Growing Your Own Sprouts

They say that if you can remember wearing a certain fashion growing up, you shouldn't repeat it as an adult when it recirculates again...a sign you're a bit too old to pull it off perhaps. What happens though when you remember certain food items coming into vogue...things like granola, bagels, and sprouts. Granola and bagels are pretty mainstream nowadays, but how about sprouts? And what if you're not only still eating them, but now growing them yourself?

Tidbits like that I usually don't make a fuss over with my kids. I usually get the, "Mom! What next!" look. I have always loved adding sprouts to salads and sandwiches, but you get out of the habit of purchasing them, they don't last long in the refrigerator, and the somewhat recent contamination scare tends to keep you from buying them.  So it has always been in the back of my mind to look into growing them myself.

I had accumulated enough Swagbucks at Amazon.com to go on a small online shopping trip, so I ordered the SproutHouse Easy Sprout Sprouter and a bag of seeds. They are a mixture of clover, alfalfa, radish, and broccoli. Doesn't that just sound healthy? They say that as seeds are the energy storehouse for the plant to come, sprouting them unleashes many, many times more nutrients and antioxidants than you could ever get by eating the equivalent sized serving. One mouthful of sprouts could have maybe 30 or 40 sprouted seeds. Try eating that many broccoli or radish plants.

After doing my research online I see that a lot of people sprout in a glass jar, but I needed something foolproof so I opted for a plastic growing container with an insert making for easy rinsing of the seeds.  The whole process was really simple.  Soak the seeds overnight then put them into the growing container. Wait 24 hours then rinse again morning and night for four or five days.  Watching the seeds begin to fuzz up and then sprout was half the fun. Instant gardening of a sort. The usual sprout time can be somewhere around six days, but I cheated and started munching on them before they were full sized. They are so very addictive, you could just eat and eat them straight out of the container. The radish seeds in this mixture had just the right amount of bite to make them over-the-top tasty. With the next batch I will be a little more patient perhaps.

If you're interested yourself, there were some great videos on YouTube put out by SproutPeople and resources abound online.   Once this batch of seeds is done, I'd like to venture out and try some other varieties. I had no idea that you were able to sprout so many different seeds.  Do you sprout seeds, and if so, what are your favorite types?  I'd love to get some suggestions.  And now the timer has gone off, so I need to head downstairs.  My granola has finished baking. But, shh! Don't tell the kids.