Do it Yourself: Sprouts

Each night we go to sleep in a small camping trailer in the woods along the Yaak River. In the morning sunlight pours through our windows to wake us up, and when I look back out them all I can see are trees. The only sounds are the water, the birds, and the low din of our portable heater.

We've been living in Montana for the better part of a month now, and we've done our best to earn our keep while we stay here rent free. It hasn't been hard, as almost everyone around here needs a hand with something. We've helped fall trees and haul firewood, we've torn down old sheds and tilled up future gardens, we've mended fences and dug ditches, we've cooked and cleaned, we even helped set up a tipi the other day.

If there's one thing I've learned from spending time with the people here, it's that the rest of us could all be doing a little more for ourselves. I'm not talking about raising your own chickens or building your own cabin, nothing so grandiose. Sometimes what's important are the small things—the baby steps we can take to make ourselves just a little less dependent on the rest of the world.

Sprouts

Anyone who reads the news has surely seen an article or two about the potential dangers of conventionally grown commercial sprouts, like this one, or this one, or even this one. There are several different reasons why these healthful, vitamin rich little plant shoots are so susceptible to contamination when produced:

Not only are they most often consumed raw, without a cooking step to kill bacteria, but they are grown in a warm, humid environment conducive to bacteria growth.[...] Sprouts also have a greater risk of exposure to harmful pathogens, since seeds used for sprouting are usually stored longer than those used for growing fruits and vegetables, possibly exposing them to dust, contaminated water or animal feces for longer periods of time[...] [H]istory has shown that sprouts can also become contaminated in the growing or processing phase by irrigation water, contaminated human hands, or a variety of other environmental sources.  

Not only do sprouts create an ideal environment for bacteria growth, but outbreaks caused by sprouts can often be more widespread than incidents of illness caused by other foods, because the seeds are often divided into many sections and sold widely. This also means that an outbreak caused by contaminated sprouts can be harder to trace back to the point of origin, since seed lots can be scattered to various regions. (foodsafetynews.com)

While it has been shown the purchasing organic sprouts can help mitigate these risks, they come with a hefty markup, and buying sprouts isn't exactly cheap to begin with. That's why I was so surprised to find out how easy it is to grow them right in your kitchen at home. It takes about 3-6 days to turn a seed into a full-sized sprout, but they only require a few seconds of attention each day, and some of the seeds that work well for sprouts can probably already be found in your pantry, such as lentils or mustard seed. The best part is that the finished product costs you pennies on the dollar compared to retail sprouts. The most important thing is to only use seeds that are already intended for human consumption; seeds packaged for sowing and growing may be treated with harmful chemicals. This excerpt from cityfarmer.org should be enough to get anyone started growing sprouts at home:

What You Need

1. A jar, 1 liter to 4 liter (1qt. to gallon) size, depending on your appetite for sprouts and size of your family.
2. A bowl of the right size and weight to prop up the jar.
3. Some screen or netting and a rubber band, either nylon tulle from a fabric shop or gray fiberglass screen from a hardware store, will work fine.
4. Fresh water.
5. Seeds with good germination, preferably grown organically. Avoid purchased garden seeds unless you know they aren't treated. Most natural food stores have the common sprouting seeds; if in doubt, ask if it's organic. If you know a farmer who grows the seeds you want without chemicals, buy in bulk. Most seeds keep for a year or more in a cool dry place.

Easy Sprouting Directions (for most small seeds)

1. Soak Put 1 to 4 TBS. seed in a wide mouth jar. Cover with mesh and secure with rubber band. Add water, swirl, and drain. Add 1 cup cool water and soak for 4 - 8 hrs.
2. Rinse Twice a day, refill jar with cool water, swirl, and drain. Invert jar and prop at angle in sink or bowl.
3. Enjoy In three to six days, when sprouts are 3 to 5cm (1 to 2") long, enjoy. Cover the jar with plastic and a rubber band, or transfer to a covered container, and refrigerate to store.

Hints and Options for small seeds

You can grow alfalfa, red clover, radish, fenugreek, and other small seeds up to 4cm (1.5") long. A 250g bag of alfalfa seed can grow 45 cups of sprouts, or even more. Lentils and peas are best small, with sprouts .5 to 1cm(1/4 to 1/2") long. They get tougher with more growth. Miss a rinsing? Just continue normally if the sprouts appear alive and show no signs of mold. The sprouts should be fine. If you do see a spot of mold or rot, remove it with a good margin of healthy sprouts and discard. Don't mistake the fuzzy white root hairs of radish, canola, mustards, and other crucifers for mold. Be sure to taste sprouts as you go along; use them when you like them. To green up sprouts, leave them without a cover for a few hours in bright light, but not direct sunlight. Sprouts grow best between 18C and 25C (65F and 75F). Use luke-warm water for soaking and rinsing in cool room temperatures, and cold water in hot room temperatures. Drain the sprouts well before they go in the fridge. Rinse in the morning, cover and refrigerate in the afternoon. Mung beans (for Chinese bean sprouts) grow best in a drainable tray or basket. They like extra rinsing, and are best grown in complete darkness to prevent bitterness.

From A to B without Going Broke

 

In the house we were staying at in Arizona, in the section of the main room that one would probably call the office, sat a novelty I hadn't seen in some time. It looked a bit like a ball with a world map glued to it, perched on a metal stand. It felt familiar, but the prospect of putting it to use without employing a keyboard or mouse seemed foreign to me. I inspected it for a while until I figured out which country was ours, and from that point I could see clearly where we stood, and where we were headed. So it was with this device that my lady and I planned our way from the place we were then to the place we are now.

 

It had been taking me longer that had I expected to stop feeling guilty about leaving behind a good job and a furnished home to go fulfill some carpe diem vision for my life. Granted, I was thoroughly enjoying myself, but something still weighed heavy on me. Upon consideration, I decided that the problem was the same as it had always been; I simply had too much stuff. Too many things were cluttering up my compact little life. Trying to take my world with me everywhere I went just wasn't working. 

 

Thus, once again, I sorted through my bags, boxes, and bins, setting aside those items which I was willing to part with. These things were then stacked into the back closet where they would wait for my eventual return. What remained was one guitar, a short stack of books, a single duffel of clothes and shoes, a bin of my favorite cooking utensils, and a small selection of fresh, canned, and frozen foods—the bare minimum of what we would need to take five days driving from Phoenix, AZ to spend a month in Yaak, Montana.

 

Sedona, AZ: Our first day of being truly homeless was spent just north of Phoenix in this particularly beautiful part of Arizona. The plan was simple, at least on paper: travel with our belongings in the bed of the truck and covered by a tarp, stop to spend the night at a camp site, move all of our belongings into the cab of the truck, then string the tarp over the truck bed and BAM! a free tent to sleep in. Finished off with a thick piece of foam at a few layers of blankets, it was everything we needed. 

Our dinner for the night was equally frugal. After the gas, food and lodging are your major expenses on a road trip, and camping mitigated both of these. The site itself was $16, and the wood for a cooking fire was another $7. This brings me to my first bit of advice: if you don’t already own a set of cast-iron pans, then for the love of God stop reading this and go buy some. Not only are they great in the home kitchen, maintaining even heat and transferring easily from stove to oven, but they remain in good condition even when used outdoors over an open fire. We used our largest to make a cabbage tomato stew. Sure, I’ve prepared fancier dishes, but after a long day of hiking in the sun it was quite relaxing to sit outside as the evening cooled and enjoy a nice warm home-cooked meal together.

 

The Grand Canyon: Day two began with hot coffee made on a small Coleman camping stove. We broke down our camp and packed up the truck, then headed toward the big hole in the ground that locals call simply “The Canyon”, as if there are no others. Honestly, I didn’t expect to be as impressed as I was. Even standing there in front of it, it seemed as if we were staring at a picture.

 

The Grand Canyon has plenty of camping, and we were there early enough in the season that finding a space without a reservation was no trouble at all. After spending so much time out and about, however, we decided that our dinner for the evening should be a simple classic: grilled cheese and tomato soup. It’s an easy thing to fix while camping, since canned tomato soup concentrate takes up little space and cheese keeps well even in a modest soft-sided cooler like ours. We’d picked up some firewood from the local store earlier in the day and noticed they had PBR for $0.79 a bottle, so that became our libation for the evening. 

 

The one hitch was that we hadn’t exactly brought a plethora of cheese options to choose from, just a half-used chunk of parmesan and some string cheese that we’d grabbed for hiking snacks, but we weren’t going to let that stop us. I think we both expected it to be mediocre at best, but instead we discovered how wonderfully string cheese works in a toasted sandwich. With each bite strands of melted cheese drew a line from our hands to our  lips like some kind of over-the-top pizza commercial. The great thing about living on such a tight budget is that even the simplest of pleasures become intensified.

 

Lake Powell, AZ: Obviously, dinner and coffee aren’t the only two meals in a day, and we weren’t about to fork over our limited funds to pay for lunches as we traveled. Instead, we’d brought along several fillets of halibut that we had pilfered from the freezer of the house in Phoenix. Each night we’d poach one, and the next day we’d turn it into fish salad sandwiches.

 

What I’m about to tell you next may shock and offend, but we didn’t bring things like mayonnaise, mustard, or relish with us to make fish salad. We didn’t have any, and we certainly weren’t going to buy any. So, being the resourceful couple that we are, we got some for free… from gas station condiment bars. Mayonnaise and mustard are the easiest to come by, but relish is pretty common too. I was most surprised, however, to find packets of chopped onion and even lemon juice from the coffee/tea station. 

 

Armed with these packets, a loaf of bread, and a bag of poached fish, we stopped for lunch at Lake Powell on our way from The Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon. We had one beer left, which we shared while enjoying our sandwiches and relaxing by the water. I later did the math and figured that the whole lunch for both of us cost exactly $1.29. Take that, dollar menus!

 

We made it to our campsite late that night, and spent the next morning exploring the strange rock formations of Bryce Canyon before continuing on our journey.

Jackson Hole, WY: After all the camping and driving and fish sandwiches, we decided it was time for an easy evening. It came up sort of by chance, but we just happened to be driving through this cute little town in the early evening and both concluded that we were done traveling for the day, so we found the cheapest motel we could get and decided it was time for someone else to fix us dinner. 

 

Not wanting to spend to much money, but still wanting to relax and enjoy ourselves, we found a proper restaurant to have some cocktails and share an appetizer. The Silver Dollar Bar and Grill took good care of us, and after soaking up some local food and atmosphere we promptly hit the Wendy’s drive thru down the road to quell our dinnertime hunger. It didn’t matter that our motel room was what some might call “dinky” or “dumpy” or “dilapidated” or some other adjective beginning with “d”, and it didn’t matter that dinner came from a bag, it was just nice to sit and watch TV from the comfort of a warm bed for the night.

 

Billings, MT: For our last night on the road my lady wanted to stop and see some of her old friends in Billings. I happily agreed, since we were far North enough that there was no interest in camping overnight out in the cold, and the day had been long enough that I didn’t want to set up the “tent”. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, so I was notably surprised when the place we pulled up to turned out to be a llama farm. 

 

They took us in for the night, fed us, introduced us to their children and pets, and showed us around their farm. I’d never stood so close to a llama before, and I found there appearance to be quite endearing. Watching them move could make anyone feel lighthearted—something between hopping and prancing. It was an interesting life to get to peer through the window at, but honestly after all that time being on the road it just felt good to be in the company of another couple for the evening.

 

We left early the next morning, before anyone else was awake, and began the final leg of our journey from point A to point B.

Coming Up Daisies

My lady and I recently returned from a short trip south of the border, where we spent the week in Puerto Penasco, Sonora. As luck would have it, the American spring breaks had all ended the week prior, and the Mexican spring break had finished up literally the day before we got there. We only saw two other families in our hotel the entire time, and most of the cantinas and tiendas were equally empty. Needless to say the bartenders and shopkeepers were very happy to see us. We would walk down the street and be hollered at and waved down with menus. Boat crews would offer us great deals on fishing charters or sunset cruises. We were popular with the locals, is what I'm trying to say. But we knew better. We hadn't come there to spend money; we were on a budget. 

We specifically picked a hotel with a full kitchen, just to avoid restaurant and bar markups (which, admittedly, were much lower there than here in the states). We walked right past them all and made a bee line for the fish market. Here we were equally popular, as everyone we passed claimed to have the best camarones or the freshest pescado. We picked up some of both (shrimp and fish) as well as some scallops from a vendor who, while he spoke perfect English, I tried my best to practice my Spanish on. These were to be our meals for the week. 

The next day that fish became our lunch: ceviche
 of flounder, margaritas made with fresh citrus, corn tortillas straight from the tortilleria, and a view of the water. The ceviche was good, and the tortillas were great, but the Margaritas were perfect. It's funny how a Margarita made from scratch at home can be both better and cheaper than it's restaurant-purchased counterpart.

The Margarita

I think its fair to say that we are all familiar with the Margarita. At the very least, most people have imbibed a neon colored tequila drink at some shoddy Mexican restaurant once in their lives. Its history, however, is much more interesting than the drink most people get served. It's hardly traditional to the Mexican culture. In fact, if it weren't for American prohibition, this drink would never have come to be. 

In the late 1800s a cocktail came into vogue known as the Daisy. It was a simple variation on the sour: alcohol, sugar, lemon juice, and orange liqueur. A couple of decades later, after the passing of the 18th amendment, Mexico became the popular place for an American to (legally) get a drink. Wealthy Americans would commonly travel to Mexican resorts to relax and wet their whistle, doing their best to order cocktails they were familiar with at these Mexican restaurants and bars. A little after repeal journalists and other travelers started talking about the "Tequila Daisy" they'd been tippling south of the border. Imagine, if you will, an American customer trying to explain to a Mexican bartender how to make a drink like the Daisy. Of course they'd be starting with tequila, and limes were much more common than lemons in Mexico. (In fact, in Mexico there is no word for lemon, they are simply referred to as a yellow lime, or limon amarillo.) Hmmm... tequila, sugar, lime, orange liqueur... Sounds familiar, right? The icing on the cake: you'll never guess the Spanish translation for "Daisy". That's right, Margarita.

This is the basic recipe I usually start all my Margaritas with. The nice thing about it is that you can use these ratios to make a pitcher for a crowd, or just a few for you and someone special, and it can be easily adjusted to suit individual tastes. I usually try to use only lime juice, but I've made margaritas with various combinations of lemon, lime, even grapefruit with good results. Sometimes I'll include an orange in my citrus juice and omit the orange liqueur entirely for a drink that's fresher and less cloying. (This can be especially handy if you're traveling and don't want to buy a whole bottle of orange liqueur, as was our case, or if you just happen to be all out at home.) You can also use agave nectar in place of the sugar in your simple syrup for a flavor that meshes better with the tequila. Finally, if you have any fresh fruit on hand feel free to muddle it into the rest of the ingredients. I've had good luck with strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, tangerine, mango, &c. Other flavorings like cilantro or even a little hot sauce can be added too, based on people's preferences.

1 part simple syrup (1:1 water and sugar,  boiled to dissolve then cooled)

1 part citrus juice

2 parts tequila (I find most people prefer either blanco or reposado)

.25 parts orange liqueur