I’m a sucker for trends. I’m a Gemini…I want to do all the things! I’ve done this with sewing machines, those cute little circular knitting machines, and the Ninja Creami. I have an entire appliance garage in the office off the kitchen. “Hi, my name is Ginny, and I’m a trend addict.” I have really good intentions, but I’m so easily distracted by sparklies!

My current obsession is Fresh Milled Flour. It’s all the rage on YouTube, and I follow at least a dozen “influencers” on the subject. I started baking bread in the late ‘70s. I had the entire collection of Mother Earth News magazines and fancied myself as some latent, back-to-the-land hippy. Never mind that I lived in East Denver on a busy street in a farmhouse that predated the surrounding area by at least 50 years. If I had known you could mill flour at home, I would have jumped at the chance.

Fast forward five decades, and here I am, living on a five-acre homestead in West Virginia. Saying we’re retired is a misnomer. We’re busier now than we ever were working and raising kids. At least, it seems like it. I haven’t entirely jumped into the prepper movement, but I have committed to making our food from scratch with the healthiest ingredients I can buy. Being on a fixed budget means we buy in bulk at the best prices, as well.

Once I finally decided to make the investment and get a home grain mill, everyone else was on the bandwagon, and mills were scarce as hen’s teeth. I had researched the different types of mills and decided to buy a manual one. buyer’s remorse set in almost immediately when I started thinking about the actual application of using something I had to not only manually grind, but also to carry it back and forth and clamp it to my counter. I ordered a return label before I even received it.

While I was originally thinking a manual mill would be best in case of long-term power outages…not entirely unrealistic in this day and age…I ultimately decided to buy a NutriMill Classic. It’s a high-speed unit that grinds about any hard grain and only weighs thirteen pounds, as opposed to thirty-eight for the manual mill. I think it will work great for my needs. It arrives sometime this week.

I’m determined that this will be a healthy lifestyle change that is sustainable and won’t be a fever-dream of obsession that burns out quickly. Stay tuned for more adventures—indoors and out!

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And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. Genesis 1:29 ESV

***Gratitude Journal***   Today, I am grateful that God is opening my eyes to eating real food and treating my body like the temple it is.