Dinner With The Sproutman

On a friend’s recommendation, I joined Meetup.com back in 2008.  I was looking to make new friends and have some fun trying new things.  In 2009 I attended my raw food Meetup group’s monthly potluck and was absolutely hooked!  Even though I am a living foods chef and have been eating mostly raw since 2002, I was totally blown away by the diversity of recipes that my wonderful new friends brought to the table.  So many of us get stuck in our ways and don’t break out of our comfort zone.  This goes for cooking as well as anything else that we get comfortable in doing.  After years of preparing live foods, I was amazing at making my “favorite” recipes, yet I did not venture out and discover new recipes that might possibly taste delicious.  My eyes were opened at that first Meetup!!  Not only was I able to have the experience of making some new phenomenal like-minded friends, the wheels of creativity were turning in my head.  New recipes were being born inside of me from that moment forward…

When I started becoming really interested in health and wellness back in the ’90s, one of the first cookbooks I bought was called The Sproutmans Kitchen Garden Cookbook authored by Steve Meyerowitz, The Sproutman.  Knowing how fantastic living food, and especially sprouts, are for me, I devoured this book — I was hungry for information –  learning more about sprouts and making some delicious recipes in the process. Imagine my delight and surprise when my friend, who hosts the Meetup, told me that the Sproutman was coming to give a talk at our meeting…  I was elated!  I was going to meet a man that was a big influence on how I feed my body to this day.  Along with sharing details about his journey to health and wellness with us, he spoke about the high nutrient content in sprouts, how easy they are to grow in your kitchen, how economical it is to grow organic sprouts, as well as about the health benefits of eating these little live packets of nutrients.  He even provided samples for everyone in our group to try while he was speaking, and they were delicious!!  His talk was very down to earth and inspirational at the same time! 

A few fun facts that he shared with us about sprouts are:   

1. Sprouts are baby plants that will eventually grown into mature vegetables and are packed with high concentrations of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and protein;
2. Unless you’re buying locally-grown vegetables (organic is best), fresh vegetables can take up to a week or more to make it to your dinner table.  During this transit time, valuable nutrients are lost.  That piece of lettuce that you’re eating probably doesn’t contain the nutrient content that you think it does. 
3. Broccoli sprouts can be used for treating cancer.  John’s Hopkins University scientists found a highly concentrated source of sulforaphane (compound that helps mobilize our body’s natural cancer-fighting resources), which reduces the risk of developing cancer;
4. When you grow fresh sprouts at home, you save money (pound for pound sprouts are very ecomonimcal), have a higher nutrient content in your diet (which helps in keeping YOU healthy), and you get to enjoy truly fresh and delicious-tasting food for you and your family.

You can learn more about sprouting right on the Internet, by buying a book on sprouting, or you can check out the Sproutman’s website, which is listed below and in my healthy shopping section.