The Little Jar of Sprouts Growing on My Kitchen Counter

Simple, easy, healthy -- and the rare 2 a.m. Instagram purchase I don't regret.

A few months ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall back asleep.

So naturally, I reached for my phone.

And we all know nothing good happens when you're lying in bed at 2 a.m. mindlessly scrolling through Instagram.

Somewhere in that endless scroll, I came across an ad for something called Forage. It was a little sprouting kit -- a sleek glass jar with a base that lets you grow fresh sprouts right on your kitchen counter. 

It looked simple. It looked pretty. And most importantly at 2 a.m., it looked incredibly useful.

Before I knew it, I had one sitting in my cart.

Then I saw the price.

$78.

For what appeared to be... a glass jar with a base.

Then, of course, I needed seeds. I added some of those too for another $25 or so, which brought my innocent little middle-of-the-night purchase to over $100. 

If I had seen this ad at 2 p.m., when my brain was functioning properly, I'm pretty sure I'd have said, That's nice, and kept scrolling.

But it was 2 a.m.

So I hit purchase. 😂

Thankfully, this is one of those questionable late-night purchases that actually turned out to be really useful.

I've been using it for a few months now, and growing sprouts is almost ridiculously easy. The kit is simple to use, easy to clean and store, and I genuinely enjoy watching these tiny seeds turn into something we can eat just a few days later.

And maybe I'm easily entertained, but there's something strangely satisfying about walking into the kitchen every morning and seeing how much they've grown overnight.

Day 1: Soak the Seeds

The whole process starts with seeds and water.

I put the seeds into the jar, fill it with water, and let them soak for a couple of hours. After that, I drain all the water out and leave the jar sitting on the base.

That's it.

No soil. No planting. No finding the perfect sunny spot.

At this point, it doesn't look very promising. It's basically just a bunch of wet seeds stuck to the inside of a glass jar.

But things start happening surprisingly quickly.

Day 2: Tiny Sprouts!

By the next day, little white tails start appearing.

This is probably my favorite part because every time I walk past the jar, it seems to look slightly different.

From here, all I really have to do is rinse the seeds with water in the morning, drain them well, and repeat the same thing in the evening.

Morning: rinse and drain.

Evening: rinse and drain.

That's pretty much the entire job.

Day 3: Okay, They're Really Growing

By Day 3, the jar starts looking completely different.

Those tiny little tails get longer, little green leaves start appearing, and suddenly what looked like a jar full of wet seeds a couple of days ago actually looks like... sprouts!

And they grow FAST.

This is also around the time when I start thinking, How are all of these going to fit in this jar?

Somehow, they do.

And Then One Morning... I Thought I Grew Mold 😨

One night, I forgot to rinse my sprouts.

The next morning, I looked at the jar and saw all this white fuzzy, hairy-looking stuff around the roots.

My immediate reaction:

Great. I grew mold.😰

I was pretty sure I had ruined the entire batch.

But before throwing everything away, I looked it up and learned something I had never known before.

Those little white fuzzy things can actually be root hairs.

When sprouts get a little dry, those tiny hairs around the roots can become much more noticeable as the plant searches for moisture. After a good rinse, they flatten down and become much less obvious. 

I found this weirdly fascinating.

Of course, that doesn't mean anything fuzzy on sprouts is automatically harmless. Sprouts can develop mold too, so I still pay attention to things like unusual smells, slime, discoloration, or anything else that doesn't look right.

But in my case, the scary-looking white fuzz was concentrated around the roots, and after a good rinse, my sprouts went right back to looking like sprouts again.

Apparently even my sprouts know how to make me feel guilty when I forget about them. 😅

Day 4-ish: Look at This Jar!

After another day or so of rinsing, the jar is basically taken over.

I still can't quite believe that the relatively small amount of seeds I started with turns into this much food within just a few days.

At this point, I give them a final rinse, let them drain really well, and they're ready to eat.

You can store the drained sprouts in your fridge for up to a week too.

So... What Do We Actually Do With All These Sprouts?

Pretty much whatever we feel like.

I don't make a special "sprout recipe." I just add them to foods we're already eating.

We've had them with tofu, avocado, tuna, seaweed wraps, and other simple meals where I want something fresh and crunchy on top.

They're crisp, mild, and add just enough texture without taking over the whole dish.

And there's something extra satisfying about eating sprouts that were literally growing on my kitchen counter a few minutes earlier.

Simple. Easy. Healthy. And Kind of Fun.

That's really the entire process.

Soak.

Drain.

Rinse in the morning.

Rinse at night.

Watch them grow.

Eat them.

I certainly didn't need a $78 sprouting jar to survive. And I'm still not entirely sure my 2 p.m. brain would've approved the purchase.

But my 2 a.m. brain took care of that decision for me. 😂

And for once, I'm glad it did.

I've been using it for months now, it's easy to clean and put away between batches, and growing sprouts has become one of those tiny things around the house that brings me an unreasonable amount of satisfaction.

A handful of seeds, a little water, a few days -- and suddenly there's a jar overflowing with something we can actually eat.

Not bad for a middle-of-the-night Instagram purchase.