Archive for November, 2010

Non Dairy Almond Milk

It is easier than one would think to make non dairy almond milk. All you need is some raw almonds, water, vanilla extract and raw honey or blue agave nectar as a sweetener. There can be many reasons why you would want to use a non-dairy milk instead of cow’s milk. You can use it in cooking recipes, cereal, blended drinks, etc.

Start by soaking some raw almonds in water overnight (between 8 to 12 hours). The next day, rinse the soaked nuts and add them to a blender along with 4 cups of water, sweetener and a little vanilla extract. Simply blend it and strain it.

If you make a lot of nut milk, you can buy a nut milk bag. You can obtain one online from many sources at a reasonable cost. It will make the straining step a lot easier and you can reuse the bag over and over.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb raw almonds
  • 4 cups water
  • 1/4 cup sweetener (raw honey or blue agave nectar)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Soak one lb of nuts in water in a 2 qt. mason jar overnight (8-12 hours). The next day, rinse the nuts and add the soaked nuts, with 4 cups of water, vanilla extract and sweetener to a blender. Blend until smooth – not too long – only as long as you can hear it it rattling in the blender. Strain through cheesecloth or a nut milk bag and refrigerate.

Shown below is a photo of all the ingredients: left to right – sweetener, vanilla extract, raw almonds and an empty mason jar.

Start by soaking the nuts overnight (between 8 and 12 hours).

Rinse the nuts and add them to a blender with four cups of water, sweetener and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth. Note: don’t overdo it. If you use a nut milk bag, if it is blended too finely it can clog the mesh.

I’m going to strain it with cheesecloth, here. I am using a basket-style coffee maker funnel…

Place the cheesecloth over the coffee maker funnel.

Strain the blended mixture through the cheesecloth.

Squeeze it all out and you’re done.

Perfect substitute for cow’s milk when a non-dairy milk is desired.

Homemade Tikka Masala Sauce

Tikka masala is a mild curry sauce that you can use for simmering meat like chicken or turkey. Making chicken or turkey tikka masala is easy and convenient when you buy the tikka masala simmer sauce in a jar, because all you have to do is sear the meat, then add the simmer sauce and cook for about 7 or 8 minutes.

Tikka masala sauce in a jar usually contains heavy cream. With this recipe you can make your own homemade sauce and you can still use heavy cream or plain yogurt as a substitute. You can also use a cooking fat like butter or coconut oil to properly sauté the onions and to get the right flavor of the curry.  ... Read More

Wakame Salad

This is a quick and easy recipe for wakame salad that is very healthy. You will need some dried wakame flakes, raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar with the “Mother” and raw honey – all available from a health food store. Two brands of apple cider vinegar I have tried are Braggs and Solana Gold. Raw honey is available in many brands. I was able to buy all the ingredients from Whole Foods Market here in Southern California.

It takes about 30 minutes to make wakame salad. Start by placing the contents of a 30-gram packet of dried wakame flakes in a bowl. Add water to rehydrate the wakame and then set aside. Next, slice a cucumber and spread the slices on a cutting board and salt them. Allow the salted cucumber slices to set for 20 minutes. Mix the honey and the apple cider vinegar in a small bowl. Stir to completely dissolve the honey. ... Read More