Prepping for the Apocalypse Pt. 3

MYLAR BAGS / SPROUTING

PREPPING FOR THE APOCALYPSE

Riots • Blizzards • Quakes • Strikes • War • Invasion • Tsunami

S U R V I V A L I S P O L I T I C A L

So what else useful can you pack into a mylar bag? Beans of course!

WAIT! Let’s stop here a minute. Did you actually read the words up there “SURVIVAL IS POLITICAL”? If you don’t make plans now to come out on the other end of “the events” you won’t be around to see the outcome.

The Elites and the big politicos have their plans in place. They have food caches, sources of water, underground bunkers and cities – mostly paid for with your money. They think they’re on top of all of the contingencies. Maybe yes. Maybe no.

But the focus here is you and having you prepared to take on whatever the fates serve up. We’ll now resume the regular article broadcast……..

So what else useful can you pack into a mylar bag? Beans of course!

As was mentioned earlier, some people bag up to 30, 40, 50 pounds of beans as part of their disaster preparedness. But what I’m talking about here are much smaller mylar bags filled with organic beans to sprout now and/or sometime in the future. (See Part One and Part Two for choosing, using, and sealing mylar bags and oxygen absorbers.)

Sprouting in jars is ridiculously easy. (You can sprout in trays, too.)

Get a clean wide-mouthed glass jar.

Sort out a couple ounces of organic beans. (Take out the broken or peeled ones. They won’t sprout.)

Put your beans in the bottom of your jar and cover completely with cold water.

Secure a thin wet breathable cover (muslin, netting, …) over the top of the jar with a rubber band.

Wrap the jar sides, but not the top, with a towel.

Set it upright in a warm place, but not in the sun.

THEN

After the beans have soaked 8 or 9 hours –
Unwrap the jar, drain the water off taking care not to drain your beans off at the same time…

Rinse and drain the beans a couple times (you want the water to run clear).
Re-wet your breathable cover. “Breathable” keeps the beans from molding.
Secure it with the rubber band.

Wrap it all up in your towel, but not the top.

Set on its side in a warm place, not in the sun.

THEN

Repeat twice a day. Little seeds may need three rinses a day to keep them damp. Don’t let your beans “clump”. Shake the jar if necessary. The beans won’t break. (Some people opt for covered sprouting trays to spread their seeds out.)

THIS IS SO EASY!

Lentil beans (one of my favorites) will be sprouted in 3 to 4 days. Hard red wheat and sunflower seeds may take 4 days. Mung beans may take 5 or 6 days. But a sprout is “done” when you say it’s done. Some like their sprouts shorter, some longer. Some wait for the first tiny leaves to appear. Your choice.

Sprouts can be “greened” (this step is not necessary) by placing the sprouted jar in the sun for a few hours. Remember, you’re trying to “green” them (develop chlorophyll), not cook them (which would destroy a lot of their basic fresh goodness). The sun in January in Vermont is very different from the sun in Arizona in July…..

Sprouts can be preserved in the refrigerator for 3 to 6 days once sprouted. Keep damp, not wet, and loosely covered.

You can store dry unsprouted organic beans in mylar bags (that’s mylar with the aluminum layer in the middle, see Part One). Add your oxygen absorber, press out the air, and seal the bag.

I’m using one to two ounces in the (longer, non-pleated) plain pint-sized bags: One ounce of the smaller ones per bag (like broccoli or alfalfa), and two ounces of the bigger ones per bag (like peas or mung or sunflower). These bags will make nice batches of sprouts!

Then, if “the event” comes along, you will have access to some of the most nutritious food on the planet. And it tastes good!

Here’s the really neat part. You can use your mylar bag in place of your jar to sprout your beans. Is that great or what? And so simple!

Just remember when you fill your bags for long term storage, to put in an amount seed or grain that will be right for you to sprout, and have a bag height that will accommodate your sprouts as they grow.

You likely will not have a refrigerator. (And very few of us have stream houses for cooling produce and food.) And water may be precious. Label your bags with date and contents. (And remember to remove the oxygen absorber before sprouting… :-))

Beans, grains, seeds saved in the oxygen-free, light-free, moisture-free mylar environment can last for years and years and still sprout. Heck, I had a plain old batch of lentils saved in a clear plastic ketchup bottle in my pantry for maybe fifteen years and they sprouted just fine! (I am not recommending this………:-)) )

You can mix your beans when you sprout, also. Retailers have all sorts of bean and seed combinations you can buy. But you can make your own combos. It is OK to have fun with all this! Some sprouts are spicy, some sweet, some nutty, some big, some little. Go for it!

Beans for sprouting now or in the future are best kept cool. And remember, sprouts can be good for livestock, also.

Dr Joseph Mercola on sprouting:

Sprouts in general have the following beneficial attributes:

• Support for cell regeneration
• Powerful sources of antioxidants, minerals, vitamins and enzymes that protect against free radical damage
• Alkalinizing effect on your body, which is thought to protect against disease, including cancer (as many tumors are acidic)
• Abundantly rich in oxygen, which can also help protect against abnormal cell growth, viruses and bacteria that cannot survive in an oxygen-rich environment.

and

Some of the most commonly sprouted beans, nuts, seeds, and grains include:
Broccoli: known to have anti-cancer properties, courtesy of the enzyme sulforaphane.

Clover: significant source of isoflavones.

Alfalfa: a significant dietary source of phytoestrogens. Also a good source of vitamins A,B,C,D,E,F, and K.

Lentil sprouts: contain 26% protein.

Wheat Grass: high in vitamins B,C,E and many minerals.

Sunflower: contains minerals, healthy fats, essential fatty acids, fiber and phytoesterols. It’s also one of the highest in protein.

Mung bean: good source of protein, fiber, vitamin C and A.

Pea shoots: good source of vitamins A, C and folic acid and one of the highest in protein.

Pictured: broccoli sprouts lentil sprouts in center, and alfalfa sprouts.

And more from Dr Mercola –

“Reasons to Eat Sprouts, a Living Food with Amazing Health Benefits

Sprouts are a “super” food that many overlook. In addition to their nutritional profile, sprouts are also easy to grow on your own. I started sprouting seeds in ball jars 10 to 15 years ago. A “Care2” article published last year (4-Mercola link) listed 10 reasons for eating sprouts, including the following. For the rest, please see the original article:

• Sprouts can contain up to 100 times more enzymes than raw fruits and vegetables, allowing your body to extract more vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fats from the foods you eat
• Both the quality of the protein and the fiber content of beans, nuts, seeds and grains improves when sprouted
• The content of vitamins and essential fatty acids also increase dramatically during the sprouting process. For example, depending on the sprout, the nutrient content can increase as much as 30 times the original value within just a few days of sprouting. Sunflower seed and pea sprouts tend to top the list of all the seeds that you can sprout and are typically each about 30 times more nutritious than organic vegetables you can even harvest in your backyard garden
• During sprouting, minerals, such as calcium and magnesium, bind to protein, making them more bioavailable.
• (End of Mercola quotes.)

Organic sprouting seeds and beans can be purchased in health food stores and online. They can come in packages from 4 ounces to 25 pounds, in seed sizes from “.” to “O” to “OOOO”.

It might be a practical idea to order small at first, try the sprouts and verify that the seeds actually sprout. I currently have 8-ounce organic broccoli seed packs from two different vendors. One is sprouting, the other is not. I’ll check to make sure I didn’t kill them with kindness. But I sure grasped a lessen! Do not start with 25 pounds of unproven beans!

Sprouting is so easy! So healthy! So tasty!

Sprouts can be sprinkled on hamburgers (I use them as a “bed” instead of lettuce), on fruits, on cottage cheese or yogurt (delicious), or mixed into salads or dips, or as a topping for casseroles, or eaten plain.

One teaspoon of sprouts has the same nutritional value as something like 5 ounces of the mature vegetable. What is not to like? And how wonderful to have on hand in case of.

Setting up a varied bunch of these organic sprouting bags for the future is a great hedge. They don’t take up much room. They would make great barter, also. And start enjoying sprouts now, too. Americans are starved for nutritious foods. Sprouts are such a simple, delicious answer.

END NOTE: After rinsing and draining my seeds, I lay my bottle on its side to sprout. Some recommend you tip your bottle to allow the water to drain out. Either works. However, another site recommended you turn your bottle upside down….. Now the whole idea of a breathable damp cover (or the open mesh in a metal strainer) is to allow air into your sprouts to prevent mold. A bottle turned upside down isn’t going to breathe. You know what I just said.

Bon appetite and may God guide your future.

Coming in Part Four: MYLAR BAGS / DRYING FOOD – PREPPING FOR the APOCALYPSE