Pepper Paints

Thursday’s Recipe ….. Sprouting

Often times my kitchen looks like a laboratory with various nuts and or seeds soaking or sprouting on the counter tops.

Where to start—

So why sprout?  Sprouts are full of nutrition–They are alive, vitamin and mineral content doubles or triple!!  Sprouting pre-digests the nut or seed and  activates living enzymes which also assist in digestion.

What to sprout? Almost anything! Use untreated, unbroken nuts, grain or seed–not seeds treated for planting purposes. Anything out of the bulk bins will probably sprout.

What equipment  do you need? Any container that provides drainage. You can buy nut and seed mesh bags for sprouting or use mason jars with old tights or nylons on the top secured with a rubber band for draining or you can buy a jar with a screen lid or for larger beans/grains I have used a bowl strainer/colander combination.

How do I sprout? Choose something simple to start off with-   Easy beans–mung beans, garbanzo, lentil, kidney, aduki Easy seeds—alfalfa, clover, radish, mustard, feugreek      Easy grains—-whole barley, wheat berries, kamut berries, rye, quinioa  Best nuts—almonds, sunflowers, filberts

For 1 qt finished sprouts measure out:    small seeds 2-3 rounded Tablespoons — Medium Seeds 1/4-1/2 cup —-Larrger beans and grains 1 cup —sunflower seeds 2 cups

Pour into jar or strainer, fill with good water,  let soak over night    Drain using a screen, nylon or strainer of some sort.  Rinse and drain again.  Continue rinsing 2 to 3 times per day for 4 to 7 days depending on the temperature-until desired sprout length. Keep in a darker spot for days 1 through 3 And for the last 2 to 3 days place in a sunny spot to activate their green chlorophyll.  Drain and keep in the fridge for about 7 days.

Once you get started it’s super easy to sprout!  You can eat them raw in salads or on sandwiches (PB&J w/ alfalfa sprouts is a favorite of mine!!) You can add them to soups or puree to make pate or hummus. You can go on to cook sprouted beans and sprouted grains can be dried and ground into flour.  I have a recipe for the mung bean sprouts in the first photo that I will be making tonight! I love to use sprouted quinoa to make tabouli.  Happy Sprouting!

******Fermented Foods update from last week*********

I just tasted them again today and the carrots definitely have a bit of a zing to them but still not enough-I will taste again in a couple of days. The cabbage is now a beautiful purple color but not too tangy yet. The temperature hasn’t been too warm so I think that might keep things from moving along and fermenting. If I had to eat them now they would be tasty but I am hoping for a little more “sour” zest to them! I promise to keep you posted.

Fairy Gardens

I would love to say I thought up this beautifully bright activity but I saw it here. I love this blog-I could spend hours looking through all the bright, sunny, beautiful photos.

Start with a shallow bowl or container (check the thrift store if you don’t have one).Cover the bottom with charcoal (pet store), then a layer of sphagnum moss (garden or craft store) top with potting soil.

Next plant (sprinkle) easy seeds of your choice-grass, clover, chia, sprouts etc…  We used clover and Kentucky Blue Grass-of course we would choose this over Shade Turf-how boring! You can plant in a design or all over-you decide.

We picked out a few little plants at the nursery but with the weather changing I bet you could dig a little something up in your back yard.

Now on to the best part…..The decorating……colorful gravel, glitter, feathers, colored craft sticks, marbles, pretty rocks, anything that glitters

After planting spray with water frequently-keep moist-and wait for your garden to grow!  We can’t wait to see what our garden will look like when our grass and clover sprout.

On a final note-after I took these photos Ginger tripped and dumped my garden and part of Molly’s. But we tossed everything back in the pot and sprinkled a few more seeds on the top and another handful of gravel-all while breathing heavily. ugh accidents happen!