Home-Grown Bean Sprouts

All edible grains, seeds, and legumes can be sprouted. Sprouting is easy, inexpensive and the concentration of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes increase like crazy! It is also a lot of fun to watch them grow. We like to eat them as a snack and over salads. Will even liked them! We specifically decided to sprout mung beans. When mung beans are sprouted the protein increases 30%, the calcium 34%, iron 40%, and vitamins A,B, and C have an infinite increase. There are so many other benefits including better digestion and interestingly the calorie content and carbohydrate content decrease by 15% because of the increased water content. Just make sure that you buy the beans fresh, unsprayed, and packaged as a food. Seeds/dried beans that are packaged for planting purposes contain harsh chemicals. Don't they look yummy!!! :)

Here is how we did it...

- Soak 1/2 a cup of mung beans for 8-12 hours.(or overnight)

-Rinse thoroughly and place in a jar. Cover with several inches of water and cover the top with a cheesecloth. Use a rubber band or jar band to secure. (they double in size when sprouted so be sure to choose a large enough jar)

-Place the beans in a dark place at room temperature and let soak another 8-12 hours.

-Drain the beans thoroughly again and rinse. Place back in the fully drained jar and cover with cheesecloth. Return to the dark location.

-Continue to rinse beans twice a day and drain the water completely. This keeps them from getting moldy.

-When the sprouts have reached the desired size (usually takes 2-3 days) then rinse them and eat immediately or store in a dry container in the fridge for up to a week!