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Kristen Helmstetter

(Brisa Starr)

almond milk

Food Journal – My Fitness Pal App for iPhone

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I’m so glad to see the excitement surrounding the food combining app for iPhone that I blogged about here. Thanks for chiming in to let me know about your thoughts on it.

As many of you know, one of the ways I stay on track with my eating is to write it all down. I usually use my “notes” app on iPhone, but lately I’ve been tinkering with an app called My Fitness Pal. It’s great for tracking food and exercise, and it helps you count calories. I’m not a big calorie counter, as most raw fooders aren’t, but I do like to make sure I’m taking in enough while breastfeeding. I thought it was neat that the app had the calorie info for Boku bar! Turns out, users input data that’s not in there, so some other Boku bar loving person must have done that. I’ve also found Sun Warrior protein powder in there. :)

Today’s food intake list is big! I just felt hungry most of the day so I kept eating. :) It’s a High Raw, All Vegan, All Organic day

Breakfast: Teeccino with raw almond milk (recipe here). I waited about 20 minutes and then had a few cups of organic watermelon. I’m a total watermelon nut – so now that it’s in season, expect to see a lot of it in my food journal. About a half hour later, I had raw granola with raw almond milk.

Lunch: Watermelon. Waited a half hour and then had cucumber boats with brazil nut garlic cheese sauce and a Boku bar. [Read more…] about Food Journal – My Fitness Pal App for iPhone

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How Raw Are Raw Almonds Really? My Raw Almond Saga

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As you may know, it’s hard to find raw almonds these days due to the pasteurization requirements that are now in effect.

So, you can imagine my delight when I found raw almonds available from Blue Mountain Organics. According to the company’s website, the almonds are from Italy and they’re whole, raw, and organic. Completely unpasteurized. I bought a lot of them because the website offers quantity discounts. I was very happy with these almonds. The flavor is intensely almond-y. Apparently it’s due to a higher concentration of almond oil. Whatever the reason… I love them.

I blogged about these amazing almonds and the delicious homemade raw organic almond milk I make from them weekly. I mentioned in the post that I have a weird addiction to taking the skins off the almonds (although I never have time to so I usually don’t do it).

A while later, I received an email from a reader who questioned the “rawness” of the almonds because I was able to take the skins off. Apparently, there are a couple of bloggers who have written about a raw almond “test” where if the skins are able to come off easily, they are not truly raw.

“Crap.” – I thought to myself. Hmmm… what the heck… here I thought I was drinking raw almond milk and it turns out that I might not be. [Read more…] about How Raw Are Raw Almonds Really? My Raw Almond Saga

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Cinnamon Banana Bread Squares – Raw Vegan Recipe W/ Almond Milk Pulp (and Food Journal)

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In my recent post where I showed you how to make your own homemade raw vegan almond milk, I mentioned that I’d also share with you a recipe that uses the leftover almond nut pulp. There are a number of things you can do with nut pulp from dehydrating it and grinding it into flour to using it in homemade raw vegan bars to cakes to cookies, etc. Today, I’m showing you how to make Cinnamon Banana Bread Squares.

You’ll need the pulp from the almond milk recipe as well as:
4 bananas
1 teaspoon cinnamon
water to process

Put bananas and almond pulp in your food processor.

Add cinnamon and any other flavors you want. Then, process (add a little water if needed)

Put mixture on a dehydrator tray fitted with a non-stick ParaFlexx sheet.
Using an offset spatula (my best friend in the kitchen) spread the mixture.
Put in your dehydrator at 130-140 degrees F and dehydrate for about an hour. 

Reduce the temperature to 105 degrees F and dehydrate for 6-8 hours.
Flip onto a dehydrator tray without the non-stick sheet (shown above).
Your house will smell like fresh baked banana bread.

Score into squares. Continue dehydrating until you reach desired dryness.
The longer you dehydrate, the harder they’ll become so if you want them like soft
banana bread, don’t be afraid to cut the drying time short. 

This picture shows the two sides of the bread. One side is shiny and the other is flat.
These are sooooo good!
Saturday 
All Raw – All Vegan – All Organic
All Delicious – All Nutritious

Supplements: vitamin D2, digestive enzymes, chlorella, wheat grass tablets, probiotics, calcium, vitamin B12, vegan DHA

Grapefruit

Pure Bar

Large bowl granola mixed with chia pudding plus almond milk

Green juice: cucumber, celery, baby peppers, collard greens, bok choy, lime

Big Mama Collard Green Wrap: garlic shallot cheese spread, home grown sprouts (directions for growing sprouts here), fresh basil, diced tomatoes, shredded carrots, chopped romaine, minced olives, and julienned orange bell pepper

Chia pudding
Rawtella

Pure bar (brownie flavor) with Rawtella on top – umm… yum!

2 dried apricots

Apple

Sun Warrior and Hemp protein shake

Exercise: 25 minutes on elliptical and 10 minutes going up and down the stairs wearing Kamea ;)

Sunday
Mostly Raw – All Vegan – All Organic
All Delicious – All Nutritious

Green juice: cucumber, zucchini, celery, lime, collard greens, tomato, basil

Apple
Carrots with Tahini Almond Butter Sauce

Purple Passion Smoothie

Small Salad and steamed vegetables at Calistro Bistro. We went to a local restaurant where they have some vegan options and everything is organic. We sat outside… here is Kamea playing with a packet of sugar and her book.

Cinnamon Yam Soup (this is a part raw / part cooked recipe – super easy and super delish. Who wants the recipe?)
Large romaine salad with carrots, tomato, basil, and Tahini Almond Butter Sauce as the dressing

Blue Mountain Organics Carob Crunch Bar. Pretty good… If you like carob. ;)

I also made my own raw protein bars today. They’re in the dehydrator now. I tell ya… I’ve been using my dehydrator non-stop for weeks! Love it!

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How to Make Raw Vegan Almond (Nut) Milk – Step By Step

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I love raw vegan nut milks. Currently, my favorite is a simple almond milk with a hint of vanilla added (recipe and instructions below). It’s… Unsweetened – Smooth – Refreshing – Satiating – Nourishing – Nutritious – And, Super Delicious. It’s easy to do and I find myself making a batch about 2-3 times a week so I stay stocked.

Every raw foodie should always have a quart of raw vegan nut milk in his / her refrigerator because apart from the great elements noted above, it’s versatile and can be used in many ways such as:

~ Drinking by the glass – yum – what an awesome snack! Want it to be more filling? Enjoy it alongside a couple of raw cookies (cookie recipe here)
~ Adding to green smoothies (in place of water) for a creamy texture and to help take the “green” edge off.
~ Make warm chocolate with it (that’s instead of “hot” chocolate) by blending it with raw cacao powder
~ Using in soups, salad dressings, or desserts such as ice cream, mousse, and pudding
~ Umm – hello! – with raw granola! One of my favorite ways to enjoy it.
~ For those of you in the transition route to raw (or with family members who aren’t ready to jump into 100% raw) try these ideas: let them eat their regular boxed cereal but replace the milk with fresh raw almond milk. Or, make a batch of cooked oat groats. Let them cool and toss in some raisins for sweetness. Then, serve a bowl of this comfort love with a “raw almond milk moat” around it.

Below is my favorite recipe right now. Simple and fun to make.
My recipe is unsweetened and made with almonds. But! The exciting thing is that there are so many variations that you can do so let me detail some of those before getting to my recipe.

Different Nuts or Seeds – I make mine with Raw Organic Italian almonds which (almonds) lend a light sweetness naturally on their own. But, you can go for a more earthy raw milk with Brazil nuts. Or focus on omegas and make a milk with walnuts or hemp seeds. Looking for extra calcium? Try sesame seed milk. Want a more decadent milk? Try pecans. You can also make it with sunflower seeds (vitamin E) or pumpkin seeds (iron, zinc), although these aren’t my favorite for flavors in a raw milk, they’re chock full of excellent nutrients. Cashews make a wonderful, neutral tasting milk that is super creamy. You can also use macadamia nuts if you’re looking for a more “Hawaiin” flavor. ;) Perhaps pistachios or hazelnuts or pine nuts are more your style – have at it you Glittering Gastronomist! Or… mix them all up and make a Mutt Milk!

Most nuts and seeds require some soaking to either a) increase the digestibility of them by removing enzyme inhibitors or b) to make them easier to blend. I would probably soak all of the options noted above, based on those two reasons, with the exception of hemp seeds. They don’t have the enzyme issue and they’re very soft, easy to blend.

Exciting Flavors – I’m partial to raw vanilla powder, but there are so many others available. You can use any extract that you can get your hot little hands on. Try any of the following: orange, coconut, mint, lemon, almond, hazelnut, cherry, rum, maple, or more! And, ehem…. chocolate milk (using raw cacao powder and a sweetener noted below for fantastic raw vegan chocolate milk).

Sweeteners – My current affair is with an unsweetened raw milk, but as I noted, the almonds are already a little sweet on their own. If I were making it with another type of nut or seed, I might add a sweetener and any of the following can be great for that: raw agave nectar, raw coconut crystals, stevia, dates, prunes, raisins, etc.

Salt – You can add a pinch of salt to enhance the flavor of the raw milk.

With all of these options there are like a gajillion varieties of raw vegan nut milk that you can make. You’ll never get bored!

So let’s get to the recipe I promised! You’ll need 2 cups of raw almonds, water for soaking the almonds plus 5 cups of water for blending, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder.

Start with whole, raw, organic almonds. I bought mine
from Blue Mountain Organics.
Put 2 cups of almonds in a bowl and fill with filtered water.
Note: soaking nuts and seeds can leave unsightly stains (usually temporary). I had just finished
using this bowl for soaking other nuts and decided to use it again before putting in the dishwasher.
Let them soak on your counter overnight (or for at least 12 hours) and if desired, remove the skins.
Not necessary, I just can’t help myself sometimes – it’s kind of addicting. I also change the water after about
6 hours or so (if I’m awake), but that’s not really necessary either.
Drain the water from the almonds, give them a quick rinse,
and place the soaked almonds in your blender with 5 cups of new, filtered water.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of Raw Vanilla Powder (or extract)
Blend on high speed for about a minute.
Get out your nut milk bag to strain the milk and a big container (or bowl) to strain the milk into.
(You can also use a paint strainer bag from the hardware store like I have here.)
Pour the milk into the nut milk bag, over the bowl, and help it along by squeezing it.
Stay tuned for my next blog post where I show you a great recipe for the leftover almond pulp!
Voila! 6 cups of awesome, healthy, delicious, nutritious Raw Vegan Almond Milk!
This will stay fresh in the fridge for up to about 5 days.
Remember… you can use a Sharpie on your glass mason jars. It easily scrubs off with a sponge and water.

UPDATE: I’ve been buying my raw organic almonds from Bremnar Farms Roadside Stand recently. More info in this blog post about the validity of almonds and their true rawness. Check it out.

What are your favorite raw vegan nut milk flavors? Do you make your own raw vegan nut milks frequently? If not… what’s stopping you?

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