Tecumseh Atta (Chana Food Products) is now known as Sartaj Flour. The same great quality still exists with their flour though and it is exciting to know that you can now buy Organic Spelt Flour.

This spelt is less expensive than any you can find at grocery or specialty food stores. Try it out for yourself as a health food or for someone who has wheat sensitivities (it has less gluten than traditional wheat… but usually too much for those with coeliac disease).

Sartaj has spelt recipes available including pizza dough and apple cinnamon muffins.

You can find Sartaj flours at many stores in Windsor; check out these locations. You can also support companies that use Sartaj in their food preparation:

• Capri Pizzeria
• New Yasmeen Bakery
• Taste Bud Foods
• Tecumseh Pizzeria

Here’s my favourite spelt recipe: Low Fat Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. I didn’t like the strong molasses flavour though so I replaced the molasses with a combination of buckwheat honey and extra apple sauce. These cookies are yummy and freeze well.

Enjoy!

Chana Flour Products, Sartaj Flour, Tecumseh Atta, spelt

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Saturday was a fabulous day full of sunshine and fresh produce.

Tecumseh Atta Flour

Richard Thibert, Thibert Farm

I loved the selection and the prices were fabulous. I arrived at 10 for the grand opening but since the market started at 8, I missed out on great things like fresh strawberries and green beans.

Plenty of bloggers were on hand to cover the event. Check out these blogs for more info and great photos:

• Photo404 (pic of me with hubby carrying all of our food, video too!)
• Schnurr’s Sound Off
• Western District

The market’s official website is now live so bookmark it and check it often.

A big thanks to the volunteers that made this happen! Great job!!!
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Bradley's Potatoes, Chana Flour Products, Downtown Windsor Farmers Market, Thibert Farm

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I have wanted to write about my trip to the local flour mill for some time but I have a lot of media to go through so I have not been able to get to it. I have decided that I should be sharing this information as soon as possible though so I will be adding this entry in two parts.

There are a few things that Essex County needs to make the locavore lifestyle easy for everyone and this is a major part of it. Local flour mill. It still sounds so strange!

The whole thing started when two people had mentioned seeing a sign for flour on 42 so I did some research and found Chana Food Products. On a cold winter morning I ventured off to 11664 County Road 42 in Tecumseh and found Rajason Tools and Chana Food Products nestled between Banwell Road and the Whistling Kettle restaurant.

Inside I received a warm welcome from the Chana family and we sat around their board table to discuss how a tool shop gets around to building a flour mill. That great discussion resulted in a 30-minute sound file and then a tour of the flour mill. So, the whole story will have to wait but for now I will leave you with some photos.

Pull up to the flour mill (located next to Rajason Tool) and enter the retail area. There’s also a bell in case no one is in the store. For now, sales are cash only. Hours are Monday to Friday from 7am to 5pm, Saturday from 10am to 2pm and Sunday from 1pm to 3pm.

One of the owners, Ajit Singh Chana, stands with some of his products. As you can see, the flour is available in small bags or bulk.

Those white cones near the bottom right funnel the grains into a stone grinder (in the cylindrical white container immediately below). The grains are ground slowly and without heat to keep them as close to their original state as possible.

100% stone ground. 100% pure. No additives. No preservatives. Flours are available in Soft White, Whole Wheat, Corn (non GMO!), and Gram (chickpea). Other flours are being researched and may be added as demand allows.

Here Ajit shows me the wheat grain. In his left hand (shown top) are the original grains; in his right hand (bottom) are the grains after they have gone through 4 cleaning processes. The hulls and the grains remain intact.

More to come!
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Chana Flour Products