SPROUTING FOR VITAMIN C

Last week in the gardening forum we talked about the importance of having Vitamin C in our bodies to prevent scurvy, a disease that comes from lack of vitamin C. It will cause death in 3 months. If we can't grow a garden for whatever reason we still need our vitamin C.  Sprouting is a easy way to provide this for ourselves. It is easy, doesn't take much time, and is a great emergency food. Best of all it tastes good, as those that attended the forum found out by tasting many samples of sprouts.

There are different types of sprouts. They are the leafy sprouts, grainy sprouts, nutty sprouts and beany sprouts. We will touch on all four.
Leafy: These can be used instead of lettuce as a salad base. The seeds for these are alfalfa, brocolli, radish, clover, onion.
Grainy:  These are used for grain salads,cereals, or pulses. Grains used for this purpose are wheat, oat grouts (not rolled), barley, rye, kamut, corn, buckwheat, and quinoa.
Nutty: Nuts are an excellent source of  complete protein, minerals, and natural fats. Use raw, un-roasted nuts, un-salted also. Almonds, pecans, walnuts, filbert, cashews and sunflower seeds are good choices.
Beany:  Raw beans are not recommended to eat, they can cause long-term digestive problems.  Bean sprouts can be used but don't over do it. Some beans are OK to use however.  These are mung beans,garbanzos, chick peas, lentils, & peas.

To prepared these seeds & beans for sprouting: Soak the seeds in a jar, cloth bag or whatever you wish for 8 hours or overnight. Rinse the beans 3-4 times and drain thoughly. Keep the jar on its side on your kitchen counter or other convienent place. Rinse 2-3 times daily for 24-36 hours.  Mix with fruit, vegetables, nuts, etc.  And Enjoy!!  I use one cup of each grain everytime I make them using rye, buckwheat, barley, kamut, & oats. This will over fill your 1/2 gal jar in a day of sprouting.  So put some in another jar to finish or just use 4 types of grain for a fit into the 1/2 gal jar.

The only difference to this is with the leafy sprouts.  After soaking for 8 hours, drain and put them in a dark place, but rinse 2-3 times a day as above. After 4 days of doing this take them out of the dark and into the light.  They will turn green and be about 1-2 inches long.  The are about ready to eat at this point. They can be used as a salad base, in sandwiches or any way you want to use them.    Jane sprouts about 2 T at a time and that fills a 1/2 gallon jar.

For nuts: simply soak for 8 hours and drain. Use in salads, pulses, and cereals.

If you have questions call Jane Jensen 801 546 0303.