Remember that time you told yourself how nice it would be to grow sprouts at home? Well, with the shelter-at-home orders prompted by the Coronavirus, there’s no better time to try your hand at some of these at-home activities that are amazing for your health.
This fun, DIY list of kits beats feeling stir crazy, can include the kids.
And it’s definitely healthier than a Netflix couch binge!
1. Home Brew Kombucha Kit
2. Grow Your Own Sprouts
Fresh sprouts are chock full of immune-boosting healthy nutrients, fresh enzymes, and are high in minerals. And growing sprouts at home is one of the approachable at-home activities. What we recommend (and carry) are the sack and jar growing kits.
With the jar method, you start by soaking the seeds in water for 8-10 hours. After that, you drain them, store away from direct sunlight* with proper airflow (to avoid spoiling), and rinse them 2-3 times daily. The sprouts are ready to eat once they grow to ¼-1 inch in length. To store, be sure to dry off the sprouts and place them in an air-sealed container in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator.
With the sack method, once you give them their initial soak, just empty your seeds into the sack and hang. You’ll still need to rinse them 2 times a day to keep them fresh. Once they’ve sprouted, drop them into a sealable container and refrigerate!
Bonus! With the jar method, you can create an amazing timelapse video to capture the sprouting. Just set up a spare phone or a GoPro in a nearby spot in sight of the jar. Your kids (and you) will love watching the finished timelapse!
*Sprouts like alfalfa, broccoli, and clover benefit from a couple of hours of direct sunlight which provides them with additional nutrients and color through photosynthesis.
3. Cultures for Health Starters
Based right here in the Triangle, Cultures for Health offers multiple culture starter kits—from sourdough bread to greek yogurt to cheese!
Do you have mason jars, coffee filters, and filtered water at your house? Then you can make sourdough! Milk, stainless steel pot, and a thermometer? Greek yogurt.
At first glance, making foods with culture may seem intimidating (who would think they could make their own cheese??), but Cultures for Health gives complete easy-to-follow instructions with each kit, including what ingredients you’ll need at home. Check out the Cultures for Health instructions for sourdough bread here.
Once you activate your starter, each kit has a unique, but easy to follow nurture cycle.
And they also have gluten-free starter kits as well as kits for vegan yogurt!
4. Ferment it Yourself Mason Jar Kit
Fermentation with this kit from Masontops is a breeze: all that’s needed are wide mouth mason jars, vegetables, and salt! While the vegetables provide bacteria and carbohydrates, the salt creates a brine that prevents the vegetables from spoiling during the process.
Fermenting usually requires a couple pieces of special equipment like weights for your fermenting veggies and a way to vent the jar, but this kit takes care of those. The weight keeps the veggies submerged in your brine (they would otherwise rise from the carbon dioxide production), and Masontops special vented tops allow for the gas to escape—without them, you could have an explosion in your kitchen!
What this kit comes with:
- A step-by-step guide
- Pickle Pipes*
- Pickle Pebbles*
- Pickle Packer*
(Try to say that 5 times fast)
Fermented foods are packed full of the freshest probiotics you can give your body, and making them at home just got a lot easier.
5. Make Your Own Elderberry Syrup
One of our local favorites, Sweets, brings the power of immune-boosting syrup into your home.
Each Sweet’s DIY Kit includes their dried organic elderberries from Austria and their signature organic spice blend.
All you need is a pot and filtered water. Simmer as long as the packing directs, and then add the sweetener of your choice to create up to 32 ounces of syrup.
Now is the time to try your hand at these fun at-home activities along with enjoying the spring sunshine and this unique opportunity to reconnect with loved ones.