A Tale of Two Beans

Unlike the book referenced in the title, this post is a bit comedic. A few weekends ago my hubby and I cooked up some pinto beans using beans I had sprouted. I have heard that sprouted beans cause less gas, and I had been waiting to test this rumor. The beans were great, and shared with guests. No one knew they were sprouted, which I consider a victory. People eating healthy food, and they don't even know it. Stealth, I love it. Back to the experiment. Throughout the night, as I lay sleeping, gas was definitely present. However, it was odorless. Hmmm. This was unusual. :)
Fast forward to this weekend. I found a recipe for Bean with Bacon soup. Yummm. I couldn't wait to try it, as Campbell's Bean with Bacon was my favorite as a kid, and the reviews at www.allrecipes.com promised a Campbell's result. I was not let down. It was delicious, and again shared with friends. However, the beans used in this recipe were not sprouted, just soaked then cooked. Again, as I lay sleeping, there was the presence of gas. This time, however, it was not of the odorless variety! Let me tell you, that alone is enough to get me to only use sprouted beans from here on out! :)

Template Week 3

I love having a template. Last week, I looked at our leftovers and picked a template that went with them. No thinking needed. :) So, I decided to post my Week 3 template. I don't know if you noticed, but I schedule the most complicated things for the beginning of the week. This is when I have the most energy. :) I have learned that at the end of the week, it just needs to be simple.

Week 3
TO DO:

Sunday: defrost ckn
Monday: AM beans in crock pot PM make crust for pot pie keep in fridge

TUES: AM soak quinoa and rice

WEDNESDAY:

THURS: PM wheat berries in jars OR PM soak nuts or beans

FRIDAY: AM water in to jars of wheat berries


MENU

Sunday: BBQ

Monday: Breadcrumb chicken; broccoli; pinto beans; salad

Tu: cashew chicken with quinoa; rice; bread;

W: chicken pot pie; sprouted flour; bread

Th: Mexican chicken salad vitamix guac p. 104, vm cal. Salsa p. 106; chips

Fr: Burgers

Soaked Wheat Crackers II

Aaahhh. It's a lazy, snowy day. Can you believe I actually read for a couple of HOURS and finished a book today? Not sure I should be proud of that, but it's been a nice day, and we have tomorrow off as well.
I'm about to throw some rolls into the oven thanks to a new recipe from a friend. You make enough dough to last five days, and approximately 5 loaves of bread. It is easy and different. More on that later when I am done experimenting with the dough.
Today I wanted to let you know what I am doing with our soaked wheat crackers. I end up making them about every two weeks. With the recipe, you end up rolling out the dough in four batches. I can't always make all four in one day, so I have thrown the dough into the refridgerator for a few days with no problem. It's so much easier to pull it out and roll one batch at a time.
I have started making three different types of crackers each time I make the recipe. With the first/second quarter I sprinkle cinnamon sugar(rapadura-unprocessed sugar) over the top and then cut. The kids love these. The third quarter gets sesame seeds and a bit of salt on top. Finally, the third batch gets a bit of salt and garlic powder for Hubbs. The kids love to eat the cinnamon sugar crackers immeadiately. The sesame crackers get eaten with cheese usually, and Hubbs takes his crackers for snacks at work and while hunting.
The rolls and homemade chicken noodle soup are calling...looks like a nice family night.

Sunday, Sunday / Week 2 Template

Aahh. Sunday night. Lunches are made, mostly for the entire week. Snack baggies filled with baby carrots rest in the fridge. Healthy cheese puffs are snuggled in the cabinet. A contented sigh escapes my lips as I know this will make lunch making so much easier. What's even better? My daughter took care of all of it. We actually spent time together in the kitchen. Her taking care of lunches, and me getting ready for dinner.
Want to know how else I am spoiled? My hubby loves to BBQ on Sunday nights. This weekend he BBQ'd on Saturday night as well. So, he cut up all the extra steak and we are ready for a TUES night stir fry. Nice. I have four weeks of meal plans so all I had to do was find the one that had steak stir fry and I was set. I know exactly what we're having for dinner this week. It's beautiful. After 16 years, I am finally learning how to be an effective helpmeet. :)

Here's the Template for Week 2

Week 2

Sunday: BBQ steak
Defrost chicken
Soak / sprout beans
Night: Cut up leftover steak for Tuesday

Monday: Oven Baked Sesame Chicken (allrecipes.com)
Broccoli; make homemade tortilla chips for week
Morning: Garbanzo beans into crockpot or defrost beans that were cooked previously

Night: cut leftover chicken for WED
put quinoa and rice in bowls for soaking in AM

Tuesday: Sizzling Beef with Black Bean Sauce P. 69 Jaime Oliver
Soaked rice; soaked quinoa; garlic green beans
MORNING: soak quinoa; soak rice
Night:

Wednesday: Chicken Quesdillas with leftover chicken
vitamix guac p. 104, vm cal. Salsa p. 106
homemade chips
broccoli or peppers

Thursday: Penne pasta with cheese and ground turkey/buffalo
Bread; green beans; salad
NIGHT: wheat berries into jars OR soak nuts


Friday:
AM: water into jars OR sprout nuts

SAT: AM dehydrate!
soak beans: pinto, black, garbanzo

WAR

Do you ever wonder when you'll see the big pay-off for radically changing your diet? Sure, I've seen changes, but my youngest is in kindergarten, and let me tell you, it's been one sickness after another. All last week he was coming down with a cold. And now, bam, 104 temp. Sigh. I am working with preschoolers this year, as well as teaching K-3 music, and I have had my share of colds too. I am currently recovering from a doosie.
The change I have seen is that we don't seem to get things as bad as everyone else. But right now, I feel like I am at war:
WASH YOUR HANDS!
DRINK THIS BODY BUILDER!
EAT THIS RAW HONEY AND GARLIC!
Hahahaha. I wish they would do the latter. After feeling a sore throat this afternoon, I did. Oh well. I can't even get them to eat cinnamin and honey.

By the way, I downloaded a more recent version of posting, and I can't find the spell check. So, my apologies for all mispellings. :)

Also, if anyone reading this has helpful hints, please share!

Now I have to GO TO BED!

Sprouting Success!

Finally, sprouting success! I have a ziplock bag in my freezer filled with my little sprouted wheat babies. Hooray! I also made an edible loaf of sourdough bread. It was a pleasant surprise as I pulled the loaf out of the oven and thought it was going to be another brick, but no! The only thing I can't figure out is why it won't rise to normal loaf size. I let it rise for 12 hours for goodness sake. This is disappointing. I made another loaf today, and increased my sourdough starter by 1/2 cup with no luck. I will be researching this soon. In the meantime, I will be enjoying little pieces of yummy sourdough bread.