How to make your own Almond milk

....even if you don't have " everything" you need.

If I had my way, I 'd make everything from scratch. In fact, I'd like to grow most of my fruits and vegetables in my own backyard. That would be perfection.

So, when I switched to a vegan diet I bought Almond Milk as a milk alternative. But lets face it, they have so many other items added in and they are processed if they have such a long shelf life. 

Here is the ingredient list of various Almond Milk's created by Blue Diamond:

Original Ingredients: almondmilk (filtered water, almonds), evaporated cane juice, calcium carbonate, sea salt, potassium citrate, carrageenan, sunflower lecithin, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2, d-alpha-tocopherol (natural vitamin E) Vanilla Ingredients: almondmilk (filtered water, almonds), evaporated cane juice, calcium carbonate, natural vanilla flavor with other natural flavors, sea salt, potassium citrate, carrageenan, sunflower lecithin, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2, d-alpha-tocopherol (natural vitamin E) Chocolate Ingredients: almondmilk (filtered water, almonds), evaporated cane juice, cocoa (dutch process), calcium carbonate, sea salt, potassium citrate, carrageenan, natural flavors, sunflower lecithin, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2, d-alpha-tocopherol (natural vitamin E) Unsweetened Original Ingredients: almondmilk (filtered water, almonds), calcium carbonate, tapioca starch, sea salt, potassium citrate, carrageenan, sunflower lecithin, natural flavor, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2 and d-alpha-tocopherol (natural vitamin E) Unsweetened Vanilla Ingredients: almondmilk (filtered water, almonds), calcium carbonate, tapioca starch, natural vanilla flavor with other natural flavors, sea salt, potassium citrate, carrageenan, sunflower lecithin, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2 and d-alpha-tocopherol (natural vitamin E)

Yes, they add a few vitamins to the mix -- true. But nearly every vegan I know take precautionary vitamin supplements anyways -- so do we want a multivitamin mixed into our almond milk?? I do not. 

I like things pure and simple. 

After a bit of research I set about to making my own small batch of almond milk. Now, most people say you need a cheese cloth and another recipe suggested using dates to sweeten the mix  which sounds amazing but I didn't have any. 

Did I let these little hiccups get in the way? Nope! I worked around them and was happy with the result. 

Many middle easterners will often soak their almonds in water at least overnight before eating them. (Soaking them in the water makes it easy to peel as well)

We happened to have a tiny container of almonds soaking in the fridge and I decided they would fall victim to my experiments in Almond Milk making. 

It turned out to be about 3/4 cup of almond.

I added about 1 3/4 cold water to the blender, but if you add less you will get a much more creamy consistency. I've read that if you keep a 1:1 ratio you will get more of an "almond cream" instead of an "almond milk"

Anyhow, blend away I did -- adding a dash of vanilla an pinch of sweetner. Then, since I didn't have a cheese cloth, I just put it through a sieve. Pushing the liquid through, leaving me with this almond pulp which is begging to be used in a recipe. 

Rather than pour the milk into my jar and save it for later like a good girl I decided to consume it for breakfast.

Note the creamy almond milk foam on top

I  poured it back into the blender along with a bit more vanilla, frozen bananas and a teaspoon of peanut butter and breakfast was served!

Shortly thereafter I made my way over to the gym for a yoga class and the funniest thing happened during the Savasana  pose -- one of my classmates fell asleep and started snoring!  I know that pose is supposed to be about ultimate relaxation but you can bet that her snore jolted me out of whatever " lala land" I had managed to drift off to.

Have you had any yoga bloopers?

Try a different perspective

Life may not be progressing as you had planned, but it doesn't mean things are " just awful" or that you are "having a bad day". 

Just yesterday I went to the gym for my weekly session with my personal trainer. ( When I signed up for the gym, I took advantage of a promotion and purchased six sessions with a trainer) As I was warming up on the treadmill I saw My  trainer walk up to some other  girl, smile, and proceed to sign her in to a training session. 

"Maybe he's just helping her out on the computer for another trainer", I thought to myself. 

"We've been training on Monday mornings regularly now, plus I got sick last week during the session and we agreed I should come an hour later so I can actually eat a breakfast before I come in, he can't have double booked me, right?" 

Nope.

Off they went into the masses of men and women sweating their hearts out in the weight room. 

Initially, my reaction as to think " Wow, really? But I planned my week according to this. I was gonna have an insane session today, then take tuesday off to go dress shopping for my friend's wedding because I'd be too sore to workout anyways."

But, shortly after verifying that he had in fact double booked the session and leaving a message for him to give me a call, I changed my perspective.

"Ok then... I'm at the gym, in this area of town, how am I going to best use my time."

I decided to check out the schedule of classes for the day and wouldn't you know, yoga was scheduled to begin in 45 minutes!  I hadn't practiced yoga in at least a year and I knew my body needed it. 

One catch. I needed a yoga mat, and I had thrown out my old one after using it in an outdoor bootcamp class.  On second thought, I'm glad I don't have a yoga mat because it gives me something to do until the class starts.

So, in that 45 minute gap, I found the closest store which sold yoga mats and bought myself a brand new one. Having plenty of time left before class, I then let myself wander into another store, walked straight to their sale rack and bought myself some new workout clothes.

Long story short:

My botched training session turned into a super productive morning where much needed workout attire was purchased and my yoga practice was given a much needed awakening.  I like to think of such situations as God's way of reminding me ( nudging me) to take care of myself and remain open to new and various options instead of limiting myself to tunnel vision. Ie: Keeping my eye on one goal and only seeing one way to get there. 

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In food news :

Barbecued Golden Potato

I've continued to enjoy my vegetables like a good girl :)

Grilled Onion

I've been experimenting with some new recipes, but they havn't reached the level of perfection I require before I share a recipe with you.

Experiment #1:  A pasta sauce made with butternut squash, tomato, tomato sauce, wine wine, onion, garlic and nutritional yeast.   I loved it, but would like to try it with more layers of flavor.

Experiment #2:  Bulgur with tomato, cinnamon, onion and other spices. Though my youngest sister liked it, I personally think I overdid it on the tomatoes. Somethings just taste better when they are kept simple and pure. 

Finally, I've exploring vegan desserts again. Case in point -- Green Tea Ice Cream with Coconut Milk

Though I love coconut and I love matcha green tea -- these two are not a compatible match in my book. I'm guessing the best matches are going to be coconut with chocolate, nuts and coffee .... 

What do you think?

Yoga, you suprised me

Wow, Lea was right.  I went to the 1 hr yoga class and I was " sweating buckets" just as she predicted. It was so bizarre, you are moving in a space no bigger than 8-10 sq ft per person, your heart may or may not be racing, but you are sweating like crazy -- i might have well been in a spinning class I was sweating so much.  Admittedly, there were a few flops, falling out of poses, inability to hold certain positions as long as others -- but considering it was my first class ever, it was great.

On the way home, I stopped by at the grocery store. I was craving a hummus cucumber sandwich. But, alas, while I found bread I was happy with I did not find cucumbers or hummus at a reasonable price. Sabra was $6  -- really???  Made me miss Trader Joes....

So, my next thought was to make a traditional cold cut sandwich, substituting cheese/mayo with avocado. So, I headed over to the deli section, and sampled at least three or four cold cuts, putting each aside after only one bite. A while ago, I cut out cold cuts from my diet, and now it seems I wont be able to include them ever again... taste buds rejected them.

I knew I wanted some sort of protein in the sandwich, but veggie patties were on the expensive side this week  ( I try to only buy items on sale -- the economy ya know). Finally, it struck me, egg sandhich :)

Simple, affordable and packed with protein. I picked up some red leaf lettuce and tomatoes and went home to construct the meal. Speaking of meal... the lady at the deli counter said she never eats sandwiches or anything cold because she prefers " real meals that must be hot".  Ok I guess? But its over 100 degrees out  -- no thank you.

Once home, I began assembling the " non meal" sandwich. Two pieces of fiber bread put me at 40% on my daily fiber requirements, a fresh tomato off the vine, two organic cage free eggs, and light string cheese from trader joes.
Once piece of bread was topped with ketchup. the other with horseradish mustard.


Some sliced tomatoes and "stringed cheese " made the next layer of the sandwich.

Two fried eggs came next, topped with red leaf lettuce...

Et, voila!

I think Daisy would like this one, vegetarian friendly and colorful.

Served with some baked Ruffles Chips and Trader Joes Fat Free European Organic Yogurt  = perfectly satisfying lunch.

I ate half the sandwich and felt full beyond capacity... the other half is sitting in the fridge in saran wrap. Hopefully, it will last till tomorrow??   I think next time I will just make the half sandwich to start with :)

Yoga was great, I'm not craving much for dinner, maybe just fruit. Its either the heat, or yoga.  Dunno which.
Contemplating another workout tonight... Is 1 hour of yoga enough of a workout for someone trying to lose weight?