Tag: gordon ramsay almond milk

Brookies

I’ve just gotta tell you guys about what happened to me on Saturday. Or more accurately put- what I did to myself– ha.

You are going to see where this is going immediately and I am sure it won’t be that funny to you since it was more of a ‘had-to-be-there’ scenario. But I am so utterly embarrassed that I have to get the shame off my chest.

I was making some almond milk with my daughter, who was sitting on the counter, helping me add things to the blender. Well, I got the almond milk strained and put back in the blender to add a couple flavorings- a lil’ honey and a touch of vanilla. And it doesn’t take much to mix the honey and vanilla into the almond milk so I generally just give it a whirl on the lowest setting for a few seconds. Done. Ha yeaaaaaaa, well ya see, I was feeling mighty cocky that day. And I might have been in a bit of a hurry too. So I threw the blender container back on the motor, checked the dial to make sure it was down to speed 1 (the lowest) and thought,”I don’t need to put the top back on. It won’t go more than 1/2-inch up the sides up the container. I really don’t need it.” DUMB. The container was just 3 feet on the other side of the kitchen. Lazy, lazy, lazy. And DUMB! Jeez.

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How to Make Almond Milk

Not too long ago I came into possession of a Vitamix. For months I went back and forth as to whether it was worth the expense or not, whether I would actually use it or not, or whether to bring it up to my Husband or not… haha I fully expected to get shot down by him immediately since after all, I was asking $500 for a mixer. So I waited until the night I gave birth to my son and then asked him hehe I’m not even kidding- I asked and ordered that sucker the very night I gave birth. Pretty calculating, huh? ha I mean he couldn’t really say no… he was in Afghanistan and I was alone in Germany laboring over the birth of his son. But that’s a whole different story.

Sadly, it took my Vitamix 2 months to get to me way over here across the Atlantic. But once it finally arrived at my doorsteps, I ripped it open, started it up, and it hasn’t had a day to rest since.

Best buy EVER.

I make smoothies every day and I feel great! It is the perfect way to quickly and easily counteract all that sugar and butter I also consume every day… but with my smoothies I always use my homemade almond milk as the base. I think smoothies made with water are gross, no matter how low cal they are. Yuck. So I go with almond milk and I make my own instead of purchasing it from the store because the store bought kind is made with various preservatives, thickeners, etc. that I simply don’t want in my belly. And to encourage all of you to do the same, I wanted to show you how very easy it is to make homemade almond milk:

Start with 4 cups water and 1 cup plain ol’, skin on, un-salted, un-roasted almonds. Got that? PLAIN. And you want to set and cover them in a bowl to sit overnight. This allows them to soften and make life easier for your blender. They break down better in your belly that way too. You can go so far as to sprout the almonds, but I just soak them overnight because of time constraints. Some people also rinse the nuts after soaking as well. I usually just throw all the liquid in there.

The next part of the process is very straight-forward: blend your almonds and water. The nuts won’t completely break down, there will be lots of leftover fiber in there. You will have to strain that out. Unless, of course, you want “pulp” with your almond milk. If that’s the case then more power to ya. I always strain mine though. I bought a cheap milk-nut bag off of Amazon. So cheap that it is actually ripping at the seam already… good thing it wasn’t a big investment.

If you want plain almond milk then you’re all set- the milk is done! But if you are like me and want to sweeten and flavor things up a bit, this is where you can add your honey, stevia, agave, etc. I also add some vanilla. I like a strong flavor so I go with 2 tsp, if you just want it to be a subtle flavor than go with 1 tsp.

Serves: makes about 5 cups

4 cups water
1 cup almonds
2 tablespoons honey (preferably raw)
2 tsp vanilla extract

Place water and almonds in a medium sized bowl; cover and let sit overnight.
Blend almonds and water on high in blender, until well-processed. Pieces of fiber will remain throughout.
Strain almond-mixture through nut-milk bag or cheesecloth, squeezing to extract as much juice as possible.
Return almond milk to blender and add honey and vanilla. Blend on low to combine.
Store in refrigerator. Best used within 4 days.

Tagged as:
almonds,
beverage,
drink,
healthy,
nuts

What to do with Leftover Almond Milk Pulp?

Make Almond Pulp Cookies of course!

Yesterday I shared with you How to Make Homemade Almond Milk. Today I am going to share with you the one issue I have with homemade almond milk- the leftover pulp. What a waste of some very expensive nuts! Not only is it wasting money to just throw it in the garbage, but it’s wasting precious nutrients and fiber that your body can use! I made it my mission to find a great recipe that puts to use all that leftover almond pulp. And here it is-

No Bake, Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chunk Almond Cookies!

These little bite-sized treats are not only delicious but they are actually good for you! They are the perfect excuse to eat a cookie. You can tell yourself that they are healthy and that you are helping your body by consuming them and you would be speaking truthfully!

Peanut Butter– Full of healthy fats and protein.
Honey– Numerous health benefits, especially if in RAW form.
Almond Pulp Flour– Fiber galore!
Dark Chocolate– Hello antioxidants!

See? I’m not pulling your leg here. These are GOOD for you!

AND gluten-free and vegan : ) [unless you’re a vegan and don’t consume honey, of course…]

At this point some of you might start to get a little sad because you don’t want to or can’t make almond milk so you won’t be able to make the almond pulp flour to make these… that is okay! You don’t need almond pulp flour to make these almond cookies. You can head over to the health food aisle in your grocery store and buy almond flour/meal instead. Or if it’s not readily available at your grocer’s, you can buy some online. I’m sure other flours such as oat flour or coconut flour would work well with this recipe too. But not regular all-purpose flour- I think they would be too dry that way. And… not healthy.

I guess I should also tell you how to make almond pulp flour… well, it’s really easy! You just break your leftover almond milk pulp into as small of pieces as you can, placing them on a baking sheet. Then you can either dehydrate them for 4-8 hours on 100°F in your oven OR dehydrate them in a dehydrator if you have one. I actually just leave mine in the oven, with it completely turned off, for like a day or two and let them do their own thing. Once they are rock hard and completely dry, you just process them in your blender or food processor until they make a fine powder. That’s it. Pretty simple.

Last Summer I made a very similar version of these. They had oatmeal, ground flaxseed, shredded coconut, as well as peanut butter and chocolate chips. So my version here is much more basic. And not to toot my own horn or anything, but I truly prefer these better. The texture is better because there is no oatmeal fiddling with it (I hate chomping on raw oats..) and the peanut butter flavor is more dominant. I minimized the honey in this recipe so that it provides only sweetness and not flavor. These are almost like healthy little peanut butter cups in ball form. So GOOD!

Depending on the peanut butter you use, you may need to increase the amount of honey you use to make the mixture stick together when squeezed so the balls will form and not crumble. You don’t want that.

I used regular store-bought honey because it is more loose than my raw honey. I figured I would have to add less honey that way to get them to stick together.

3 Tb peanut butter
1 Tb honey
¼ tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
¼ cup almond pulp flour (or regular almond flour)
1 Tb chopped dark chocolate

In a medium bowl, mix peanut butter, honey, vanilla, salt, and almond pulp flour together until thoroughly combined.
Stir in chopped chocolate.
Roll into tablespoon sized balls; serve or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Depending on the peanut butter you use, you may need more honey to help the cookies stick together. I would add a teaspoon of honey at a time until the mixture starts to hold together when squeezed.

Make Almond Pulp Cookies of course!

No Bake, Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chunk Almond Cookies!

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