Delicious Almond Milk & Meal

Howdy Folks!  Long time no see.  I've been away for a long time but I'm back.  It's amazing how the blue screen of death on your laptop can completely throw off your mojo!  It would take far too long to go back and post some of the new recipes I have tried and some of my new adventures but I'll start with the current stuff and throw in the old when I can.

Today, it was all about Almond Milk.  It's what I decided to do when I told my husband not to buy more from Costco because I could save money and know exactly what's in it.  Why not?  I'd been reading about how easy it was to make and after watching a bunch of youtube videos, I came up with my recipe.  I also knew that I had to come up with something to do with the leftover pulp because I hate wasting food.  Good food is a blessing that we shouldn't take for granted and throwing away good food is like throwing money in the trash can and I don't have, nor want, that "luxury."

Angela's Almond Milk
1 cup of raw almonds soaked overnight
3 cups of water
1 tsp of Pure Vanilla Extract (more or less to your personal taste)*
1 dash of cinnamon*
1 Tbsp of Agave Nectar*

Once the raw almonds have soaked overnight you should be able to easily "squeeze" the skin off the almonds and be left with a beautiful white almonds.  Take 3 cups of filtered water and add to blender along with drained almonds.  Now pulverize those baby! I used my Nutribullet and did it batches because the Nutribullet is a beast when it comes to pulverizing nuts and seeds.  Now pour your mixture into a nut milk bag (available at Whole Foods or online), or into a cheesecloth and strain the liquid out.  I put a mesh strainer over a bowl, added cheesecloth inside and once the liquid dripped through, I squeezed the rest of the goodness out of the bag and into the bowl. Now add your vanilla, cinnamon and Agave Nectar or sweetener of your choice, pour into your container of choice, refrigerate and enjoy!
*Optional Ingredients

Now that the milk was done I needed to find something to do with the almond pulp and after a quick search online, I decided on Almond Meal.  I dusted off my dehydrator and spread the pulp on a tray with the fruit leather insert and about 5 hours later it was almost done.  I put the almond 'pebbles' in my Nutribullet with the milling blade and turned it into a powder/flour/meal and then returned it to the dehydrator for one more hour.  The picture above in the mason jar shows the finished product that I will use to make some cookies, pancakes or something yummy. I will post the results. 

The almond milk turned out great and has a very clean and pure taste. It has the consistency of skim milk and that's a change from what I'm used to.  If you want a thicker, creamier consistency you can use 2 cups of water instead of three and modify the optional ingredients to your liking.  I will try that with my next batch and decide which I like better.  My daughter is already looking forward to eating it in her morning cereal so I'm guessing that it's not going to last very long.

Added benefit:  I've pulled out the dehydrator and I am going to be making fruit leather and beef jerky tomorrow.  I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of time with my Nesco Dehydrator over the next few weeks or even months.  I'll be ready with tons of dehydrated food while everyone else is fighting in line at Giant Foods.  Now stop wasting time and go make some milk.

Homemade Kale Powder...Sprinkle away!

AN EASY WAY TO GET YOUR NUTRIENTS IN EACH DAY!

Kale has become a popular way for people to get their daily dose of dark leafy greens and that's a wonderful thing.  Many people are jumping on the kale chip wagon and making their own chips at home or buying them at their local health food store.  Kale is great for skin and nails, it's full of vitamins A, K and D, it's an anti-inflammatory, it is used in detoxification and for weight loss and is used in many of the green smoothie drinks you see all over the Internet.  The question is, how do I get my kids to ingest it without the gag reflex kicking in? Kale has a fairly hearty (strong) taste even for those of us that can handle off putting greens.  I can easily put spinach in their smoothies or Nutriblast drinks but with kale, not so much. 

The solution that I discovered today is...kale powder!!  Last night I dehydrated 5 trays of organic baby kale, snacked on some and then left the rest.  When I woke up this morning I came up with the idea to mill it into a powder.  I grabbed my Nutribullet and the milling blade, dumped the kale in the container and ended up with a fine powder that I will sprinkle on and cook/blend into their food.  They won't know what hit them and no matter what amount they are getting of this beneficial plant, it will be more than they are getting now. If you don't have a Nutribullet with a milling blade you could also use a coffee grinder to get similar results.  I have posted the pictures of this beautiful dark green powder and I will update this later to tell you of the ways I used it and how long it lasted.  For more information on the health benefits of kale, click on this link.  http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/the-truth-about-kale

Some hydrated leaves and the powder from the dehydrated ones. Look at that beautiful green color!

I got a giant bag of Earthbound Farm Organic Mixed Baby Kale from Costco.  Because of pesticides, it's always best to buy organic Kale if you can.  If not, just wash it really well because as we all know sometimes you find it or afford organic.

The Nesco FD-75A 700 -Watt Food Dehydrator. You can get it on amazon or at least read about it, just click on the link below.
http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-75A-700-Watt-Food-Dehydrator/dp/B0090WOCN0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363275733&sr=8-1&keywords=nesco+dehydrator
I really liked that it got 4.5 out of 5 stars on 917 reviews and it was affordable!

     I currently have all 5 trays filled up again and will make more to fill up my spice jar.  The dehydrator takes about 2 hours to dehydrate but I left mine in about 45 minutes longer because I wanted it super crunchy.  Any leftover kale chips you have can be spritzed with a little oil and sprinkled with sea salt or the salt of your choice!  I will also try other veggies to powder like, carrots, bell peppers, spinach or anything else I can't get my little ones to eat.  For now I will start with a sprinkle in their smoothie and a sprinkle on their pasta.  Getting nutrients for them, one sprinkle at a time!  Goodbye!

"The Kimchi Chronicles" Part 2 Bindaetteok "Mung Bean Pancakes"

Mung Bean Goodness!

The one drawback to the PBS program "The Kimchi Chronicles," is that you have to watch it and write down the recipes or buy the book.  Well, I don't need another cookbook just yet, so I wrote down what she did and also went to my youtube reliable Maangchi at http://www.maangchi.com/ because she is the da bomb dot com!  Here is another favorite, mungbean pancakes also called Bindaetteok!  In the KC episode on beans they are at an open market eating a mungbean pancake the size of a dinner plate. It looked absolutely amazing and I will continue to tweak this recipe until I think it taste as good as it looked on TV.

The final product!

 

Soak Mung Beans overnight in fridge and drained before blending.

After blending with added spices, add veggies! I used fern(gosari), kimchi and green onions.  I added some sliced jalapenos on mine because I like it spicy.

Fry it up in a pan, brown on each side!

 

These flew off the plate! Delicious!
"For the batter soak 2 cups mung beans, 1/2 cup rice over night. Drain saving the water from the beans. Blend mung beans, rice, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 1/2 cups water blend until almost smooth.
Add veggies and if you want meat. Add the batter to a hot pan with oil. Then fry until crispy on each side."  Maangchi

Here's the video link because it's always better to see it demonstrated   http://www.maangchi.com/talk/topic/nokdu-bindaetteok-mung-bean-pancakes

Here is a link from The Kimchi Chronicles called Mrs Rhee's Bindaetteok  http://www.kimchichronicles.tv/recipes/mrs-rhee%E2%80%99s-bindaetteok-mung-bean-pancakes/

You can pick and choose to add or not add what you do and don't like between the two. I like the idea of the fish sauce instead of salt and a little soy sauce. Mrs. Rhee's has a great dipping sauce and sliced raw onions were a must for my family.  They added a little something special to the pancakes!
 

 

"The Kimchi Chronicles" Part 1...Bibimbap and Banana Milk

Now that I have turned off my cable service and am just using public tv, huluplus and Netflix I have been discovering new programs and documentaries and I love it!  I'm saving money and I learned that I could actually survive without cable.  While browsing huluplus I got reacquainted with "The Kimchi Chronicles," a wonderful program with host Marja and her husband, French chef Jean Georges.  I watched almost every episode and fell in love with Korea and Korean cooking. I suggest you give a look, you will learn a lot.  And Marja looks like Queen Latifah! Here is one of my favorites Bibimbap and Banana Milk. Enjoy!  I'll share the link at the bottom of the post as opposed to typing it out. I'm a little short on time because I have those 4 kids that like to have my "undivided" attention.  Ha!



The veggies...mung bean sprouts, fern, mushrooms, carrots and squash.  The fern can be found in an Asian market or just use whatever veggies you want. Not pictured is the soy protein and sauteed spinach.

I got the Dolsot pot at the Korean market, heated the pot on a low flame for 15 minutes, added sesame oil and then the rice and all the toppings. Put the lid on and let sit for 5 minutes so the rice can get nice and crunchy on the bottom.

I also added spinach and an over easy egg for the hubby. The meat like substance is soy protein.

All mixed with hot pepper paste added aka Gojuchang.

Banana milk is simple....take 1 pint of milk (your choice) I used almond milk, 1 ripe banana, 1 tsp vanilla extract, dash of cinnamon and a tsp of sugar. Blend and enjoy!

Recipe for Bibimbap http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/bibimbap

I love Maangchi!  Watch all her videos and you will learn a ton about Korean Cooking.

Back in the saddle...Mama's Macho Nachos anyone?

 

Hello, hello....Is anyone still out there?

Yes, I have been away. I have been busy. Life has taken over but I am back. It's been months since I have posted and I just kept saying to myself, "you need to blog, you need to blog" and finally I'm just doing it. We are several months into the school year, the girls are busy with ballet and The Nutcracker and our world just keeps on turning. I decided the best way to get back in the saddle would be to keep it simple and not try to catch up with all the recipes and things going on in life. So today, I give you a "killer" plate of nachos I concocted a few weeks ago with helpful suggestions from my facebook friends. It was simple, it was fast, it was delicious!! Enjoy!

 

Mama's Macho Nachos
Bag of your favorite restaurant style tortilla chips
One 8oz bag of Sharp Cheddar
2 lbs Organic Ground Beef
Taco Seasoning
Jar of Jalapeno peppers
One large Tomato Diced
Guacamole
Sour Cream
Taco Cheese Blend 8oz bag
8oz of Velveeta(the brick)
1 can of original Rotel
Chopped Cilantro and Scallions to Sprinkle on top or to taste

Brown your ground beef and then add your taco seasoning packet according to directions or use the large "bottle" of taco seasoning found at Costco or your local market. After browning the meat, I cover the it in taco seasoning, add about 3/4 or more of water to let the meat simmer a little and soak of the liquid, taste and add a dash more seasoning if needed.  While your meat simmers, cut up your Velveeta into one inch cubes, add to a saucepan and pour one can of Rotel in the pot. Let this cook on medium low until melted. Stir often.  When beef and cheese sauce is ready, place your chips on an over safe plate and sprinkle with the shredded sharp cheddar cheese.  Put in 350 degree oven until cheese melts, remove from oven (with oven mitt!) and add your beef, the shredded taco cheese blend, and then your cheese sauce.  Then, add your other toppings:  tomatoes, jalapenos, sour cream and guacamole, and then just a sprinkle of cilantro and green onion.  Additional toppings could be black beans, refried beans, olives, chicken, diced onions, etc...You can get as creative as you want with the toppings.  Serves 4-6 people.

 

 Bonus Blog Feature....a picture of my Thanksgiving Day cupcakes that I made with my daughters and nieces. The "drumstick" is a white chocolate bone and has a cornflake crust, the"peas and carrots" are Runts and Starbursts and the "mashed potatoes and gravy" are white frosting, a yellow Starbursts and caramel sauce!  The recipe can found in the book featured below.

Not the best quality photo but you get the idea, right?

 

Available at area bookstores and online retailers like Amazon. Karen Tack and Alan Richardson

There are some really cool cupcakes in this book for every occasion, I should know, I have 3 of their books.  And if anyone is wondering I don't get any kind of kickbacks for this, I'm not a big time blogger just yet but maybe the advertisers will come knocking one day so I can help pay this ballet tuition! Later!