Homemade Almond Milk

I should've seen it coming.

When I did my post on granola, and mentioned why I soaked and dehydrated my nuts, well, I've been getting questions ever since.

One was by my brother's girlfriend, who, by the way, the boys love. If we lived out there, my brother might have some competition. ;)

Anyways, she makes her own everything. Yes, even olive oil.

Well, take that back. She doesn't do kombucha. And after hearing her opinion, I think any remote possibility my family might have had in being convinced to start making the fermented drink went down the drain.

So anyways, her and my mom were talking about Aiden's allergies. And she asked if I made my own almond milk.

Ummmm... No.

I've always been too lazy.

It has always been on my "would be fun to try someday but not necessarily important" list. But they were discussing phytate levels in almond milk. Did I think they soaked the nuts before making the milk to get rid of the enzyme inhibitors?

No. I don't think that they give almonds a salted soak to reduce these inhibitors before they make almond milk. That being said, I do think there is some sort of soaking involved. I checked numerous recipes and they all call for soaking the almonds. So if they did do it in salt water, it would work. If they do soak them this traditional way however, I bet it's purely procedural... not that I don't think they have our best interests in mind. but that studies have shown that when they tout their 50% more calcium then cow's milk... well, that is controversial since it is natural vs fortified and heme vs non-heme (even the fortified calciums' have different uptake levels). And yes, they are also fortified with Vitamin D...2. Which is the more toxic cousin in the family if consumed in high quantities. And it has carrageenan, which although approved by the FDA, can create issues if you have UC, IBS, etc. And you would think it would have lots of protein, because after all, almonds have protein. Until you look at the label and bam!! a whopping 1g per cup. say what?! Meaning that if you rely on the USDA, which states that 1 almond equals 0.25g of protein... well, you've got a whopping nutritional value of 4 almonds in that cup of liquid. Yikes.


Sigh.


Needless to say, after thinking it all through more extensively, I decided that I ought to give almond milk a go before our move. Especially when my baby randomly was walking stumbling around one day with a cheesecloth (don't ask me where he got it, because I don't have an answer).
Aiden's picky, but I figured, why not... after all, I have a lactose-intolerant husband that would consume it if my son didn't. :)

And I figured I'd blog to tell the tale.

So here goes.

First you take your raw almonds.

In case your wondering, different sources said different things, but I don't think you need to dehydrate your nuts if you will use them right away. The dehydration just gets them back to their crispy state, so they don't go bad. But I could be wrong.

Soak them overnight in warm, salted water. (I turned my oven to warm, then turned if off. Placed my bowl in there and went to bed.)

I was a bit overzealous with the water. I measured out the same amount of water that I always do when making a large batch of almonds, not thinking that I was using half that amount for the milk. And I didn't think about taking a side picture until an hour later. See how it's already turning foggy though??

 

This is after it soaked for about 12 hours. I read a couple places that the longer you let it soak the creamier it will taste.

See how the water looks more grungy now? Imagine that with twice the almonds :)
Some people will say that's all the bad toxins. Believe whatever you want. I'm not going there.

 

Drain and rinse the almonds.

 Some people say the milk will be bitter if you don't peel them. Well, I didn't think it was bitter and I was too lazy to peel them. Maybe the sweetener helped with that.  Who knows.
 

Place your almonds in your blender (I had 2 cups of almonds).

And add the water (I added 5 cups of water).

With the recipes, I was seeing anywhere from a 1:2 ratio to a 1:4 ratio. I didn't want to deal with an overflowing blender, so next time I might try to only soak one cup of almonds for a true 1:3 ratio or maybe even a 1:4. We'll see. :)

Are you wondering about my brown water yet?? :)

It's coffee!!

 

Just kidding.

 

Knowing I was going to have some leftover almond pulp, I was trying to decide what to do with it. Dehydrate it? Nope, unfortunately I already had a batch of nuts in the dehydrator. Throw it away? All that fiber and left over nutrition would go to waste. Use it somehow? Superb! Now what to use it on...

 

Well, my son had been begging me for steak this morning.

 

Yes, steak.

 

But he actually meant dates. The medjool kind. :)

He mixes up his words sometimes. Like he'll say, "Mommy, aren't you so discited to hear the construction vehicles outside this morning?" Or he'll say, "Mommy, I like those tomatoes, and sweet tomatoes, but not the red tomatoes." He likes potatoes but not tomatoes. :)

You get my point.

 

Well, anyways, these dates were a bit tough. You see, I had a package in my pantry that I thought had been sealed. Well, a little hand thief had opened up the container and taken one out. And thus, they were no longer sealed. So they had crystallized some of their sugars. And were pretty hard. But did you know as long as they don't get wet and start molding, they are still good? Even if they are expired. Or so I've heard. So don't throw them away :) So anyways, I thought I'd modify my energy ball recipe to include the almond pulp and dates. But they would need a good soaking to hydrate them up a bit.

 

See where I'm going with this?!

 

I didn't want to toss out the water. That seemed a sugary waste...

 

So voila! I just used the filtered date soaking water! So unfortunately I don't know how much sweetener I added this time. Oh well. I've learned life is never predictable.

 

So anyways... let's hop off the bunny trail.

Blend her up. I did it on high for 1 minute.
The boys all ran into the room excited to have a smoothie. You should've seen their disappointed faces when I said it was milk. Especially Liam's when I told him it was almond milk. Yup. He and I-- let's just say we don't care for the store-bought varieties. Unless it includes chocolate ;)

You could probably add honey, syrup, sugar, dates (I will try whole dates next time, since they won't be emaciated), vanilla, cocoa, cinnamon, etc etc... I just wanted plain.

Now you could use a nut bag. I don't have one of those... yet. ;)
But I did have cheesecloth. I heard people were having a bit of a hard time with it-- making messes and all. So I made my own contraption of sorts.

I put my fine mesh strainer over a bowl, laid one end of the cheesecloth across that, rubberbanding part of it to the handle. Then I poured in the almond concoction.

 

And let it strain.

 

It'll take a bit. Once it's slowed down (and if you are impatient, you don't even have to wait that long, I'm sure), I pulled up the sides, twisted it to keep all the almond in place and holding it with one hand, squeezed the pulp with the other hand.

 

Since God didn't create me with three hands, you didn't get a picture. Sorry.

 

Squeeze good to extract all the milk out of the pulp.

 

Pour it into your container...

 

and voila!

Now was time for the verdict. Curiosity got the best of Liam and he wanted a taste. And of course so did Aiden. Me being the dairy-aficionado, I was really leery. But we all tried it...

 

... and...

 

... lets just say I had to put it in the back of the fridge to make sure my husband was able to get some.

It was smooth, creamy and absolutely yummy. No comparison to that other stuff.

 

I've heard that making it is comparable price-wise to store-bought. It'll probably depend upon how thin I make it. I'm not sure if that's true, but I think I will do some investigating, and this might become a habitual routine in the Virkler home. :)

Granola

I guess I could have titled this "because she asked, part 2". It's mainly so Natalie can have her online access to my granola recipe. But she hasn't been the first. It seems whenever we hand this out as gifts to various people, they tend to want the recipe.

So for anyone out there that may be curious (and for me to be able to have access to, were something to happen to my hard copy and my mental copy ;), here's my granola recipe guidelines.

It started with a yummy granola I used to get in Phoenix at the farmer's market across from my parent's house. But it irritated me that theirs, along with store-bought varieties would boast the addition of flax seed, when really, your body doesn't breakdown the seeds, and if you truly want the benefits of flax, it's best to use flax seed meal (which doesn't have a superb shelf life once opened). That and my oft times compulsive behavior of soaking and dehydrating my nuts to rid them of their phytic acid and other enzyme inhibitors, something I figured the store-bought varieties also didn't contain. So I took to my favorite go-to website for highly rated recipes and found Megan's Granola from allrecipes.com... but of course, I was trying to make it gluten free at the time, thought it had too much sugar in it, didn't have certain ingredients, thought others would taste better, etc etc and so pretty much changed the whole thing up. If you are looking for frugality, you may want to stick with a different variety.

Just a Note: I still only loosely follow the basic recipe below, depending upon my mood. Joel was really craving coconut one time, so instead of adding vanilla extract, it was almond and coconut, with the addition of coconut chips and manna to the shredded coconut. Another time, I was not paying attention and added almond meal instead of flax meal... so I put in sliced almonds, whole almonds, slivered almonds and almond extract for an extra almond-y granola. It really is just whatever I'm in the mood for and what I have in the pantry :) I've subbed steel cut oats for some of the rolled oats, played around with the sweeteners and oils (using less if the boys' immune systems have been compromised lately, and also eyeballing the sweeteners, because I don't want to deal with sticky measuring cups) and changed the dried fruit (mainly sticking with raisins, cranberries, blueberries and cherries)... that's what I love about granola-- it's very forgiving :)

You can basically break it up into the following categories and play around as you wish: oats, meal/seeds, nuts, sweeteners, dried fruit...

One  more note... Because I've cut back on the sugar, if you are looking for the more clumpy, stick together, type of granola, this recipe probably won't satisfy you. There are definitely still clusters for sure, but it's a sacrifice I've taken to reduce the sugar intake in my family, since they would consume this recipe every week if I let them. If you want a granola with more cluster-y goodness, feel free to increase your honey/syrup quantities. Besides, my little boys' mouths like me to break up all the clusters anyways, so really, what's the point :)

Granola

INGREDIENTS:

8 c rolled oats
1 1/2 c oat bran

1 1/4 c flax meal

1/4 c chia seeds

1/4 c sesame seeds

3/4 c sunflower seeds

3/4 c pepitas (or pecans)

1 1/4 c almonds (mixture of whole and sliced)

1 1/4 c walnuts, chopped

Mix all those in a large bowl and set aside.

In a saucepan, stir together:

1 1/2 t salt

1/4 c brown sugar

1/4 c maple syrup

1/2 c honey

1 c oil (EVCO, EVOO, vegetable, etc)

1 T ground cinnamon

1 T vanilla extract (or 1/2 T each of vanilla and almond)

Bring those to a boil over medium heat, stirring to incorporate. Then pour over the dry ingredients and stir to thoroughly coat. Spread the mixture out evenly on the two baking sheets (I use jelly roll pans covered in either parchment, aluminum foil, or my silicone mats, depending on whether I have helpers... with the latter, I tend to avoid the aluminum foil, as when they help me jar them later on, they tend to rip the foil... ;)

Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven until toasted, about 20 minutes, stirring and rotating pans halfway through. During this time, I also sprinkle 1 c of shredded coconut onto the top of the granola (1/2 c on each sheet), because I like them slightly toasted but not burned.

Set out to cool, then sprinkle a heaping 1 c of dried fruit (again, 1/2 c on each sheet) before storing in an airtight container.

There you have it! :) 

The boys love this with milk, over yogurt, etc etc. and love giving it away as gifts... so don't be surprised if one day you get a mason jar full ;)



Chef Liam: Lemon Curd

Hi, this is Liam here. I think it's been a bit of time since I had a guest post on our "family" blog. Well, it seems like Mommy does most of the blogging and limits our technology time. But she gave me permission for this post. Why do I get to write the post?

Because I'm Mommy's knight.

Oh, that's not reason enough? Well, then maybe it's because I loooooooooove lemon curd. Well, that's what Mommy calls it anyways. I call it lemon jam. I first had it when I was over at Nana and Papa's house. Nana didn't have any normal jam in her fridge. Actually, she didn't have any normal peanut butter either. But I always have peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch (and yes, it's jam and not jelly-- but trust me, you don't want to get Mommy started on the difference!). So what did she do for Aiden and I?

Well, she gave us sunflower seed butter and lemon curd. Trader Joe's to the rescue, I tell ya! I love Trader Joe's. It's my favoritest place. Aiden and I like to find Cocoa the Monkey. Have you found him before??

Well, let's just say that her version of pb&j became my new favoritest thing. Aiden, well, he could take it or leave it. And technically he can't have a lot of it anyways, because of the butter. He can't have my cow's milk stuff you know.

So anyways, she said I could make this post, because we ran out. And I wanted some on a sandwich. And we had the ingredients.

So here is what you will need. It really only takes 5 things.

1. Lemons
2. Sugar
3. Salt
4. Eggs
5. Butter

Mommy has only attempted lemon curd once before- before I was born when she was on a blueberry scone and lemon curd pregnancy kick. And she didn't quite stir constantly and fast enough in the saucepan on the stove and the curd... well, it curdled. It made it look almost like little baby bobas. But my Mommy doesn't like bobas (she doesn't like Halloween either), so she wasn't discited.

So she had an idea to use the vitamix. Because the guy at costco makes yummy soups with it. And it worked! She wasn't sure what to do about the creaming the butter part and ran upto the internet really fast to figure out if anyone else had made lemon curd before in their vitamix. (Aiden and me like it when she runs up to the computer really fast, because we follow her and then ask to see movies. Aiden wanted an octopus movie. And I wanted a humpback whale one. We saw the octopus go through a little tiny itty bitty hole and pretend it was a stingray. We also saw the humpback whale sing. The guy said that no one knows why humpback whales sing. But I said that's silly. They are singing to God!) Someone had, and said to put the butter in last, so that's what she did instead. Otherwise, she mostly followed Ina Garten's recipe, because she said it has lots of stars. But she didn't put as much sugar in it. Because sugar isn't good for you. And I don't like sugar. I like protein. That's why she used Ina's recipe too. Because she uses the whole egg, not just the yellow part.

So here's a picture tutorial on how to make lemon curd. Mommy let Aiden and me make it. She tried taking pictures the whole time, but after we kind of spilled sugar across the table and Aiden was playing with it like snow and brushing it on the ground and I was laughing and being bossy at him and telling him not to and Callum was pulling on her leg because he wanted to be held... well, she kind of got distracted.

And of course, she thought it best if she did the egg part. We crack eggs, but she was afraid a little tiny itty bit of shell might get in the curd.

First, you need a happy cook.

Then you need to zest the lemons. Mommy has us use a microplane.
 

And Jesus likes us to share. So it's good to let others help you too.

Next you need to get the lemon juice. You can do that one of three ways...
1. Do it by yourself one-handed.

2. Hold the jar while your helper squeezes the juice out.

3. Use your head and push down with all your might.

Then, after you add the zest, juice and sugar to the blender... pulse and blend it a bit. Then add the eggs and blend it on high for a few minutes.

You want it to get to about 170 degrees. That makes the eggs ok to eat-- unless you are the raw egg type of person (or like cookie dough :)  That's about 4 minutes on high. Add the butter chopped up and blend about 1 more minute.

Pour into a bowl, chill in the fridge, and then transfer to jarred containers and use within a couple of weeks. Then, the best part...

... you lick the blender!

And lick...

And give it three thumbs up.

** By the way, Mommy thought it would be funny if we italicized all the words I really say a lot in person... in case you were wondering. Probably only Daddy will smile for that.

Oh, and don't judge the pajamas. Sometimes Mommy just doesn't want to battle with us. :)

National Ice Cream Month...

... was July. But since I still haven't posted June photos yet, being a day or two late to make up an ice cream recipe isn't so bad, right?!

So, those that know me know that I love to find a bargain and save money. They also know that two of my four boys don't do dairy.

Fact #1: Non dairy products are usually very expensive.

Take for example milk. Non-dairy milk (soy/almond/coconut/flax) costs anywhere from $2.99 on up to over $4 for a half-gallon, depending upon where I go (To put it in perspective, I can buy a whole gallon of milk for $2.50). Cheese? Usually $3.50+ for 6-8 oz of your choice of veggie shreds. And ice cream?? Well, unless I get the Trader Joe's soy (cherry chocolate chip or vanilla) for $3.99/qt, I'm paying $5 for a pint. Sheesh.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

The natural solution would be to tell my dear boys that they don't get ice cream. Period. But I love food. And I love ice cream. And I can't imagine a life without it. So, every once in a while, when I think my husband has had a bit too many root beer floats (again, my fault since I buy the glass IBC bottles from Costco-- but hey, they are made with cane sugar ;)... well, I pull out my handy $20 garage sale purchase.

Fact #2: Not all non-dairy ice cream recipes out on the internet are good.

They don't last as long, so you don't want to make a large batch, and usually they are more like the consistency of flavored ice. Hard like that. I've tried many different kinds, with things to soften them like guar gum, xantham gum, arrowroot, and cornstarch. I've tried adding more fats, changing sugar mediums and adding alcohol. I feel like I'm back in the lab at times, but eventually give up. Not because of my lack of determination (see my macaron story for that), but because I pity the test subject forced to eat all my failed attempts that are not quite comparable to the store-bought stuff.

But, I decided, in honor of July... to try again. :)

Fact #3: We have a lot of mint growing in our backyard.

Fact #4: My husband's favorite flavor of ice cream is mint chocolate chip.

So, I decided to try to appease his desire with a less expensive version of the store-bought stuff.

The Verdict??

Aiden: "Mmmm."

Mind you, that doesn't necessarily mean its good. Because anyone who has been around him knows that this sound comprises about 80% of his verbal communications at this point.

Liam: "It smells like mint and tastes like apple licorice."

Hmmm... what?! Although I happen to love good ole' Amish green apple licorice, I'm not sure if I should take this as a compliment. But I guess I should as he proceeded to eat what was left in the bowl, lick the stir attachment and get who knows how much out of the main ice cream while I searched for a freezer container. It pays to be around Mommy when she's making ice cream ;)

Joel: "Should I finish it now or leave a bit for later?"

I guess that means I have a winner. He said that it was hard out of the freezer, but not as bad as some of the recipes I had tried and still definitely eatable. He said after 5-10min of thawing, it was perfect. Loved the fresh mint flavor. And since he ate the whole container before I was finished nursing Callum... well, I didn't get to get a picture of the finished product.

But I've already started scheming on what to make next... :)

And the recipe for those that were interested...

Dairy-Free Mint Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

(makes about a pint)

- 1 can of coconut milk (not light, you need the fat to help it to be creamy)

- 1/8c of cream of coconut (find this in the mixer section of the grocery store)

- 1/3 c of sugar (I wouldn't mind skimping on this, but again it helps so that the ice cream doesn't freeze as hard)

- 1 1/2T cornstarch

- 12 sprigs of mint (mine were 4-6in... I wanted to make sure I had a lot of mint flavor)

- homemade df dark chocolate chunks*

1. Open the can of coconut milk and put in a small saucepan, separating out 1/4 c to a separate, small bowl. Add sugar to saucepan and begin to cook on low, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

2. Mix cornstarch with reserved 1/4c coconut milk until it is fully dissolved.

3. Add cornstarch mixture and cream of coconut to the saucepan after the sugar is dissolved. Bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes. You will notice the coconut milk starting to thicken.

4. Remove from heat, add mint sprigs. Cover, and let steep for about 30 minutes. Once cooled. Place in refrigerator to chill for a couple of hours (you might be able to do less, I just ran errands for that period of time :).

5. Remove from fridge, take out mint leaves (a bit messy, but i just squeezed the milk from them with my clean hands. You could probably do a strainer, but I was in a hurry), and put mixture in ice cream maker. Freeze according to ice cream maker's instructions, adding chocolate chunks towards the end before it gets too thick.

* You could use normal chocolate chips/chunks. I just didn't have any dairy-free one's on hand so I made my own. To make them, melt cocoa powder, EVCO, and honey over a double boiler, stirring to help melt and incorporate. Remove from heat, and add a bit of vanilla. Then pour in a parchment lined small container (like a storage container or bread pan. I skipped the parchment lining and just used silicone muffin tins). Place in refrigerator to harden.