April 15th to April 20th "Training Days" - Part III

One of the challenges of this trip thus far has been ... packing, unpacking, and packing up again! Pretty much every day I am getting ready to ride I think I'll be done at some point in the morning, say 10:30 am, and I don't actually get on the road until say...1:00 or 2:00 pm. As should be obvious to anyone seeing my pictures, I am not "traveling light" and that means there is a lot of gear to keep track of. Furthermore, since I am staying in so many different places along the way, it becomes really important to check and double-check (sometimes even to triple-check) to make sure I haven't left anything behind.

Nevertheless, I have tried to keep the attitude that, whatever I have to do each day that I ride in terms of packing, etc., has to be done, and it will take as much time as it takes. It was never my intention to have to "rush" this journey, and being able to spend time with people, talking about the journey itself, and the mission of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and Paul Chappell, is a big part of what this is all about. I'd like to think that there is a Bigger Clock involved here, as well as a Bigger Purpose, and there have been more than a few times now when, because I was "running late" (or so I thought), I made connections with people who I might otherwise have missed.

For instance, just as I was finally headed back out to HWY 90 after staying at the empty trailer at Sunset Manor, another cyclist, named Paul, was Just At That Moment passing in front of me on 90 going east. Turns out he was on the last few days of his own cross-country bike trip from San Diego, CA. He came across the road to meet me and we stood there with our bicycles and talked for maybe another 45 minutes or so, swapping stories. Some of his advice to me: "Ditch some weight!" (A message he later repeated in an e-mail. : )) So, although I had thought about leaving earlier, because I didn't, it was easy for Paul and I to "connect".

After talking with Paul it was time for me to continue through Live Oak on to points west. Once I actually reached the town of Live Oak, I stopped outside the Mission Thrift Store that happened to be across the street from a health food/vitamin shop. I had a chance to talk with the managers of the store, Randall and Tina, and some of their friends. I walked across the street to the health food store and bought something to drink and some bee pollen (on a whim), ate my cheese and crackers, and finger salad outside the thrift shop, and then took some time to figure out how to cover my gear for better rain protection as the clouds were starting to roll in and I had not had to deal with any bad weather yet.

Once I had everything secured to my satisfaction, nothing dangling that might get caught in a brake, or a wheel, or a derailleur or something, I started to head on through town, and sure enough within about a mile or so, it started to rain a little bit. Nothing I felt uncomfortable with, really, so I kept going...right up until my wheels fell off the back of my trailer!! :P (Sorry I don't have a picture of that!)

It was not a "major incident". The bend of the trailer forks skidded to the ground, the bike started to go over along with the trailer so I just let it. And then, I started to laugh, because I had just spent the last, oh, hour our so, making sure my back panniers especially were carefully covered with the extra army rain poncho I was carrying, and...guess where my tool bag was? That's right, in one of those pockets that were now so carefully enclosed in multiple layers of nylon.

Once again, my "timing" was fortunate as moments after I capsized, police officer Osborn pulled up beside me to offer assistance. He held my bike while I turned the trailer completely upside down in order to re-attach the wheels with my crescent wrench that I did manage to recover from under the rain covering. He also gave me some directions to the nearest automobile repair shop, just a 100 yards down the road where I could get some help tightening the bolts further with an extra wrench.

Still riding in the occasional shower, I carried on eventually reaching the town of Falmouth. While attempting to park my bicycle using the trailer as something like a kick-stand (as I had done in Live Oak), just outside a convenience store, I was leveraging the bike into position by raising up on the saddle and then, all of a sudden, the saddle pulls loose from its frame! (My second "mechanical" issue for the day!)

But, once again, there was someone there to help me, an older gentleman named, Buddy. A mechanic by trade, he had additional tools, and...eventually, we figured out how to get the seat back together again. Before we both went our separate ways we were joined by his friend, Larry, a former Marine, and we all got a chance to talk more about "war and peace". Larry even offered me his contact information so I could add him to the list of new members I'm signing up for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.


Finally back on the road again, I proceeded to cross the Suwannee River which looked like a wonderful place to fish with deep waters right off the shoreline. The rainy shadows of the cloud cover enhanced the dark green of the water and the trees reflected there.



It was between Live Oak and Madison that I started to have more hills to climb, and in my case that meant literally; i.e. I had to get off of my bicycle and start pushing, sometimes only going 50 steps at a time. But I've known all along to expect this, especially in these first days and given all of the gear I've been carrying. That's why I chose to get a handlebar stabilizer. It has Really Helped by letting me relax my upper-body efforts a little on the long straight-away sections as well as up hills, leaving me to concentrate on pedaling or pushing, rathing than having to put a lot of energy into steering and/or countersteering the pannier laden front wheels.

About eight miles from Madison, I was riding in the rain again, but as the sun was setting, and peaking out from under the clouds, I kept thinking "There have got to be rainbows behind me". During one heavier down-pour I pulled off the road next to the Macedonia Baptist Church, turned to look behind me and...sure enough...there was this Huge Double Rainbow stretched over the sky and the church. There was a young man in a car off to the side of the road who was also taking in the view (I think between text messages), and he was later joined by a couple of other friends, one of whom agreed to take this picture for me. Thanks, J.P.! I think it is going to be one of my favorites! : ))

With the late start, rain, mechanical difficulties, and hills, it was full dark by the time I Walked my bike into and through most of the (hilly) town of Madison, FL, before finally finding my shelter for the night, courtesy of Bruce, my Couch Surfing host from the previous evening.

Yes, I was exhausted, but managed to find enough energy to eat, and shower (sort of : )), rinse my lentils, and start my mung beans soaking, lay out my bed pad, and spend a few more minutes reading from Paul K. Chappell's second book "The End of War", before calling it a day.

April 15th to April 20th "Training Days" - Part II

In Osceola, had time and space to unpack and re-pack all of my gear. I also took some time to make a few adjustments to my bicycle handlebar grips as I had been having quite a bit of numbness in my hands that I hoped I could mediate. Rotating the bar-end grips straight up has since allowed me to occasionally ride in a fully upright position resting my back somewhat (which has actually been in pain since my days moving all of my stuff around, three weeks prior to this trip). In addition, I had the chance to meet Fred and Judy from Texas, both of whom were quite receptive to what I had to share with them about my journey, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and Paul K. Chappell.

(One potential incident of note: Construction crews on site rebuilding one of the bath houses and I managed to step on a bit of nail near the dumpster. It went right through the sole of my "Keen" shoe and was within a sixteenth of an inch of putting a hole in my heel. Definitely a close call, but no major damage done!)

I decided to take one last photo of the Osceola National Forest on my way out. Although I didn't have time to go swimming myself, it was one of the options at this little beach. Overall, it was a very enjoyable stay and a well maintained and managed park.

From Osceola, it was on to Live Oak, FL. After retracing the five miles or so to get out of the park and back to Highway 90, I still had another 35 miles to go. Now on my third consecutive day riding, I was starting to feel a little more tiredness in my legs. I have accepted from the beginning of this trip that, especially in the first few days and weeks, it would be slow going for me, with frequent stops.

One of those stops included a little bar/pizza restaurant where I met Joe and Mike. They graciously shared some of their pizza with me, encouraged me to talk about my journey, and they let me know they would be stopping again themselves at another bar in Lake City, so I should look for them there.

Coming into Lake City, some time later, I was confronted with what I have come to refer to as "lumpy bumpies" - ripples in the pavement just outside the main wheel tracks. As there was no significant shoulder, I either had to ride the "lumpy bumpies", bouncing and jostling my bike and rig uncomfortably, or steer into the main wheel track instead, putting me and my rig more into the line of car traffic. Luckily, most of the stretch through town was four lanes, so I could take the latter option and people could still get around me, but it was still stressful and slow going.

As anticipated though, Joe and Mike spotted me from their second pit-stop, The Rock Star Bar, calling out as I was about to pass. I pulled off, found a place to lean my bike safely against a fence, and took another fairly long break, talking more with them and a few other "locals", while enjoying lots of ice water to cool down and re-hydrate. In addition, since there were several motor-bikers in the crowd, they were all very generous in offering advice about various places I should see, or avoid, or be prepared for along the road ahead.

I managed to reach my destination for the day, "Sunset Manor" (luckily, before sunset...!). Bruce became my first "official" Couch Surfing host by letting me stay in an unrented trailer he had available just east of Live Oak. (This picture was also my first using my tripod and timer on my camera for this trip. : ))

Although I didn't have electricity, there was running water for a Cold shower, and to refill all of my water bottles. I used my headlamps after dark, and otherwise managed fine with the remaining food I was carrying for dinner...my Special Fried Rice and Finger Salad. Before I left the next morning, I even remembered to get my mung beans and lentils soaking, as I had plans to be cooking again, once I reached Monticello two days later.

(...to be continued...)

April 15th to April 20th - "Training Days" - Part I

This is my first post "from the road"! For all of you who have been following my story from the beginning, that would be my blog on March 27, 2011, we have "Lift Off"...Finally! : )

There has been A Lot of EFFORT involved in getting to this point. My initial departure from Maryland included the effort of selling off and/or moving my "stuff" into storage, while simultaneously trying to plan for my trip, setting aside, purchasing, or actually designing and creating the equipment I thought I would need, while simultaneously trying to make sure I was leaving the proper information behind at my job at the National Institutes of Health so that my departure would not result in a "knowledge loss" for the lab in which I was working as a supply manager. At the same time, I was also being approached to do the TEDx talk at George Washington University. Preparing my talk added another level of effort to all the rest.

Once I relocated to Florida, I restarted the whole process, moving my belongings from storage in Maryland to a facility closer to where I was staying, so that I could continue to sell off my "stuff", at this point, not only to raise money for my trip, but simply to have money to live on in the mean time. During that time I found a new focus for my journey, in the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), promoting the work of author Paul K. Chappell, and setting my sights on attending the NAPF Peace Leadership Workshop in Santa Barbara, CA July 22-29. (Links to relevant websites can now be found in the right side menu under "Important Links".)

During the month of March and the first two weeks of April 2012, I was juggling last minute projects and belongings between my friend's house in Orange Park, FL another friend's house in Jacksonville, FL, and eventually, two storage units as I was shifting from one to another, not to mention multiple sorting and transport of "stuff" to garage sale, bazaar, and flea market sites.

So when I finally got on my bicycle around 7:30 pm on Sunday evening, April 15th...my effort became that of pedaling. The ensuing darkness enclosed me like a blanket, and suddenly my life focus was reduced to the circle of light trailing the white line of the road ahead of me...

Needless to say, I let out a loud "WooooHoooo!" when I spotted the dimly lit sign of my first "pit stop"- the quite humble, Hawkins Motel in Baldwin, FL. Megan, the motel manager, was kind enough to hold a room for me, and my arrival around 11:00 pm was not a problem. I was glad to find that the room was large enough to hold me and all of my equipment. I even had space to do my yoga by the side of the bed the next morning. (Unfortunately, what I did not realize soon enough was that the refrigerator was sufficiently cold enough for me to re-freeze my smoothies and chill all of my other food, as my next three days would be without such facilities!)

During my next leg, from Baldwin to the Osceola National Forest, I kept thinking it would be another relatively short ride, like I experienced getting to Baldwin. However, I was completely "fresh" coming into Baldwin, whereas in leaving, not only were my legs and back tired, I was also traveling in more sun and heat, which make their own unique demands on one's body under any conditions.


Nevertheless, as I knew I would have to from the beginning, I persevered, making stops as necessary, including one at the Olustee Battlefield, before reaching my destination.






The ride into Osceola National Forest took me about five extra miles off of Highway 90. That may not seem like much by car, but for me and my heavily laden bike, at the end of a long day, it seemed Much Longer.




I did, however, manage to reach the park with just enough daylight left to make contact with the campground host, Dianne, receive a graciously offered Free site in support of my efforts and my cause, and set-up my tent before it got dark.



The warm shower at the campground bath house Felt Wonderful ...unfortunately, it also washed away all of my bug repellant, so as soon as I was back to camp, I holed up in my tent, eating, making notes from my trip, and reading a bit, before finally calling it a day.




(..to be continued...)

Food Basics Part V - Lori's Special Egg Fried Rice

If you have not had a chance to read the previous blogs in this series, here are all of the links:

Food Basics Part I, Food Basics Part II, Food Basics Part III, and Food Basics Part IV.

In this installment I will go through the basic recipe for my "Special Egg Fried Rice".

Ingredients and Directions are as follows:

Make 5-6 Servings of cooked brown and wild rice

I mix one bag of Trader Joe's Brown Basmati with one bag of Trader Joe's Wild Rice when I store it. (If you buy in bulk, it's 1 Part Wild Rice to 2 Parts Basmati or Long Grain Rice.) I prepare the rice as follows:

1 Cup Brown/Wild rice mix, rinsed
2 Cups water plus two Trader Joe's Concentrated Chicken Broth packets

In a medium pot, bring the water/broth mixture to a boil. Add rice. Reduce heat to slow simmer, cover and let cook for 45-50 minutes. Turn heat off and leave rice to finish absorbing remaining liquid for another 10-15 minutes.

If you find the water boiling out too quickly during the 45 minutes, either reduce heat or add slightly more to the recipe at the beginning. Too much water left over, increase heat slightly or reduce water.

Whatever you do...leave the lid ON the whole time the rice is cooking.

Makes approximately 5-6 servings.

In a medium to large skillet or wok, heat 1-2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil (or some other regular cooking oil) and 1 Tablespoon Toasted Sesame Seed Oil on medium to medium high heat.

Add 1/2 lb coarsely chopped carrots (rounds or quarters depending on the size of the carrots). Let cook for approximately 1 minute.

(Images are of a smaller skillet, doing two portions at a time. However, this can all be combined in a larger skillet.)

Add 4 oz. frozen peas. Keep in mind the frozen peas are going to cool the oil down for a few minutes, so give it time to heat back up as it is cooking everything.




(At this point you may also add other stir-fry ingredients of your choice, cut in roughly the same size as the carrots, mushrooms for instance work well.)






Prepare 6 eggs by beating them slightly in a bowl with the 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1-3 teaspoons soy/tamari sauce or Braggs Aminos.






Alternatively, use approximately 3.5 - 5 oz soft tofu instead of eggs by cutting it into small cubes and tossing with salt, pepper, and soy sauce before adding to cooking carrots and peas.




Pour eggs over cooking vegetables and stir until they are "soft scrambled".


Tofu just needs to be heated through.




(For the following three ingredients, review the Food Basics Part IV blog for directions on how to prepare.)




To the stir fry mixture, add One Pint Jar of Lentil Sprouts, One Pint Jar of Mung Bean Sprouts, and 1/3 cup soaked sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.





Continue cooking only long enough so that eggs dry out more and sprouts are only lightly "steamed".


Turn off heat, but leave skillet on stove.




Add prepared rice and layer over stir fry mix.












Cover with skillet lid, and let heat through for another 5-10 minutes.











Remove lid. Mix all ingredients together.










Serve topped with about 1-3 teaspoons dried Dulse Flakes for eating immediately.


















Otherwise, store stir-fry mix in containers in the refrigerator for up to a week or more.

To reheat: put a small amount of water in a small to medium size pan. Add stir-fry mix. Cover. Let water steam through mix. Add Dulse as above before eating.

This concludes the "Recipe/Food Prep" part of this series. In the final blog, I will explain why I have personally chosen these particular foods over others to take with me on my trip, and even now, to eat on a regular basis.

Highlights: Florida Peace Conference and First Leg of My Journey

March 3, 2012 I was able to attend the Fourth Annual Heart of Florida Peace Conference held in Winter Haven, FL (Heart of Florida Peace Conference). My friend Alisa and I camped out at the nearby Orlando S.W./Ft. Summit KOA before heading on down to the event.

This is a picture of our campsite after we'd taken down our tents. It did not rain, but the dew was so heavy it might as well have rained. You can see the contrasting dry patches where our tents were.

Quick review of the site: Eh...cheaper than a hotel, but mostly populated by RV's, and there were really bright street lights everywhere which made it much harder for me (as I have a lot of trouble sleeping with lights on). No trees to speak of so I was glad I brought my free-standing Eureka tent as a back-up to my home-made one (although I do intend to test my home-made tent with free standing support at some point before I leave. : )). Alisa was kind enough to park her car to block one of the worst of the lights, which helped, but it was not nearly the pleasant experience I had at Astor Landing a few weeks ago (Astor Landing Campground Review).

The bath house was fine - clean with multiple showers, etc. Funny thing...I managed to lose one of my (very special) wolf earrings down the sink, so I had to do a little plumbing to open up the trap to get to it. Luckily, I was successful in that, hardly skipping a beat with my "morning routine", but it made for an interesting conversation with another woman who was there at the same time. She suggested I start hiring myself out as a plumber, just for that purpose alone! : )


Even with the earring incident, Alisa and I managed to get ourselves to the event site in plenty of time. As the heavy dew had indicated, it was still quite humid, but the temps were nice. On our way to the conference center, we passed this Sandhill Crane quietly enjoying its "morning routine" as well.



Of course, the highlight of this trip was getting a chance to meet and listen to the featured speaker, Paul K. Chappell (Paul K. Chappell), Peace Leadership Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF). Although there was a relatively small group gathered of about 20 or so people, they came from very diverse backgrounds, and posed many challenging questions.

Where Paul's talk focused on confronting long-held beliefs about the nature of "national security" and the fundamental nature of human beings (being non-violent as opposed to violent), he also had to field questions and comments regarding the current economic system and the best way for activists to present themselves in public so as not to detract from their mission and message. True to the videos I had already seen of him, Paul was the model of patience and respect for his audience and I think everyone walked away with a renewed sense of hope for the future of humanity as well as the motivation to get more involved in whatever way they could.

As for me... I came to the conference with my own particular peace mission already determined. And the next day, March 4th, in spite of the 20+ mph head-winds, I set off on my bicycle from Jacksonville Beach, FL.

Here are a couple of videos highlighting the beginning and the end of my first leg. I start out christening my wheels at Jacksonville Beach and end up in Orange Park, FL approximately 35 miles and six hours later!

Christening in the Atlantic Ocean, Safe and Sound in Orange Park

In addition to the 20+ mph headwinds, I was carrying approximately 85-90 lbs of gear. Because I have not been able to get my two-wheeled trailer yet, and for safety reasons, I did not use the top rack this time which might end up adding another 10-15 lbs for the rest of my journey. Furthermore, although there were no major natural hills, there were several man-made ones to surmount in the form of bridges and overpasses.

For instance, the first bridge was around the 2 mile mark from the beach and it took a lot of determination to get over that one. I felt like it was my first "test" to see just how committed I am to my mission. As I was pushing hard at the very top of the hill I started breathing the words "I - Want - Peace", and that is what kept me going.

Overall though, it was a relatively easy trip. By choosing a mountain bike instead of a road bike for this journey, I have more capacity to "gear down" then I would with a road bike. In addition, I've added a "super low" gear with a new cassette on the back wheel, which made riding my bicycle, into the wind, up a hill, and under a heavy load possible.*

So, I am glad to report that after those 6 hours in the saddle, and with very little pre-training, I am none the worse for it, and I expect the next part of my journey will continue on that foundation - as I will be "training myself into this" as I go.



Thanks again to my friend Alisa for helping, not only with the videos, but with transportation and payment for the campsite (and a celebratory "Stella" beer at the end of my ride). I feel really lucky to have her and other friends who have been and continue to be so generous with their support.



If you would like to join their ranks, please take advantage of the "Donate" button in the top right menu, and thanks again to everyone who has already contributed thus far. : )

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Cheers! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


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*Note: For those of you who may not be cyclists, and especially for anyone thinking about becoming one or even attempting a trip like this, I think it is important to mention that gearing that allows for easy, steady, revolutions per minute (rpm), or "spin rate" is crucial, especially for a very long ride like the one I am planning. Easy spinning minimizes the stress on the body and gives it more of an opportunity to adapt over time. It is similar to the difference between lifting a light weight many times and lifting a heavy weight only a few times, or running a marathon instead of a sprint. Yes, the ride took me 6 hours (Yeah! Turtle Power! : )), but as far as I'm concerned, that's a day's work. Furthermore, with a couple of (generic) "Aleve" prior to and a couple after my trip, along with my regular yoga exercising the day of and the day after, I actually experienced relatively little pain - even though I have not really been on my bicycle that much in the last several months.

Food Basics Part IV - Sprouting Beans and Seeds

This blog is Part IV in a series. If you are new to this blog and have not had a chance to read the previous related blogs here are the links:

Food Basics Part I, Food Basics Part II, and Food Basics Part III.

So, after Green Smoothies and Finger Salads what's the "main course" that goes into my lunch bag?

It's is a combination of several things including:

1. Carrots
2. Peas
3. Eggs or tofu
4. Mung Bean Sprouts
5. Lentil Sprouts
6. Soaked (i.e. semi sprouted) sunflower seeds
7. Soaked pumpkin seeds
8. A combination of brown Basmati or long grain rice and wild rice
9. Dulse (added when eating).

Of this list of ingredients, I am first going to describe my basic method for sprouting Mung Beans and Lentils. Since the Lentils usually take a little longer to sprout, I start them first.

For a single person like myself, I have found that small pint jars (specifically Green Mountain Salsa jars, with ring and seal lids), work best.





Start by adding approximately 3 oz of beans. Notice how the beans come up to roughly the "1/4" mark on the jar.












The next step is to close the jar with a ring and plastic mesh cut to fit. I have used both standard needlepoint canvas and small circles of canvas that had to be cut down slightly for this purpose.





Once the jar is closed, I rinse with water two or three times. If I see any obvious "floaters", i.e. discolored or deformed beans that float to the top, then I will remove those.


After rinsing, I fill the jar with filtered or purified water to about twice the volume of the lentils.

In order to sprout properly, most beans and seeds need a little warmth and darkness. I have found two places that work well for this purpose: on top of the water heater or inside the dishwasher.




Granted, you do not want to run the dishwasher while you have beans soaking in there, but since I prefer to wash my dishes by hand and use the dishwasher racks for air-drying only, then this works well for me. In either case, hot water heaters usually end up in dark closets, and once the door is closed, the inside of the dishwasher is dark as well. The hot water heater has the added benefit of usually being a little warm on top, but not too warm. I have found this to be an optimum circumstance for encouraging germination of beans or seeds.

(Note: The seeds really do need a little warmth to germinate properly. If your hot water heater is not convenient, and/or if your ambient room temp is low [60's?] you can heat up the filtered water to hot but not boiling, and pour that into the jar so all of the seeds will soak and warm up at the same time. The temperature does not have to Stay Warm the whole time, but it has to be warm enough at some point, to cause the seeds to germinate.)

Here is what the lentils look like after soaking overnight.





Keep in mind, I'm starting my lentils 12-24 hours before the mung beans. If I soak the lentils overnight, then I will rinse them in the morning and prepare the mung beans to soak at the same time. The process for starting the mung beans is the same.





Rinse the beans several times and fill the jar with approximately twice as much water as beans. Store the beans in your preferred dark and/or warm and dark place.


As you can see in this image, the mung beans have started sprouting at the top of the heap of soaked beans, while at the same time, we are seeing more significant growth in the lentil jar as well. Ideally, you want the beans to soak up all of the original soak water, because, as they soak, some of the nutrients leach into the water. If all of the water gets soaked up, then the nutrients go back into the beans rather than down your drain. Otherwise, at this stage, you simply continue to rinse and drain the beans in both jars once or twice a day, for the next day or so. I usually store my sprouts when they are between 1/4" and 1/2" long..





I always put the metal lids on Only After the sprouts have had 8-12 hours to dry out (i.e. I do not rinse them one last time before putting the lids on). Too much moisture in this final stage can actually encourage mold growth, especially with the lentils. The mung beans tend to be a little more resistant.

Here's a note on lid storage: I often leave the plastic mesh lids on the jars when I store them in the refrigerator. That way, I don't lose track of them, and they will get washed along with the jar and the metal lid and ring after I empty the jars. Otherwise, if I have multiple lids, mesh covers, and rings going, I like to hang them in a plastic mesh bag so they always dry out completely.


You are still going to get some rusting, but at least this will keep any mold or bacteria from accumulating on the lid seals, or on the plastic mesh (although, as you can see, they do tend to get discolored over time).

Finally, on the last day that the beans are sprouting, I will start my sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds soaking.


It is basically the same idea as with mung beans and lentils, I just put them in a smaller plastic container, and I soak the seeds together. Also, I only soak them overnight, and then rinse and store them in the refrigerator the next morning. Since these hulled seeds have had more exposure to the air, etc. they will start to oxidize much more rapidly once they have been soaked. So that is why I wait to soak them last, and then use them up within two or three days if possible.

To sum up: These soaked/sprouted beans and seeds have been a staple in my diet for many years. Although I am now in the routine of cooking them (slightly) with my "Special Egg-Fried Rice" recipe (which I will elaborate on more fully in my next blog in this series), I have been adding the raw versions into pretty much every other "main course" meal I would make: lasagna, chicken pot pies, soups, other stir fries, etc. In effect, I see these sprouted, nutrient and enzyme dense foods as the Most Important part of the meal while my more conventional entrees are just "flavoring"! : )

Furthermore, what I have outlined here is roughly a three day process, especially if the temps are right for rapid germination of the beans. So, it really is not that difficult and these quantities, for me anyway, will last about a week, if I am using them regularly. I may have to make a fresh batch of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, but otherwise, I have no trouble keeping the lentils and mung beans that long. When I'm down to what I recognize as about three days worth, all I do is start the whole process all over again.

(As I have said in my previous blogs, I will bring all of this together with respect to the specific Nutritional Value of these foods at the end of this series.)

Please feel free to comment or ask questions about anything I have shared here thus far.