SUPER FOOD – WHEAT SPROUTS – Mar 24, 2015

SPROUTS ARE SUPER FOODS
Seeds and their sprouts can be added to juices, smoothies, salads, pancakes, waffles and more.
Sprouts are living foods.
All seeds need is water, oxygen & warmth and they begin to form new living things; new plants.
The sprout life is rich in nutrients that are easier to digest and contain many more beneficial nutrients than when they were just a seed.
Sprouts regenerate intestinal flora. They take on vitamin C and chlorophyll.
Sprouts in general contain valuable enzymes – up to 50 – 100 times more than raw fruits & vegetables.
So I am excited to look at another great super food.

HOW TO SPROUT WHEAT
Rinse the grain and cover with tepid water, letting it stand overnight at room temperature.
Drain off the liquid, rinse the grain with fresh, tepid water, drain again, cover the opening with a piece of cheese cloth or mesh and store in a sunny place with a dark towel over the top of the container. I tip it sideways so any liquid can drain out of the opening. I also leave the opening get air, but not sun.
Rinse at least every 12 hours, just until the tiny sprout is the length of the seed and the grain itself is tender – about 1 to 2 days, then refrigerate until they are cool, overnight or longer, but not more than a day or two. I like to freeze these sprouts and then take out what I need each time to prepare them in recipes.
Mid–afternoon today I made us a smoothie and decided to add sprouted wheat that I had in the freezer. I used the nutri-bullet to make it, but a blender would be fine as well.

DELICIOUS NUTRITIOUS SMOOTHIE!
2 small bananas
1 cup thawed raspberries and the juice
2/3 cup frozen wheat sprouts
Blend for 1 minute. (If using a blender, continue for a few more minutes)
Then add:
1 cup frozen berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries or other)
2 teaspoons melted honey
½ – 1 cup plain yogurt (depends on the size of your container)
Blend another minute in the nutri-bullet or if using a blender, mix it a few more minutes.
Pour into 3 glasses. If putting any into the fridge, they can be covered with plastic wrap until the next day.

MINERALS
One or two teaspoons of the powdered greens (parsley, Swiss chard or kale) that I dried last fall from the garden can also be added to this smoothie. It really will not change the taste. If I stored any of the smoothie that had powder added until the next day, I found the surface was a bit brownish in color, but I stirred it up and it was fine.

For supper today we had a beef stew using many of the frozen vegetables from our garden. With it we had a kale/spinach salad as follows:

KALE SPINACH SALAD
Break the leaves off of one kale leaf. Wash and slice it quite fine. Add 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil and rub together. Leave rest for a half hour.
Chop and add 2 hands of small spinach leaves.
Here as well I sprinkled over 2 teaspoons of powdered greens from the garden.(Parsley & kale)
These powders are optional as they do not change the taste but add more nutrients.
Mix in your choice of dressing. Today I mixed equal amounts of ketchup, mayonnaise and green relish to make a Thousand Island Dressing.

SPROUTED WHEAT IN PANCAKES/WAFFLES – serves 2 or 3
One day we came in just before lunch and I wanted to find something quick & yet healthy to eat. Melvin loves pancakes and I love waffles so in just 5 minutes the batter was ready and I was frying the pancakes in a little coconut oil and baking waffles in the Belgium waffle iron.

1 ¼ cups kefir (or plain yogurt)
1 egg
½ cup sprouted wheat kernels (I used frozen ones)
Put the above ingredients into a blender and process on high for 3 minutes.
Add:
2 tablespoons melted extra virgin coconut or avocado oil
¾ cup spelt flour
½ cup unbleached flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon sea salt
Process until mixed well together.
Fry on medium heat or bake in waffle iron that has been preheated.
These can be enjoyed with cottage cheese, yogurt, thickened fruit, or maple syrup.

There are many other super foods that we can enjoy so I will try to share more in the coming weeks and months. Sincerely Winnie