By Michelle Sharp, founder of Meet the Minnesota Makers

Simple.

Clean.

Local.

That’s how Red Wing’s Sturdiwheat sources the ingredients for their beloved pancake, bread, and dessert mixes. It’s what they’ve done for more than 80 years. Today Sturdiwheat is family-owned and operated by mother-daughter team Suzanne and Missi Blue.

The Blue Family’s local roots run deep, just like the Kernza they’ve added to their list of simple, clean, and local ingredients. Missi grew up along the Mississippi River and Lake Pepin and is a passionate advocate for the river and lake’s water quality. A former vice chair of the Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance (LPLA), Missi is an active member of the board and the science committee. LPLA is a local champion of Kernza® perennial grain, hosting educational and advocacy events to protect the waterways that make Red Wing shine.

At the 2022 KernzaFest, hosted in nearby Lake City, Missi realized that Sturdiwheat itself could support the research and development work of the University of Minnesota’s Forever Green Initiative and the Land Institute in Kansas. As a perennial grain Kernza’s deep root system is highly effective at filtering nitrates before they reach waterways like wells, rivers, and lakes. An intermediate wheatgrass that’s a cousin of wheat, Kernza has been improved over time as a grain crop by the research done in the field to make it easier to use in the kitchen.

“Kernza is a perennial grain grown right here in Minnesota to protect our beautiful waterways. Sturdiwheat uses a lot of flour to make our products,” reflected Missi. “Part of the fun of being a small business is when you discover a problem and are nimble enough to address it. We got to work right away to develop mixes that include Kernza flour that’s been grown and milled here in Minnesota.”

Missi and her recipe developers found that Kernza’s rich nutty flavor added a tasty new profile to their mixes. “We developed mixes that are a blend of Kernza and traditional wheat flour.” explained Missi. “We wanted to see how it tasted and we loved it. Kernza has its own flavor. Mixing in cinnamon complimented the warm tones of the grain.”

Sturdiwheat also developed a honeyed Kernza muffin mix. “This has become my favorite. It creates this wonderfully dense, dark muffin,” smiled Missi. “They’re so good. When I make them, they disappear. I always eat the whole muffin even though I only plan to eat half.”

Both mixes feature locally-grown and milled Kernza. “It was important to us to be able to support our local growers and producers. I made sure that we would be able to purchase Minnesota-grown Kernza before we started working on recipes,” said Missi. “When you open up the bag of Minnesota Kernza flour it’s so fresh. It smells like you’re in the field.”