So I was going to double down yesterday, but alas ended up doing so today to make up for Fridays skip…
So I just made some homemade almond milk. Mmmmm and srsly- so easy!
The only downfall is that since almond milk is so readily available and it’s not a huge cost savings to make on your own, there may not appear to be much motivation to do so-but the homemade stuff is soooo creamy and delicious and since it happens to be easy and not require a lot I have a feeling we will be making our own often in the future.

Homemade Vanilla Almond Milk

Grocery List
1 lb raw almonds (costs roughly $3.99)
4.5 C water
Flour Sack
if you like it sweetened like we do
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 swirls agave

Soak your almonds over night or 8-12 hrs-drain

Put in blender with water (if doing a full pound I’d recommend doing in two batches to make a bit easier).

Blend on high or liquify for about 20 seconds.

Put a strainer over a bowl (this photo from after my first blending batch)

Top with a flour sack and pour blender contents. You’ll hear the liquid start to drain through. The strainer isn’t a fully necessary step just gives your contents something to sit on…

Pick up the flour sack and squeeze all the milk out. This takes roughly 30 seconds to a minute…not long.

If sweetening-add 2 tsp vanilla extract and 3 swirls the size of the bowl of agave (or just play around with it to taste) stir up or quickly reblend. Pour into container and it’ll last about 2 wks in the fridge.

I cheated and tasted mine with some frozen girl scout thin mints ;)

Then as a bonus- take the left-over almond meal from the flour sack and lay out on a baking sheet. Bake for an hr at 350–it’ll start to clump up, drizzle with agave and eat with almond milk as a cereal or add to your favorite granola. I’m also going to look into a face/body scrub DIY – if I find a good one. I’ll post that too ;)

Carrot Ginger Dressing/Dip

Grocery List

1 large carrot, peeled + roughly chopped
1 large shallot, peeled + roughly chopped
2 TBS ginger (freshly chopped or ginger juice)
1 TBS sweet white miso
2 TBS rice wine vinegar
1 TBS roasted sesame seed oil
1/4 C grapeseed oil
2 TBS water

Pulse the carrots, shallots + ginger pieces in a food processor (or blender) until finely chopped. Scrape down the sides + add miso, vinegar and sesame seed oil. Whiz together and while it’s blending, slowly add grapeseed oil + water.

Drizzle on any salad and eat as a dip for fresh veggies. Easy peasy.

Everyone should have at least one good smoothie (or smeezy peezy as we called them in ’02 at our ha well smeezy peezy par-tays) concoction in their quiver. This one has been the damiano crew’s for the past few years…

Smeezy Peezy/Morning Standard Smoothie

Grocery List
Sambazon – original smoothie packs (1 per persons worth)
Fresh strawberries
Banana
Frozen mango + blueberries
Three handfuls spinach
1 TBS hemp seeds
1 TBS flax seeds
2 tsp bee pollen (we buy local pollen from whole foods)
1 TBS vanilla protein powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
Splash OJ
And almond milk until its the consistency you want-roughly 1C per person’s worth

Mix all together in a blender and blend away-any frozen or fresh fruits work, play with your portions to figure out how many of which fruits works well for your tastes and however many smoothies you’re making. Enjoy!

So meant to make this two days ago, but got around to it tonight and it was good. I think because I didn’t rinse my noodles inbetween boiling and tossing, it gave them a semi-starchy texture/taste…but :) we all 3 ate it up.

Ginger Zucchini Pasta

Grocery List:
rice noodles (i used a white rice noodle – spaghetti style)
1/2 block firm tofu, drained and cubed into bite-sized pieces
2TBS coconut oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 zucchinis, halved and sliced thinly
1 tsp minced garlic
shoyu to taste
4 tsp ginger [i use ginger people]
sesame oil to taste

Cook pasta, according to directions.
Meanwhile in a cast iron skillet, over medium high heat, saute onions until soft in coconut oil. Once soft, add zucchini w/ a pinch of salt and garlic, saute 2 more minutes. Dash w/ shoyu to taste. Toss w/ pasta, ginger juice, sesame oil and serve!

[i forgot to get a photo of ours, but here’s rwd’s portion] ;) he gave me the ‘mmmmmmmmmm’and ate it all up!

So last night I hosted mama’s night – a monthly: venting, let’s eat good food, drink wine, let our babes play, and ask all the weird questions about our children or our own bodies that aren’t socially acceptable to bring up over coffee necessarily ;) group of some of my friends who are mamas of bebes ranging from currently preggo to just over 2 yrs old…. So knowing that a lot of them feeding 2, breastfeeding, or just constantly worn out – I wasn’t comfortable going full on vegan dinner ~ so I went with dessert. mmmm, my favorite. This one is super easy and tasty and I could make earlier in the day while rwd took his nap.

Apricot Coins

1C carob chips
1/8C maple syrup
40 dried turkish apricots
40 raw almonds

In a double broiler (or I used a glass bowl on top of a pot) heat carob chips + maple syrup until heated through. Cover and turn off heat for 5-10 mins allowing chips to fully melt. Meanwhile, using the bottom of a cup, flatten apricots to 1/4″ thick. Spread melted carob/syrup mix on top of apricots + press raw almond in the center. Voila. Couldn’t be quicker or simpler. Allow to harden (either at room temp if you’ve got the time, or chilled if you’re in more of a rush). The protein and vitamin E in the almonds is an added bonus to this delicious and not too sweet treat. Enjoy!

So last night I had intentions of making “wish” tacos (tofu over fish) but pregnancy got the best of me and I was lazy so we ordered in Proto’s ;) so today will be a double down day–up first Vegan French Toast. This stuff was good-like couldn’t tell the difference between it and the real deal, our only downfall was that since it was last minute we couldn’t find a good thick vegan bread at Sunflower this morning but with some prep time I think that would be easily remedied. Again, finding vegan bread isn’t hard but in a pinch this morning thick cut was-so we just used a normal slice bread.

Vegan French Toast

Grocery List
1/2 block firm tofu
1.5 tsp cinnamon
2 TBS agave
1/2 C almond milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBS earth balance coconut spread
Chopped nuts (we used pecans) or sliced almonds

Vegan bread

Coconut spread or coconut oil for frying

Blend all ingredients together until smooth and creamy, adding a touch more milk if needed. Dip both sides of bread in batter, dunking just until barely soaked through-remove excess batter and sprinkle with nuts, pressing gently so they stick to battered bread. Fry over medium heat until browned on both sides. Enjoy with earth balance butter, maple syrup or almond butter. [I ate mine w/ ginger syrup, I must be on a ginger kick or something lately]

It srsly tasted exactly the same as “real” French toast and is such an easy quick breakfast. I’d love to try it with my orange/almond French toast recipe–because I like the cruelty free aspects, however am not a huge fan of the soy overload and using tofu…so sort of a toss-up. Do they make an almond based version of tofu?! Hmmm, I’ll search for a recipe and maybe attempt that…

Rwd enjoyed it ;)

Succotash

Grocery list:
1 tbs Earth Balance coconut spread
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 red onion, diced
1 tsp minced garlic
12oz frozen edamame, thawed (many recipes call for frozen lima beans, I just happen to prefer edamame)
1 C cherry tomatoes, halves (I used yellow grape tomatoes because thats what we had on hand-it’d be a bit more visually appealing with the red cherry’s though…)
2 tbs chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
2 tbs chopping fresh basil
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
Drizzle good quality thick balsamic vinegar (we use this one)

In a large cast iron skillet – heat coconut spread + olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute until tender and just starting to brown, about 7 minutes. Add garlic, saute an additional minute. Stir in edamame, saute another 5 minutes. Add corn and tomatoes, saute until just heated through. Remove from heat, add balsamic vinegar, parsley + basil – give a good toss. I prefer this served chilled, so just prior to serving drizzle w/ thick balsamic. Enjoy!

GROCERY LIST
1/2C Earth Balance coconut spread
3/4C almond butter
3/4C vegan animal cookies crumbs
1/4C maple syrup
1C carob chips
1/4C almond milk
1/4C chopped pecans

TO MAKE
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners
Set aside.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Stir in the almond butter, cookie crumbs, and sugar – mix well.
Remove the mixture from the heat.
Evenly divide the mixture, approximately 2 tablespoons per cup, among the muffin cups.
Combine the chocolate and milk in another pan.
Stir over medium heat until the chocolate has melted.
Spoon the chocolate evenly over the peanut butter mixture.
Top with chopped nuts.
Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours before serving.