Sprouting Tradegy II

UGH. I began sprouting my little babies yesterday morning. Soaked them all day and let them sit last night. They were sprouted by this morning! Frantically, I rinsed them and threw them in the dehydrator and turned them on. I was not about to go through another ruined batch! They should have been done by the time school was over.
Sigh...I came home to a dehydrator that was not on. PANIC! What could have happened? Was it broken? Did my mother-in-law turn it off unknowingly? Of course not. This was purely my fault. In my hurried frenzy, I failed to notice that it was only set for one hour. That's the default setting. I didn't set the timer, so I assumed it would just stay on. No luck. I had the dehydrator turned sideways, so I failed to notice. UGH. Mold city by this afternoon. I hate learning lessons this way. From now on, soak Friday morning, sit Friday night, Saturday morning, nice and relaxed-like dehydrating. Or maybe Tuesday to Wednesday. Anyway, how many lessons do I have to learn? I much prefer things to go like clockwork.
At least one part of my day is clockwork...shopping on Thursday afternoon while the kids are at church. Gotta run!

Black Bean Brownies

Well, at least I successfully sprouted, and cooked, black beans. And, I have a bag equal to one can in my freezer, so it wasn't a total loss. The beans sprouted quite easily. Here they are in the collendar on my counter. I started them Friday night and they were ready Sunday night, but I didn't cook them until Monday morning. Just threw them in my crock pot and cooked them on low until about 4pm.
I discovered that the beans sprout without you actually seeing the sprout. Rather, you can see the bulge of the sprout beneath the skin. The picture of the bean is a sprouted bean.

As for the brownies, DISGUSTING. The recipe called for flour, beans, cocoa, eggs, sugar and flour. I'm not even going to post it here. Bleck. It tasted like something my daughter experiments with while playing with her easy bake oven. I hate that I wasted my ingredients on it. I even added mini-chocolate chips and it was gross. I kept thinking it was too thick and shouldn't it have some oil and water or something? But, I trusted the recipe. Always go with your gut. The only thing I can say is that I couldn't taste the black beans. So, maybe it's worth a try at adapting. But I don't think I'll use my expensive ingredients when I do it.

So sad, no chocolate brownies.

Home Routines

Sigh...I am super content. I am actually able to relax before bed. Love it!
Yesterday, my daughter and I revisited our home routines. The kids and I have a routine for the morning, afterschool, 3:45pm, 4, 4:30, and before bed. This is all based on the flylady. www.flylady.com I discovered her a long time ago, and she has revolutionized my life. I tried to do everything she did, but finally realized I needed to adapt her philosophy to my life. This is the result.
Probably seems kindof silly to have so many routines for times that are so close together. But, I need this. An afternoon routine alone just doesn't cut it for me. We followed our routines today, thanks to the HomeRoutine app on my itouch, and earned all of our stars. With this app, you earn stars as you complete your tasks. I told my husband tonight, "We may make fun of my stars, but look at our house." He agrees. He loves a clean, restful house. Aahh.

Sprouting beans

As I was getting my beans ready to soak last night, I was wondering why it just didn't feel right. I am new to this whole routine and haven't soaked anything for a few weeks due to us being out of town and me trying to get into a routine of doing this. As I mentioned, I was TIRED, but determined. I had the beans in the jars and just stood there looking at them for a few seconds or so when I remembered that I soak grains this way, not beans! Beans are actually easier.
So, I poured my beans into a big bowl, covered them with filtered water and just left them. This morning I will transfer them to my colander and rinse them. This weekend I will just leave them in the colander, with a towel or plate under them, on my counter. I will rinse them right in the colander morning and evening and stir them around a bit. Leaving them in the colander lets them drain. It's that easy! On Monday morning they should be ready for me to throw into the crock pot, and Monday afternoon we can try out those brownies! :)
In the meantime, things are going well with the new roll recipe. The flour has been soaking and rising overnight and is ready for the final step and rising. I can't wait to have warm rolls with butter and maybe raw honey as well. I have high hopes even though I have not had much luck with the whole wheat thing. God has seemed to open up some time for me on the weekends to try this baking thing out, and I am not ready to give up yet. Someday I hope to be a testimony to those who are NOT bakers. Hopefully I will have a NON-BAKER to BAKER story to tell. That will be the day my husband stops buying bread at the store. Right now, that seems highly unlikely, but I continue on with my hopes high. :)

Friday/ sprouting beans

Well, it's Friday. After a week of a little boy with a cold and hives, now a girl coming down with it, I am tired! But, I am still motivated to sprout some beans. It's really not that hard. I bought some quart sized canning jars and I will fill four of them halfway with black beans, fill with water and cover with cheese cloth. They will soak tonight, drain tomorrow and rinse, then sit slanted upside down in the jar Saturday and Sunday. Rinse morning and night, and by Monday they should sprouted and ready to cook in the crock pot. They say doing this reduces the gas and ups the nutritional value. We'll see. :) I will use some in a new brownie recipe. They claim you can't taste the beans. REALLY? I am highly skeptical. We'll soon find out.

Also, I have a new recipe for whole wheat rolls I can't wait to try. You make the dough and leave it in the fridge to use for fresh rolls all week long. I've tasted the rolls, and they were FABULOUS. I am doubtful that I can make them like the ones I tried. I have yet to master whole wheat bread making! More to follow on that one...

Exercise Room of the Week: Living/TV Room

So, I have this desire to get in shape without joining a gym, and by just having fun with my kids. I feel like I should be able to exercise throughout my day. This is why I started the exercise room of the week. So far, we've done only the laundry room and the bathroom. I guess it's more like the exercise of the month or quarter. :)

Anyway, I was reminded this weekend of how easy it is to exercise with the Wii. I don't mean Wii fit, just the regular old Wii. I am sad to say that after one game of boxing and one game of bowling with my little guy, my entire backside is hurting. Yep, from the back of my thighs up to my buttocks, the back of my arms and my shoulders. One game of each...really? Holy cow, I may be thin, but I am NOT in shape. I should say, when I box, I box. Watch out! Don't get in front of me for goodness sakes! And, when I bowl, I alternate legs and go into a full lunge, making sure my knees don't go past my ankles of course.

So, if you have a Wii, play it with your kids! But, you have to really play it. No just moving your wrists around. Really, there is no excuse. I hate that I don't do this on a regular basis. There have been some days when I just can't get them to play with me, so I must improve my approach. But now that I am already hurting, I have no intention of letting it be in vain. Here's to fun with the kids and the Wii while building some muscle! I love a multi-task like this. :)

Soaked Wheat Crackers

OW! My shoulders, back, arms and my core are hurting! The only reason I can think of is the vigorous rolling out of these crackers! My daughter likes them really thin, like wheat thins, so I was really going at it. I think I'll make them more often. Healthy eats and a workout. I like that multi-task!

This recipe is based off of a recipe posted by Kimi at www.thenourishinggourmet.com. She has great information on why you should soak your grains before cooking. Check out her site...it's fabulous!

Soaked Wheat Crackers
THE NIGHT BEFORE:
3 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour (I am happy to say I used freshly ground hard winter wheat! Yeah Vita Mix!)
1/4 cup oil (I use grapeseed)
1 cup water with 2 TBSP vinegar (or buttermilk, yogurt...)

Mix the above together until it just forms a ball. Feel free to use your hands in the end. :) Cover, saran wrap works best, and leave overnight. This breaks down the phytic acid in the wheat and makes it easier to digest.

MORNING/NEXT DAY
Flatten your ball out on the counter. Use white flour if needed to prevent sticking. I had no trouble with this. Sprinkle the following over the top:

2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Fold in half and knead until salt and baking soda are mixed in. My dough was a bit stiff, but I still had no trouble with this. I just squished and squeezed my way through it. I also broke it into 4 chunks.

Preheat oven to 425.
Flour your rolling surface if necessary.

If you like thin crackers, roll only a chunk at a time. Roll until it is almost see through. This will give you a VERY thin cracker which will not stand up to hummus or other dip. You'll have to play with each chunk to see how thin or thick you like them.
Cut to wheat thin size with a pizza cutter, and prick holes in them with a fork.

Place them on your baking sheet. (greased if necessary)

Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on how thin they are, and how you crunchy you like them.

Let them cool and enjoy! We like to eat them with hummus or cheese. I just eat them plain. :)

Basic Template for Every Week

Monday: Chicken, beans
cook sprouted beans

Tuesday: Stir Fry
begin sprouting nuts or grains

Wednesday: Leftover chicken
baking

Thursday: Leftover meat from Tuesday/ Mexican or Pasta
dehydrating
grocery shopping

Friday: Begin sprouting beans

Weekend: Adventures in baking

Week 1 Template

I have to have a plan or we will not eat dinner. I will not have what I need when I need it. My house will be wreck. Hubby will come home from work cranky with low blood sugar, and the night will be ruined. The downfalls go on and on. Anyone else like that? The good news for me is that I love to come up with plans. I love to try them out and then rework them. This is fun for me. So, I have come up with a Winter template. I am planning on using this until Spring Break when I will come up with one for Spring.

The keys to my template:
1. Always make double portions so you can stick some in the freezer for next time!
2. Use leftovers throughout the week. I am best at the beginning and exhausted at the end of the week, so I don't want to be doing a lot of work!

Week 1

SUNDAY: BBQ steak
defrost chicken
soak/sprout beans

MONDAY: BREADCRUMB CHICKEN
Morning: pinto beans into crockpot
defrost turkey/buffalo for Tuesday AND Thursday
Night: soak quinoa; soak rice (Make extra for Thursday)
cook up corn chips for Thursday and for the week

TUESDAY: GROUND BEEF ASIAN STIR FRY
Night: soak/sprout garbanzo beans
save extra extra meat, rice and quinoa for Thursday

WEDNESDAY: CHICKEN KORMA WITH QUINOA IN SAUCE AND LEFTOVER RICE FROM TUESDAY

THURSDAY: TACOS WITH LEFTOVER MEAT AND PINTO BEANS AS REFRIEDS

FRIDAY: OPEN/LEFTOVERS
Afternoon: sprout beans

Sprouting Tradegy!

I felt so deflated! For two days I had 4 beautiful quart sized jars of hard winter wheat berries sprouting on my counter. It was Friday evening, and company was coming over for dinner. My wheat was sprouting so I transferred everything to my dehydrator and set it at 115 degrees for 7 hours. This was all happening in my laundry room which is right off of the front door. During the dehydrating process, the smell is, well, different. I didn't want to stress my hubby with a strange odor greeting our guests, so I turned off the dehydrator and came back in the morning. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!
The next morning, I couldn't wait to get it going. I figured I should rinse everything again, so I removed the lid of the dehydrator and my shoulders just sank into my chest. WHITE PATCHES OF MOLD EVERYWHERE. Boo-hoo. Why do I always have to learn lessons the hard and money costing way? Learn from my mistake! Dehydrate everything immeadiately, even if you have to do it in your garage or private bathroom!

2010 and Plans for a New Year

I had an amazing experience this year. I was finally submitting to my husband...in the middle of a HUGE project in 2009, I realized that I could not be in charge of huge events on a volunteer basis, and keep my family going. So, as soon as the event was over, I bowed out of everything. Some people think I have dropped off the edge of the earth, but no. I am doing quite well focusing on my family instead of everything else. Even though my extra projects were in the name of ministry, it's not what God wanted me to be doing. My ministry is to my family.
Anyway, 2010, finally submitting to my husband and letting God run my life. This fall, He provided me with an opportunity to teach music at my kid's school. Not only that - I love music and kids - but only to K-3rd grade. I couldn't ask for a better job. From the beginning, I was encouraged to plan a good Christmas show. I started praying in August...from the start of listening to Christmas music to the very last day, this show was prayed for. For guidance, and for God's will to be done. And, it was. It was fabulous. Not only the show, in which God was glorified - I think - in the public school(Hanukkah and Kwanzaa were in the show too, so I was free to sing of my Saviour's birth.) but, also in the way it came about.
God has given me a gift to dream big. In the past, this has gotten me into trouble because the rest of my life wasn't lined up right. But now, doing what I know was His will - submitting to my husband - I had an opportunity to use His gift the way He intended it to be used, and it was amazing. Things came together in ways I couldn't have foreseen. I planned this big show, but had no idea of how it would really come together. There were some things that were changed mid-way, but really there was no plan B. I realized about half-way through that if I just followed God's lead, He would provide the time and resources necessary. But, even then, I was not confident. Dress rehearsal day was a mess, and I was making excuses for my big ideas. I should have just had confidence that I had truly given this to God, and all was as it should be! Performance day was amazing. I almost cried the entire way through the first performance (we had 3) as I witnessed everything going down according to plan. God is amazing.
So, on to 2011. I am making plans. I love to. I am submitting to my husband. I want to take what I have learned from the Christmas show, and apply it it life now. I just had an entire hour to reflect on last year and submit my plans to God. Now, my little boy is coming down the stairs for some snuggle time. While I didn't finish writing all I intended, I will trust that this is God's timing, and He will give me time to finish whatever He wants finished. My healthy eating plans are only half done. I have been submitting to my husband this week, as he has taken time off work, and have not had time to finish my big menu plans. But today is football day, so maybe God will have me finish them today. However, if not, I will just trust in Him. His plans are what I want most of all.