Sprouting your own Sprouts!!
Yum!!!! Sprouts!!!!
I wrote a post a couple of years ago on sprouting. I have no idea where that post went, off in the wilds of the web I suppose! Anyhow I have been telling people to just go on my site and see how to do it! And, well, that is bad advice if the post is non-existent! So here we go again.
I do love sprouting. We tend to sprout a lot in the spring when we are yearning for the first little plants to come popping up. This is a terrific way to grow something fast and eat it! This is so cool, kids love it and adults too!
We tend to mostly sprout mung beans, but we enjoy lentils and alfalfa too. We have sprouted garbanzo beans and enjoyed them cooked into things but we were not fans of the raw sprouts. I have not been successful with sunflower seeds yet but I will keep trying because they sound lovely!
Anyhow here is a step by step for Mung beans, they are hard to get wrong! They taste delicious raw or stir fried, alone or in salads, sandwiches and more!
Here are dried mung beans. You can order them online or buy them at most natural food stores.
Day 1 – soak the beans over night in a dark place that you won’t forget about!! I put them in a cupboard that we use a lot, so it gets ventilation and I can’t forget about them. They should be in the dark so they think they are growing underground! At least that is what I have been told!
Day 2 – drain your beans, rinse well and drain again. Tip your beans up so they can drain and are not sitting in water (they will mold). My jar has mesh on top so I can drain my beans, you could use cheese cloth held in place with a rubber band. You could also do this in a colander set on a plate to drain. Place back in the dark cupboard. Rinse again at night before bed.
I keep my beans in my most used cupboard so that I can’t forget about them! I don’t show it here but I actually tip my jar up a little in a big bowl to allow for drainage. Drainage is important, use a colander on a plate if you need too.
Day 3 – look closely do you see the little tails?! Again rinse well and drain morning and night. You can try these each day after they form tails and taste them. It is fun to see how the starchiness goes away and they become so fresh and lovely! We really like our sprouts with about an inch long tail and the tiny leaves start poking out the front of the bean this takes about 5ish days.
Day 4 – rinse and drain morning and night – taste me!
Day 5 – rinse and drain morning and night unless you think they are long enough. we like to see little leaves coming out of the bean part!
Day 6 – Done! rinse and drain on the counter. Let them sit in the sun a bit to photosynthesize a bit. Let them drain and dry a bit before storing in the fridge. Extra water will make it more likely to mold.
See the little leaves poking out! They are yellow until they get a little sunshine then they will turn green! So cool!
Way too fun! And the kiddos are way more likely to eat these greens since they grew them!
After the beans are long and wonderful, let the jar sit in the sunlight for a couple of hours. See how quickly photosynthesis happens! The little leaves poking out will turn green! Let the sprouts dry a bit then transfer to a covered container in the fridge to stop them from growing any more. Eat and enjoy! My daughter loves to pretend they are little snakes with green tongues and she gobbles them up!
Here is a link to an amazing sprouting website Sproutpeople.com
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