Sprouting Almonds

I have always loved eating raw almonds, so I'm really glad that they're a healthy snack that's full of protein. What I recently discovered is that they actually provide way more health benefit if you sprout them first! That's just a fancy way of saying soaking them, but you don't just dump a handful in water, here's a simple step-by-step guide to properly sprouting almonds:

1. Arrange almonds in a glass container so that there's only 1 or 2 layers of almonds. I am currently sprouting a quarter cup of almonds.
2. Add cold purified water to the container and make sure there is at least double the amount of water than almonds (so I added 1 whole cup of water).
3. Mix it up a little to make sure all the almonds are surrounded by water.
4. Store the container at room temperature away from direct sunlight for 10-12 hours.
5. Optional step - after a few hours of soaking, rinse the almonds and repeat steps 1 - 3 and store for remainder of sprouting period. (I like to sprout mine overnight, so I skip this optional step.)
6. Once the almonds are sprouted, rinse with cold water and store in airtight glass container in refrigerator.

A few notes are sprouted almonds:

• The water that the almonds are sprouting in may turn brown, and that's totally fine -- it's just from the skin of the almonds.
• Taste one almond after each rinse in the process to make sure that it's okay.
• I've been told not to sprout broken almond pieces, you only want whole almonds.
• If you don't use up all the almonds, make sure you rinse and drain the almonds every day. It will keep for about 4 to 5 days, but if they smell or taste funny, then throw them away!

Happy sprouting!!