Many of us store wheat for that "some day emergency" and have a gnawing feeling inside that if that emergency were to really come, we wouldn't know how to use all that wonderful stored wheat.

Relax! Using wheat during an emergency is the simplest thing to do. The following are the ways that E would use wheat in an emergency.

During an emergency you may be short of supply on any and all of the following:

• Time
• Water
• Physical Energy
• Electricity
• Sanitation

Bread making requires a hand grinder and therefore lots of time. Bread can be made in a Dutch oven in the ground with a fire pit, but it still takes lots of time.

In a true emergency, the best way to use your wheat is to cook it in boiling water at a ratio of 1 part wheat to 2 parts water. Boil for three minutes. Then put in a jar with a tight lid and let it sit overnight. It will he cooked in the morning. It doesn't taste the best, but it is very nutritional.

One person could easily live far a long while on wheat alone. Wheat is very high in the B vitamins and when sprouted is very high in A, B, C, and E. When wheat is combined with any other grain, dairy product, potatoes, seeds or nuts it makes a complete protein.

One person's daily nutritional requirements could be met with 4 cups of wheat. Cook and eat 3 1/2 cups and sprout 1/2 cup and you will probably be eating better than you do now, nutritionally speaking. However, any food eaten exclusively is not as good as eating many kinds of foods. Start with wheat, then explore all of the options of beans, lentils, rice, and other grains. You could live on the wheat, but you would be glad to have more variety.

Though boiled wheat is great for you, it will not taste great forever and this is where learning to cook some of your favorite things with wheat now, will help. Start slowly by substituting some of the wheat for meat in your regular recipes. If you like the way it turns out, buy the required ingredients as described in the Can Plan.

Eventually buy a grinder.  This would mostly be used in non-emergency times. Bake your own bread, whole-wheat pancakes, cookies and all other baked goods. Your family can start to get used to eating the wheat. Any major change in diet is hard, particularly during stressful situations, so don’t wait until the "big emergency" to go straight wheat. Get used to eating wheat now.

• Wheat is high in fiber, and has no refined carbohydrate units.
• Wheat makes a complete protein when combined with any other grain, dairy product, bean or legume, or seed.

  ---

1. Use it cracked or whole and cooked

a. Cracked and boiled as a meat replacement
b. Cracked or whole and cooked as a cereal.
c. Cracked or whole and cooked as an ingredient in soups, stews, casseroles, desserts, pilafs, etc.
d. Use in breads for texture and flavor.

a. Bake into breads--yeast, quick, sourdough, flat such as pancakes, tortillas, pitas, chapati, crepes, crackers, etc.
b. Make noodles and other pasta to use alone or in casseroles, soups, etc.
c. Use in flour based desserts such as cakes, cookies

a. Use in breads as an additional sweetener and leavener.
b. Use in casseroles, soups, stews and salads.

Put 1/4 cup wheat in a canning jar and fill jar with warm water. Cover jar with cheesecloth and rubber band in place. Let sit for 8-12 hours and drain off water.

Place the jar in a dark, warm place. Rinse and drain the wheat 2-3 times a day until wheat sprouts. 1/4 makes about 1 cup of sprouts. When the sprouts have reached the desired length, they can be put in indirect or artificial light sunlight to make them greener.

Why sprout?

Sprouting increases the vitamin C in wheat by 400%. It also makes the wheat more digestible.

Each time you slowly unlock the grain, whether through slow rising bread, or sprouting, the wheat is able to release more of the nutrients in the grain.

How to use the Sprouts:

Put in breads. It increases the ability of the loaf to rise. It provides a natural sweetness and is more easily digested.

Put in soups, casseroles and salads. The sprouts are sweet and nutritious when the sprout is about the same length as the grain.

• Use wheat in recipes your family already likes. Then it is not totally unfamiliar and you know the recipe is good.
• Try wheat in desserts first, who can turn down a cookie?
• Do not feel you have to use 100 percent whole wheat. Half white and half whole wheat gives excellent results.

How to substitute whole wheat in your favorite recipes

• Whole wheat is heavier than white flour and needs more leavening.
• In yeast breads, use more yeast and/or let it rise longer
• In baking powder leavened products, increase baking powder by 1 tsp for every 3 cups whole wheat flour.
• Recipes using baking soda need not be adjusted.
• In baked products using eggs, separate the eggs and beat whites until stiff. Then fold in just before baking. For extra lightness, an extra separated egg may be added. Good for waffles and especially cakes. 

  ---

Wheat Berries: Whole wheat with the husks removed

Bulgar: Cooked wheat berries, dried and cracked. It's the "Minute Rice" of wheat. Cooks quickly, but has lost some of the nutrients.

Cracked Wheat: Put wheat in a heavy duty blender and run until the wheat is in little pieces. Cooks faster and gives a mushier texture than whole wheat.

Whole wheat: The whole wheat berry or anything made with the whole wheat berry. Some commercial things can be labeled to make you think that something is whole wheat when in fact it is enriched white flour with the bran added back in. Read the label carefully.

Flour: Milled wheat.

Graham Flour: A coarse grind of whole wheat.

Whole wheat commercial flour: White flour with the bran added back in. The endosperm is still missing. One way to tell if it is really whole wheat is if the flour must be refrigerated or frozen. Then the endosperm is present.

Home ground Whole Wheat flour: 100% whole wheat.

Semolina: Special flour made from Durum wheat. Durum wheat is a special wheat grown for low gluten. It is used in Pasta. Use regular whole wheat in pasta, and it turns out beautifully.

Essence Bread
Cooked sprouted whole wheat berries

Variations:

• Veggie Bread Use parsley, onion, green pepper, carrots
•    Seasonings-caraway, poppy seeds
• Sweet Bread Chopped raisins, dates, almonds or filberts
•    Seasonings-cinnamon, nutmeg, etc
• Or Plain

Cooking:
Bake in the sun or a warm place (70-90°) until firm. It may be necessary to turn these a few times so that the side does not get sticky. “Bake” about 12-15 hours. The longer they sit the more flavors go throughout the bread.

Note: Most health food stores sell “Essence” type breads. They are delicious with butter, cream cheese or broiled.

Cream Cheese Supreme
2 pkgs cream cheese
¼  cup pure maple syrup
Dash of cinnamon
½ tsp lemon extract
Cream well together, then add:
½ cup chopped dates
½ cup raisins
Serve as a frosting on cake or sprouted wheat bread
Wheat Sprout Candy
1 cup sprouted wheat
1 cup nuts
½ cup coconut shreds
1 cup rehydrated raisins, dates, or figs, or a combination of all three
Combine the above in a food grinder using a fine blade. Shape, using wet hands, into marble size balls, roll in coconut. Refrigerate.

Sprouting Wheat Grass
Use only fresh, hard winter wheat (available in health food stores)
1.   One large jelly roll pan (they have edges)
2.   Soak wheat for 24 hours in water, prior to seeding.
3.   Spread 1” of regular soil in jelly roll pan and moisten. Spread      wheat on top of soil, no need to cover.
4.   Cover with 8 sheets of wet newspaper, and a sheet of plastic wrap. Don’t tuck in.
5.   After 8 days, harvest at the first joint.

Carrot & Pineapple Salad
1 ½ cups shredded carrots
1 small, 8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained
2 cups cooked whole kernel wheat
½ cup salad oil

Combine all ingredients. Chill. For variety, you may add nuts, bananas, apple pieces and raisins.

Peanut Butter Log
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup honey
1 ½ to 2 cups regular  non-fat dry milk
1 tsp pure vanilla
Chopped nuts
Dash of salt, optional

Mix all the ingredients; knead until thoroughly blended; form into a log and roll in chopped nuts or wheat germ, slice and serve. Instant non-fat milk will not work, be sure to use regular dry milk. Store in refrigerator. Freezes well for serving later. Makes 24 slices.

Manna
2 cups milk
1 banana
¼ cup raisins
½ tsp vanilla
1 tbs. honey
Blend well & serve

Honey Chew Cookies
½ cup ground sprouted wheat
1 cup flour (any kind)
½ cup dry milk and ½ cup water
½ cup honey
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon, optional
½ cup dried fruit, optional

Drop ½ tsp on greased and floured cookie sheet.
Flatten with a fork.
Bake at 350°  or 20 mins. Or less

Wheat Wafers
(a recipe similar to this was supposedly taken from the Dead Sea Scrolls)

Sprout two cups of wheat so the sprout is about 1 ½ times the size of the wheat. Grind on fine, or chop fine in a blender. A touch of salt is optional. Line a cookie sheet with a greased sheet of waxed paper. Spread paper-thin and place in a slow oven (200° or less), and allow to dry out. This is a sweet tasting wafer similar to a “wheat thin”.

Sprout Treats
Sprout wheat. Let it partially dry. Place a little olive or vegetable oil in a pan and heat. Add the sprouts and stir or shake until they are golden brown and split open. Drain the sprouts on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt or other seasonings. Delicious.

Wheat Meat Replacement--Wheatburger
Recipe equals about 1 lb. of hamburger

1 1/4 cups of cooked cracked wheat
1/2 envelope of onion soup mix
1 T Worcestershire Sauce

Mix all ingredients together and heat. Use in place of hamburger in any hamburger recipe such as Tacos, Sloppy Joes, Stroganoff, Casseroles, etc.

Sloppy Joes
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 recipe of wheatburger
1/2 envelope of onion soup mix (the other half!)
1 small can of tomato paste
Prepared mustard
Sugar, salt and pepper to taste

Sauté onion and green pepper. Add the wheat and heat. Stir in the tomato paste and add water to thin to the desired consistency. Add a squirt of mustard and add sugar if a slightly sweeter taste is desired, and salt and pepper. Serve on whole-wheat buns with grated cheese and lettuce.

Sausage Replacement
To be used in sausage casseroles and spaghetti

Use 1 1/4 cup of wheat, and add 1-2 t. sausage seasoning.

Sausage Seasoning
1 T. Rosemary
5 T. sage, crumbled or ground
1-2 T. salt
1 1/2 T. marjoram
2 T. Basil
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 T. Garlic powder.

Mix the above together and store as a seasoning. Can be used as a seasoning in spaghetti without the wheat.

Lentil Soup
1 T. Sesame oil
1 large onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
Salt
8 cups of water
2 cups of lentils--preferably red  (it doesn’t change the flavor, just the finished color is a golden brown instead of green)
1/2 t. ground turmeric
6 T. lemon juice
6 T. Miso

Sauté onions in sesame oil. Add the garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients except the Miso and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and then simmer covered for 1 hour. Put the soup in the blender and blend to desired texture. Mix the Miso and lemon juice together and add to the soup. Reheat, but do not boil.

Graham Crackers
1/4 c. milk
1 t. lemon juice
1/4 c. oil
1/3 c. honey
3 T. brown sugar
2 c. whole-wheat flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt

Combine the milk and lemon juice and allow the milk to curdle. Whisk in the oil and honey and sugar. In a separate bowl stir together the dry ingredients.  Add the dry to the wet and stir gently until mixed. Grease a cookie sheet.  Put a blob of dough on the sheet and roll out to 1/8 " thick.  Cut square line with a pizza cuter and score each cracker with a fork. Bake at 350 for 10 min. Watch carefully to not let them burn. Transfer to a rack to cool and store in a tight container.

Whole Wheat  Crêpes
1 cup of fine whole wheat flour
Salt
1 egg
1 1/2 c. milk
1 T. oil

In a blender, blend egg and salt. Gradually add flour. A1ternate the milk and flour until both are gone. Finally add oil and blend until smooth. Pour into a pitcher or bowl and let rest for at least 1/2 hour. Refrigerate if left longer. Grease a round sided frying pan and pour 2-4 T. of batter into the pan and swirl. Let cook until brown on one side. Loosen the crêpe and flip the crêpe and cook on the other aide until lightly browned. Or use a crêpe maker.

Crêpes can be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator for several days, or in the freezer for a month.

Chinese Fried Wheat
1 cup cracked wheat ( strain out flour before cooking)
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 beaten egg
1 onion, minced
1/4 cup celery, diced
2 Tbsp soya sauce or to taste
bacon or ham

Bring wheat, water an salt to a boil and cook for 20-30 minutes. Put in a strainer and drain off thick liquid (save for gravy).
Wash wheat with cold water to make it fluffy. Press wheat to remove all moisture possible. Set aside. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a
heavy skillet. Slowly add beaten egg, stirring rapidly with a fork so egg is light and fluffy. Set aside. Add to skillet 2 Tbsp
oil, minced onion, and celery and cook until tender. Then add wheat soya sauce, bacon or ham and egg. Heat through and
serve with extra soya sauce if desired.