SPROUTING FOR PET HEALTH

Sprouting Seeds for Parrots 

• This article by bird expert Carolyn Swicegood shares how to easily sprout life-giving, nutrient-dense seeds, grains and legumes to keep your parrot or budgie tweeting and fit.

Why Use Sprouted Seeds for Dog Nutrition?

• Karen Wehrstein, Homeopath journalist explains why sprouts aren’t just for humans

HELPFUL HOW TO’S

Bean Sprouts…

• Professor James M. Stephens at the University of Florida’s Cooperative Extension Service shares valuable info on sprouting legumes (mung and soy beans).

Sprouting: Questions/Answers

• Great tips for beginners and more advanced sprouters by sprouting expert, Tom Billings

HEALING SEEDS

Broccoli Sprouts Deter Cancer in Rats

• The Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the chief scientific research agency of the USDA, discusses experiments the impact of high selenium broccoli sprouts in this scholarly article.

Enhancing the Digestion of Sprouts

• Sprout expert, Tom Billings shares information on increasing your digestive fire to get the most clout from your sprouts.

SPROUT NUTRIENTS

Want to know what “goodies” your favorite sprouts contain?

• The USDA and Agricultural Research Service’s National Nutrient Database (Searching for the term “sprouts” will bring up the nutritional values for around 36 varieties!)

Bean Sprouts and Other Vegetable Seed Sprouts

• The Department of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University tells why sprouted mung beans (and other seeds) pack such a nutritional punch. They also suggest ways you can incorporate them in your diet.

Good Sprout News

• Learn more about sprout nutrition at the International Sprout Growers Association News Desk page. And while you’re there, become a member!

If you’re new to sprouting, wheatgrass or otherwise, sign up below to get notified when we post more of these useful tidbits. We’ll never, ever share your information with others.

Wheatgrass is famous for succumbing to mold. Wheat seeds can be stubborn when we try to trick Mother Nature by sowing them in a seed sprouter. Truth be told, growing in a sprouter is far from the way nature intended. For example, the amount of seeds that we “plant” in a one foot square EasyGreen tray would cover about thirty square feet if we sowed it in the great outdoors!

Also, when seeds germinate, they get hotter’n a brass monkey’s gonads. You can just FEEL all that power of the life force releasing, right? Ever seen a concrete sidewalk split open by a tiny weed popping through?

Sowing seed in a field ensures that a covering of good old dirt will keep those germinating seeds cool. Sprouting in trays takes away that natural cooling advantage, so follow these tips to prevent wheatgrass mold so it’s tummy friendly!

Remember, EasyGreen’s Seaweed Elixir fertilizer actually sweetens wheatgrass, making it not just healthy, but much easier to drink!

1. Make sure you plant organic hard winter wheat seeds. Don’t be tempted to purchase these from those cute little health food store bins as these seeds are likely neither fresh nor the right kind for sprouting.
2. Test your seeds for freshness by following these instructions.
3. Soak the seeds. The FDA recommends mixing 1 gallon of water and 200cc (1/2 cup plus 5 ½ tablespoons) of unscented bleach and soak the seeds for 30 minutes. (If you’re like me and the idea of eating wheatgrass that has been treated with bleach makes your hiney pucker, use a “greener” solution such as 3% hydrogen peroxide or vinegar at the same dilution rate.)
4. Mold spores multiply like rabbits in a warm, moist climate. Wheatgrass likes room temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, so air condition, if necessary, and keep heat sources such as stoves or electric room heaters far from your machine.
5. Make friends with your EasyGreen’s timer. Understand how it works. Be sure to have at least seven toggles activated for each 24 hour period. Knowledge is power; consult this handy guide.
6. Use very cold water in the tank.
7. Try growing both in large trays of soil and trays without it to see which yields better results in your particular climate conditions.

If you’ve got any additional tips that you’d like to share with our readers, please leave a reply in the box below the sign up form.

And you’re new to sprouting, wheatgrass or otherwise, sign up below to get notified when we post more of these useful tidbits. We’ll never, ever share your information with others.

“Whole, organic, vegan foodista. Raw Food guru. Lucid dream Jedi. Up-cycling princess. Qi gong ninja. Adventurer. X-Files Junkie. Eternal Student.”

Keela Sanders, Raw Food Guru

We think she’s all of that and a bag of chips! I first found Keela tweeting like a sweet bird @renderedRAW. At the time, she was putting together a brand new raw food cookbook and offered to share the following recipe with us in return for some Wisdom Blend seeds(hint hint).

Keela’s a fresh, upcoming face on the raw food scene. A quick look at the sheer volume of tweeted recipes she invents and churns out will give you some idea of how seriously the Oregonian chef takes herself. She should; she’s got a lot of what it takes – gumption, inventiveness, ambition, and a bit of a wild side. Oh, and did I mention… an impeccable taste in food and the ability to make it look great on a plate.

It’s taken us a while to feature the recipe, but that’s just as well. Now we can announce that Keela’s new cookbook is hot off the press at Etsy and that we plan to devote a whole page to Keela and her love of raw foods in honor of  Valentine’s day. Congratulations, Keela. Keep up those tweets… and the glorious raw recipes. We’re in your corner!

Sweet Corn Polenta with Beefsteak Marinara, Sprouts and Hemp Seeds

Sweet Corn Polenta

Ingredients

• Handful of Sprouts
• 2 T. Shelled Hemp Seeds

For Beefsteak Marinara

• 1 c. Diced Beefsteak Tomato
• 1/4 c. Diced Sweet Onion
• 1 t. Italian Seasoning
• 1 T. Olive Oil
• Salt to taste
• 3 T. Diced Sundried Tomatoes

For Raw Polenta

• 1 1/2 c. Sweet Corn Kernels
• 1/2 c. Almond pulp
• 1/2 t. Salt
• 1 1/2 T. Psyllium Husk Powder

Directions

• Blend polenta ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Set aside or use a mold and cheesecloth for a firmer polenta.
• Blend marinara ingredients in a food processor until there are only pea sized chunks of tomato.
• On a plate, position polenta and top with marinara, sprouts and a sprinkling of hemp seeds.

Enjoy!
KeelaSanders on Facebook
@renderedRAW

How a diet of raw foods and juice feasting changed Dave Conrardy's life from brutal to bountiful! 

Raw Food Trucker Dave Before

YouTube phenomenon “Dave, The Raw Food Trucker,” Conrardy recently contacted us to offer us an interview. We were delighted to take him up on it, and will soon feature the whole series of videos on a page devoted to his story. We found Dave to be as remarkable as the story he told us. He’s unrelentingly optimistic, generous, and a real advocate for healthy eating and the raw food movement.

Just a few short years ago, Raw Food Trucker Dave weighed over 400 lbs. and struggled with diabetes and colon cancer. As his picture shows, he could barely squeeze into his arm chair, let alone climb into the cab of his truck. Facing the grim reality of his own mortality, Dave had written himself off and was preparing to die. In this stage of our interview, Dave describes how two fellow truckers convinced him to end his McDonald’s style diet laden with trans-fats and red meat and adopt a radical shift in his eating and thinking.

He began to follow the advice of Dr. Gabriel Cousens and started to eat mostly raw foods, juicing sprouts and fresh vegetables. After just 4 days, Dave was able to get off his diabetes medicine. In six months he was cancer free WITHOUT having chemo or radiation. With more energy than ever, he has lost 230 pounds. Now he’s a dynamo and a faithful crusader for both sprouting and juicing.

This past year, Bolivian politicians and activists made waves as they strove to pass new legislation promoting the Law of Mother Earth (la Ley de Derechos de la Madre Tierra). Their message? Nature deserves the same privileges and protection as its citizens. Whether or not the law has passed is not entirely clear. 

Recently, Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca, condemned the lack of action on the part of the U.N. to come to any agreement on climate change. He furiously told the assembly, “An increase of temperature of more than one degree above pre-industrial levels would result in the disappearance of our glaciers in the Andes, and the flooding of various islands and coastal zones.” No wonder Bolivians are fuming.

The truth is, Bolivian indigenous people are sick to death of industry trumping and trampling planetary health and environment.

Here are Nature’s rights in the Law of Mother Nature as they perceive them:

1. To live and exist the same as the rest of us
2.  To continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration
3.  To have pure water and clean air
4.  To be in balance
5.  Freedom from pollution
6.  Freedom from structurally modified cells or genetic engineering
7. Not to be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities

Tell us what you think. Vote in our poll!

Matt & Angela from The Raw Food World

Meet The Raw Food World owners Matt Monarch and Angela Stokes Monarch, EasyGreen’s new master distributors. I’m happy to report Matt’s got a sense of humor the size of my-hammy and his libido is about that healthy, too. Angela is an angel in wire-rimmed glasses with a British accent.

Matt attributes his growth from being “pretty much a fool” to “reaching heights of bliss and love” to an email inquiry he found in his inbox two years ago. (If Matt’s any kind of fool it’s for the sake of eating and promoting raw foods, which he does with the zeal of a missionary on steroids.) Matt describes his prior incarnation as a harried corporate employee with the “standard bachelor’s diet” of greasy carbs and a whole lot of sugar. He claims his change to 100% raw food had nothing to do with his health – in fact, he was a pretty strapping lad. He just wanted to avoid a life cut short by heart disease and diabetes. Matt attributes this decision to reading Dr. Norman Walker’s well known book on raw foods, “Become Younger.”

But…back to the email. Its sender, Angela Stokes, had suffered for years from an under-active thyroid. In 2002, she weighed almost 300 lb. and was worried about getting diabetes. Angela was a compulsive overeater in denial, with a love life only a dodo bird could envy. In short, it had been five years since her last date. Something had to give. In 2002, a concerned friend lent Angela a book that turned her life around, “The Raw Family” by the Boutenkos. Angela describes how following a raw food diet enabled her to lose 156 lbs and 9 dress sizes. Men lined up at her door. More importantly, she began to feel healthy and whole as a human being. She began writing books about her own and the vegan experience. And these were the topic of the email inquiry. Would Matt like to add her e-Books to his website, she asked.

Matt says he rolled his eyes at the email request…that is, until he saw Angela’s picture. And that’s where the Bugs Bunny ogling line comes in; his account of falling in love is on the Raw Food World website for anyone to take a gander. It’s a great read. By the way, Matt and Angela recently welcomed their first baby bunny. It’s a girl, Oria Berry, who entered the world with a perfect pink set of lungs and all her digits intact. We wish the family all the happiness that raw foodie love can buy!

Read about baby Oria.

Watch Angela being interviewed by CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta:

Blythe Metz

We’re fortunate to be able to share this recipe from Blythe Metz, a passionate raw foodie with a large following on UStream TV.

Blythe’s philosophy of food?

“To me, RAW means being healthy and natural in what we eat, what we put on our body and how we treat the world…I believe food is the medicine for your body.”

For more info: @BlytheRawLive, www.blytheraw.com

Click on the image below this recipe to
view Blythe's December Raw Food video!

Living Butternut Basil Sunflower Soup

Yield: 4-6 servings

• 2 cups fresh diced butternut
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1-inch fresh ginger root
• 2 sprigs basil or 1.5 Tbsp
• 2 Tbsp sunflower seeds
• ½ cup sprouted red lentils (optional)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tbs chili powder
• 2 sprigs oregano
• 2 ½ cups water or fresh hemp or almond milk (not store bought)
• 1 Tb dried onion flakes

Simply put all ingredients in blender. Blend to desired consistency. Serve room temperature. If too thick, add water or fresh almond milk to thin.
Top with dried onion flakes and serve.

Click image to view!

]]> http://www.easygreen.com/living-butternut-basil-sunflower-soup/feed 0 http://www.easygreen.com/who-needs-a-bun-try-rf-tomato-burgers http://www.easygreen.com/who-needs-a-bun-try-rf-tomato-burgers#comments Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:08:59 +0000 nory http://www.easygreen.com/?p=687

Tomato Burgers

Did you know you can submit your own sprout recipes and win free seeds?
Copy this recipe to try later, then click on the link above and to the right to learn more!

Thanks to Owen Einarson for providing this simple, but elegant raw food recipe in exchange for some of EasyGreen’s delicious Wisdom Blend seeds! You can see Owen in action in his kitchen in the video below the recipe!

Raw Tomato Burgers

These are extremely easy and tasty.

Take 2 tomatoes, or however many you think you yourself would eat.
Remember: 2 slices per burger.

 Ingredients

• 2-3 tomatoes, the larger the better
• 1 cucumber
• 1 package of sprouts (I used Alfalfa, but would also recommend sprouted
  beans)
• 1 TBS cumin
• Handful of spinach leaves (or you could substitute some fresh basil
  leaves or other baby greens)
• 1 TBS curry powder
• Sea salt(optional)
• Black pepper-cracked fresh is best
• Cayenne or chili flakes for some heat (optional)

Directions after slicing both the tomatoes and cucumber start by
placing tomatoes on plate, cutting board, or platter. Sprinkle
spices all over the tomatoes add the cucumber, sprouts and a couple of
spinach leaves (or Basil or some other baby green) cover with another
tomato and you are ready to devour.

P.S. I used alfalfa sprouts because I love them but any sprouts will
do the trick.

Very Simple and Very Tasty

Compare sprouts grown with a Venturi watering system!

So what exactly is the Venturi effect?

Watch this YouTube video from EndressHauserAG to understand more.

Sprouted Red Lentil Burgers

Did you know you can submit your own sprout recipes and win free seeds?
Copy this recipe to try later, then click on the link above and to the right to learn more!

The recipe for these little gems was inspired by Sol’s good friend, Anete, whose “Yami Burgers” are also to die for.

Next to Eden Red Lentil Burgers

Simmer the following ingredients until fairly soft:

• 2 cups of sprouted red lentils
• 1/4 cup onion sprouts,
• 1 clove garlic, chopped finely

Add the following, and process briefly in the food processor, or squeeze together well with your hands (dampen them with water to help prevent the ingredients from sticking to your palms):

• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 12 crackers, crushed
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 T ketchup
• 1 teaspoon korma curry powder
• 1 teaspoon Adobo or Himalayan salt

Press into patties and fry in coconut oil, as needed.

Drain on paper towels, then run, don’t walk to slide one of these babies onto your best china. Eden awaits when you raise your fork.