Sprouts, a Healthy Winter Addition

Nutrient levels in our bodies wane in the winter months when produce isn't fresh. How do you give your body a boost this time of year?

I make lots of fresh lemonade since lemons are in season this time of year down south and are available at lower prices in the stores. Plus, I grow sprouts. Both lemons and sprouts are high in Vitamin C helping my family to stay healthy when colds and flu's are running ramped in our community.

The sprouts are great on salads, which is where we eat them most, but they can also be blended up in a fruit smoothie. Beware that I'm giving this advice when I haven't even tried the fruit smoothie thing. It sounds good though and the next batch of sprouts are going into the blender along with some fruit. Smoothies are a great way to hide flax seed oil. Something we take pretty regularly that substantially ups our HDL's, the good cholesterol.

 Of course what I should do is get out the juicer my in-laws gave me for Christmas last year, that I've barely touched, and try making a vegetable drink adding the sprouts. I of course would need to go to the store, the one in the next town that has really nice produce because this Mother Hubbard's cupboards are about bare so that might not happen for a few days. 

I can see my sister's eyebrows raising in response as they know I shop in bulk. Let's just say the fresh food department of the Rexroat's kitchen is running pretty low.

Sprouts such as mung beans and alfalfa sprouts are sprouted in the same manner as the wheat I did. I buy my sprouts in a mixture of types of seeds from a health food store and store them in the refrigerator until I want them. They will keep for a year or more that way.

As a quick reminder, place some seeds in a glass jar, I use a canning jar.

Cover with a loosely woven cheese cloth.

Put the jar's ring on the top. A solid lid won't do as you need the cheese cloth to be free to act as a strainer.

Fill the jar with water and leave overnight.  Strain the water off the next morning and rinse the sprouts three to four times a day. It doesn't have to be by the clock, just fairly evenly throughout the day so that the sprouts stay nice and moist. In four or five days you will have nice sprouts. I let mine grow to about and inch or a little bit more and then refrigerate them. They will cease to grow in the cold atmosphere. Use them fairly quickly so as not to loose any of the nutritional value.

If sprouts aren't part of your diet, try them, they are quite good. We don't eat them all year long as I become quite busy with other project but you will always see a jar of them growing this time of year.