Sprouts: Growing Sustainable Food On Your Countertop
Eating sprouted seeds is a relatively recent culinary trend in the U.S., even though they are ridiculously easy to grow and can be an excellent source of potassium, magnesium, folate, beta-carotene, calcium, vitamin C, and vitamin K. These days, bean sprouts, grain sprouts, and salad sprouts are readily available at farmers markets, natural foods stores, and in the produce section of many grocery stores. But I grow my own because it’s easy to do, saves me money, and I like to keep control over the process to ensure that the sprouts I feed my family are safe and at the peak of flavor and nutrition.
Bulk Ingredients That Save Money, Reduce Waste, & Promote Resiliency
I love the peace of knowing that I have both the skills and stock on hand to thrive in most of the situations life throws my way. I can confidently rely on my resourcefulness and forethought to help me whether I can’t get to the grocery store for a bit, need to pinch some pennies, or just ran out of laundry soap. The efforts that I put into this lifestyle are also in line with my sustainability goals and significantly reduce the waste generated from my household.
I wouldn’t consider myself a “prepper” by any means, but I do think of myself as an experienced bulk buyer and a sustainability-minded person. In addition to improved resiliency, bulk purchasing also saves a ton of money and resources. Let’s use dried organic basil leaf as an example. A store-bought bottle of organic basil leaf is roughly $8.00 per ounce. A four-ounce bag of basil leaf that you can use to refill into your own upcycled bottles is $7.25 at Mountain Rose Herbs. That would be about $32.00 if you bought that much at the grocery store. I don’t know about you, but I go through more than one bottle of basil leaf a year, and with that kind of cost savings, I can even afford to share it with my friends and family if I couldn’t use it all myself.
How To Clean And Upcycle Bottles, Jars, & Other Empty Containers
If you’re anything like me, you don’t like to waste. When you enjoy herbal preparations as part of your daily routine, you are bound to wind up with a stockpile of perfectly good containers that can still be used. But how can you make sure they are cleaned well enough to reuse, and how can you continue to put them to use time and time again? Here are some tips and tricks to help you keep those bottles in circulation.
