Sprouted Wheat

Hello again, everyone!  I really do think about you all the time.  Even if it doesn't make it to the interwebs.  :-)

Well, one of my New Year's resolutions is to sprout or soak my grains as much as possible.  Or ferment them, as in sourdough bread.  I wrote a post on this about a year ago, but now I am serious, people.

The above picture is proof.  Look at those cute little wheat berries with little white tails-- those are the sprouts!

While it takes about 36 hours to sprout and 12 hours to dehydrate the grains, I actually spend very little time on this!  I just have to remember to keep up with it.  Here is how it has been going for me so far:

1. Fill a 1/2 gallon jar about 1/3 full of wheat berries.
2. Cover the wheat berries with water (plus about 2-3" above the water)
3. Let the berries soak either overnight or all day.
4. Pour the water off the wheat berries and drain well.  (Get a sprouting lid for your jar so that wheat berries don't go all over your kitchen!)
5. Rinse two or three times a day, and in about 24 hours, the berries will be ready to dehydrate.
6. Pour the berries onto a cookie sheet.
7. Place cookie sheets in the oven and turn it on to the lowest setting.  (Or, put it in your dehydrator and set for no more than 145*-- if you use a dehydrator, you need to get mesh screen to put on the trays, or the wheat berries will fall right through.)
8. Come back to your wheat berries in 12 hours or so and they will be all dried out.
9. Store in an airtight container until you are ready to use it.  :-) 

So there you have it.  I have been constantly sprouting wheat for a couple of weeks now, and not running out of sprouted flour.  Sprouted flour is such a healthy option for my family because the sprouting process wakes up, or unlocks the vitamins and minerals that are stored in the seeds to support a new plant.  Also, sprouting breaks down the phytic acid in the the grain that acts as an inhibitor in your digestive tract, which stops the minerals that are available from being absorbed. 

This is definitely a big step in our healthy eating journey!  And, it doesn't cost me any extra money!  Only a few minutes a day and my family is eating much healthier breads!  Yay!