Now that global warming is probably a reality, brown is in! Tan is cool 
We’ve finished all our white goods: flour, rice (sushi, jasmine, basmati). So we’ve switched to brown stuff: whole wheat flour, brown rice. Brown rice isn’t available in bulk bins and since I don’t want to buy several pounds like I normally do (because of our move that will happen in a few months), I bought them in prepackaged plastic bags. The bags are reusable ziplocs…so its not too terrible since the bags can be reused.
I baked bread using whole wheat and for some reason its a bit dense (didn’t rise much in the oven). I didn’t think there would be changes with switching flour, but I’ll play around with the dough the next time I make bread.
The rice I bought was from Lunberg’s, a company based in California and one that follows all the goody-goody policies that I appreciate. The rice I bought was a short grain rice and the cooking time was a bit longer than jasmine rice. The taste is slightly nutty/chewy which I like.
My friend and I were at Whole Foods over the weekend looking at their bulk bins and Lundberg farms is incredible - they grow an amazing variety of rice in California.
Btw, after looking at the purple cabbage and snow peas you made, I went out and bought some too! I love the color and variety it adds to food.
Comment by sfordinarygirl — May 27, 2008 @ 1:05 pm
First of all, I’m going to brag that Lundbergs is fairly local and I can buy their brown rice in bins here.
Second, I thought you meant brown was in as in the color of dead lawns - like mine out front. That’s totally in, right?
Comment by Green Bean — May 27, 2008 @ 1:30 pm
I am with GreenBean. I feel lucky to be able to buy CA Lundberg rice in bulk here, for my family that is. I don’t like rice, wrong texture. Love bread, though it is pretty difficult to find fresh wholewheat bread that tastes as good as the white kind. Sigh.
Comment by CindyW — May 27, 2008 @ 3:17 pm
Okay you local Lundberg fans, I am now green with envy.
I found out that the rice is available in bulk (I guess they were out when I visited the store), not sure who is the grower however. Its $1.79/lb for the brown basmati.
Green Bean: Brown is the color of the future, so you are definetly a trend setter with the brown lawn. Between your bike riding and your jam making, you’ll soon be mom of the year in your neighborhood. First priority is the family, then we worry about blades of grass (if at all).
Comment by Beany — May 27, 2008 @ 7:17 pm
CindyW: It took me a while to get used to brown bread. I found that I liked brown bread when it had stuff in it, like nuts or raisins or something else. The Amish here bake some really fantastic whole wheat/whole grain breads.
Comment by Beany — May 27, 2008 @ 7:20 pm
I have trouble with my whole wheat being too dense/doesn’t rise as much. It’s just a heavier flour so it’s a bit harder to work with. Here are some suggestions from the Fresh Loaf:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/3458/dough-rise-problem-whole-wheat-flour
Comment by Heather at SGF — May 27, 2008 @ 8:17 pm
O wow! Thanks Heather..I’m going to try all the suggestions. The bread doesn’t taste bad at all, its just too dense more like fruit cake - I like my bread fluffy.
Comment by Beany — May 27, 2008 @ 8:37 pm
Here’s another link that might be useful. It talks about how the ratio of white to whole wheat isn’t 1:1:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20070723/ai_n19387064?tag=rbxcra.2.a.2
I’m still trying to figure it all out myself. Let me know if you end up with a lighter loaf…
Comment by Heather at SGF — May 27, 2008 @ 8:39 pm