Day 22: Staying Put & Sprouting

Granted, our idea of fun may be vastly different from yours. You’ve got to admit, if you woke up to see a moose right outside your kitchen window, you’d be pretty stoked. You probably wouldn’t have taken a photo of the moose poop at the bottom of the steps. That may be why I’m here and you’re there. The amount of time, money and fuel we’ve saved over the last 3 weeks has got to be substantial. This unemployed queen of cheap is pretty happy about the savings.

My grocery list hasn’t grown since last we chatted. What has grown is my appreciation for things I’ve done without. I fantasize about the taste of a banana (so much so that it’s on my list twice ;-)). A head of plain ol’ iceberg lettuce made it into my dream the other night (that and a dead crow – not sure of the significance). The availability of cottage cheese and greek yogurt will be much welcomed. Lance and I use to be quite the chip whores, an open bag was an empty bag. Heck, there hasn’t even been a need to vacuum the crumbs from our bedspread. I do have a food processor and some taters, we could make our own chips if the craving got too much to endure. I made whole wheat crackers. The dog wouldn’t even eat them. Much to learn.

Maybe a person’s time would be as well spent raising food as raising money to buy food.
Frank A. Clark

While I was whining about missing salads, Lance reminded me that we have a wide assortment of beans and seeds to sprout. HOORAY, green ‘leafy’ nutrition is just a few days away. If you’ve never ‘sprouted’ before, I’d highly recommend giving it a try. The seeds are fairly inexpensive, have you priced already sprouted sprouts in the grocery store ($$!)? Doing them yourself allows more freshness, readily available and fun to do with the kids. Think (Cha, cha, cha) Chia Pet, without the face.

Measure 2 tablespoons of dry seeds, soak in water overnight. A wide-mouth mason jar works well. Rinse each day at least 2xs, drain well. That’s where this strainer lid comes in handy. The grocery store may have them in the canning sections. We had better luck finding them online. Any sprout makes a tasty topping for a salad (if you have lettuce ;-)). Mung beans and alfalfa are the most popular sprouts. The mung beans are used in many Chinese dishes, alfalfa sprouts taste great on sandwiches in place of lettuce (BINGO, we are lettuceless). Broccoli sprouts have been proven to be even healthier than heads of broccoli. Wheat grass is a healthy addition to smoothies. I must warn you tho, don’t let the grass grow too long. Trying to eat it plain, I felt like a cow, chewing her cud. It was tasty tho, real sweet. It could pass for gum and the flavor lasts even longer than most chewing gum.

No plans to go anywhere til Friday, making it a whopping 26 days of, going nowhere. Having less (less dairy, less produce, less house, less trips…) makes you appreciate what you DO have. I am extremely thankful for our health, running water, electricity, the internet and each other. Insert awwww here!