Homemade Almond Milk, 2 ways

Homemade almond milk has to be just about one of my favorite things to eat/drink.  Once you try it made from scratch, it will be hard to drink it out of a carton again.  However, almonds ain't cheap!  I usually only make it on weekends around here.

Recipe #1 is for delicious, drinkin-while-you-eat-cookies almond milk.  It tastes like dessert!!

Soak 1 cup raw almonds, 1/3 to 1/2 of a cinnamon stick, and 2 cups water in a bowl for 12-24 hours.  Keep the bowl out at room temp, but throw a dish towel over it to prevent dust or dirt from getting in.  By soaking the almonds for up to 24 hours, you are gently fermenting them.  Foods fermented in your own house provide the best probiotics for you (this can also be done with oats for oatmeal).  After 12-24 hours, throw everything (water too) into a blender and add 2 more cups of cool water.  Blend on high till all the almonds are pulverized, then squeeze everything through a nut milk bag.  Don't forget to put a bowl under the nut milk bag!  Sweeten to taste with raw agave nectar (I use about 1 tablespoon), and place in a jar with a lid.  Store in the fridge--I like it best after it's been chilled for a few hours.

Recipe #2 is much faster to make.  I don't really like having it straight out of the glass as a drink, but rather like it best in recipes for smoothies--or other recipes calling for almond milk.  You can actually use any nut in this recipe (hazelnut, brazil nut, etc), so play around and have fun.  (Did I just suggest you play around with your nuts and have fun?  Well I guess I did.)

In the blender: 1 cup raw almonds, 1 tablespoon dried shredded (unsweetened) coconut, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 4 cups water, and a pinch of sea salt.  Blend on high till the almonds are pulverized, then run through the nut milk bag.  That's it!

Both of these versions will keep for 3 days.  Shake well before serving.

Revamped Banana Bread!

Oh how I love banana bread!  And I have finally tweaked my mom's recipe to modernize it.  Bye-bye Crisco!  Here we go:

1/3 c. applesauce
3/4 c. sugar or 1/2 c. agave nectar
1/2 T. oil (I use safflower generally, but grapeseed or canola works fine)
2 eggs or egg replacer
1 tsp vanilla
2 to 3 ripe bananas (the blacker the skin, the better)
2 c. all purpose flour (or K.A.'s white wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 c. soymilk + 1 T white vinegar (aka "buttermilk")
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Mix your wets (except for the soymilk/vinegar), and add mashed bananas.  Mix your drys separately.  Add your wets to your drys, mix.  Gradually add the soymilk/vinegar and mix well.

Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour in a 350 degree oven.  Check with a toothpick for doneness (doneness?).  Cool 5 min in pan, then flip out and cool 5 min upside down.  When completely cool, eat it, or wrap it up and freeze it.  Mom used to make a double batch and freeze one for later.

Oh and by the way...if you use that egg replacer, it's VEGAN!!!  :)

Butternut Squash Muffins

Ok, here it is--finally! The delicious butternut squash muffins! These are easy to make vegan, fat free, and whole wheat. You can make them non-vegan by using real eggs as well. I swiped Jamie Oliver's muffin recipe and tinkered around with it till I lowered the sugar and made it fat-free.

Note: The recipe calls for fresh squash, but I always use frozen because I'm in a hurry. I've used canned before, and it's ok, just a little on the heavy side. If you use fresh, I recommend you chop it up and boil for 5 minutes to soften.

Butternut Squash Muffins

14 ounces butternut squash, skin on, deseeded and roughly chopped or frozen cubed, boiled for 5 minutes.
1 1/4 cups light soft brown sugar
4 large eggs, or equiv. of Ener-G brand egg replacer
¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
Pinch of sea salt
2 1/2 cups white wheat flour (King Arthur makes this kind, or you can mix 1 ¼ cup all purpose + 1 ¼ cups whole wheat)
2 heaping teaspoons baking powder
Handful of walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350*
Whiz up your squash, sugar, eggs, and applesauce in the blender, then set aside.
Mix your drys.
Slowly add your drys to the wets (squash mixture). Be sure you do not OVERMIX! Just mix till incorporated.
Pour into greased muffin pan—I have a pan that makes 12 big muffins, and I just fill them up to the top and it uses all the batter.Bake 20-23 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then pop them out.

Pumpkin Muffins!!!

My daughter LOVES these pumpkin muffins. I usually make a batch and freeze 1/2 of the batter in a zip lock bag. When you thaw it, just cut a corner off the bag, and squeeze directly into your muffin pans--kinda like a pastry bag. Very simple, no clean up.

2 c. canned pumpkin (or 1, 15 oz can)
2/3 c. water
2/3 c. unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp vanilla
3 c. whole wheat flour (pastry flour is best)
2 c. maple syrup OR 2 c. sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Oven preheated to 350*
Spray 24 muffin cups w/ nonstick spray, or line the muffin tins with paper liners (sprayed with nonstick spray).

Mix together your pumpkin, water, applesauce, and vanilla at high speed. I just throw mine in the blender. Stir in maple syrup. If you are using sugar, do NOT add here.

Mix all your dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Stir in your pumpkin mixture at low speed or with a large spoon. The secret to muffins is that you do not want to overmix your batter. Just mix until all ingredients are combined.
Throw the mixture into your muffin tins. You can sprinkle the tops with sugar, cinnamon, or add a few chocolate chips.
Bake 32-35 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted into center muffin comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 min, then flip over and pop 'em out. Make sure you cool completely before storing in a ziplock bag, or else they will get a bit over-soft.

You can store fully cooked muffins in the freezer if you wrap each one in plastic wrap, and then put them in a ziplock.

Smoothies and Green Drinks

That's right, I said "Green Drinks."

I'm hooked on green drinks! Ever since I got my Vita Mix blender, I just can't stop making them. I am now up to 2 a day, which equals over 1 pound of raw leafy greens + 1 pound of fruit. Leafy greens are the most nutritious foods in the world. But I won't get into that, you can read all about it here or even better, here. I make a green drink for breakfast, and one about an hour before dinner.

After many many mistakes, I have come up with a couple of yummy, basic green smoothie recipes. Many of the ones I find online are (in my opinion) too sweet, or have too many things added to them (also adding in the calorie count). I want to keep it simple, so here are my top recipes:

2 cups water + 2 romaine hearts (or 1 head) + 1 apple (cored and sliced) + 1 lb frozen pineapple

2 cups water + 2 romaine hearts (or 1 head) + 1 lb frozen mango

1 cup soymilk + 1 cup water + 10 oz baby spinach (one Ready Pac bag) + 1 banana + 1 lb frozen blueberries

1 cup soymilk + 1 cup water + 6 oz greens (I mix 2 of the following: kale, mustard, turnip, & beet) + 1 banana + 1 lb frozen strawberres + 1 pitted date

Put in the blender in the order given above. I usually put my liquid and greens in first, blend, then add my frozen fruit slowly. The above recipes are enough to fill 2 big glasses (about 16 oz each).

I chose the above greens because they are the most affordable. My WFM sells a 6 pack of romaine hearts for $5. Ready Pac baby spinach is $1.99, and a 12 oz bag of mixed greens is $4. But when something else is on sale, hey--I buy it. In the summer, I can buy fresh fruit and greens from the farmer's market as well. Also, it's easy to grow spinach and chard in your garden!

Frozen fruit is great. It is picked when the fruit is at it ripest, and even if you choose not to buy organic, the fruit is not sprayed with fungisides (like fresh conventional fruit might be). It is so much cheaper than fresh, and it eliminates the need to add ice. Remember that if you have fresh fruit laying around that is getting over ripe, just throw it in a baggie in the freezer and use it for smoothies (bananas too!)

I know it sounds expensive, but remember that when you eat this stuff regularly, you are less hungry and don't need to snack as much. I was sure that my grocery bill was going to go up when I started drinking these twice daily, but it has not at all. I just replaced some of the other food I was eating with this stuff.

Quick Winter Notes

Not much time, so here are some notes for winter that I can expand on later:
* Pizzas continue to be the #1 food at our house. Now I am making the crust w/ part whole wheat flour. Breakfast pizzas are my favorite: sauce, light on cheese, 1 strip of cut up bacon, and crack some raw eggs on top before baking.
* Overnight oatmeal. Just throw some rolled oats and water (ratio is 1 part oats to 4 parts water) into the crockpot before you go to bed at night. Add some dried fruit: apricots, cherries, dates, cranberries, rasins, etc. and some flax meal, then put the crock pot on "low." In the morning you have this super-chewy yummy hot breakfast. I am going to experiment w/ corn grits this week.
* Mac & cheese with add-ins. Sorry, but its a childhood favorite. I tried making my own, but frankly I like the boxed kind better. I use Annie's Whole Wheat Shells & Cheese. Add-in's include: sliced tomatoes & green peas (throw frozen green peas in with the cooking pasta 3 minutes before its done); pureed butternut squash (the kids will never know!); turkey bacon & mushrooms (sauteed together first); and of course, plain w/ a side of fish sticks & ketchup.
* Ham & Swiss on a baguette. Or if you are feeling fancy--hot ham & cheese on a potato roll.
* Saurcraut & weiners cooked all day together in the crock pot. Use a can of beer for your cooking liquid.
* Sides: sweet potato fries, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, romaine & avacado salad, raw baby carrots, spinach & hard boiled egg salad, deviled eggs, sliced apples & pears, baby arugula w/ lemon juice and olive oil.
* Smoothie: pineapple/coconut juice w/ 1 banana, protein powder, & 2 leaves of raw kale. Just whizz it up and ignore the texture of the kale :)

Aaron's picks:
Aaron has continued roasting various meats, of course. Favorites this winter include: boston butt (pork shoulder--one of the cheapest meats per pound sold out of the case), whole chicken or turkey, pork loin roast, brisket, and chicken drumsticks. He roasts them slowly usually after marinating for 12-24 hours or applying a dry rub. The meat keeps great in the fridge for up to a week and makes an excellent cold lunch served with cheese, bread, broth, and fruit.