By April, the paddy fields had all been plowed, and now we were just waiting for the rice seedlings to grow a little bigger before transplanting them.
The group couldn't be idle for the rest of the time. After finishing their work in the fields, the Taoist priest and Lu Chuan went into the mountains.
Grandpa Zhao continued to stay at home to take care of the children and provide them with early education.
Xu Han didn't sit idle either. Taking advantage of the break, she ground out the flour for the next meal.
Wheat cannot be directly ground into flour because when wheat is harvested, it is dried directly on the ground, which will have a lot of mud and dust, so it needs to be cleaned first.
Early that morning, after Lu Chuan and the Taoist priest finished breakfast and went into the mountains, Xu Han began to wash the wheat.
First, take out two large bath tubs from the house and place them next to the pool in the backyard to fill them with water.
Then Xu Han took out the wheat from her space, filled a bamboo basket with more than half the wheat, put the basket in the bathtub, held the basket in one hand, and stirred it repeatedly with the other.
Because the bamboo basket is leaky, dirty water can flow directly into the bathtub during the washing process.
Wheat bran and straw that haven't been properly processed will also float out during repeated stirring.
Once all the wheat chaff and straw have floated to the surface, use a slotted spoon to scoop them out and put them into a basket on the side.
These straws and wheat chaff can be dried and used to feed the cows and donkeys at home; they will eat them.
After washing a basket, lift it up and rinse it again in a clean tub.
After rinsing the wheat and letting it dry on an oilcloth, it can be ground into flour.
Xu Han remembers that when she was little, her mother would often wash wheat and then take it to a flour mill to grind it into flour using a flour milling machine.
When she was little, she rarely went far from home. For Xu Han, going to the mill with her mother was always a happy occasion, and she would brag about it to her friends in the village for days afterward.
In this era, there were no flour milling machines, so the slowest method had to be used to grind flour.
However, flour ground with a stone mill does taste better than flour bought in modern times.
Stone-ground flour has a particularly strong wheat aroma and is more nutritious. It is a completely natural flour with no added food additives.
Xu Han spent the whole morning washing four sacks of wheat.
The washed wheat cannot be directly ground into flour yet.
The wheat needs to be dried for about two days. If the wheat is not dried, the milled flour will not last long and will easily become moldy and spoiled.
Therefore, if you want the milled flour to last longer, you must thoroughly dry the washed wheat.
"You must be exhausted after washing so much wheat all morning," Grandpa Zhao said with a smile.
"Not tiring at all, this is much easier than farm work," Xu Han said with a smile.
"If all this wheat is ground into flour, it will be enough for us to eat for a while."
"Yes, it can last for almost a month. The main reason is that the dogs at home have a huge appetite. We keep the white flour for ourselves and the black flour for the dogs. They can finish all the black flour in just a few days."
"The weather is getting warmer now. After a while, we can let them go into the mountains to catch bamboo rats and other things to eat. That will save some food," Grandpa Zhao said.
“It’s probably going to be tough this year. There aren’t many animals in the mountains right now, so even if they wanted to catch them, they wouldn’t be able to. We won’t need to worry about their food much next year,” Xu Han replied.
"It's alright. Anyway, we planted a lot of grain this year, so it's definitely enough for them to eat. No one in the family will go hungry."
"Hahaha, you're right, we'll definitely have a full granary this year."
"Xiao Chuan and the other guy aren't coming back for lunch today, so what are we having?"
"Is there anything you'd like to eat?" Xu Han asked.
"How about we just have something simple to eat? How about noodles with green beans and minced meat?"
"Okay, that's easy. You wait here, I'll make it for you." Xu Han said and walked towards the kitchen.
First, knead the dough and let it rest for a while, then start preparing the side dishes.
Take out the green beans and beef, wash them thoroughly, and then chop them into small pieces.
Next, prepare the sauce you'll use later. Take out a bowl and add appropriate amounts of light soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, soybean paste, a small amount of sugar and cornstarch. Add water and stir well, then set aside.
In a separate pot, bring water to a boil, blanch the chopped green beans, then remove them and cool them in cold water.
Heat oil in a wok, stir-fry the minced beef, then add the chopped green beans and the prepared sauce, stir-fry briefly, and it's ready to serve.
Finally, boil the freshly rolled noodles in water until cooked, then drain them, drizzle with the gravy, mix well, and they're ready to eat.
"Grandpa Zhao, Mu'er's ready to eat." Xu Han called out to Grandpa Zhao, who was watching the child inside, after finishing cooking.
"Mother's here!" Upon hearing this, Mu'er ran towards the kitchen.
"Slow down, don't fall." Xu Han looked at her eldest son with a doting expression.
"Okay, what delicious food did Mother make today?"
"Mother made your favorite noodles today, minced meat and green bean noodles," Xu Han replied with a smile.
"Yay! I love noodles the most."
"How about I give you a bigger serving of rice today?"
"Okay, I want to eat lots of food and grow as tall as Daddy."
"Okay, be careful when you break it yourself, don't fall."
Xu Han placed Mu'er's small bowl on a tray and let him take it to the main room to eat.
Grandpa Zhao followed Baozi Ze'er in to serve the food.
"Let me carry you, you eat first," Xu Han said.
"No need, Ze'er has been very well-behaved today. Just put him on the mat and let him play by himself. Don't worry about him, let's eat."
"Alright, let him play by himself then."
After Xu Han finished speaking, she turned around and put Ze'er on the mat on the ground, and handed him the rattle drum next to her.
After Ze'er got the rattle drum, he immediately grabbed it and wouldn't let go. He started chewing on it, and in no time, the rattle drum was covered in saliva.
Xu Han didn't care. She just put the rattle drum in the water to wash it in a while. Anyway, there were several rattle drums at home.
Xu Han doesn't really care about what her children put in their mouths, as long as the food is clean, safe, and won't hurt them.
Children often put things in their mouths when they get them, which is actually a form of exploration, and parents don't need to interfere too much.
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