I’ve been researching WWII survival methods and came across this ancient technique that I thought was brilliant

It may be familiar to some, but you never know, right? With growing concerns about wheat costs, I thought I’d share. There are probably more sophisticated ways to do this, but this is how I learned. Easy and simple. No fuss.
We love and make tons of zucchini flour every year. You may have heard it called Amish flour or troop flour before. It’s a staple in Amish and Mennonite homes here for generations. It was also widely used in the 1940s during rationing.

1. Let your zucchini grow large – large or extra large is best, even the size of a large zucchini.
2. Peel the zucchini into thin, even strips with a carrot peeler to reduce drying time, or run them through a mandoline to prepare them faster.
3. Run the strips through an electronic dehydrator or hang them to dry. Avoid large seeds for a finer texture. Make sure the strips are completely dry; any moisture could ruin them during storage.
4. Run the dried strips through a food processor or hand grinder until you get a powdery consistency. The result will be a marbled green powder, similar in texture to good-quality whole-wheat flour. Three large zucchini yield about four or five cups of finished flour.
5. Use zucchini flour to replace 1/3 of the flour in most recipes without changing the final product. It acts as a thickening agent for sauces, is excellent for breading fish, and works well for omelets and bannock. It’s also great for making meatballs and brownies. 6. Store zucchini flour in airtight jars or vacuum sealed bags.
   For us, we still buy grains from a local family-owned mill. So this is free, sustainable, easy to produce on site, and has a mild flavor. Most people wouldn’t even notice. It reduces our flour usage by a third. You can do the same with regular and sweet potatoes, other squash varieties, acorns, and pumpkins. I just find zucchini to be the least flavorful. Plus, we get overwhelmed with that stuff!