Sprouting 101 + Karen's French Vanilla Rawnola (What to Sprout!)

Hi Everyone! Karmen here :) You may have seen my video on sprouting on the Karen's Holistic Health Facebook page, however, I wanted to get some sprouting tips down in writing for those of you that prefer the written word over audio! I'll also share the recipe for the rawnola I was sprouting ingredients for during the video(you can watch the video it here https://fb.watch/3gdSZZ45cZ/)

SPROUTING

Sprouting is the process in which seeds germinate and put out shoots. Now you might be saying, "Karmen, why in the world would I want to do this to my food? Doesn't that mean it's gone bad?" In reality, sprouting has immense nutrition benefits! We'll talk about those benefits below, but let's get to the basics here.

• First, take your nut, seed, grain, or bean of choice and rinse them well.
• Put your rinsed item in a glass jar and cover with water about 2 inches above the top of the food item, then soak for the designated time. (Time varies from one nut or seed to the next, for example, soak almonds for 8 hours and sunflower seeds for 1 to 2 hours)
• Rinse and strain well. At this point, the seeds/grains/beans are considered "germinated" and the enzyme inhibitor should be removed or dissolved. You could stop here and dehydrate, but you'll be missing out on some big nutritional gains! We do like to soak our snacking nuts like almonds, then dehydrate, as breaking down that enzyme inhibitor makes them more digestible and easier to absorb the nutrition AND improves the flavor significantly!
• Next, put your jar of rinsed and strained seeds in indirect sunlight. I like to put my jar on its side or at a 45 degree angle so the seeds aren't all clumped together.
• Rinse and drain 2 to 3 times a day until the desired sprouting time has been achieved. At this point, the seedlings should be growing and filling up the jar!
• When done, you can store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Now that we know how to sprout, let's talk about why it's a good idea! Firstly, sprouts are highly nutritious. They have high levels of amino acids which build proteins, vitamins, minerals, hormones, antioxidants, chlorophyll, phytonutrients, oxygen, and many active enzymes. Sprouts are also alkaline forming foods! Now back to those active enzymes... your body creates enzymes to break things down. However, it's extremely beneficial to consume foods that contain enzymes so that our body can take a break from constantly working to make enzymes. If we always had to make our own enzymes to break down food, we would end up with a nutrient deficiency. Nutrient deficiency = BAD! So, eat sprouts, get those good active enzymes, maintain your nutrition!

Here are some (not all) seeds, grains, and beans that you can sprout at home: adzuki bean, alfalfa, almond, amarant, annatto seed, anise seed, arugula, basil, brown rice, navy bean, pinto bean, lima bean, broccoli, buckwheat, cabbage, caragana, cauliflower, celery, chia seed, chickpeas, chives, cilantro (coriander, dhania), clover, cress, dill, fennel, fenugreek, flax, garlic, hemp, kale, kamut, leek, lentils, millet, mustard, mung, oats, onion, black-eyed peas, green peas, pigeon peas, snow peas, peanut, psyllium, pumpkin, quinoa, radish, rye, sesame, soybean, spelt, sunflower, triticale, watercress, wheat berries.

Karen's French Vanilla Rawnola (Taken from Living in Rawality)

• 6 cups soaked, rinsed, dehydrated buckwheat groats (soak 1 to 5 hours, dehydrate until dry)
• 6 cups thick, rolled, organic gluten free oats
• 3 cups raisins
• 4 cups sprouted, dehydrated, diced raw almonds
• 3 to 4 cups sprouted, dehydrated raw sunflower seeds
• 2 cups date paste (see page 55 in Living in Rawality)
• 4 to 5 tablespoons organic vanilla extract

1. Mix all ingredients together
2. Spread mixture on teflex sheets
3. Dehydrate at 109 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 hours

NOTE: Please do not toss date paste with dried fruits. When the fruit is coated with date paste, it hardens like rocks in the dehydrator. Use fresh fruits OR rehydrate the dried fruits if you want them coated in date paste. Before dehydrating, we simply toss the fruit in after the date paste is mixed with the buckwheat. YUM!

Good luck keeping your family's fingers out of this stuff as it begins dehydrating... the smell starts wafting through the house and is simply intoxicating! What I love about this recipe is that it's a great base for any rawnola you'd like; add different mix ins to create many different flavors! We love putting this in a bowl with some fresh homemade almond milk, fresh berries, and a drizzle of honey or nut butter. Enjoy, and happy sprouting!

P.S. The photo is all that was left after the vultures had stopped picking over the dehydrator! We half the recipe in our house as there's only three of us, and we have a smaller dehydrator. Those are 2L jars, but we usually get nearly three jars full (with a half recipe) if no one is scavenging ;)