Things are getting serious here in Emilia. I am at a turning point in my relationship with traditional Italian food.

While the chains of love will forever bind me to tortelli and Parmigiano-Reggiano, I feel that I must break free. I must rebel. I must grow sprouts.

Why sprouts, you ask?

Well, obviously the primary reason is to have a deeply symbolic subject matter for this post about a fresh start to my new approach towards food and my quest to plant the seeds of a more fit lifestyle.

Also, I just really like them. There’s nothing better than a sandwich with multigrain bread and a big nest of alfalfa sprouts to crunch into. Unfortunately, here in rural Emilia, I can find neither multi-grain bread nor sprouts.  The bread situation, I have tackled and am still perfecting. Perhaps next time I will document that as well. But the sprouts are a more difficult venture.

Today I discovered the Naturasi supermarket chain, which has a store across from the hospital in Reggio Emilia. WHY oh WHY I have not known that this place existed is BEYOND me. It’s flipping fantastic. All products are “bio”, the Italian term for organic, and they have tons of options for seeds, beans, flours, oils, vinegars, everything. Many things which I have been frustrated about never being able to find – they have.

As I was making my way slowly down the aisles, trying to hold myself back from spending money we don’t have, I ran into the germination section! There was no turning back.

I am now the proud owner of a Geo Terracotta Sprouter! They also had the plastic one, but I went with the prettier one (only to find out that the reviews for the plastic one are better… but oh well.) It is made in Italy and makes a beautiful addition to my kitchen aesthetically as well as nutritionally! (Note: it is very possible to grow sprouts in a mason jar or a bowl, so don’t let your lack of a terracotta accessory stop you. I do find that new gear helps motivate me, though!)

So now begins the experiment.

As per the instructions I browsed online (links below), I put some flax seeds in one tray and sprayed some water on them. Apparently flax seeds are not supposed to soak first, like the other seeds. Then I put some sunflower, mung, and alfalfa seeds/beans in little bowls of water to soak for about 8 to 10 hours.

And that’s where we are right now, folks. That’s all I know.

This is highly experimental, and I would appreciate ANY help that my readers can offer. Don’t forget to follow my progress (or retrogression, we’ll see…) at #fitaly on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

my sources:

• http://freshsprouts.dk/sprouting
• http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/flax.html
• http://www.healthyeatingstartshere.com/nutrition/growing-alfalfa-sprouts
• http://chefinyou.com/2010/06/sprouting-mung-beans/
• http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/about-a-sprout-how-to-grow-alfalfa-sprouts/
• http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/04/how-to-grow-bean-sprouts-in-a-jar.html
• http://www.pathlesstrodden.com/2010/06/07/how-to-sprout-1-of-3-the-fundamentals/