Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Grow Sprouts in a Glass Jar

I never had sprouts until I went to college, and I fell in love with them.  Then, after college and marriage, I occasionally bought alfalfa sprouts in the grocery store, but then I stopped because they were fairly expensive and not always good.  Then I mostly forgot about them until recently when a friend of mine mentioned that she had been growing her own sprouts, and she gave me some seeds to get started.

Since then I've been growing my own sprouts regularly.  It's easy.

You will need:
Directions:
  1. Place about a Tablespoon of sprouting seeds in jar, and put the cheesecloth or nylon over the mouth of the jar and secure it in place.
  2. Cover seeds with water and allow to soak overnight, or 8-12 hours.
  3. The next morning, pour water out and add more water.  Swirl seeds around in the water a bit to rinse them and then pour the water back out, draining well so that there is no excess water.
  4. Let the jar sit on your kitchen counter, rinsing and draining them a couple times a day, until they have sprouted and begin to have small leaves.  You want to be sure they don't dry out, but you don't want them sitting in water either.
  5. Once the sprouts have reached the point you like them - usually in 5 days or so, rinse them one more time and place them in a container and refrigerate.  I usually put a folded paper towel in the bottom of the container to absorb any excess water.
Enjoy!  and repeat the process as needed.   Sprouts are good on sandwiches or salads or just eaten by the handful with a sprinkling of sea salt.  So good, and good for you too!