The first succesful batch

Using  garbonzo, aduki and mung beans as the first batch of sprouting beans, the venture  continued.

 

After several days of the garbonzos sitting in water before realizing they were not supposed to, they were rinsed off and stored like they should have been to begin with.  In order to see if they would taste good, the process continued ahead until sprouts appeared.

With a zeal in learning to eat better, taking the product to share with coworkers was a step in the right direction.  Feedback was given and questions were asked.

Once taken into work, the beans were found to smell pretty foul. Assuming they had molded due to so much moisture, they were tossed out.

However, the Aduki and Mung combination of beans turned out well.  They still had some crunch to them and tasted fresh.
It was wonderful to share something nutritious like beans for a snack instead of the usual holiday guilt of sugary crap.

The feelings were mutual as they beans got complimented and were eaten up pretty rapidly.

And now, for the next experiment, grain sprouts!!

Sprouting Beans and Grains

As I venture into a non meat diet, I look for new ways to cook healthier foods such as grains.

This last week I chose to start sprouting grains with the valued information from a good friend.

However, during the conversation, I missed something although I remember hearing, ” I put them in a box to sprout”.  But me, being hard headed as my mother always told me I was, missed something!!

The first day I took sesame seeds, soaked them in a jar for twelve hours, rinsed them out and laid them to sprout in a dark corner.   Twelve hours later I went to look at them and they were all dried up.  I was bummed.

So, then I decided to try beans.   I went to www.sproutpeople.com on YouTube and found their video.  I watched and learned how to rinse the beans.  Easy enough.

I proceeded to rinse the beans then left them in a dark corner.  Later that day I did the same process again.  After three days, I became concerned because my water soaked beans were not sprouting.

I went back to the video and saw a part where the guy mentioned that after rinsing the beans off, he sat them in a corner on the counter to sprout.  What he did not say was that there  was no water left in the sprout jar.  Or rather, what I did not realize was he let all the water out, then set them on the counter to sprout.

Then, I realized that the seeds I tried sprouting were not being rinsed right.  So, now, this time, I took all the water out of the sprout jars, tipped them upside down to make sure the water would all drain out, and left them in a dark corner for sprouts to grow.  Hoping for growth in the next few days.  If not, I will start all over again.

It helps to pay attention!!

Its Almost Winter Solstice Again!!

As   the holiday nears, so the natural light disappears.  The key to living in the  North is to stay busy, get plenty of fresh air and exercise!!

Shopping is not one of my favorite things to do especially this time of year.  However, it seems the longer I stay in Alaska, the less I shop for others which  is a good thing. However,  I have found out how convenient my lovely iphone has made shopping for books and music.  One addiction  I have.  However, my limit is reached as now I have tons of books to read for the next few months and plenty of new music to listen to.

So, here I am, out of classes and its deep winter here in Alaska.  What to do with   all this time i have?  LOL easy….

Winter break has  left some of the students on campus and the trails near this University were groomed today for skiing.  Fabulous!  A student ski team member  is staying on campus for the break and has promised to take me out.  I love the fresh air. What a fabulous way to spend my hour lunch break.  The trails are plenty and I  really  need to hone on my skills.  Literally, they stink.  My lack of coordination has left me with the most ridiculous of athleticism skills known to any  one!!  It is a surprise that there  have been no broken bones!!

However, the  cold does limit one’s ability to stay out in the  cold for long periods of time.  The gym offers limited openings during this season so staff are   forced to go out to another entity to work out for this season. But, one  can only work out at the gym for a short period of time.  So, what to do with this time all winter?  Easy, learn a  new skill or in my case, refine an old one!

Last March came the    diagnosis of severe allergies.  For twelve weeks a diet consisiting of  limited vegetables and   some grains and  meats were the only items allowed  to eat.

The end  result was a fabulous weight loss of  seventeen pounds.

Now, the weight is coming back on because the problem has cleared up and a regular diet has returned for the most part.

There was a revelation of allergies which had been unknown for all these years.  One was allergic  to  cow dairy products. Another is corn.  Dairy products result in upset stomach while corn produces gas.  These two symptoms have been evident throughout life.  The skin rash that has also been evident all this time has wonderfully disappeared once these items were no longer  consumed.  A new person has evolved by changing  the diet.

The next big step is changing to a vegetarian diet.  Many people debate this type of diet because  it does not provide the protein which is reminiscent of a dite laden with animal protein.

However, there are  many wonderful substitutes for protein such as cheese, beans and nuts.  Not to mention the many grains which  society has conveniently  forgotten about with the inception of processed and prepackaged foods.

The first step and reskilling that will be focused on is the sprouting of grains.  That topic will be discussed in tomorrow’s blog.  The first item of sprouting are sesame seeds.  Stay tuned to see how this works and if  it will be a successful endeavor.  My friends have been great encouragement for this endeavor.

 

Life in Alaska this winter has certainly been an unusual one!! 

First of all, we were blanketed by so much snow, then it turned frigid subzero temperatures and then, the snow all turned to ice, thus making this one month of  amazing photos to take.  I was so happy to have my camera with me!!

The snow season really began around Thanksgiving when we got a large amount of snow.  (  See my first blog).  It was a great beginning to a great season of skiing. I was deterined to learn to be a better skiier this year.

Then, all hell broke loose!! 

Teh weather patterns became unstable, one could not look at the Satellite  weather map to determine what might happen that day becasue things changed so fast for a few days anything went.  Sheesh!!

It all began again, right around Christmas day when the snow fell.  I was housesitting in Eagle River for the chicken lady ( LOL) and loving every minute of it!!   the snow fell fast and furiously so that when I went to her house, I got stuck in the driveway but with the help of ice melt, was able to whittle myself out of the snowy situation and check in on those lovely chickens.  Organic eggs are so wonderful and I had no idea she was selling them to peeps at the university so now I am on her list to receive organic eggs.  There is nothing like eating right from the chicken nest!! 

New years Eve came and I was determined to make it a happy one.  Fortunately for me, I met some great people who invited me to this dance and I met some more great people.  I explained to them that I was doing a lot of research on a planned trip to Australia.  One of the ladies told me to talk to her sister who was sitting right next to her.  ” She lives in Australia” !!  I was so happy, she began to give me all sorts of info.  It was like the meeting was meant to be!!  The one lady’s husband was so sweet, he kept asking me to dance, he was a perfect gentleman.  No wonder I have such a great connection with older people.  Guess it goes to say that I got along better with my older brothers and sisters growing up than those my own age.  So, I adopted them as my new parents and my new aunt!! 

They helped to make my New Years Eve party great fun!!

I had met a grat guy just days before and I got the surprise of my night when he showed up.  It was so nice to see a good friend.  I had met another guy and we danced quite a few times.  However, neither one of them could be more than just friends.

My resolution for the new year was to make chnages in my life.  I wanted to get out more and meet new people and just enjoy life. I was not going to let anyone or anything hold me back. Not even the weather. 

With the new year came frigid cold temperatures. I was dressing in triple layers for work ( and my job is an indoor job).  The thermometer had dipped as low as -30 here in Anchorage.  Many places had lost heat during that time.  It was not really because the heaters or water piped busted, it was becasuse the frigid temperatures made it impossible to keep warm especially for those that sat all day.  Thankfully, my job is not a sit down job.  

While the temperature in the waiting area behind me measures 52 degrees and everyone else was complaining that it was cold, I was loving the nice change.  It was refreshing.  Everyone kept telling me how cold it was in my office, I loved it!!  There is no ventilation in my office so I open the back door which empties out into a waiting area.   The air and cooler temps make my work easy to enjoy.  I loved it.

As I was driving toward home one day, I looked over at the sunsetting and was shocked to see what seemed like a mountain range on fire!!

The mix of the frigid temeperture and sunset make it look like a fire.

From subzero one week to record breaking temperatures in Jan of 50 degrees, Anchorage had an Eighty degree temperature change in a matter of less than a week!!  Schools closed down becasue of icy road conditions, public bus service was dismantled and somewhat tweaked when it did run.

But as people were warned to not be outside for very long and the ski team cancelled races, I felt compelled to share the fact that each one of us that were alive and in Alaska were all a part of history.   Not many people can say they lived through this amazing winter.  The snow was not a factor, it was the cold.  And then, yikes. like the cold was not warm enough, a heat wave hit us!I was not going to let the cold deter me from doing anything.  while most people I know were huddled up at home, I got out and about and met more people.  At one time, I headed over to the public library to see if  my books for classes would be availble for me to borrow.  I was bummed when I did not find them there.  Oh well!! I went outside and found the waterfountain frozen in time.  One could tell and see it was cold, it made for some very nice photo shots.The ice had formed on here so amazingly.

Who says subzero has to be ugly?

One bus had to stop on a hill because of a six car pile up up ahead and as it stopped, the bus began to slide backwards down the hill with its passengers in tow.  That area of town and other areas, were closed by the city because of icy road conditions.  Craziness!!!

As  Anchorage thaws out its streets, we all hope to slowly return to work and school after the MLK holiday on Monday.