Caught the Cat Eating my Grass!

Caught the Cat Eating my Wheat Grass!

I caught the cat nibbling on my wheat grass the other day. I had just put up my new sprout rack; the grass was taking over the school book shelves so I had to do something different. Well now the cat can reach the grass and she has been doing some damage. When I came down stairs this morning there she was again and the floor was littered with blades of grass. What to do??
Here is the rack and I really like it.

 The smaller covered tray is freshly planted seeds. The other trays are all at different heights, even though the pic doesn't show that very well, so we can juice each day. It was a trick trying to figure out a planting schedule to ensure grass was ready to juice daily but I think I have it figured out.  We have been drinking our "shots" each morning and I am happy to report that the children can now down 2 ounces!! The baby can do 1 ounce! Our 14 year old son won't even try it, even when I bribe him with $$.
 I am so glad that I finally started growing my own wheat grass. It is so simple and I don't know why I was so intimidated the past two years--it feels good to have accomplished my goal.
The wheat grass rack matches my fruit rack that I purchased a few months ago.

Right now it is pretty empty. Normally the top rack is loaded with the bananas and the middle shelf normally is filled to capacity with mango, more kiwi, pears and avocado. In the basket on the bottom shelf are the juicing oranges that we use in the green smoothies. Before I had this rack all of the fruit was piled on the counter top and it looked crazy! I think this is a better alternative. You can find these racks at Kmart. They come in various sizes and go on sale frequently, making them very affordable.
I wish I had a picture of the cat nibbling on the grass but she ran away when I got the camera out.

+JMJ+ Today I am grateful for an organized sprouting system.

Marinated Mushrooms and Kelp Noodles

I made a delicious meal today with marinated button mushrooms served atop of kelp noodles.
The layers of flavor and texture in this dish are out-of-this-world!!

Marinated Mushrooms and Kelp Noodles

by Elizabeth @ rawlivingandlearning.blogspot.com

2 cartons of white button mushrooms, cut in thirds
1/2 of a sweet onion, sliced thin
8 sun dried tomatoes cut into small pieces, oil free type
4 T Tamari sauce
4 T water
1 T olive oil (optional)
1 tsp coconut vinegar
2 T coconut nectar
black sesame seeds, to taste

Mix the liquid marinade ingredients and pour over the mushrooms, onions, and sun dried tomatoes. Sprinkle on desired amount of black sesame seeds. Allow to marinate in refrig over night.
Prior to serving, soak kelp noodles in filtered water plus 2 T coconut vinegar. Drain, rinse and drain again. Plate noodles and top with the marinated mushrooms. Enjoy! This is amazing!! The flavors are so complex and rich it makes for a very filling meal. The mushrooms are so meaty and tender as if they were cooked. Give it a try.

+JMJ+ Today I am grateful for the inspiration to be "quiet".

Holy Saturday Contemplation

Choosing your Cross


"I chose to pick up the cross. Is it easy? No. but I think it's made me a better person, it has made me a stronger person. And there comes a point where you can have the condition, or the condition can have you. It doesn't have to be a cross or victimhood."

— from Moved by Faith

I adore this reminder to be strong and faithful when we encounter the dark times in life. Today is a beautiful day to be motivated to pick up our cross and follow in the footsteps of our dear Lord Jesus Christ. Today is a day to be still, quiet and reflect on the great love Christ has for all of us. Tomorrow we all get to rejoice and praise Him for carrying the cross--our sins, so we could have eternal life. Humble yourself and be strong--pick up that cross. (source of clip art)

Growing Grass

I finally achieved my goal of growing wheatgrass!! For the past two years I had set the same goal: To learn how to grow my own wheatgrass and then actually DO IT!
I purchased the best book possible for learning how to do it. If you want to learn how to grow wheatgrass who better to learn from than Ann Wigmore. She is the wheatgrass queen. When her book was written, in 1985, she had been using wheatgrass for three decades, on a daily basis! Get the point?! I personally would not want to learn this process from anyone else but her.
Her book is titled, The Wheatgrass Book.

The most important component to growing wheatgrass is the seed. You must buy good quality organic seeds. Only purchase them from a supplier you can trust. Good seed = great grass! I am fortunate enough to have a local organic market that I trust but if you prefer to order online I suggest you try Got Sprouts.

After reading Ann's book I got busy soaking. The seeds need to be soaked in filtered or spring water for 12 hours.

Next they need to sprout for an additional 12 hours.

They will grow little white tails.

Now they are ready to plant. I have two sizes of trays that I like to use. One is rectangular and the other is square. My rectangular tray has no holes in the bottom while the square one does. You just have to be careful not to over water when using the trays with no drainage holes.
Ann's book explains in a very simple and clear manner exactly how to do everything. That is what I love about her book, it is straight to the point with no unnecessary information to confuse you.

I evenly spread out the seeds over the soil mixture that she suggests.

I lightly watered the seeds, covered them with another black tray and let them grow for two days undisturbed.

After two days short blades of yellowish grass will be pushing the tray cover up. Now I again lightly watered the grass and let it continue to grow.

 It is amazing how quickly it grows and how beautiful it is once it greens up with chlorophyll.

I keep mine in a sunny windowsill on top of the homeschool book shelves...it works fine for me but some people prefer sprouting racks. I do have a rack but it is quite tall so I keep it on the upper deck outside for my sunflower greens and buckwheat greens.

Once the grass reaches 7-10 inches in height it's time to harvest and juice. I have three little guys just begging to help me with the juicer.

 I ordered the Healthy Juicer by Lexen and I love it! Super simple to assembly and a breeze to clean. It does an amazing job juicing.

The pulp that is left behind is squeezed dry!

The pulp goes into the compost bin along with the root mat once all the grass is cut.
I have been eating a raw, living foods diet for over two years now and this is the first time I have tried fresh wheatgrass! I just really wanted to try it for the first time after having grown it myself. I don't know why but that is just how I felt. Well, I was definitely stunned when I tasted it. No one had ever given me a good description of what it tastes like so I had no idea what to expect. I thought it would be a lot like my dark green juices that I make. But oh no, wheatgrass juice is SWEET! SO sweet that I compare it to steevia but with absolutely no bitter aftertaste. Wheatgrass will be sweet and good only if you have good seed. If you have ever tasted wheatgrass and thought it tasted bad, it was grown with bad seed or the grower exposed it to direct sunlight or harvested it too late--or so I've been told. Also if it was improperly stored or too old it can taste bad. It should always taste sweet and smooth.
The three little boys drank it with me and liked it. I drank 2 oz and they each tried about 1 tablespoon. I will slowly build them up to 1 oz.
So achieving my goal feels pretty great, even if it took me two years to finally accomplish it--hey it's just important that I reached my goal and that our family can now benefit from this amazing, healing food. I won't list all of the extraordinary things wheatgrass can do and be used for; that is something you can research and get excited about like we did.

+JMJ+Today I am grateful for achieving goals.