Thursday 29 March 2012

Kitchen Krafts - Sprouting

Growing Sprouts

Sprouts are finding their place in our world today as a new source of vitamins and minerals, which our full grown veggies no longer offer us in this day and age.

Here is a How-To-Guide so that you too can start to enjoying these refreshing, nourishing little bundles of wholesome nourishment.

Things you need to know about growing sprouts:
  • Most sprouts need to be rinsed twice daily.
  • Some sprouts can become quite slimy, rinsing them thoroughly will help with this, keep this in mind when making mixes, if I make mixes I grow all seeds separately and combine them when they are ready.
  • Sprouts do not like direct sunlight, but they do need air, so keep them in a container that is covered with a piece of gauze as this will help you rinse them easily, but keep them in the container.

You will need:
Seeds to sprout
Container to grow them in (either a glass jar or a container made to grow sprouts)
Gauze if you are using a bottle

Place a Tablespoon of seeds into a glass filled with filtered/spring water overnight to soak.


In the morning place your seeds in their container. They need to be damp but not wet.
If you are using a bottle, when you rinse the sprouts, allow the bottle to stand upside down for a while to aerate the seeds properly.
Depending on the seeds you chose, they should start to sprout within 2 – 3 days after starting.


Alfalfa seeds after 2 days. These will be ready to eat one or two days later.
Radish seeds after 2 days. These will need another 2 – 3 days before they are ready to consume.
If you find you make a whole batch of sprouts and can’t eat them all before they are plants, take them out of their container and place them in a tupperware container and pop them in the fridge. This way you can keep them about a week longer.
It is obviously better to eat them fresh so in this case less is definitely better, rather make no more than a tablespoon of seed at any given time. You can start a new batch of sprouts every 2 – 3 days and this way you will always have sprouts to snack on.

My girls love to eat the sprouts and always stare longingly at the containers till they are ready. I also love to add them to sandwiches, soups, stews……anything really, but if I am adding them to a cooked meal I generally add them right at the end, just before I dish up, otherwise you will lose all their properties before they get to the table.

I hope I have enticed you to start your sprouting experience as it is a really healthy snack for in-between.


What is your recipe, tip or trick from your kitchen this week? Share it below, and leave a comment. It would be wonderful if you could visit one or two of the other posted links as it is always nice to have someone come and see all your efforts.

 Please be sure to link back to this site. If you would like to use this image please feel free to save it and post it on your blog or website.
I will be sharing this over at Linda's Blog on Friday:



6 comments:

  1. This is awesome! I definitely want to try it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Erin Kate,

      Glad you do, it is so easy and makes a great snack.

      Thanks for your visit.

      x

      Delete
  2. I've been sprouting a lot of wheat berries lately and then cooking them in my rice cooker. They are yummy as breakfast with yogurt and brown sugar or fruit and also for dinner as a pilaf!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Heather,

      That sounds really delicious, think I will be trying that out. Have you ever tried Essene Bread? I made it once, I didn't find it to be too great, my family liked it though. I want to try it again, but this time adding the ground sprouted wheat into a normal dough to give it a different consistency. I tasted some once from a health shop and it was amazing, so I have to fiddle till I get the right recipe for me!

      Thanks for your visit. Have a great weekend.

      x

      Delete
  3. I love this post! I've seen this before, but never knew that they are packed with more nutrition that full grown veggies- but this makes a lot of sense. I hope to try doing this this spring! And thanks for the blog follow:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Nancy,

      It's a pleasure! I am glad you want to try the sprouts, you can start to get really creative with mixes when you know how. They are so great for lunch boxes and for in-between!

      Thanks for popping around :-D

      x

      Delete

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