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 ;)

All organic veggie lentil soup! Super easy & nutritious! Fresh ingredients are always better… But canned/frozen always works too.

- mixed lentils (2 cans worth)
- pinto beans (1 can)
- corn (1/2 can)
- zucchini/squash (1 green, 1 yellow)
- carrots (1-2 stalks)
- kale & mustard greens (1 1/2 cup chopped total)
- garlic cloves smashed (3 cloves)
- veggie broth (2 cups)
- diced tomatoes (1 can)
- dash of cumin
- pepper flakes (add more to ur desired spice level)
- dash of black pepper & sea salt
- dash of garlic powder

Combine all ingredients except for greens and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for about 10 min & add kale/mustard greens. Simmer for 5 min… And voila! Ready to eat solo or with some whole wheat bread to dip. Top with some shredded cheese if you prefer :)

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!

Easy Sunday night dinner:

Peanut noodles with tofu and vegetables!!

8 oz. linguini
16 oz. frozen stir fry veggies
1/4 c. Sugar
1/4 c. Creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
Tofu, pan fried or baked
Chopped peanuts and fresh cilantro for garnish (optional)
1. In a 4-qt Dutch oven cook linguini, adding veggies during the last 2 minutes, drain
2. For peanut sauce, in a small saucepan combine sugar, peanut butter, soy sauce, water, oil, garlic, & crushed red pepper; cook and stir until sugar is dissolved.
3. In large bowl, combine linguini w veggies, peanut sauce, and cooked tofu, toss to coat :) if desired garnish with chopped peanuts and cilantro. This is the best peanut sauce recipe I’ve ever used!! Yumm.

Tonight’s dinner: hummus and homemade pita chips and beet and quinoa tabouli!

Keegan roasted the whole head of garlic in tin foil in the oven for the hummus, which I’ve never done before and it was delicious! It gave the hummus more of a nutty flavor and took away a little of the bite, I would recommend trying it if you have the time. He also seasoned and baked his own pita chips! Now for the tabouli. You need:
1 cup quinoa
2 c water or veggie broth (I used broth)
Sea salt
1 large beet
1 pint mixed cherry tomatoes
1/4 c red onion, finely chopped
3oz. feta cheese (optional)
Pepper
Juice of one lime or lemon
6 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped mint
1. Cook the beet. The recipe said to cook it whole, peel and dice later (I assume so you don’t cook all the nutrients away, but I missed that part and peeled and chopped mine and then cooked it; it certainly cooked faster, and it was still delicious.
2. Cook quinoa in veggie broth or water, fluff, remove from heat and toss in beet - it gives it a beautiful pink color!
3. Add the cherry tomatoes (halved), feta (crumbled) and red onion (diced)
4. Prepare a vinaigrette by combining the juice from the lemon or lime, sea salt, pepper, parsley and mint - dress the salad and top with toasted pine nuts! This salad was so delicious!!! Highly recommended. :)

Started my morning off easy with a smoothie:

1. Chobani greek yogurt
2. Fresh strawberries, fresh peaches, and bananas
3. Protein powder
4. Ice

Mix it all together and your on your way

Good morning! We started our day off this morning with our first homemade smoothie. We’re custom to pouring a glass of some kind of superfood from the grocery store before leaving for work, but thought since we have the time this morning, we’d customize it a bit.

1 orange
1 banana
1/2 C Coconut Milk
A splash of orange juice
1 scoop Super Green Fruit & Veggie
Ice

While preparing, I had a drooling partner down at my feet, one of our pups, Keith. I swear in a past life, he was a vegetarian. He LUVS the fruits and veggies we allow him. I didn’t want to leave him out, so we made him and his sister Tina a little smoothie as well : )

1 banana
2 heaping tablespoons goat’s milk yogurt
1/2 C water
Ice

Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers:
2 cans cannellini white beans, drained
1 large sweet potato (about 2 c)
2 tbsp tahini
2 tsp maple or agave syrup
1 tsp Cajun seasoning (or another fav spice)
1/4 c. Wheat flour
Plentiful panko crumbs
Oil for pan (I used sunflower)
1. Bake sweet potato, peel, place in large mixing bowl
2. Add drained beans to mixing bowl, mash beans and potato together
3. Mash in seasoning and flour - season to taste. Your mixture will be quite soft and moist, but you should be able to form a patty, add more flour if needed
4. Heat 1 tbsp oil in pan at high heat
5. Form a patty and coat in panko crumbs - give them a good thick coating. Drop patty in pan and cook until browned on both sides (you could also bake)
6. Transfer cooked patties to a paper towel, cool a few minutes
7. Serve on toasted bun with lotsa toppings! I used avocado and lettuce.
Note: this patty does kind of fall apart as you eat it, but that’s okay because it’s so yummy! Keegan said “This is the best veggie burger I’ve ever had!” :) and that’s a side of my first ever kale chips on the plate too! This has been my fav recipe of the 30 days so far!

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!

Quinoa Taco Salad

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup quinoa cooked in two cups water (I use a rice cooker to do this; here’s how.)

Fluff the cooked quinoa with a fork. Scoop into a bowl. Ingredients:
Extra virgin olive oil, as needed
Juice from 2 juicy limes
Sea salt, to taste
2-3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro or parsley
1 half small red or purple onion, diced fine
1 small yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, diced fine
1 cup roasted corn kernels (I used frozen, roasted on a cookie sheet for 6-7 minutes, then cooled)
1 large head of crisp romaine lettuce, washed, dried, sliced crosswise
Gluten-free tortilla chips
1 large avocado, pitted, peeled, diced

DIRECTIONS:

Drizzle the cooked quinoa with extra virgin olive oil and toss to coat. Squeeze on fresh lime juice and toss again. Season with sea salt, to taste.
Add in the fresh chopped cilantro, diced red onion, diced yellow pepper, and roasted corn kernels. Stir lightly to distribute. Taste test for seasoning adjustments.
Line four salad bowls or plates with the fresh romaine. Spoon the quinoa salad on the center of the lettuce. Add the diced avocado to each plate. Tuck in a few tortilla chips around the edges.
Serve with an extra lime wedge.
Serves 4.