Growing Lentil Sprouts in My Kitchen

This is my batch of lentil sprouts. They took 5 days to reach this stage. I began with 2 tablespoons of dried lentils (bought in the bulk bins at WinCo) and now, I have about 2 cups of sprouted lentils.

Lentil sprouts are good in stir-fries, salads, and sandwiches. Their flavor is much like alfalfa sprouts, and their texture is crunchy and mildly starchy when raw.

I sprouted mine in a pint-sized canning jar that I covered with a square of cheesecloth and propped at an angle in a cereal bowl with the open end down. I kept the jar in a dark corner on the kitchen counter.

So simple -- this is how I made mine:

I rinsed the lentils in the canning jar, then drained them. I filled the jar with water, covered with the cloth (secured with a rubber band), and allowed to soak overnight. The next morning, I drained the lentils, poured fresh water into the jar, and drained once more. Propped in the cereal bowl, the lentils were able to shed any excess water (which could cause them to rot). I rinsed and drained them in the jar twice a day. After 5 days, I rinsed them one final time, drained well in a sieve, and placed them on a paper towel to dry for 20-40 minutes. They're now wrapped in the same paper towel inside of a plastic bag. Stored this way, lentil sprouts will keep in the fridge for 5 days or so. Some sites say that sprouts can keep for weeks in the fridge, but I'll just count on a week at most. Since it's so easy to sprout more, there's no need to make a huge batch.

I just had a small pile of sprouts with ranch dressing. Very tasty! As we near the end of the month, and I find myself looking for something new to eat from our supplies, lentil sprouts will add that fresh bit of something to meals around here.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for Mid-May

homemade crystalized ginger

Friday (cost for 4 -- about $1.20)
scrambled eggs with garden chives
steamed carrots
apple wedges
rhubarb muffins
small amount of leftover rice and refried beans, topped with seasonings and cheese

Saturday 
went to a dinner party

Sunday (cost for 4 -- about $1.95)
beef and bean burritos
cole slaw (homemade dressing on shredded cabbage)
chocolate covered strawberries (I used dipping chocolate bought on clearance after Christmas)

Monday (cost for 4 -- about $2.05)
Mexican-inspired soup, made with leftover taco meat, refried beans, canned corn, canned tomatoes, Swiss chard, onions, and seasonings, topped with a small amount of shredded cheese and some fried tortilla strips
toasted homemade rye bread with butter
fruit salad of banana and strawberries

Tuesday (cost for 4 -- about $1.10)
leftover soup from the previous night, just plain tonight
homemade whole wheat toast with butter
(Three members of the family went out to the movies as a gift to their dad. The kids paid for treats at the movies, so that cost is not factored into my budget. However, the additional treats meant I didn't need to cook as much for dinner.)

Wednesday (cost for 4 -- about $1.05)
rice, pinto bean, and vegetable medley (using cabbage, carrots, onions, and chives)

Thursday (cost for 4 -- about $1.45)
Swiss chard, onion, and mozzarella frittata
steamed carrots
homemade whole wheat toast with butter

Once again, this was a week that was low on meat consumption. I used a grand total of 1/2 pound of ground beef for the burrito filling and Mexican soup. However, we did have cheese (which is just as expensive as meat) on 3 nights. We continue to use the inexpensive or even free fruits and vegetables, such as rhubarb (free), Swiss chard (free), chives (free), whole carrots, cabbage, and onions. The one exception was the purchase of strawberries -- 2 lbs of strawberries at Sprouts for $1.98.

We spent $8.80 on family suppers this week. That left $19.42 for breakfasts, lunches, and snacks for 4 people for the week. That's achievable if using less-expensive basic foods and what we can gather from our garden, combined with cooking from scratch for 95% of what we consume.


Breakfasts this week consisted of crockpot steel cuts oats, toast from homemade bread, homemade yogurt, rhu-sins (dried, sweetened rhubarb), scratch pancakes, raisins, bananas, granola, and milk.

Lunches included leftover soup, eggs, various sandwiches (using homemade bread, bean spread, and peanut butter), yogurt, various concoctions of fruits and vegetables (which included carrots, rhu-sins, raisins, bananas, juice, Swiss chard, cabbage, chives, onions), and ramen.


A few experiments this week:

• dehydrated carrot pieces to make single servings of instant soup
• sprouted lentils (thanks, YHF) to use on sandwiches and in soups and salads
• made crystalized ginger (using some aging and wrinkled fresh ginger) to use in baking

What was on your menu this week? Do you like experimenting in the kitchen, or do you prefer to use the same set of recipes?