This is a quick post . . I was caught off guard by all the questions about the popcorn that we use for cornbread. It is not sweet at all but when I grind corn for cornmeal, I used dent corn, which is basically field corn, and that’s what most commercial cornmeal is made from, and that isn’t sweet either. If you’re using a cornbread mix, sugar is probably added. The cornbread I made for years had added sugar but . . no more. Sugar is off limits.
Sometimes I feel like the crazy woman on aisle 5 and I know that of my blog readers who truly care, you probably know more about this than I do but even if you aren’t going to change what you do, you owe it to yourself to read more about the foods we eat.
Some of the “life changing” things I’ve learned are:
- Whether it’s corn, oats, wheat . . most any grain, as soon as it’s been ground or rolled or milled, it begins to lose nutritional value. Anything I grind at home has way more health benefits than anything I buy already ground in the grocery store.
- With cornmeal, as well as flour, too many of the healthy portions of the grain have been removed. When I make salt rising bread, I have to use cornmeal that has not been degerminated. It’s almost impossible to find cornmeal with the germ. Because the germ has a bit of fat, it causes the cornmeal to go rancid faster but it’s necessary for making salt rising bread. How many of you are saying “degerminated?” Look at the cornmeal in your cabinet and most all of it has been degerminated. Now . . if you really care, research the value of the germ in corn.
Since we buy corn in bulk, there’s not a whole lot that I use cornmeal for other than cornbread or corn muffins but when I buy 30 or 40 pounds of popcorn, we can use that for popcorn or for cornmeal, so one bucket of corn serves two purposes.
And no . . I do not cook cornbread on top of the stove. It was just on top of the stove for the photographs. I bake it in the oven.
shirley says
Thank you for this taking the time to write this.
Carolyn S says
Hi from southern Texass. I find the lifestyle you and Vince live so interesting. Am learning a lot about a number if things. Thanks for sharing.
Katie Z. says
We grind our own corn too… It’s probably your “fault” that I even thought to do it. In 2013, we grew our own Hopi Blue corn, and it is so good!
We tried green corn, but it made the cornbread rather nasty looking.
Pat (EagleKnits) says
Ha, ha! I went back and looked at the cornbread photo. What I thought was a blue flame under the skillet was apparently just a reflection.