Friday 15 January 2010

Almond Milk & Wheatgrass...just not together...

I bought a tray of wheatgrass at one of the health food stores yesterday.  $12.99 plus a $3 deposit for the tray.  I brought it home and put it in the little green house outside my door.  This belongs to my friend, and I've been keeping it and his plants for him while he's in transition mode, so I didn't even think of using it because it's not "mine"...but I just moved things around and the wheatgrass has a home.  I hear it likes it kinda cold (but not frosty) which it certainly isn't.  We've had the usual West Coast winter...rain instead of snow.


Anyway, went out there and clipped a handful and found that it didn't make much, and it took a couple more good chunks to get a 2 oz shot of wheatgrass, and then I did it again for my boyfriend. 

We've heard that it tastes terrible, but that just wasn't our experience.  We loved its lawn-y sweetness.  And guess who kept following me around when I had handfuls... my dog Gracie.  I gave her a blade or two and she loved it, so I poured out the couple drops left over and she licked that.

We sure loved it.  To both of us, it felt like from our chins to our chests, that something good was going on...it felt clean and green in there.

I thought I'd waited long enough, about 30 minutes, before trying other food after my shot, but I got that wave of nausea about ten minutes after having a bit of almond milk.  So don't do dat!

In any case, we're sold!  Gonna buy another few trays of it, then rotate the 'crops' until they are no more...then gonna plant seeds and do it all again.

So back to the almond milk...yep, it's been a week of 'firsts'... I made almond milk.  I've never done that before, but needed the resulting pulp for a recipe.  I don't have a 'nut milk bag' so I bought some cheesecloth, and that worked, but was messy.  Coulda been my amateur technique.  I ran it though the strainer twice because upon my first sip, discovered it was still grainy.  With a Vitamix and a strainer, there's no need for that, right?  Anyway, a bloody mess, really!  Look at that photo!

While I was at the health food store for the wheatgrass, I asked about nut milk bags, and they didn't have any, but recommended a little mesh produce bag, and it's virtually the same dang thing.  Here is what nut milk bags look like on the excalibur website... and here is what I bought, meant to store produce and keep it fresher, longer.


I'll use the two for produce and the one laying flat for making almond milk...yay.  Steve loves it in his tea.  All three of those mesh bags fit in that little red pouch, which fits into the palm of my hand, and the whole business cost $8.99.


So here is the Brigitte Mars recipe I used to make Almond Milk:  (These directions can be followed to make cashew, hazelnut/filbert, sesame seed, sunflower seed, walnut, or pecan milk.)

Yield: 1 quart

1 cup almonds, soaked overnight then rinsed
1 quart water
1 tbs honey or 2 dates, soaked 20 minutes (I chose dates)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and liquify.  Strain the liquid through a nut milk bag into another container.  (Save pulp for other recipes.)  Store the unused milk in the refrigerator, where it will keep for four to five days.

*****

In other news, lesseeeeeeee.... made a failed batch of kale chips...don't know what the devil happened, but they were not good at all.  Steve liked them, and has finished the whole jar of them, which makes me do two things:  roll my eyes, and wonder if I've lost my taste for them, since they only seemed ruined to my palate. Nah... I musta screwed up.

Tonight we enjoyed collard rolls and kale salad, and then I made us some 'Immunity Tea' (Kimberly Snyder.)
This tea is to be enjoyed all winter, to fend off colds, whether you are just getting one, in the middle of one, or living with someone who has one...this will help boost your immunity.  This tea's got your back!


Instructions for a small teapot:
Turn the kettle off just before it starts to boil
Pour the water onto about 2 Tbs of grated ginger
Let sit for a couple minutes
Squeeze 1/2 lemon into the teapot
Give a small shake (one!) of cayenne into the teapot
Add a packet of Stevia or squirt in a bit of agave, to taste.
Let sit for a couple minutes, and then enjoy.

We found it super-comforting and can see how it would ease what ails ya!

****

So onto things that make me happy...thrill me, even...


The other day, I noticed there were no pens around anymore, and said to Steve, "We should go get another package of those pens."  He agreed, and we moved on with our day, forgetting all about going.  From later in that day up until 10 minutes ago, we started finding pens all over our apartment, pens we hadn't seen before.  Pens from other people, out of the blue...the insurance guy... now I know they're kinda known for their pens, but it's hit and miss with our guy, could go a year without a pen, but last night, he gave us two! We just looked at each other and laughed!  It's raining pens!  Hallelujah! It's raining pens! Hey hey!  Well having a pen handy is a civilized and simple pleasure, but the thrill is that this felt like a direct manifestation.  We've been playing with abundance and law of attraction, and this was a small but potent sign that all is well!

The other thing that makes me happy, is seeing my little dollar store beaded change purse.  It's just so...ME. :)

Have a healthy & beautiful weekend, Rawkers!

xo
Rawkin'

8 comments:

Zucchini Breath said...

Congrats on making nut milk. It's so good and you can ferment it into delicious cheese. nom.
A hint, don't try to strain it into a glass. line a big bowl with cheese cloth or hold your bag over a big bowl and pour the milk in to filter it. After you have squeezed the liquid out from the fiber, pour it from your big bowl into a glass or a jar for storage. I have a fine mesh sieve that I sometimes strain it through before putting it in the bag, makes it go through faster.

Cheers! now you can have milk and cookies!

Audrey said...

That ginger tea/drink sounds yummy. I think I may make some just with out the cayenne (I don't have any).

Lisa Viger said...

wow, i love that little change purse! ... i'm going to do up some tees like that (probably embroidery rather than beads) ...

yeah, dogs and cats love the wheat grass .. i've tried growing it but the cats always chew it down to nubs before i can get to it ...

xoxo

Rawkin' said...

Hi Zucchini Breath,
Thanks! Do you have a post about fermenting nut milk into cheese? I'd be interested in reading about it!

I initially strained my almond milk into a big bowl, and then transferred it to a jar. Then when I drank some and noticed it was grainy, I used the make-shift mess you see in that pathetic pic! lol!

I love that you said now I can have milk and cookies! You're so right! I make these wicked little apple flax cookies that would be perfect!

cheers,
xo
Rawkin'

Rawkin' said...

Hi Audrey,

Thanks for visiting my blog! :)
I just had another 'immuni-tea' as I've come to call it... and it really is quite satisfying. I'm sure it would be lovely as well without the cayenne, which gives it a warming kick.

Best,
xo
Rawkin'

Rawkin' said...

Hi Lisa,

Isn't that little purse so lovely? :) I would love to see a tee-shirt done like that,wow! I've always wanted to put some 'Gram Parsons' type of embroidery on a pair of jeans for stage wear, you know, just down one leg or something. Thanks for inspiring me!

Lol on the wheatgrass! I know! My pets are totally following me around!

xo
Rawkin'

Zucchini Breath said...

"Do you have a post about fermenting nut milk into cheese"
~Weee-elll...

I make my nut milk or paste as thin (think kefir) or thick (think cream cheese) as I want it. In an loosely lidded jar I put it in my dehydrator at 95F (remove the racks and just stand the jar in the middle of the unit) overnight. In the morning it should be bubbly. Stir it up and you have a nice tangy kefir. or sour cream. If you started with a thick paste, then you have a nice tangy cream cheese. The longer you leave it the tangier it gets (same lacto bacillus as in sauerkraut) I have dehydrated the thick paste further and then frozen the result and grated it on top of raw pizza with excellent results.
http://bigrawblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/raw-vegan-fermented-cashew-sour-cream.html

No apologies for length :)

Rawkin' said...

AWESOME, Zucchini, Just AWESOME!

Thank you! :)

xo
Rawkin'

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