Sprouting! And I Don't Mean My Belly

Do you garden?

Herbs, veggies, fruit, flowers? 

Veggies and herbs I do well.  Its pretty easy to plant herbs in pots and lettuce and onions in my raised bed.  I even grew potatoes one year (albeit we only reaped about 4 spuds).   Watermelons still to this day wont grow for me so I give up on those.

I don't do flowers well - I plant them based upon my love of colors when really I should plant based on space requirements, sun vs. shade, varying heights etc.  I am terrible at it.  Although I do have a flower bed (actually 2) they seem to look like a forest.  Inside and out....bring flowers or plants into my house and they die, a slow painful death.

I am the grim reaper of indoor things.

I was offered an opportunity to use A. Vogel's BioSnacky Original Seed Sprouter and I was thrilled!

Do you know how long its been since I've had fresh alfalfa sprouts?!  We're talking probably about 5 years now.  There is nothing better than fresh sprouts on your egg salad sandwiches - TRUST ME!

Wait...I have to grow this indoors?  RUHR OH (in my best Scooby Doo voice)  Please don't let the grim reaper strike this time, I really want fresh sprouts!

The literature that accompanied my package professed it to be foolproof.  (Thanks to bioSnacky® germinators, growing sprouts and herbs at home is fun and easy)

We'll be the judge of that.

Little Ugh was skeptical of my venture too.

3 trays, some seeds, a little bit of water and set it on my counter (in my kitchen that barely has any natural sunlight). RIIIIIIGHHHHT.

He wouldn't let me take a photo of him making fun of me while I was setting everything in motion but just think of a 15 year old boy looking at his mom like she was going to build a Lego castle without directions.

I'm telling you, I kill indoor things, I know it, he knows it and now you do too.

Except I didn't kill anything.

It was THAT easy.

Dish, seed, water twice a day (I even forgot one day to water and it still worked out) and in less than a week we were eating fresh, juicy sprouts!!

PS  My Mr. had never had sprouts before - EVER and now he's hooked.   We put them on sandwiches, burgers, in salads - he even eats them right out of the fridge.

This little contraption is now my new best friend.

I wonder if I can put my aloe plant in there?

Here's a photo re-cap of our journey!

My swag - 

1 sprouter, seed selection pack, some seasonings, a little bag to keep everything neat and organized

The beginning:

Rinse the seeds in a fine mesh strainer and place in the different tiers.

Add some water twice a day....(this is really the one and only issue I seemed to have with this product - throughout the first few days some of the seeds liked to nestle into the red draining areas making the water stop flowing freely from one tray to the other - not a huge deal, started with tapping the container then moved to actually removing the cap to get the seeds out.  Certainly not a deal breaker for me)

Keep Going!

Its not long now!!

UGH apparently I deleted Day 4 but Day 5 was harvest day, it was popping out the top!!
We washed and wrapped in paper towel and tossed into a tupperwear for future eating pleasures.
Here's our first haul an deliciously crispy EGG SALAD SPROUT SAMMIE

Since we only sprouted alfalfa (because I was hesitant to kill the other options) I will be working with radish sprouts and a fitness mix next!
Do I recommend this?
HECK YA

(Disclaimer - although this product was provided to me free of charge all opinions are my own and in no way  solicited from the company itself)

Sour Cream & Coconut Milk Berry Crumble Bars

Holy heck batman, I sat down and decided it was HIGH time to create a dessert.  And there was success!

We don't generally keep dessert on hand on a reoccurring basis do you?

Growing up we didn't have meals that were followed by some sort of treat unless I was at my Omi and Opa's house and nine times out of ten it was ice cream - guess that's where my love of it came from!

If its in the house it gets eaten, and I like to fill us up with goodness (i.e. veggies, proteins) not bad for you goodness.
BUT every now and then my sweet tooth kicks in (actually it never goes away) and there is a desperate need to have something to curb my cravings.  Sometimes rifling through the baking cupboard to find a handful of chocolate chips just doesn't cut it!  Don't tell me you've never done that.....marshmallows?  Never mind.

Confession:
I've never actually made a crumb bar before - eaten em, yes.
The ones I have had were boring, flat tasting.
However I saw a photo of some sour cream crumb bars on Pinterest from Crunchy Creamy Sweet which looked like they would have a depth and decided I could enhance this recipe to my own tastes (or rather what I had in my cupboard).
My creation turned out awesome!
Just the right combination of textures and flavors, really proud of how they turned out first go - I mean sometimes when you start messing with ingredients and proportions when it comes to baking the first 6 rounds turn out to be a failure, not the case here.

Want some?

Trust me, you'll love em!

I'm listening to: Rio - Duran Duran

Bring On The Heat! BBQ'd Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Oh lordy lordy, where is our summer?
Wait, I'd just settle for spring!  I don't know how your weather has been in the past few weeks but I thought we were all concerned about global warming?  BRING ON THE WARMING.
Actually, the heat scares me a little this year since I'll be ohhhh Fatty Mc Fatster all pregnant and ready to give birth in August.  Thank goodness for air con right?

While we are still far from being seasonal (our tree JUST started budding) we did have a couple days this past week where it was remotely enjoyable to stand outside long enough to BBQ and not have to either grab an umbrella or a parka.
So, like any normal person, I opted to grill!
BRING ON THE WARMING!

We buy our chicken in bulk, I always portion them out and freeze for meals so sometimes it can be a little tough having leftovers (because the boys wont usually eat them for some strange reason).
I had taken out breasts (packaged in 3, one for each) but it seemed the men were hungrier than normal.....right, so I have to make these go farther.....in one meal.....without pasta or stir fry because they didn't "want" that.
Ok, I'll halve them, and make 6 pieces (I'm a genius aren't I?)
If I add some ciabatta bread to the mix that'll fill em up more.

Maybe even sneak in some veggies?
Now, the flavor.
Buffalo chicken wings were once one of my favorite things to eat (truth be told I'm more of a suicide wing gal) and haven't had them in years.  Why not right?
Lets begin the flashback memories
Wing nights:
10 cent wings (man do I wish they were still that price)
copious amounts of wet naps
burning tongues
friends gathered in a dive bar
beer (what was I thinking?)
I'll stop there.

Dinner menu set, BBQ Buffalo Chicken Sammies it is.  (with a ranchy type sauce because I don't blue cheese it - EVER)

I'm listening to:  Like a Rock - Bob Seger