Uses for mason jars-DIY healthy flours, and much more–On a budget (no Vitamix necessary!)

March 1, 2013 by Sustainably Nourished 2 Comments

Buying good quality flour for cooking and baking is costly, so on a budget, I discovered a wonderful option for buying the whole seed, nut or grain and doing it myself (plus it’s fresher that way.) I have seen the $500 plus Vitamixes that are so commonly used these days but there’s no way i’m dropping that much on something that I believe is unnecessary.

 

So today, I want to share with you how to use an ordinary blender (I think mine is the cheapest Wal-mart brand that I could find 4 years ago, but still going strong! Apparently when blenders first were designed, the blade was made to fit a standard mason jar! Now this is awesome news because if you try to do this with the plastic blender your mixture will unevenly grind and take forever!

All that’s actually necessary is to have a mason jar and a basic blender. This morning I put my flax seeds in the mason jar, screwed on the blade attachment of the blender, turned it upside down on the blender base and pushed the button for “grind”. Within about 15-30 seconds I have fresh flax meal that I mix in with my oat flour (about 1/4 flax to 3/4 oat) to make a more moist flour and rich in Omega-3 of course. When using this flour I use half the oil or butter in the recipe because of the oil in the flour, and it turns out great!

I do this with my oats as well, and the consistency is just so fine as if a high-powered machine did it! 

Another thing is raw sugar, it’s the only sugar (if any) that we use occasionally and sparingly in my home, but the problem is the texture. All I do is pre-grind it with the mason jar method and I have a container of fine powdered raw sugar waiting for me which dissolves very well into any recipe!

Another great use for the mason jar is you can put coconut cream, or raw heavy cream with a sweetener and vanilla, or peppermint, or almond, or chocolate extract inside with the blender blades screwed on top. Flip over onto blender base and press the “whip” button. Within a short time, you have beautifully whipped cream for whatever you desire, and the beauty of this method is that you don’t have to transfer the product out of the blender and waste any of it.  Just use right away, or screw on a mason jar lid and put in your cupboard or the fridge.

This method can also be used with nuts for nut flours, and coffee or raw cacao beans for coffee or cocoa powder…the possibilities are broad.

I absolutely love the versatility of the mason jar and a basic blender and I hope you will be blessed by it as well!

 

Enjoy