Wheatgrass: It's so much easier to grow than they want you to know!

I am by no means a health nut. I eat regular people food. I buy organic when I can, and try and cook most of my food at home; but my family still eats pizza, cheese burgers and candy. In the quest for good health however, I've tried a lot. I've gone the route of cutting out all processed food, all dairy, all wheat, gone vegetarian, vegan... You name it-I've probably either done it, or researched doing it. But in recent months I feel like I've found my balance. My goal is not to cut out all of some certain type of food (I respect those who do!), but rather to add healthy foods into my lifestyle.

Something I've heard a lot about, and even tried a few years back, is wheatgrass. What is it? It's literally grass shoots that grow from wheat berries (fancy name for kernels. But no one knows what you're talking about if you ask for "wheat kernels"). It is said to have astounding health benefits. Not to mention that two ounces of wheatgrass juice contains the vitamins and minerals equivalent to 3 pounds of organic vegetables, and is especially high in magnesium, potassium, and calcium ( source ).

So, how can you get some? You can go to your local health shop and buy an once for about $3, order the grass online with overnight shipping, or you can grow your own. I opted for the third.

Now when I set out to grow my own wheatgrass I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. When I got online to research how to grow it, one of the first websites I came across was one "exposing the truth" about the difficulty of growing wheatgrass. They explained how hard it was and basically prepared you for the fact that you were going to fail unless you ordered their monster starter kit. Oh, and it cost about $300.

I was ready to quit. But thankfully, I kept researching and I eventually found this website that walked me through everything. (Now this lady sells stuff on her site, but doesn't push it, which I like).

In the tutorial below, I'm going to share with you, step by step, how I grew my wheatgrass, as well as give you some pointers that helped me.

What you'll need:
-A tray roughly 21" x 11" (I found this one for $5 at WalMart. I just took out the little cardboard looking cups and set aside. I then cut slits in the bottom for water drainage, and set the tray inside of the lid so that I wouldn't have water all over the place)



-Top soil (Found this for $2 from WalMart. It's recommended that you use non-organic top soil. I mistakenly purchased organic and have not had any problems)

-Paper towels (enough for two layers to cover the top of your tray)

-Organic hard red or white wheat-NOT SOFT (I found organic hard red wheat for $1 per pound at Whole Foods).

-Water

-A container to soak the wheat berries in

Preparation:
Measure a cup and a half of wheat berries, rinse them, and then put them in a container covered by about 2 inches of water to soak for 12 hours



Day 1:
Once your berries have soaked for 12 hours, pour a layer of top soil into your tray (about 2" deep) and then rinse and drain your berries and pour them over the soil



Next, spread the seed around. Now, by this point you may be thinking, why only a cup and a half? Why not load it down to get the highest yield? At least that's what I was thinking. Well, as it turns out, the biggest enemy for wheatgrass is mold. There are different types of mold (scroll down towards the bottom and this guy gives a pretty good description).
Basically, the mold is caused when there isn't enough circulation in the grass. To ensure circulation you can use a fan and point it toward your wheatgrass, but you chance drying it out. The easiest and best recommendation I found was to plant a little less and you don't have to worry about it.

*If you do however, notice a little white, cotton ball-ish like mold, don't freak out. This is an airborne mold that can easily be washed off. If you don't feel comfortable with that, just cut above it.



Next, cover the tray with two layers of paper towels and pour about two cups of water over the towels (this keeps the moisture where it needs to be, over the seeds).




Next, water the towels once in the morning and once in the evening (the idea is to keep them moist). You'll know that it's time to remove the paper towels when the grass shoots push the towels up about an inch.

Keep your tray in an area where it can receive indirect sunlight (direct sunlight is too harsh). I keep mine on a counter about 20 feet from a window and just leave the shades open during the day.

This was my grass by the afternoon of day 4:




Here it is about 6 hours later (11pm):



You can literally almost watch this stuff grow!

Day 6 (noon):




Day 7 (11 am):





Day 8 Harvest day! (10:45 pm):

(That's the root system)




At the time of harvest, your wheatgrass will be between 7 and 10 inches tall (you can cut it all at the same time, making sure to cut as close to the roots as possible, as this is where he highest concentration of nutrition is said the be). The wheatgrass will store in the refrigerator, wrapped in paper towel, in an airtight zip lock, for 7 days. (Make sure not to wash your wheatgrass until right before you juice it).

Important fact: Once juiced (make sure your juicer is able to juice wheatgrass), it needs to be consumed within 30 minutes or it will go rancid.

I personally don't care for the taste. I've tried mixing it with other juices-some of which turned out ok-but I'd rather get it over with quickly. So I take mine like shot, down the hatch! And then chase it with apple juice.

Most people start off with an ounce and gradually build up to 2 ounces. It is a detoxifier, so it may leave you nauseated for a little while in the begining. They say it helps to drink it on an empty stomach, but ummm, no thanks. I'm not that hard core yet.

After you've harvested your wheatgrass, toss the old stuff and start back at the beginning. You don't want to keep growing and harvesting from the same grass because after the first harvest, its nutritional quality is significantly reduced.

I am at the beginning of learning about wheatgrass. There's a lot more out there. You can compost your soil and add different things to it to yield higher nutrition in your wheatgrass, but I had to start simply. Don't buy into all of the hype of starter kits and special soil. You can put together your own "kit" and start growing your own wheatgrass for a grand total of $10.

Kids do the cutest things

We've finally moved [again] and, with the exception of the lack of decor throughout our house, are settled in. I'm sitting here with Pandora playing a mix of Regina Spector through our dvd player, and the door open blowing in nice crisp Texas winter air.

When we decided to take the plunge and have a kid, I had no idea what I was in for. I didn't know that I would stop every five seconds and just stare for no apparent reason. I didn't know the feeling of protecting someone else without a single thought about myself. I didn't know that sometimes I would stand, not knowing what I should do, as my child threw himself around screaming and rolling on the floor. I didn't know that my body wouldn't actually ever be the same again. I didn't know how deeply a little person could touch my heart. I didn't know how much I would actually enjoy having a kid!!

We usually hold hands and pray before our meals. One day a few weeks ago, Ezra (who is almost 15 months), decided he wanted to be a part of this and started holding our hands as we prayed. One thing you need to know about Ezra is that he LOVES food. Nothing pleases him more than eating, so you can imagine how surprised we were when he grabbed daddy's hand and stared at us as we prayed.

Yesterday Ezra and I were sitting on the couch and I randomly grabbed his hand to see how long he'd let me hold it before he jumped off and got into something (Ezra never sits in one place for more than about 10 seconds). He looked at me, looked at our hands, looked at me again and held out his other hand while grunting "uh-uh-uh." So I gave him my other hand and he gave a slight grin, looked down and started very sweetly and delicately gibber-gabbering "uhhhnanan baanananana jeeenenen habababa..." Then, he looked up and let go of my hands. All I could do was laugh out of shock! He said his first prayer!

Kids do the cutest things.

Later on in the day he touched the dvd player, which he knows is a "nono." I rushed over, "Ezra, that's a 'nono.'" He touched it again, ever so slowly and lightly, so I swatted his hand. He looked at me, looked at the dvd player and very passionately pointed his finger to the dvd player and yelled "NO NO!!" while doing the face squinch only he can do.

I love my little crazy kid:).

{heading to close the door to the winter air, I'm as crisp as I can stand}

"Christian" people get on my nerves

Sometimes "Christian" people are so rude. I'm trying to think of another way to put it, but that's it. Rude, mean, and ugly...

What is "being a Christian?" What comes to your mind? I think a lot of people are going to be surprised. "... And in that day I will say to them, depart from me ye worker of iniquity. I never knew you." What does that mean?

I think it's a lot simpler than we make it.
Let me start with what "being a Christian" isn't:
It isn't rude, ugly, irritable, mean spirited or judgemental. it
isn't fast to get angry. It doesn't think of its self as better or
knowing more "how to be like Jesus" than the next person. It
doesn't meet at church and find everything wrong with everyone
and/or everything.

Now, as far as what a "Christian" is:
A Christian is loving. A Christian looks at people through eyes that say "I care
about you. A Christian chooses to see the good in people. It sees
other's best potential in them right now, but doesn't point out every area that they need to change. It genuinely wants people to meet
Jesus-to feel his love and fall in love with him. It wants others
to get to know for themselves how amazing God is, and how much he
cares about them.

I get annoyed with "religious" people who think they know SO much about God, but are missing it altogether. They are the hardest for me to "love." People who are so caught up in "following" God, that they end up following nothing but their own rules.

I've gotten flack from these people in the past. Why? because I genuinely believe that God called the true believers to LOVE, not judge. I should know, I was on the other end of that for so long. In my mind, I wasn't judging, I was discerning, or observing the facts, 2+2=4 kind of thing. I felt compelled to discern between the "right" and the "wrong" of what people were doing. I felt that if I didn't I was somehow agreeing with the "wrong" and that I would get deluded into being "ok" with "sin." So many "Christians" fall into this trap.

By loving people you aren't saying that everything's ok, there is no right and wrong. It's the exact opposite. You want to save people from the judgement of God for their sin. Why do people try and save people from judgement, with judgement?

When you love people you'll find that you genuinely care about them, and the quality of their lives. You'll find that you want people to meet Jesus because you want them to have peace in their souls and feel unconditional love. You'll find that it's not actually your responsibility to judge everyone. You'll want to see the good in people over the bad. That isn't saying that the "bad" isn't there, but what point is there in pointing out everything that's wrong with them? How do you feel when that is done to you?

For me, I've changed the most in the absence of judgement. Every person, at the end of their life, is going to be judged by God, it isn't our responsibility to do it now. What point is there in judging them for the sin that we want to see them freed from? I want people free, not "obeying" God out of a pressure to do the "right" thing.

Take a gander through the Bible at the people Jesus had the biggest problems with... He embraced the adulteress-she knew she was sinning, she didn't need to have it spelled out. When he spared her life, He told her to go and sin no more. The Pharisees, however, he called a brood of vipers. A brood of vipers.

Inspired by my friends...

... who update their blogs; here's another random update!

Seriously, all these friends of mine who keep a regular presence on their blogs, you are amazing. I get overwhelmed. With everyday happenings such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, babies, phone calls, errands, facebook... who has time for blogging? Plus, how many people actually care enough to read it?

I have a new answer to things that, at the moment, are too much for me to think about: Who cares. I often find myself getting really worked up about nothing. It doesn't seem like "nothing" to me at the time, but when it all boils down, who cares? Worst case scenarios usually aren't that awful. I don't want to give myself a heart attack, or even worse, WRINKLES (!!;) because I spent most of my life worrying over just about everything. That's a concept Josiah has wordlessly taught me.

Speaking of wordless teaching, if you're wondering, that's the best kind. I can't say that I am a wordless teacher yet, but being around a wordless teacher is pretty great. Josiah hates me saying gooey gooey stuff about him, so, this is not gooey gooey. It's the plain, cold, hard fact: He's a wordless teacher who doesn't ever judge me. Ezra, be like your dad:).



The other day our dear dear dear dear dear dear dear friends, Summer Ryan and Audra came to town. It was getting late and Ezra and Audra were getting-nono-they were tired! Ezra was holding a little ball. Audra wanted it. dun dun dun dun. So Audra took it and walked away. Ezra, in shock that someone took his toy, began hyperventilating-deep breaths in and out, in and out. He had a look of, WHAT DID YOU JUST DO!? Followed by a I don't even think so! So he huffed and puffed and crawled, faster than I'd ever seen, over to Audra, climbed up her back and held on to her for balance. In the process of climbing up her back, he'd ended up pinching her. In pain, Audra began crying. Ezra looked at her, determination to get his ball back turning into bewilderment. Summer (Audra's mom-Audra is 3 by the way!), told Audra, Audra, you took his ball. Give it back. The ball was handed over to Ezra. Tired and upset, Audra continued to cry on mommy's shoulder. SO, in his first ever attempt to make things better, Ezra, staring intently at Audra, gave her his ball and went and started playing with another toy! Aww, my little pookie bear! I was so surprised, and entirely delighted.




If you know me at all, you won't be surprised that since then, I have randomly started crying (to see what Ezra will do). That's wrong I'm sure. He brings me his toys until I'm "better" - Ah, he is *so* cute!

why plant a garden?

honestly. it's probably all going to die anyways.

pessimistic? maybe. but please!

i spent 300 dollars on a fence, wooden posts (for a raised bed), soil, and plants. i shouldn't even admit to the cost. the truth is, i had no idea how expensive it would be. in my mind i was going to hoe up some dirt (unaware that there is about two inches of dirt here, the rest is rock!) and plant some seeds and vua la! i have a garden! i envisioned my self happily weeding my garden, picking vegetables and only needing to go to the store for meat and dairy. ridiculous? well, that was my happy little vision.

this is what it has become: a fenced in area of overgrown grass! haha. all of the squash plants have died, as have four of my tomato plants.

RIP tomato plants

so far i have harvested about 4 cherry tomatoes... you do the math.

i also have no idea what's growing where! i put labels in the ground, but they seem to have gone missing. i did notice a jalapeno growing, so at least i know what that plant is.

what was i thinking? i have this problem, i get something in my head and there's no turning back. i was so excited about this garden...

moral of the story: just go to the friggin store!

on a happier note, i've taken really good care of my skin my whole life. i have never really been the type to "breakout," but recently my forehead has been a mess! after masking did nothing to help the situation, i got this wild idea to try bragg's raw apple cider vinegar. guess what? by simply soaking a cotton pad and applying generously to my forehead and going to bed, my forehead was almost completely clear the next morning! no joke, it was like 80% better! so, that's my new found secret.

another secret you ask? well, i had about 15 mosquito bites on my leg and it was driving me nuts! so after scratching until i could hardly bear it, i had another wild thought, if it worked on my forehead... yep, after soaking a cotton pad and applying a generous amount (what is generous anyways? i just like the way it sounds) to my leg, within about 10 minutes all of the itching was gone. i'm so not lying. about 7 or 8 hours later some mild itching returned, and i could have applied more miracle liquid, but it wasn't enough to really bother me, so i didn't bother.

this stuff is the windex of my big fat greek wedding. i even started adding a small amount to ezra's food. i figured it couldn't hurt! so, there you have it.

now go to your local grocery store and buy some bragg's apple cider vinegar! (heb even sells it).

A long hiatus

After a long hiatus, i'm back. if you can actually call it "back" since i've only been here once. whatever.

things that i've recently done:

took my niece to see the midnight showing of eclipse-aaand then saw it again-aaand then re-read breaking dawn. i love the twilight saga. in the words of a friend's facebook staus, "don't judge me, don't you dare judge me." :)

found, or i guess you could say -re-found- this amazing coffee shop in live oak called tazas. there are no words to describe how delicious their vanilla late and carmel frap is. mmm.

i'm absentmindedly looking around the room, trying to think of what else i've done lately... there's gotta be more to me than obsessive movie watching, book reading and coffee drinking...

well, that's good segway for what i was thinking about today..

i was driving down the road, on my way to complete another mundane task, thinking about the future. i was thinking about future trips josiah and i want to take and things we want to do. then it hit me, what is it about vacation and road trips that seems so great?

what is it about the thought of going somewhere, living somewhere else, that sparks such anticipation and excitement? why is it that the majority of the days in between planned good times, are mostly overlooked as boring, or just plain not fun?

why can't i look to these normal days with the same anticipation and excitement? i have the answer!:) the thing that will solve all of my problems is a bike, two actually-and a wagon for ezra.

why do i look to the days in the future to bring fun and excitement? because i plan on doing fun and exciting things!

watching movies is fun-but it's normal. reading is good-but also normal. hanging around the house is fine-butALSOnormal! doing these things over and over again, how can i not look longingly to the future?

so here's my solution: do the things that you look forward to... now! make these days fun. lets leave our houses and do something fun that we wouldn't normally do.

i don't know when, hopefully soon, i'm buying a bike and a wagon for ezra and our little family is going on a bike trip-right here in our city-before our "vacation."

First entry ever

i've been thinking about starting a blog for a while, but haven't. so now i am and i am going to write about whatever it is that i'm thinking about. that's the overall purpose of a blog, right? this will be my release when i feel like digging a hole and crawling in. my platform on which to stand and fire about whatever it is that i'm feeling passionate about. my circle to sing kum bay ya. just kidding about the last one, i can't stand that song.

my life is nothing like i pictured it would be. 5 years ago i hated the country, wanted to wait to get married until i was older, wanted to wait to have kids until i was even older and wanted to pursue an american *big time* career. so, if you would have told me that i would, of my own free will, choose to to move to the hill country, get married at 22, have a baby (because i know you're thinking it, yes, on purpose) by 24, and opt out of the career scene-i wouldn't have given your words a second thought-unless it was to laugh.
so here i am, married, living in the country and staying home with my baby... and i love it. i couldn't picture my life being this happy any other way. i thought i knew myself so well before... but, suprise suprise.
it's funny because we moved from a 3 bedroom, two car garage house in a little neighborhood, to a 1 bedroom no car garage house in the hill country-and we actually like it better. i don't ever tell people that i like it better because the inevetable is a raised eyebrow with a nod-as if to say, aww, poor thing. you really want me to believe that you like it better... well i'll nod so that you think i believe you. but honestly, i really do like it better! it is so beautiful out here. there are trees everywhere. deer walk right up to our front door. there are nature trails all over the place. i'm planting my very own garden! (i am so very excited about that!). the house is way easier to keep clean. and i love having ezra in our room with us, we both do. knowing that he's sleeping safe and sound just a few feet away from me really puts me at ease and gives me peace of mind.
something that i'm learning is that when it comes to my life (*my* being josiah, ezra and me), it doesn't matter what makes other people happy or comfortable. we don't have to fall into the pressure of having to look, live, or look like we live any certain way-and that feels good.