Almond Milk

I have seen a few things on the internet about home made raw almond milk and I figured I would give it a try.  I am so very happy I did it was pretty easy to do an probably the best almond milk I have ever tasted.  Make sure you have some cheese cloth on hand before you start the recipe, you will need something to strain the mixture through and even a fine weave strainer won't work.  There are companies that make nut milk straining bags but I am pretty happy with the results from the cheesecloth.

Ingredients:

• 2 cup raw almonds
• 6 cups of water for soaking almonds
• 4 cups water
• 4 dates (optional)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

Directions:

Soak almonds at least 12 hours in the six cups of water.

Here they are post soaking

Drain the water from the almonds and rinse well. Place the almonds and 4 cups of water in a blender, plus the optional dates and vanilla if you are using them.  Blend until smooth, you shouldn't be able to see any large chunks of almonds.

before the blending process

Strain the blended almond mixture using a cheesecloth, I placed my cheese cloth in a strainer, which I believe made the process easier.

The cheesecloth in the strainer

This is an example of the almond mixture left over in the cheesecloth

This raw almond milk will keep well in the refrigerator for three or four days, so drink up!

Yum and done!

Sunday breakfast

This was the lovely breakfast my wonderful Husband made for me.  It is his breakfast specialty, vegan biscuits and gravy. He is not ready to give up the recipe to the wide world of the internet yet but I will keep trying to convince him!

Yum and done!

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

This is a delicious but simple recipe from a wonderful chef Isa Chandra Moskowitz author of Vegan Brunch and also the co-author behind one of my all time favorite vegan cookbooks, Veganomicon. 
These muffins are the right combination of lemon and poppy seed, the only modification I made was I put a small amount of confectioners sugar and water mixture on the top for a little more sweetness.  It wasn't necessary but it was tasty and decorative!

Ingredients:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 5 tsp poppy seeds
• 1/2 tsp salt

• 3/4 cup soy milk
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 tbsp lemon zest
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven 375.  Mix the first five ingredients, I used a stand mixer but you could also do this by hand.  In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients, make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then mix the wet ingredients in, mix until smooth and place in a muffin tin 3/4 of they way fell back for 23 to 27 minutes.

 

Yum and done!

Oatmeal Bake Take Two

I have been modifying this recipe and thought it was time to post my latest results, the original recipe was adapted from the cookbook, Super Natural Every Day, written by Heidi Swanson, this is perfect when serving a crowd for breakfast, but also warms up well for leftovers. In the original recipe she used an egg as a binding agent, but I feel it is not necessary, plus I wanted to make it vegan so no egg required.  I got some blackberries that I wanted to try and I also had some strawberries I kept the chocolate chips but cut down on the amount I also removed the butter and didn't do the chinese five spice or cinnamon.  I also have been experimenting with using some coconut milk, I think my next pass I might use two cups instead of one.  Whatever type of milk you use make sure it is equal amount to the oats.  I have also been toying with the idea of putting the servings in ramekins for a better plated presentation.  

Ingredients:

• • 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• •1/3 cup light brown sugar
• • 1 teaspoon baking powder
• •1/2 teaspoon salt
• • 1 cup sliced strawberries
• • 1 cup blackberries
• • 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• • 2 cups soy milk
• • 1 cup coconut milk
• • 1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375, and prep a 9 by 9 baking dish by spraying with cooking spray. Set aside a small amount of the fruit, chocolate chips and brown sugar aside to garnish the top. Then mix the dry ingredients together. Then add the fruit and chocolate chips, mix well by hand. Add the wet ingredients and mix well pour into the baking dish and cook for 35 minutes

Yum and done!

Huckleberry Blueberry Muffins

At the start of summer I purchased a huckleberry bush and it just keeps giving more and more huckleberries. I like to eat them as a snack or in soy yogurt, but I found out that they can be a great addition to a muffin!

here are a few before being washed

here is a closer look, they look similar to blueberries but are more tart

Ingredients:
• 1 cup huckleberries
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tbsp egg replacer dissolved in 6 tbsp warm water
• 4 Tablespoons vegan butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup rice milk
• 1 lemon zested and
• 1 tsp cinnimon and cup of blueberries
• 1/4 cup water
Directions:
Mix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl mix egg replacer, rice milk water, vanilla together add the zested lemon. Encorporate the wet and dry ingredients together about a half cup at a time add the berries place in muffin tin about 2/3 full and bake for 25 to 28 minutes at 350!

Yum and done!