Birthday!!!!
Let me know how it goes and how you like the flower – I see that you can order flour and have it shipped. That’s always a good option!
Have a great time!
that sounds like such a fun birthday trip! i’m lucky that i have two sources of locally grown and milled flour that come to my nyc farmers market – one sells whole wheat and the other sells white, so i’m set!