SPROUTS

Sprouts are the ultimate homegrown food!
Sprouting seeds always makes me feel like spring is near.
It is a super easy way to add "live foods" to you diet.

-Growing them yourself allows you to make sure that they are clean, fresh, have the most nutrients and have not been sitting on a shelf in a store.
-Sprouts take only 3-5 days depending on the type.
-Sprouting is very inexpensive. 1-2 tablespoons is all you need to fill a jar once they sprout.
-Sprouting enhances the nutritional value of seeds. It increases the level of minerals and vitamins including vitamin D, and antioxidants.
-It makes these healthy foods easier to digest as most gas producing starches are eliminated by sprouting.
-The living enzymes enhance metabolism as well.

This website has a great tutorial on how to sprout.

How to sprout

EASY VEGETABLE BROTH

For the past two years I have been living in a temporary apartment as we built our new house.
In the past we composted all of our many vegetable scraps. It has really been bothering me to throw these scraps out so I decided to try making my own vegetable broth. To be honest I did not really have much hope that it would taste good but I decided to try!
I saved all my scraps in a large ziplock bag in the freezer. I saved tops and ends of celery, carrots, peppers, cabbage, green beans, broccoli stems, greens like spinach and kale stalks. I even used unusual peels like cucumber and a few fruit scraps. I did not use too many onion skins or scraps as I felt it might overwhelm the taste.
Once I had a full bag I placed the scraps in a large pot and covered the scraps generously with water.
That is it. I simmered this on my stove for several hours (3 or more) I am sure a slow cooker would also work well.

I left the mixture in the pot to cool and then strained the liquid into jars.
To my surprise it tasted delicious! The best part of this is that there was no added salt and it still tasted wonderful. I have made minestrone soup and only added a 1/2 teaspoon at most of sea salt.
I think this is not for everyone but certainly a great way to reuse, recycle and make delicious broth!!