Talk About Sprouting

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Daring had a great idea on one of her posts to plant wheat grass for Easter. I thought it would be too late when we planted ours on the 14th but look how tall it is after only 9 days! I've planted grass seed before and it took forever to grow. This was much easier.

Now we get to start eating the healthy stuff!

Doesn't those look tasty? One of my goals this year was to learn how to grow my own sprouts. We all love sprouts around here and watching these little babies grow is so much fun for all of us. They take a little bit of tender loving care because the seeds have to be soaked and then rinsed several times a day. Our first batch of alfalfa sprouts grew perfectly.

But the next batch went moldy for some unknown reason. One of the kids might have rinsed them and not drained the water out properly. I don't know. In the mean time we were also sprouting mung beans. Their little tails just kept getting longer and longer and they tasted so good when we snuck a few here and there.

Then one day they turned purple, sprouted wings (leaves) and that was the end of the fun. Hello nasty and bitter! I guess it's on to round two with the mungs.

So I broke down and bought new doodads. Sprouting trays. We will soon find out if it was a good investment in my family's health and future or if we'll find them in the donation box after I've stored them for a sufficient amount of years without using them.

Two sprout trays aren't enough for all the sprouting we want to do so I am going to make my own sprouting bags. You can buy them at sproutman.com but of course I'm too thrifty for that. I have to order my own fabric, spend time sewing them up, ruin a bunch of seeds finding out that mine don't work for some reason, and then order the bags from Sproutman. That's just how I like to do things around here. Or I'll buy the automatic sprouter. That thing is cool!

Another note: After buying my sprouting seeds I ordered a new book called Nourishing Traditions which says eating too many raw sprouts is not good for you. They should be cooked before eaten. Also,

There is only one seed we do not recommend in sprouted form (or in any form) and that is - surprisingly - alfalfa! After mung beans, alfalfa is the variety of sprout that has caught on in the health food world. Unfortunately, it seems that all the praise heaped on the alfalfa sprout was ill advised. Tests have shown that alfalfa sprouts inhibit the immune system and can contribute to inflammatory arthritis and lupus. Alfalfa seeds contain an amino acid called canavanine that can be toxic to man and animals when taken in quantity.

See what I mean? How are you supposed to eat healthy when you don't know what healthy is? Who are you supposed to believe? I am needing some direct revelation from God here.

What are you talking about this week?

*Important - Please link to your individual Talk About Tuesday post instead of your home page or else my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder will have to spend time fixing the links. Here is how you link to an individual post if you’ve never done it before: Right click on the date at the bottom of the post you want to link to (or the post title depending on where you blog) click “Copy Shortcut” and then paste it into Mr. Linky.

My Thoughts, My Day

...these are my humors and opinions; I offer them as what I believe, not what is to be believed. I aim here only at revealing myself, who will perhaps be different tomorrow, if I learn something new which changes me. I have no authority to be believed, nor do I want it, feeling myself too ill-instructed to instruct others.

Montaigne 1579

Just a reminder not to believe anything I say because I will probably change my mind tomorrow.



Stranger came home tonight and packed some wheat into buckets with dry ice. (instructions) This is just the beginning. There is a lot left to go.



We're doing pretty good with our food storage list. We only have a few more items to check off.

The more I get into this food storage stuff, the more I'm reading about cooking with grains and eating healthy. It's starting to scare me. We are using the wrong pans and the wrong deodorant. We're drinking the wrong milk and eating all the wrong foods. Are we doing anything right? I didn't know this was going to be such a slippery slope to go down but we'll keep plugging away, doing what we can a little bit at a time.

I spent the morning putting away stuff that didn't belong in my pantry. It was all sitting in the hall so I could take these photos. No, I'm not finished. I just added the rest to the pile on my kitchen island. I work and work on that pile but somehow it doesn't seem to be getting any smaller.

Have I told you lately how tired I am? I really have to start pacing myself.

I have good news though. I signed my kids up to go the the zoo for free homeschool day tomorrow but I'm too pregnant for all the walking. This looks like a job for the grandparents so I get the whole day off! To myself! In my own house! To do whatever I want!!!

Talk About Tuesday

Welcome to Talk About Tuesday! If you are new, check out the Guidelines before posting. Thanks for joining us!

The Forum and Family Ball was on Saturday and it was fun and it's over and I'm so happy! People kept asking me if I was ready for my presentation and if I was nervous. Yes, I was ready and no I wasn't nervous. What is there to be nervous about when you are getting up in front of 100 people and talking about your one true love? I had a great time! My husband said my voice sounded a little bit nervous but I seriously don't know what that was all about because I really didn't feel nervous. I even managed to put together a slide show which was fun because what good is an organizing presentation without photos?

The only bad part was that I ran out of time, which I knew would happen but I just can't seem to control myself once I start talking. That and the fact that the audience members were getting together to plan a sabotage of my organized purse that included smashed Cheerios. Luckily my purse and I got out of there unscathed.

I am going to start planning a weekend Organizing Retreat so that I can have more time to cover all the organizing subjects I want to talk about. Mark your calendar for next January and we will get seriously organized, OK?

My life is feeling rather random lately so here are some more random thoughts.

We made another run for food storage last week. Anyone hungry for sugar, rice, oats, wheat and beans? Sounds yummy, doesn't it! I'm almost done with the basics and then I am going to start adding canned foods. Mostly that means lots and lots of tomatoes. Can I just say, I'm in love!

Look at the lovely gifts my kids made me for my birthday last month.

My son spent about six hours painting this rock for me. Do you see the season theme going on?

To Whom It May Concern,

Please forgive me for calling you 47 times today. I know I left a message with my number the first time I called but I had you on my list to talk to and I just could not be happy until I crossed you off. I'm still not happy because I never got a hold of you but I will forgive you for not being there for me when I needed you if you can forgive me for sort of stalking you.

And if you don't have caller ID, never mind.

Sincerely,

Lazy

What are you talking about this week?

*Important - Please link to your individual Talk About Tuesday post instead of your home page or else my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder will have to spend time fixing the links. Here is how you link to an individual post if you’ve never done it before: Right click on the date at the bottom of the post you want to link to (or the post title depending on where you blog) click “Copy Shortcut” and then paste it into Mr. Linky.

A Sampling of the Weird Family

People have been asking me what kind of storage shelves we bought this week. These are great shelves we got at Sam's Club. They're sturdy and not too expensive at $60 a unit. We're not storing our buckets on them but we needed shelves for canned goods and a lot of the other items on my storage list.



We had a home school Valentine party today of which I didn't take any decent photos of as usual. It's a good thing I always keep my camera in my purse or else I might forget to forget to use it.



One of the things I love about home schooling are the activities. It's not just a classroom of fourth graders having a party at school. It's a building full of families with kids and parents of all ages, spending time together, having fun. I would be missing out on all that fun if I sent my kids off to school every day.



Someone mentioned to me the other day that they couldn't tell from my blog that I home school. I guess I don't mention it very often except to make fun of my kids for looking like home schoolers. Then it hit me that someone who didn't know us might think I was making fun of home schoolers! Well, I am but I can because I am one.

I also love the times that just the Moms get together for book discussions and sharing nights because the Moms I meet are so amazing! I wish some of them were home schooling me! They asked me to talk about organizing last month and it was so much fun that we did it again last night. If you haven't invited me over yet to yap about organizing, you should. Invite a bunch of friends, make some yummy food and I will be there!



No, worms did not dig tunnels on my daughter's arm. This is what happens when you put together a giant rubberband and your father teaches you how to stretch it around the house a couple times and then when he isn't there to supervise you try it again except that this time you let go of it while your sister is holding onto the other end.

By the way, I can never figure out when to use onto/on to and into/in to. I read this explanation but I still can't figure it out. So is it "onto the other end" or "on to the other end"?

I also don't know which is correct, home school, home-school, or homeschool. Maybe I need to go back to school to figure it out.

Snow Day

Church was canceled today because of our fluffy friends. It's too bad we didn't find out about it until Stranger had spent an hour getting our van to the main road. Some girls stopped on their four-wheeler to help dig us out of a snow bank and tell us the news. Then we spent another 30 minutes getting the van back in the garage. Stranger worked for about 9 hours plowing our road and the neighbor's road and their neighbor's road and so on. When he was done he had to plow ours again because by then we had another 8 inches of snow.

This was a perfect year to splurge on a $300 Jeep with a snowplow. It ain't pretty but it pushes snow. It's difficult to tell from pictures but we have a wall of snow around our driveway that's about 7 feet high. We haven't had snow like this for 15 years.



It looks like I won't be going anywhere tomorrow either because Stranger is going to work tonight (if he can get there) and there's more snow to come. I might just be snowed in until spring thaw. It's a scary thought.

Now my little emergency preparedness plan doesn't look so silly does it? I just wish we already had our wood buring stove in case we lose power. We will be treking to the neighbor's house with a bucket of wheat to share if that happens.

Total snowfall on the Gallagher Farm today?

15 inches

Guess what I was doing all day while the boys were outside working.

Remember the 80's?

Lovely had so much fun with her new found skating friend yesterday. It took them ten minutes to make it one time around the rink but at least they had each other. Next time I'm going to bring brightly colored combs for their back pockets. Hi Marni, friend's Mom!

Did anyone do any organizing today? I spent most of the day on laundry. I even sorted through the evil sock basket. I started a bad habit several months ago and I can't even blame it on the pregnancy because the bad habit came first. I don't fold socks anymore. I just throw them all into a basket and make everyone fend for themselves.

The result has been that people are now wearing each pair of socks 14 days in a row because it's easier than rummaging through the basket looking for a pair. Although it's obvious Victor doesn't spend a lot of time rummaging because he will show up at basketball wearing one of his little sister's ankle socks on one foot and one of his Dad's tall socks on the other. He's ten. Apparently when you're ten this doesn't bother you. Even when your Mom cheers, "GO HOME SCHOOL!" during your game. You still think unmatched socks are perfectly fine.

I did more than laundry today though. I also baked bread and washed six storage buckets. SIX! If I wash six every week then it will only take me 24 weeks to get them all clean. I think that sounds like a good plan. Or I could just get off my lazy cow and finish washing the rest of them next week.

I also started making a list of items we need for food storage and emergency preparedness. You want to see my list don't you? I thought so. Feel free to tell me if I've forgotten anything.

My Emergency Preparedness List

• buckets
• wheat
• oats
• beans
• popcorn
• sprouting seeds
• sugar
• honey
• salt
• red pepper, cumin, chili powder, garlic, oregano, basil (our favorite spices)
• vanilla
• baking powder
• baking soda
• cooking oil
• vinegar
• powdered milk
• bread bags
• various canned fruits and vegetables although I'm hoping to grow and bottle some of my own this summer
• dried fruits
• first aid supplies
• candles and matches (I bought a bunch of big pillar candles at the thrift store for $1 a piece. I tried to get the ones with the least stink!)
• laundry soap
• dish soap
• shampoo
• bar soap
• deodorant
• toothpaste
• feminie hygene products
• diapers, wipes
• toilet paper
• plastic garbage bags
• extra winter coats and gear
• shoes and boots in the next biggest size for the kids
• One set of extra sheets for each bed
• Water
• Bleach (to sanitize water)
• Vegetable seeds for the garden
• Plant an apple tree! (Besides apricots, I think that's about all the fruit we can grow at our climate. I hate apricots.)
• Install a wood burning stove
• Wood
• Lyme (for waste sanitation)
• Generator

Can you tell I'm excited about this food storage thing? Here is a list to help you buy yours slowly over this next year. You might want to add more items to it. The biggest advice I have for you is to buy what you use. If you want to store wheat, learn how to use it. That's what I'm trying to do.

Why are you doing this?

We encourage Church members worldwide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings. We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve."—The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Bucket Answers

Since some of you were so astounded by all my buckets I thought I had better answer your questions.

Where did we get the buckets?

Industrial Container and Supply Company in Salt Lake City Utah. You might check your nearest city to see if there is a similar company. Hopefully we won't need them all. We bought a whole pallet because it was a little bit cheaper and we can sell the extra to family or friends who need them.

Why did we buy so many?

We encourage Church members worldwide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings. We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve."—The First Presidency of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

If you are LDS (Mormon) or know of anyone who is LDS then you know of our obsession with food storage. We have been instructed by our leaders to store a one year supply of food in case of emergency. That could be anything from a natural catastrophe, to losing a job. For our family a one year supply is 2160 pounds of grains and beans plus other items. Food storage calculator. You can go here to find out more about food storage. If you read the bible you might have learned a little bit about food storage from Joseph of Egypt.

What are we storing in the buckets?

Wheat, oats, corn, other grains, beans, sugar, , salt, yeast, etc. Anything we use on a daily basis that we could live off of if we didn't have access to any other food. We also store canned foods, baking powder, powdered milk, oil, water, spices, etc. I am slowly learning how to cook with these foods so we're not just storing the food but using it and continually replenishing it with a new supply. Not only is it economical but when you add fruits and vegetables to a whole grain diet it's healthier too!

Why are we doing this now?

We were planning on moving for several years so even though I should of been getting prepared, I didn't work on getting my food storage because I didn't want to move it! Now we are in our new house so I don't have any more excuses. It is a big financial investment but obviously worth it in the long run and much cheaper than fast unhealthy food. Another stop on our food storage trip is to grow a garden and learn to can our own fruits and vegetables.

Where are we storing everything?

We have a cold storage room in our basement and also a crawl space under our house were there is lots of room for storage. If you live in a small house or apartment then you obviously won't be able to store as much. I know some people make beds and coffee tables with their food storage!

Did I answer everything?

Food Storage Anyone?

I told you I was going to work on getting our food storage organized this year. I didn't lie. Sometimes I lie but this time I didn't.

I sent Stranger on a little errand this week to buy 144-5 gallon buckets. Yes that's right. 144! Well if you're going to store 3,000 pounds of food then it takes a lot of buckets! How do people afford this?

Now I'm just trying to figure out who's going to wash all those buckets.

What's the deal with all these buckets?