rawlivingfoods:
The Benefits of Sprouting
Sprouts are super easy to grow and incredibly nutritious. Buying sprouts from shops can be up to ten times more expensive than growing your own. Sprouts are one of nature’s true living superfoods - they are enzyme-rich, high in amino acid (protein) content, bursting with minerals and trace minerals, and are packed with chlorophyll. Sprouts are also healing and therapeutic, cleansing and alkalizing, and filled with antiaging antioxidants. Because they are so high in minerals and enzymes, they facilitate digestion, detoxification, and weight loss. What’s more, they taste fantastic. There is a wide selection of different types of seeds that one can sprout, so the variety and flavors available are virtually endless.
The Glass Jar Method
There are many different sprouting kit options, ranging from stackable plastic rings to glass jars, sprouting bags, and automatic sprouters. My favorite is the glass jar method. Sprouting with this simple system involves soaking your chosen seeds overnight and covering the jar with a mesh screen and rubber band. In the morning drain the soak water and rinse the seeds twice daily, placing them on a rack to drain during the day. Harvest them within three to seven days. Some of the easiest sprouts to grow are alfalfa, fenugreek, radish, broccoli, mung beans, onion, cabbage, mustard seeds, chickpeas, quinoa, lentils, pea sprouts, and wheat seeds. For most sprouts, continue to sprout them until they have developed a long tail or their first leaves have begun to go green. In the case of chickpeas, quinoa, pea sprouts, mung beans, and lentils, they are ready to eat as soon as their tails begin to unfurl or emerge from the seed.
