Sprouting Lessons from the Master

A riddle...

What:

• will grow in any climate at any time of the year
• requires neither soil or sunshine, but is still rich in vitamins and minerals
• has not been subject to chemical sprays while growing
• is extremely economical and in preparation has no waste
• contains more than double the nutritive value of fresh fruits and vegetables
  
• can be grown indoors within a minimum amount of space
• can be stored with your year supply of food
  
• matures fully in 3-5 days ... ?

The answer... sprouts!

We are on a quest to learn the art of sprouting - an ingenious way to be able to store all of the nutritional benefits of fresh fruits and veggies on food storage shelves in seed form. Sprout seeds of almost anything (fruits, veggies, legumes, nuts) can be stored long term and can then be sprouted within 3-5 days to provide variety and enhanced nutrition to boxed and bottled goods.

After researching the topic a bit and learning these things, I was fascinated that sprouts provide more than double the nutrients of regular fresh fruits and vegetables, PLUS the seeds can be stored, so we decided we had to become better at learning how to sprout seeds in our own kitchen.

My first few batches failed miserably, and we realized we needed help from an expert. Shortly afterward we flew Great Grandma Lewis here for some Sprouting & Food Storage 101. This special lady has been sprouting and teaching food storage for longer than my lifetime and she lives what she teaches.

Grandma eats sprouts every day along with other nutrient rich foods, avoids sugar and meat, and thus she is quite literally the picture of health (i.e. bikes around town for errands instead of driving, completed a 27 mile boy scout hike with the local troop at the age of 82, and doesn't need much sleep because she has so much energy...).

Needless to say, her sprouting demonstrations opened my eyes to this incredible food. Admittedly, I am still a novice at this ancient art, but each batch turns out a bit better than the last and someday I hope to be a pro like Grandma.

What a joy to have her here! To connect with her stories of the past and make new stories together with our children. She is truly an inspiration to our family.

We hope Great Grandma Fletcher can come out for a visit next... we miss you!!

Back to School

Another school year begins today and we have three little ones enrolled this year, plus Kooper who is now a sophomore. We enjoyed a relaxed and wonderful summer together and I was sad to send them off this morning. Everyone seemed quite well-prepared and ready for another year. Yesterday we practiced everything from waking up and morning chores to introducing themselves to new friends in class. New schedules and routines ahead will keep us ever-busy and ever-learning how to adapt to it all. How fun to see them all growing up!

Family Trip

We recently ventured to San Antonio, TX (about 3 hours away, which is about as feasibly far as we can get right now) with the entire family (yes, all 8 of us!). What a fun time it was - surprisingly so! We enjoyed a beautiful hotel right on the Riverwalk, visited the Alamo, and had a wonderful raw food dinner at green in downtown San Antonio. Talk about healthy and fun!! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Here's James lounging poolside:

At the San Antonio temple...

Handsome Kooper on the Riverwalk:

We had the entire pool all to ourselves!

An incredible feast of antioxidants and nutrients at green...

Couldn't miss the Alamo...

Here we are on the Riverwalk before dinner:

A perfect vacation choice for us this year. Even Kooper enjoyed himself. He was a trooper with so many little ones! We will be back again I'm sure...

Madeline is 5!!

We celebrated Madeline's birthday this weekend with a small celebration at the splash pad! Madeline is a smart and spunky little lady and is excited to begin Kindergarten soon. We love you Maddie Kate!!

The 5 Cuties...

Back to the computer...

After almost two months without a functioning computer, we are finally back online! It was a lovely hiatus actually - quite relaxing to not be typing or looking something up on the computer every day. I am grateful though for a husband who knows how to fix these things and figured out what ailed our machine.

More posts to come soon... Happy summer!!

Happy Birthday Brendan!

My sweet Brendan is nine today! What a handsome and intelligent young man he has become... I feel so privileged to be his mother.

Brendan still loves legos and reading, as always. He has devoured nearly every book in our house and we thought it best to purchase lots of new reading material for birthday gifts this year. He opened a brand new book this morning at breakfast and was so excited that he started reading it immediately and then packed it in his bag for school.

Brendan is also excited to be part of the scouting program - now he'll be a Bear scout! He's not so excited about piano, but faithfully practices and attends lessons each week with a wonderful local teacher. Great work Big B!

We love you!!