What is Chickmeal???

Chick-meal is our own creation of cornmeal.  When we are milling our flour and then sifting it for a nice smooth flour, we end up with larger portions of the flour, so we sift it again to remove the outer part of the chickpea and are left with a course ground flour that looks just like cornmeal.  We wanted to find a good use for it, and since it looked like cornmeal, we tried cooking with it the same way, and it worked great!!! So we have made cornbread, polenta, hushpuppies, grits, and breading mixes.  The funniest thing we did with it was to take the concept of grits and make a breakfast hot cereal more similar to cocoa Wheaties or Cream of the West.  We take the chickmeal and make cocoa cereal and cinnamon sugar cereal.  Which, let me tell you, was one of the harder recipes to come up with.  In the process, I made a terrible mistake with my experiments; the cocoa cereal one was fairly easy, and although I made a few with WAY too much cocoa in them at first, it only took a few tries to get it right.  My second attempt was the cinnamon sugar cereal, and I put in the same amount of cinnamon as I had cocoa. Let me tell you, that was terrible. WRONG!! It was awful, and I am not one to get sick over odd tastes in food, but I gagged. The cinnamon was so strong and not only gross, but it made my tongue a little numb. If you have ever tried to eat a tablespoon of cinnamon plain, you will understand my deliema with this concoction I had made plus it was warm so it just enhanced the burning, numbing, cant get it our of my mouth fast enough and for hours problem I had created for myself.  So, the cinnamon in our mix is about 6 times less than I initially tested on that fateful day.  

However, I am so glad I took the time to make this great cereal.  My kids really enjoy it when they want something warm for breakfast.  Not only is it fast and easy, but it also has great benefits for breakfast.  Getting in lots of protein in the morning is vital for maintaining a good metabolism,  helping to feel full throughout the morning, and maintaining stable blood sugar levels.  So for me, when I have cocoa cereal for breakfast, my goal is to get 30 to 40 grams of protein in each morning, so I will make 2 servings of cocoa cereal, which is 2/3 of a cup, with 1 cup of water, add 1/2 cup of milk.  Along with 2 eggs and 2 pieces of bacon, coffee with heavy cream gets me 36.6 grams of protein and 652 calories to start my day.  Our cocoa cereal has 4 grams of fiber in each serving as well, so that gets 8 grams of fiber right away in the morning as well. As with daily needs need to be around 25 grams per day, so averaging 8 grams of fiber per meal will help you reach those goals.  The American Society for Nutrition states only 7% of Americans get their daily fiber intake.