How to Grow Your Own Sprouts

Sprouts are packed with nutrients. Just imagine how much nutritional energy a seed would need to become a plant. Sprouts are a great source of protein. Sprouts also contain a lot of enzymes. Eating enzymes from raw food not only helps you digest your food better, but it provides enzymes for you body to perform the millions of biochemical reactions daily that are also know as your metabolism. They are also packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. There is a reason sprouts are referred to as a SUPER food.

Sprout Nutrition

Sprout	Protein	Vitamins	Amino Acids	Minerals	More
Alfalfa	35%	A, B, C, E, K		Calcium,Magnesium, Potassium, Iron, Zinc	As much Carotene as carrots. Chlorophyll
Adzuki	25%	A, C, E	All except Tryptophan	Iron, Niacin, Calcium
Buckwheat	15%	A, C, E		Calcium	Lecithin
Clover	30%	A, B, C, E		Calcium,Magnesium, Potassium, Iron, Zinc	Trace Elements
Fenugreek	30%	A		Iron, Niacin, Calcium	Digestive Aid
Garbanzo	20%	A, C, E		Iron, Calcium, Magnesium
Lentil	25%	A, B, C, E		Iron, Calcium, Phosphorus
Mung Bean	20%	A, C, E		Iron, Potassium
Pea	20%	A, B, C	All Essential		Carbohydrates
Radish	Yes	C		Potassium	Chlorophyll
Sunflower Greens	Yes	B Complex, E		Calcium, Iron, Phosphorus, Potassium, Magnesium	Chlorophyll
Wheat(and Rye)	15%	B Complex, C, E		Magnesium, Phosphorus	Pantothenic Acid, Carbohydrates

(from http://sproutpeople.org/growing-sprouts/sprout-nutrition/)

I love sprouts, but I can rarely find them at the supermarket. When I do find them they go bad very quickly. So I decided to grow my own. It's really easy. There are fancy sprout growing kits you can buy, but all you really need is some specific sprouting seeds, a mason jar, and some cheesecloth. 

There are tonnes of varieties of plants you can sprout, from alfalfa, radish, sunflower, and there are mixes of several different seeds. For this time I sprouted mung beans. These make the big juicy sprouts that are good in stir fries. I got the seeds at my local health food store.

Here's how you do it:

1)

Choose the type of seeds you want to sprout. Then get a large mason jar and a square of cheesecloth. You take the lid off and replace the round metal disc with some cheesecloth. There are special sprouting lids you can buy for the jar that you can strain through. I haven't found one yet, and the cheesecloth works just fine.

2)

Following the directions on the package, you add the desired amount of seeds to the jar (I used 2tbsp here), and cover them in about 1 cup of water. You leave the seeds to soak for several hours. For the mung beans the package says 2-6 hours. I usually leave them to soak overnight.

* Note - They do not have to be in a well lit area.

3)

After the appropriate amount of soaking time, pour the water out of the jar through the cheesecloth. The cheesecloth keeps all the seeds in the jar. Rinse the seeds once or twice. You want to rinse them well as the seeds release toxins while they soak. You should rinse and drain the seeds 2-3 times a day.

4)

Once the seeds are drained, you place the jar at an inverted 45 degree angle. This allows excess water to drain out. I like to make sure there is a little water remaining in the jar for the beans to soak up.

5)

After one day the seeds have split open and you can see the tiny seed germ emerging.

After day 2 the spouts are beginning to grow. You can eat the sprouts at this point. I prefer to wait for them to get longer though.

Day 3

Day 4

The sprouts are ready to be eaten now. You can pour them into a bowl with water and all the seed shells will float to the top enabling you to strain them out. I just eat them. To store the sprouts you can put the jar in the fridge, I leave the cheesecloth on as you should continue to rinse the sprouts once a day.

The sprouts are great additions to salads, sandwiches, wraps, stir fries, I ate some with my eggs this morning. I really love how easy it is to grow your own food. This would be a lot of fun for kids as well.

Enjoy your food!

Sugar Detox Day 15 - I'm not Perfect a Nutrition Epiphany

As I mentioned earlier, this past weekend was my best friend's wedding. I knew I would be cheating on my sugar detox, and I was fine with that. To be honest the main source of cheating was alcohol. I ate Thai food Friday night (skipped the rice) and drank white white. On Saturday morning I woke up with a very itchy rash on my ribs. My first assumption was that it was an allergic reaction to something I ate or drank. Today is Thursday and this rash still persists. I have a doctor's appointment Monday. I am suspicious that this is Shingles which is a flair up of the Chickenpox virus that lies dormant in your body. All the reading I find says that this usually occurs when your immune system is stressed or depressed. I am truly perplexed as to why this is happening now. Usually it occurs after 65 years of life. And I have been eating so well, I can't imagine why my immune system would be stressed/depressed. I will have to follow up on this once I get a diagnosis.

On the wedding day, I again cheated on the detox. I had half a croissant for breakfast (only half because it actually didn't taste very good to me), and I ate a lot of fruit that I technically am not supposed to eat, but if you're going to cheat, fruit is the way to do it. Dinner at the wedding was fabulous. There was a beautiful salad that I inhaled, and steak and chicken with potatoes and veg. I inhaled that too. I was the first meal I had all day. I had one cheesecake lolipop for dessert, and a tonne of watermelon! And I DON'T FEEL GUILTY!

 I do feel guilty about the pizza I ate for dinner on Sunday. We were just so tired, and a little hungover, and had no groceries, or energy to get any and cook. We were lazy. But I suffered. My stomach was so unhappy with me after eating that pizza that I knew that it would be a LONG time before I thought of eating it again.

On Monday a friend of ours came for a quick, unexpected visit. He is a young man who has been successfully battling addiction for 16 months. Our friend talked openly about his recovery, and the time before his recovery. It is a very inspiring story of a man going from doing anything for his drug of choice including living on the streets, and stealing and selling his own mother's possessions, to a man who after only 16 months is comfortable enough to sponsor other addicts, and to help them achieve sobriety. He uses his personal failure to lead and inspire others. It takes a very brave person to do this.

I have been very honored over the last couple weeks to have 4 people tell me that my little blog and Facebook posts have inspired them in some way to eat better. I was so happy, but at the same time I felt a little weird because I sometimes feel like I have to be perfect in order to lead others in making good choices. Listening to our friend made me realize that you don't have to be perfect to help others. So instead of pretending I am perfect, I will be accountable to the people I am trying to inspire by showing them that I am not perfect. 

A good example of this is pictures of women in magazines. Women's bodies in magazines are airbrushed and "corrected" so much that sometimes the woman's own mother wouldn't recognize her daughter. That is an impossible standard of "perfection" that women are bombarded with which no real woman can ever achieve. This is an unfair and cruel practice and it has to stop! Here are some examples of this tragedy.

Seeing images like this makes me think "Oh Hell No!"

So the result of my weekend of eating and drinking whatever I wanted, and meeting with our friend was the epiphany that no one has to be perfect. I don't, you don't, nobody does. We can eat food that may not be the most nutritious once in while. The key is to have a healthy base diet so when you do eat something just for the sheer pleasure of it you can pick right back up eating healthily and not feel guilty. And just like when I ate the pizza and felt like poo (and not to be too graphic but didn't poo for 3 days), listen to your body when it tells you something you ate isn't good for it. The good thing about doing a cleanse or a detox like my sugar detox is that you get all the irritants out of your body so instead of feeling generally crappy all the time, you can recognize your body's reaction to specific foods that are not good for you.

Eat real food (for the most part) and enjoy life!

Today I am on Day 7 of my Sugar Detox. 

I feel really good. I did not get withdrawal headaches, or any other symptoms. I have only had mild cravings for carby foods. I have not felt like I was starving. And actually, since I am eating a really good breakfast with protein, I am actually less hungry before lunch than usual. My mood has improved quite a lot. I feel a lot less irritable since I gave up sugar and flour. My energy has been better as well. That could be the weather too. It has been awesome out finally.

I have to admit though, real life snuck up on me and I had to cheat on Saturday. I went out with some awesome people for dinner, and the place seriously didn't even serve salad! I had to eat some sweet potatoes, drink some beers,  and a lovely new friend ordered me a belated b-day treat, so I didn't have the heart to deny it. My best friend is getting married this weekend, so I am sure I will be cheating again.

I am telling you this because I don't want anyone to think I am perfect with my nutrition every day. Sometimes you just have to eat the chocolate mouse with the salted caramel on top. I love food, and I fully admit that sometimes I am going to indulge in things that are not good for me. But I now have the basis of a healthy diet and I really had no problem going right back to it on Sunday.

It has been a lot easier than I thought it would be. I just keep the fridge stocked with fresh veggies, and the fruits that are on the plan, and I have nuts for healthy snacks.

My Sugar Detox Plan

I have been feeling out of sorts for a while now. I have been having mood swings, and my stress levels seem to always be on a tipping point, even with getting plenty of exercise which usually helps me. The smallest little things throw me over the edge into a meltdown. And I have major food cravings. Of course for things that are horrible for me. And I have been giving in to those cravings much too often. I baked a cake for a work function last week and I consumed so much sugar in the baking process, that I was nauseous, groggy, and had a headache all day the next day. I went to bed at 5pm the next day. But as bad as I felt, I had a big old piece of that cake. I was craving white bread that whole day as well. It made me realize I have an unhealthy relationship with food that I need to do something about. I can never have one cookie, I have 8. I don't have a few chips, I have a bag. For this reason, and to attempt to re-establish a healthier diet, I have pieced this plan together from cleanses I have done before, and some internet research. Believe me, I have been dreading implementing this plan. I know it is going to be challenging, but I truly believe I will feel better when I shrug off this sugar demon.

Sugar is eight times as addictive as cocaine.

Being addicted to sugar and flour is not an emotional eating disorder. It’s a biological disorder, driven by hormones and neurotransmitters that fuel sugar and carb cravings — leading to uncontrolled overeating. This is not a limited phenomenon. It’s the reason nearly 70 percent of Americans and 40 percent of kids are overweight. In one study, Harvard scientists found that a high-sugar milkshake (compared to a low-sugar one) not only spiked blood sugar and insulin and led to sugar cravings, but it caused huge changes in the brain. The sugar lit up the addiction center in the brain like the sky on the Fourth of July. Think cocaine cookies, morphine muffins or smack sodas!

- Mark Hyman MD

*** click the blue links for more info/recipes

Step 1:    Cold Turkey  

This doesn't have to be as scary as it seems. You can learn a whole new way of cooking. But first we have to give up all those empty carbs and nutrient poor foods. No counting calories, and no portion control! Eat as much of the approved food as you want.

• no sugar, flour, sweeteners (natural or artificial) - so no cheating with maple syrup, aspartame, Splenda, date sugar, etc.
• no processed foods - if it comes in a box its gone! REAL WHOLE FOODS ONLY!
• no refined grains in pasta, bread, crackers, cookies, cakes, muffins etc.
• no trans fats, hydrogenated fat, or MSG
• no pop, fruit juice, or energy drinks
• no alcohol
• deep fried anything
• no grains or legumes for the first 10 days (unless you are vegetarian- then have legumes)
• no high glycemic index vegetables - bye bye potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, beets, carrots, corn.  :(
• Every other vegetable is fair game. The more the better. This is where we are getting our carbs from now
• give up all fruit for the first 3 days, then low glycemic fruits only. 
• protein with every meal

I am going to allow myself to have coffee (because I still want to have a job at the end of this, and no carbs + no sugar will make me cray cray!), limited dairy (don't fill the void with cheese!), and healthy oils- coconut, walnut, olive. We still have to enjoy our food right?

What you can eat:

Meat - just stay away from processed meats, and anything cured (ie bacon). Unless you buy the kind free from additives these are packed full of nitrates. Tofu, and tempeh are also allowed.

Low GI fruits - cherries, grapefruit, pears, green apples, green grapes, plums, dried apricots.

Vegetables - green beans, peas, asparagus, tomatoes, green leafy vegetables (lettuce, spinach, kale, etc), broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, eggplant, zucchini, cucumber, mushrooms, celery root, onions, peppers, avocados, celery, rapini, anything that isn't on the list of high GI vegetables above. 

Dairy - low fat cottage cheese,plain yogurt - flavoured yogurt always has either sugar, or artificial sweeteners, so we can add our own fresh toppings to the yogurt instead, occasional cheese (you have to live, right?), low fat milk

Seeds and Nuts- unlimited - chia, sunflower, pumpkin seeds, all nuts and nut butters

Herbs and Spices - UNLIMITED- make your food taste good. There is a world of spices out there, experiment. But take it easy on the salt. You can omit the salt from most recipes and it will still taste great.

Drinks - herbal tea, black tea, limited coffee, water

Pay very close attention to condiments. Many have sugar added. Ketchup, BBQ sauce, salad dressing etc. Besides these things are processed, so they fall under the no no list. It is easy to make your own salad dressing with a little vinegar and oil. 

No Cheating!!!

Say goodbye to this crap!

Step 2:

After 10 days we can reintroduce whole grains and legumes. Still no bread, pasta, crackers etc.

This means popcorn is an allowable snack! Corn is still off the table though, due to it's high sugar content.

any variety of bean

lentils

chickpeas

brown rice (stay away from white rice)

millet

bulgur

barley 

buckwheat

oats

couscous

cornmeal

popcorn

quinoa

Step 3:

After 3 weeks we can start to slowly add fruits, and the high GI vegetables (yay! potatoes!) back into the diet. Do not go crazy and eat everything all at once. You just put a lot of effort into reducing your dependence on sugar and simple carbs. Try to keep the good eating habits you learned while going through this detox.

Life happens, and we can't avoid unhealthy food and drinks all the time. Food adds so much enjoyment to life. the occasional burger or cupcake will not hurt as long as your core diet is full of nutrients. Just be careful not to slip back into bad habits.

Processed foods should have very little to no place in your diet. The companies who make them (for the most part) are only concerned about making profits, not about making food nutritious. These foods are full of sugar and salt, and not much more. The only reason they make them is because we keep buying them, so let's stop! If you want the occasional baked goods, make them yourself. This way you will know there are no chemical additives.

Your body is literally made of what you eat. Give it the ingredients it needs to make itself strong, healthy, and whole.

Meal Ideas:

Breakfast - chia oatmeal, eggs with veggies, smoothies/protein shakes

Lunch - salad, homemade soup, dinner leftovers, lettuce wraps

Dinner - stir-fry, BBQ meat and veg, curries, soup, stew, salad, lasagna with layers of eggplant/zucchini instead of pasta

Snacks - cottage cheese, yogurt and fruit, nuts, guacamole and veg, hummus and veg, celery and nut butter, kale chips, popcorn.

Low Fat Banana Muffins

I had a few super ripe bananas screaming at me to make something yummy out of them, so I modified a recipe I found online to be vegan and have no added sugar. By replacing the 2 eggs in the recipe with bananas (a well known vegan baking trick) I not only made the recipe vegan, but I was able to take the added white sugar out of the recipe. The extra sweetness now comes from the bananas, the applesauce, and the chocolate chips. The applesauce replaces oil for a low fat muffin. The walnuts are the only fat in the recipe. You can omit them, but they add a really pleasing crunch to the muffin. 

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup almond milk (or milk of your choice)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup rolled oats

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

Optional:

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (you could substitute some dried fruit  raisins/dates/cranberries)

1/3 cup walnuts (or nut of your choice) for topping

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

2) Mash 3 ripe bananas with a fork until smooth. Add unsweetened applesauce, and milk.

3) In a separate bowl mix together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.

4) Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients.

5) If you want you can add a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the mixture.

6) Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups 3/4 full with batter.

7) Sprinkle walnuts on top and press them slightly into the batter so they stay in place.

8) Bake for 16-18 minutes.

9) Cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then move muffins to a wire rack.

Enjoy your food!

Breaking Bad Nutrition Habits

A few tips to get you out of bad food habits that are hindering your well-being.

1) Breakfast:
     Very often we trade in a nutritious breakfast for a few more minutes of sleep. I am totally guilty of  "just one more snooze"ing until my husband is ready to kick my butt out of bed. We get up with just enough time to get out of bed and grab a quick piece of toast, or a carb loaded breakfast bar and run out the door. Maybe we even stop at a fast-food place for a calorie and fat-loaded, nutrient-poor breakfast sandwich. If we just take a little more time the most important meal of the day will keep us energized and satisfied until lunch.

• If you want to sleep in, prep a yummy breakfast the night before. Try a soaked chia oatmeal. http://www.theyummylife.com/Refrigerator_Oatmeal. Chia is high in Omega 3, and protein. A great start to the day.
• Smoothies are super fast to make and can be very nutrient dense. Have ingredients ready so you can whip one up in minutes. Make sure you have carbs, protein and a little fat so you aren't hungry again in a few hours.
• Wake up earlier and make a wholesome breakfast of eggs and rye toast, or homemade oatmeal (try to skip the prepackaged kind with tonnes of sugar added.) Use a little honey or maple syrup to sweeten, or better yet add fresh or dried fruit. Top with nuts and seeds for some satisfying crunch.
        

2) Lunch

     BRING YOUR LUNCH TO WORK!!! When you go out for lunch all the time often you end up eating a lot of fast food.

• It is super easy to make extra when you are cooking dinners so you have a healthy, and let's face it, way better tasting lunch. Anything you make at home is going to be better for you than something from a fast-food restaurant. 
• Stews, stir fries, and pasta make awesome leftovers. 
• If you are barbequing throw some extra meat and veg on the grill and eat that delicious shit on top of a salad the next day! (That's my personal fave- you should see me guard the barbeque leftovers from my husband like a momma lion protecting her babies.)
• Salads are awesome and can add lots of variety to your diet. Get different ingredients every time you shop so you don't get sick of them. And add yummy ingredients like avocado, goat cheese, nuts, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, fresh or dried fruit (figs are the bomb) and some protein (meat, tofu, chickpeas, lentils). That salad needs to fill you up. If it doesn't, add some cooked quinoa. We are not talking rabbit food here! 
• Soup is another great option. Make homemade in a slow cooker on the weekend, or if you are going to buy it, get something without tonnes of sodium and calories. The soups that are refrigerated in jars are better than most of the canned ones on the shelf. 

3) Snacks

     Snacking is good for you. Do not feel guilty about snacks. Be sure you are truly hungry though. If you really think about it, and you are looking for food because you are bored chew on some gum, or find something to do that will occupy your body and brain like a crossword, or knitting, or housework (boo!), or better yet some exercise.

     Many sources believe that eating smaller amounts more frequently is better for our metabolism, so snack away. Stay well stocked in healthy snacks so you make the right choices.

• Have veggies cut up, eat them with hummus to make them more satisfying.
•  Fruit is perfect. It is portable and so nutrient dense. 
• Get some crackers from the health food isle (I love Mary's Gone Crackers) and have that favourite, cheese and crackers, or dip them in that magical hummus again.
• Make some popcorn. Get an air popper for the healthiest version. I prefer the stove top method using a little coconut oil. Just a light drizzle of butter or olive oil and you are good to go. 

     Stay away from sugar and salt loaded snacks like cookies, and chips. If you do need cookies, cause sometimes you just want a friggin cookie, bake some. Then you know there is no trans fat, and preservatives in it. I prefer to know what is in my food. Its ok to eat sweet things, or salty things. There is no point to living if you are always denying yourself the good things in life. ENJOY YOUR FOOD. EAT YOUR GRANDMA'S COOKIES! Just be aware of what is in your food and eat things that are not so great for you in moderation. If you make healthy choices 90% of the time a treat is not going to kill you.

Mmmmmmmmm, hummus!

4) Dinner

     Making a healthy choice for dinner is much easier if you have all the ingredients you need. I like to go through my recipes before grocery shopping. I decide what I want to make and add everything I need to my list. That way I know what I am making, and that everything I need is there. I find this easier than buying random groceries, then trying to decide what to make with them. And don't buy crappy processed food, and snacks. If it isn't there, you can't eat it. Healthy choice start at the grocery store.
     The slow cooker can be your best friend for dinner. Just throw your ingredients in before you leave for work, then come home at the end of the day and BLAMMO! Dinner is ready! Awesome. If you have time on the weekend you could even prepackage all the chopped veg, meat, etc so all you have to do is throw it in the slow cooker and go.
    Another good strategy is to precook a few things on the weekend when you have time. You can freeze portions for quick dinners or even to bring for lunch. This is a good time to bake some healthy muffins, or breakfast cookies as well.


Make yourself accountable!
     Start a food journal. You don't have to count calories or anything. Just write down every single thing you put in your body. And you have to be honest; this is just for you. Read over what you are eating every once in a while and you will realize where you are falling short in your nutrition. Are you getting enough protein? Enough healthy fat? Too much sugar and/or processed foods? Seeing what you eat will give you motivation to make better choices.

It takes a little time to break bad habits, and to be honest quite some effort. But nothing worth doing is easy, right? Treat your body well, it's the only one you get.

ENJOY YOUR FOOD!

Chia Seed Soaked Oatmeal

Makes 1 cereal bowl sized serving

Step 1) Mash a banana with a fork until it is smooth.

Step 2) Add 1 tablespoon of Chia seeds and 2 tablespoons of Oats. I also added a dash of Cinnamon and               Nutmeg.

Step 3) Add 1 tablespoon of Coconut butter. (You could use any nut butter peanut/almond/cashew, just use               natural nut butters, no sugar added.)

 

mmmmm, coconut butter!

Step 4) Stir in 1/2 cup of milk of your choice. I prefer almond.
Step 5) Put the mixture in the fridge for up to 12 hours.

Step 6) Take your oatmeal out of the fridge and top it with nuts, seeds, fresh or dried fruit, whatever you like! I happened to have walnuts, dried pineapple, and blueberries. 

Sooooo nom nom nom! And no added sugar. all the sweetness comes from the banana.

Enjoy your food!!!!