prunella vulgaris (self heal) is energetically cold so is used to clear heat from the body its a lovely ornamental ground cover as well, bears spikes of blue flowers in late spring...worth growing for this alone!

Self-rising flour is pre-mixed with the leavener (baking powder) and salt. It's common in the South, Australia and the UK and is used here for things like biscuits and quick breads (think banana bread). Self-rising flour works in these recipes when they're mixed up and heat is applied. In other words, unlike a yeast-based recipe, nothing much happens until it's in the oven. It's not "authentic" pizza dough, and the flour is a bit softer, but there are quick handy recipes for pizza crust that do call for self-rising flour. Check out the link below. (There's also a crust with beer in it.) Carol Here is a link that might be useful: How to Make Pizza Dough with Self-Rising Flour

Plain flour and self raising flour are not interchangeable in most recipes. Plain flour has no leavening (rising), whereas self-raising does. Of course, if the SR flour is a bit old, you might find that the leavening has 'died off', and you might be able to get away with using it. Mind you, I've used the wrong flour my mistake more than once. If you're making biscuits (cookies) which call for plain flour, and you use SR, they might rise more than you want and be softer in texture instead of crisp - but maybe you won't mind that! SR flour is great for things like cakes, scones, muffins, pancakes. It is far more commonly used here in Australia than in America, so I've learned.

Annie - Yep, I'm gluten-free (3-years - gluten-intolerance, not celiac disease) but I still teach all kinds of classes, and do even more 1 on 1 mentoring through the Extension Office than classes these days (yeast and naturally-leavened bread, bread machine, grains and milling), just as I have for the past 25-years. I no longer judge foods at fairs due to gluten-intolerance, but I still train new judges. Even though I have eliminated gluten, I still mill my own flour when I make wheat-based baked goods (or other gluten-containing grains) for the rest of the family or visiting guests, as well as milling my own gluten-free flours from a variety of grains/seeds/beans. I just don't make 100% whole wheat bread nearly every week like I did before going gluten-free. I'm busy making all our gluten-free breads and baked goods now, as well as still developing sorghum recipes for a local mill. About your bread challenges.... These may be some reasons why you have so much trouble using home-milled flour. The type of wheat you purchased, the fineness of the milled flour (fine flour = fine bread - coarse flour = coarse bread), or failure to add an acid to the dough (1/8 t. ascorbic acid powder per loaf) to counteract the damage to the gluten from Glutathione found in wheat germ (which leads to short squatty loaves with a coarse grain). My panned loaves of enriched 100% whole wheat bread are as high-rising and nearly as fine a texture as white bread - but that didn't happen until I started using the sponge method and adding ascorbic acid. If you are using a straight dough method (best suited for white bread and light wheat using commercial bleached/unbleached flours - a more modern method designed for making bread quickly), instead of using an old-fashioned sponge method (which is best suited for wholegrain flours), that may be a contributing factor as well. Some of the heirloom wheat varieties, when freshly-milled into wholegrain flour, require 2-day processes for making good bread - usually due to the low amount of gluten in these old varieties. Remember, before the 1870's and the advent of hard red winter wheat being grown in Kansas, all wheat, and the milled flour, was from soft wheat varieties. So -- soft wheat can be used for making bread, it just won't be the high-rising loaves of bread made in an hour in a bread machine, and there are older technics used. I've also done tests for a mill that had hard winter wheat with a 16% protein level (which is very high), and you have to knead it nearly forever to get that much protein developed when using a straight dough method - but it's a cinch when you use a soaked flour method, and you need very little kneading. My knowledge is from years of training as a foods judge at fairs using judging standards for what characteristics are considered "best" for the baked goods being judged; and knowing the science after years of classes and study about wheat/flour, and other grains, and baking characteristics. You have to be equally as informed as to what is right as to what went wrong when you judge. It's not just about what "looks" good. These are also based on industry standards from restaurants to commercial bakeries. You probably won't see a pizza place using all-purpose flour, it's the wrong standard for pizza dough - BUT - you can make pizza dough with all-purpose flour - it's just not the optimum flour choice. Knowing the science really IS the difference between good and best when using judging standards. Personal preference aside. -Grainlady