When considering what foods to store in an emergency food supply, it is important to consider what nutrition the storage foods have to bring to the table. While prepared, freeze dried convenience meals have their place in a long term food storage plan, it would be difficult to live on a diet of it for very long. They are often high in salt, sugar, starch and calories, but lacking in the kind of nutrition that is necessary to maintain long term health. So while prepared freeze dried foods may play a role in an emergency diet, they shouldn't be the only show in town.
There are many single ingredient foods that can be stored to be can be used in combination to make healthy, nutrient dense meals to feed a family. These foods alone offer much in the way of nutrition, but there are things that can be done to multiple the nutrient count with very little extra work. Since I employ these techniques on a daily basis, I thought I would share some of my nutrient boosting tricks with you. So over the next few weeks I will periodically highlight a food, and let you in on some great ways to make the food work harder for you.
I will start with something simple to illustrate just how little effort it actually takes to boost the nutritive value of your food. In my emergency storage supplies I have stored in mylar with an oxygen absorber, raw seeds and nuts, I keep the nuts stored in the freezer to further aid in keeping them fresh. For the most part the nuts and seeds are not stored in the shell. Storing them in the shell would give a longer shelf life, but adds substantially to the amount of work it takes to get a meal on the table, so I purchase raw, unsalted, unroasted nuts and seeds for storage. I also plan on using the stored seeds and nuts in rotation into our diet, since they have a shelf life of 2-3 years under the storage conditions I have described.
Raw shell off sunflower seeds are one of my favorite choices for food storage and play a large role in our regular diet. Raw sunflower seeds keep very well, which is one of my reasons for favoring them, but they have many other virtues. These seeds are a good source of protein. They’re also rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and monounsaturated fats such as linoleic acid and oleic acid. They are a good source of Vitamin B complex, folate (a must have for the body to reproduce healthy cells), and vitamin E, (a good source of omega 3, for lowering cholesterol, promoting heart health, preventing Alzheimers and more), as well as the minerals calcium, iron, zinc, copper, magnesium and selenium.
To be sure you are getting the most nutrition out of your sunflower seeds you should sprout them. Sprouting makes the nutrients in the seed easier to digest and assimilate. The enzymes, vitamin and mineral content in sprouted seeds is increased from 300-1200 times, depending on the nutrient, since the role of the seed is to feed the seedling until it can develop enough roots to take up nutrients on its own. A sprouted seed has 8 time the available carotene of a unsprouted seed.The sprouting process also produces vitamin C, which is a hard vitamin to supply in a crisis situation.
Sunflower seeds are very easy to sprout and unlike many sprouting seeds, take very little rinsing and only a 12 hour soaking/sprouting cycle to be table ready. To sprout the raw sunflower seeds, place in a large jar with a lid that will breathe and drain. I use a 1/2 gallon Mason Jar, but depending on your family size and usage, you may want to use a wide mouth quart jar. Pour the desired quantity of seeds into the jar to fill no more than 1/4 of the jar, ( I use 2 cups of raw seed).
Place the lid on the jar and rinse the seeds under running water until they run clear. Drain the rinse water off and pour in water to fill the jar to 3/4 full.
Place in a quiet place on your kitchen counter and and set a timer for 4 hours. When the timer goes off, drain the water off and rinse the seeds 3 times.
Then drain the seeds thoroughly and invert into a bowl with the jar propped at an angle that allows drainage, or do what I do and use a dish drainer, ( I found this one at Bed, Bath and Beyond and use it exclusively for sprouting). Set the timer for 8 hours.
In 8 hours there will be tiny tails protruding from the seeds.
At this stage the seeds are at their optimal nutrient production, so do one final rinse, invert and let drain a little while, then put the sprouts in a storage container and refrigerate. The sprouts will last a week or so in the fridge, so make enough that you can use them several times in a week.
Your sunflower sprouts can be tossed in salads, ground into nut butter, eaten out of hand... but they are also quite good used as a protein source in meal preparations. I make a raw sunflower hummus spread that we use on sandwiches, in wraps, to stuff peppers, and eat as a dip with veggies. It can be seasoned in many ways, but should be used raw for the greatest nutritive and health benefit. If used in cooking you will kill the vitamin C and the enzymes essential for proper digestion, but will retain some of the other vitamins and minerals.
So why not give yourself a nutritional boost and try sprouting some raw sunflower seeds? It is tasty, good for you and a great project for kids!
*I purchase my organic raw sunflower seeds in bulk through my co-op, but they can be found at places like Whole Foods and Earth Fare,
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