Kitchen Stewardship | A Baby Steps Approach to Balanced Nutrition
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How to Get a Big Appliance for Half Price (or Less!)

March 23rd, 2010 · 274 Comments · Avoiding Waste, Frugality, What to Buy

Everyone loves to get a package in the mail.  This was on my porch Saturday when we came home from learning how to tap maple trees and make syrup at a local nature center:  grain mill box

I haven’t been this excited about a box on my porch since my Biokleen dishwasher detergent came in!

Shhhh!  Don’t tell, but there’s a Nutrimill grain mill in this box!

I haven’t even tried it out yet, because I’m just slow at new things and still have plenty of flour on hand, but I’m already plotting what might be first.  I’m thinking either spelt raisin cookies (after Easter) or something with brown rice flour as I go gluten-free for Holy Week.

My Big Appliance Sharing Idea

I have been blessed for the past year by a dear friend of mine who lets me borrow her dehydrator for weeks at a time to make my crispy nuts, dried fruit, and other experiments that I’ll tell you about sometime soon.  It’s brilliant, really.  Most people don’t need a big thing like a dehydrator every day, and we can pass it along within the week through our raw milk group.  Her generosity has allowed me to take “dehydrator” off my wish list for now, which is really nice because it’s not only a big ticket item but takes up a lot of space.

I kind of think of a grain mill in the same category. I know a lot of people use theirs daily or at least very often, but I think I’ll be the type who grinds as much as I can in one day, freezes it, and has it handy for quicker baking.  I don’t have room in my kitchen to store something this big, so I’d have to trek to the basement anytime I want it anyway.  (Apparently freezing the flour will only prevent rancidity but not loss of nutrients.  More research needed, but if you can’t afford a mill, you still might as well share with friends and have freshly milled flour one week out of four or something!  You could make a freeze all your bread loaves at that time.)

I know a lot of my friends would love the benefit of freshly ground grain, too, and my friend’s dehydrator generosity has inspired an idea that I think any real foodie with a local network should consider:

Form a “large appliance” co-op and share the big items among a group of people.

One person can own the grain mill, another the dehydrator, another the canning equipment or the lacto-fermentation crock, and another the chocolate fondue fountain.  fondue fountain At least, that’s what MY friends’ co-op will include, because someone already has one.  ;)   You could even include items like a rototiller for the garden in this mix.

It’s almost like getting a big kitchen appliance for half the price!  Even less if you’ve got a lot of people and can think of many items you can all use intermittently.

added bonus KS Added Bonus: Not only are you saving money and storage space in your home, but you’re using fewer resources to make appliances, AND you get a good excuse to see your friends more often to negotiate the swaps.

The Big News…Where can YOU get a New Grain Mill?

Can I just say I’m really excited about this little ol’ paragraph here?  I’ve been image bursting to tell you all this news for a week! I get to give away a brand spankin’ new Nutrimill Grain Mill to one of YOU this fall! Can I get a “Woot!” for that one?  Pleasant Hill Grain, who sells all sorts of big ticket items like grain mills and home and commercial vacuum sealers (ooo, there’s another possible item for the appliance co-op!) has offered to sponsor a giveaway here to line up with my series on Seeking the Perfect Homemade Whole Wheat Bread.

It’s a big deal.

So what’s the catch, you ask?

There is one tiny little thing.  *holding breath*  I cut a deal that I had to have 5,000 subscribers by October to give away the grain mill.  If not, you’ll get a chance to win a $50 gift certificate for anything at the site instead.

But I think we can do it!  It’s only about 100 people per month who need to get into the KS style baby steps.  Are you with me?

I want to honor you kitchen stewards who have been with me so far, creating a community of people doing their best to honor God and feed their families well.  If you leave a comment ON THIS POST RIGHT NOW saying that you’re a subscriber – that you were subscribed before you read this post – you get an extra entry in the grain mill giveaway in October. That’s right – nepotism.  I’m not shy about shouting how much I love my readers from the rooftops, and you deserve to be rewarded for being part of KS.

If you’re thinking about subscribing, don’t worry – I’ll give another one of these “love my readers” opps at least a month before the actual giveaway.

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If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.

Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money.  If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.

Disclosure:  Pleasant Hill Grain gave me a great deal on a demo mill for myself and is providing a brand new mill for you at no cost.  I am not obligated to write a positive review and am not influenced by my affiliation with PHG in any way.  I am providing them with a little link love.  It’s only fair.  :)

I’m entered in:


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