Whole Food Haul with the Bike Trailer

Jake and Kris at Washtenaw Whole Foods

Craig took the boys to Whole Foods to pick up our bulk order.  We had placed our order on September 13, see our post here http://carfreeinannarbor.blogspot.com/2010/09/bulk-foods-and-storing-for-winter.html

Today our order is ready, so after school, Craig picked up the boys, hooked up the bike trailer, and off they went for a food run.  Sort of like a beer run, but obviously not as much fun.  See YouTube song here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyCPhIjmk-s

25 pound sack hard red winter wheat kernels
25 pound sack oat grouts
20 pound box honey fig cookies (aka healthy fig newtons)
25 pound sack vital wheat gluten
25 pound sack dried split green peas.

This reads like a provisions list from Little House on the Praire as they were setting off to homestead! I'm secretly glad that we have a Busch's around the corner when we run out of milk.

For a cost comparison, a 2-pound of Nabisco Fig Newton's runs about $10.50 on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Nabisco-Newtons-Fruit-Cookies-Individual/dp/B000F9XBJI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=grocery&qid=1285629791&sr=1-2-spell A 20 pound case (which includes a case discount) at Whole Food runs just shy of $90 or $4.50 per pound, which is less than Amazon for a product that is more wholesome.  Each fig newton from Whole Food costs 31 cents a piece.  I can't make whole wheat fig newtons for that price.

I've been going through the wheat kernels pretty fast lately.  It will be interesting to see how long we go with this order before we need to restock.  With the Vitamix, I've been baking 2 or 3 loaves of whole wheat bread (with vital wheat gluten) plus pizza on Friday night several weeks in a row.  Vitamix makes grinding grain a snap. I used to mix about 1/2 wheat and 1/2 white flour but now pretty much exclusively bake with fresh ground wheat flour. 

I'm a little bit conflicted about the addition of vital wheat gluten to my homemade bread.  Clearly, our forefathers didn't give their whole wheat bread a little boast with gluten but it does make for a soft and fluffy loaf of whole wheat goodness.  My boys have been sucking-up, telling me how much they like it.  Hard to say what they really want but I"ll take the compliment!

Astrid