Sunday, August 7, 2011

Almond Milk

In our house cows milk is a bad word J can not tolerate it so we drink a lot of Almond and Rice milk (recipe to come) this recipe is for plain Jane Almond milk but you can always add vanilla and agave or maple syrup.  Almond milk takes a little time but it is rather simple.


Things you will need:
Small bowl
Large bowl
1-1/4 cups of Almonds
3 cups of water
a blender
spatula
a strainer/sieve
cheese cloth
Air tight container 

Place 1 and 1/4 cups of almonds in a small bowl
Cover almonds with water, just enough so that none of the almonds are sticking out of the water.
Place a lid on then and let it sit for 3 hours at room temperature then move them to your fridge for at least 4 hours to over night.

The almonds should resemble this and should be sticking out of the water

Pour your almonds and almond water in to blender some people dump this water out and use fresh but why waist all those nutrients

blend until it makes a chunky paste it took my blender about 6 minutes on medium speed to get to this point.
Add your water 1 cup at a time and blend for 2 minutes after each addition

Place cheese cloth over sieve I folded 2 pieces in half so that there were 4 layers.
After all your water has been added your almond milk should look similar to this
Pour your almond milk slurry in to the cheese cloth use a spatula to help push the liquid through
After you have finished pouring your slurry in to the cheese cloth gather sides and squeeze all the liquid you can from the almonds
And Keep Squeezing
Once done squeezing and straining place in an air tight container and will last in the fridge for 3 to 5 days mine never makes it past 2 days. If you are using it for baking there is no need to add any thing to the milk I also like to drink it plain, However warming it up with a little agave some cinnamon and nutmeg and its a tasty treat :)
More to come
Kristin

Friday, August 5, 2011

Oatmeal Pancakes

Oatmeal Pancakes are a family favorite around here.

Things you will need
1 larger bowl
an Immersion blender
A skillet, or griddle
2 Cups Old Fashion Oats
1+ cups of Almond or Coconut Milk
2 tablespoons of Coconut oil
1 tablespoon of Baking Powder
4 eggs or Flax seed & water 1tablespoon of flax to 3 tablespoons of water(per egg sub) let set for 3 to 5 min
2 tablespoons of Maple Sugar
2 teaspoons of Vanilla
a pinch of salt


I like a metal bowl less to brake with the emersion blender

Add Oatmeal, Almond milk, coconut oil, eggs ( i used eggs this time but I usually use flax), baking powder, maple sugar, vanilla, and salt

use your immersion blender  and mix all together you may need to add a little more than 1 cup of milk but it depends on the eggs or flax. I have made this in a regular blender also

let your mix rest for 15 to 20 minutes, it will thicken up as the oatmeal absorbs the liquid

since oatmeal pancake mix is thicker it wont bubble like normal pancakes once the edges start drying out its time to flip


once they have been flip and continue until all mix is gone, plate them up and enjoy!