Sprout Burgers

This is a yummy recipe, which you will want to make all of the time! So, you'll need to have sprouts on hand from the health food store, or start sprouting your own.

First, you need to begin with 3 cups of sprouts. Use sturdy sprouts such as lentils, adzuki, mung, sunflower, garbanzo, etc. If you have alfalfa or broccoli sprouts, save those for garnishing the sandwich.

Assemble your ingredients:

3 c. sprouts
2 eggs
1/2 c. flour (I used whole wheat)
1/4 c. milk
2-3 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the flour, eggs, and milk in a bowl. I just now noticed that I forgot one egg and my "batter" was a little thick...it still turned out just fine.

After measuring the sprouts, chop them using a chopping knife or put them into a food processor. You don't want a puree, but rather a fine chopped product.

Mix the sprouts into the batter until the ingredients are well blended.

Drop large spoonfuls onto a heated griddle. I put a little olive oil on first, then heat it up. Cook on each side until browned.

I like to serve these on buns with mayonnaise, tomato slices and broccoli sprouts. Today I toasted up some honey bran whole wheat bread that I baked yesterday. I got the recipe at Foodie Farm Girl; It made for a great Sunday evening meal.

Sprout Burgers
adapted from sprout people

3 c. sprouts
2 eggs
1/2 c. flour (I used whole wheat)
1/4 c. milk
2-3 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Mix flour, eggs and milk in a medium-large bowl until ingredients incorporated. Chop sprouts (or use food processor and pulse until medium chop consistency), green onions and mince garlic cloves. Mix all ingredients together. Spoon "batter" onto hot, oiled griddle or frying pan. Fry on each side until golden brown. Serve on bun, garnish with tomato and broccoli or alfalfa sprouts.

Sprouts: second progress report

Happy Thanksgiving! Today, before getting into today's food preparation, I wanted to show how the sprouts are doing. I am going to put them in refrigerator where they will last for about a week (that's if I didn't have plans for them..hahaha!). I am going to let the broccoli sprouts sit in the window uncovered for a few hours to green them up a bit. Below are the broccoli sprouts.

Here is a picture of the lentil sprouts. I could have put these in the refrigerator yesterday before they got leaves. But, they are just fine for the sprout burgers I'll be making tomorrow.

The adzuki bean sprouts are still covered and on the counter. Stay tuned for my yummy sprout burger recipe that I'll post tomorrow.

Sprouts: a progress report

A lot of people have been asking me about sprouting, so I thought I'd share what I know about sprouts. I've been doing sprouts now for many years. They are really great in a salad or on a sandwich. They are so nutritious and very tasty! I have a recipe for a wonderful sprout burger that I'll share with you by the end of the week. But, for now, I just wanted to show you how my sprouts are doing. I soak a couple of tablespoons worth of sprouting seed in a custard cup over night, then pour the seeds into a sprouting tray. I lightly rinse the sprouts a couple of times a day. They need the moisture to continue sprouting.

This first picture is of adzuki bean sprouts. If you click on the picture, so can see the beans just beginning to sprout.

These are lentil sprouts, and they are really starting to take off! The tray that you see just barely on the left is full of broccoli sprouts.

So, make sure you check back often for the continuing daytime drama of how the beans sprouted! They will be on the chopping block soon ......to be continued!

Awesome bread making blog!

I came across a wonderful blog yesterday. I wanted to make some bread using up some of my huge stash of oats. I was pleasantly surprise to find the blog of Farmgirl Fare! Her oatmeal toasting bread is just plain wonderful! I was so pleased that I had all of the ingredients on hand to make this bread in the first place. I do use a Bosch mixer, so I did eliminate the first rising of the dough.

I am going to make her recipe for Honey Bran Whole Wheat Sandwich bread next. I just need to pick up some wheat bran today while I'm out.

Anyway, I had 3 loaves of bread last night, and only have part of one loaf left...yep, it is that good! Don't worry, we didn't stuff ourselves silly......well, one loaf is gone...hmmmmm. I did send a loaf home with my adult sons. This is a nice, dense loaf of bread....no airy stuff here! Go check out her blog, and leave her a comment.

http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2008/11/were-back-to-baking-at-year-in-bread.html

Black Bean Corn Salsa from your food storage

Having great recipes is the best way to use items from your food storage. My feeling is that when you have fresh ingredients available to add to your storage items, family members get used to eating those items. If and when the fresh ingredients aren't available, you can still use the basic recipe, excluding the fresh, and your family will still eat the dish. Black Bean Corn Salsa is a recipe that allows you to be flexible in the ingredients you add. Here are the basic ingredients to this really yummy recipe:

1 can black beans, drained, rinsed and drained again
1 can corn, drained
1 package Good Seasonings Italian Dressing
Canola Oil
Vinegar
2 avocado, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
cilantro, 1/2 bunch, chopped
Mix all ingredients together and make up the Italian dressing according to package directions, and pour over the salsa. Gently mix together. Chill for an hour if you can.

I put the food storage items first on the ingredient list. These are the backbone to the recipe. The fresh ingredients are negotiable. For example, I found the avocados on sale at my local Smith's, I only had one tomato on hand and I used 1/2 bunch green onions. I didn't have any cilantro on hand. You could chop up celery or red bell pepper and add it to the mix. If you had nothing else, you could add drained, canned diced tomatoes.

This is delicious as a side dish (serve it with chicken and rice, or BBQ beef and another salad) or you will have it all gone if you serve it with corn chips. You will love this recipe because it is really delicious, but it is also very versatile. I hope that you'll try it and post a comment!

Bok Choy Smoothie using my Vita Mix

This week I am not following my breakfast menus at all! It's OK though, because cold and hot cereal are not going to go bad in my pantry! I am loving my morning smoothie creations. Yesterday I was at Costco picking up a few items, and a woman was doing a Vita mix demo. Of course, she had the new, more bells and whistles Vita mix. Price of a new one was $389, or something very close to that. I've had my Vita mix for about 20 years, and it is still blending away! Can I just say, that if you have that kind of money to spend right now, it is a fantastic investment. Anyway, she got me in the mood to experiment more with my Vita mix creations.

I took a look into the produce drawer of the refrigerator this morning and found a bag of baby bok choy I had purchased at the Farmer's Market. Hmmmm....OK...what the heck, thought I'd give it a go. To that I added some Italian parsley, a pear and 1/4 c. organic red seedless grapes.
Once all of that was in the blender, I added a 12 oz glass filled with ice and 1/2 c. lemonade. Blended it for about 1 minute.

Spinach is always a good choice for the smoothies as it really has no taste when raw. The bok choy has an earthy taste to it, but you know, it was really very good! I have now gotten in 3-4 servings of fruits and vegetables this morning which includes the highly nutritious leafy greens! Total calorie count is about 250 calories. Yield is about 2 cups.

I'm full now because I drank the entire 2 cups. Well, it is only 250 calories....I'm just saying....

Preparing Spaghetti Squash

Preparing spaghetti squash is a relatively easy. The most difficult part of getting it cooked is cutting into it. I used a short, sharp knife to puncture a hole in it, then get a bigger knife to cut it in half.

Here it is cut in half. It doesn't matter if you have jagged edges...you just need it in two pieces.

The next step is to scoop out the seeds and strings, just like you would a pumpkin. I find that a metal melon ball scoop and my metal ice cream scoop clean the squash out great.

Then, put both halves into a pot of boiling water. I have a pot with a steaming basket, which works great. You can also put both pieces, cut side down in a 9x13 baking dish and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at about 350*. You can also do this in the microwave for about 15 minutes with cut sides down in some water. I prefer to steam it. It cooks in about 10-15 minutes.

While the squash is cooking, prepare your sauce. You can serve this with a tomato sauce or marinara sauce. I have a great recipe I found on http://www.allrecipes.com/ for spaghetti squash with diced tomatoes and feta cheese that is yummy. First, saute and onion and garlic clove in some olive oil. Saute until onions are translucent.

Add a couple of diced tomatoes, just until the tomatoes are heated through.

In a large bowl, add a small can of slice olives and 2 TBSP of chopped fresh basil.

I got this feta cheese at the farmer's market. It is made from raw milk, and is really delicious. You will need 3/4 c. crumbled feta cheese.

Add the crumbled feta cheese to the bowl. It's looking good, isn't it!

Once the squash is cooked (it is fork tender) use a fork and scrape the inside of the squash to pull of the strands of squash. This will look like threads as you are scraping it out. Click on the picture to see it up close.

Add the onion/tomato mixture to the bowl, along with the squash. Mix it all together. Serve this warm. Serves 6.

I hope that you'll try spaghetti squash, even if you try it with a tomato sauce. It is nutritious and a great side dish if you're looking to include more vegetables in your diet. It is a wonderful main dish if you are looking for a vegetarian option.