I've been trying some different things lately, for a few different reasons. I have tons of spinich and fruit right now (long story) and been trying out different things to do with it. I also got a new book called Raw Food/Real World which has been inspiring. I absolutely love all the full color pictures in this book, and was pleased to see so many smoothie recipes. I LOVE smoothies, but since I have cut way down on dairy, have had a hard time finding one I like. Just fruit and ice doesn't cut it.
So the recipes in this book call for you to make your own nut milks from scratch. (Or use fresh coconut water, however I am traumitized from the last time I tried to open a cococut, but that's for another post) I would love to make my own nut milks, and plan to do this when I have more time (maybe when the kids are all in school or something) but right now it's just not realistic. Once I took a deep breathe and showed the perfectionist in me the door, I realized that I could just "cheat" and use the Pacific Brand Almond milk that Natalia Rose suggests in her Raw Food Detox Diet book, and I was good to go.
Now let me just begin by saying the beginning was bliss, and then my blender died. :( After two mornings of replacing my Green Lemonade (Apple, Lemon, Kale and Celery/Romaine)with smoothies, just to change things up, the seal stopped working and smoothie was leaking out the bottom onto the counter, and then it got upset about the frozen bananas and just started to smell like, well, that the motor was smoking. So let me just give you a tip: 9 year old blenders that you got for about $30, do not like to crush frozen fruit. You need something more powerful. (The pic above is of my old one, RIP)
So what I reeeeeaaaaaaallllyyyyy want is a Vitamix blender. Just. so. badly. They are just so expensive, and I realized I needed to get a new blender to get by. So after a trip to Target, wanted to just spend $40-ish (because I really do want to hold out for that Vitamix someday!) I realized I have never shopped for a blender and called Rob. "Do the Watts really matter?" Yes. And it has to crush ice. "But they all say they crush ice." It's a lie.
Okay, well there seemed to be a big difference in price versus watts, but basically for $40 I could get 400-450 Watts, or for $70-80 I could get 600-800 Watts. After peeking around a bit I found a $70, 800 Watt Blender on clearance for $49. So I got that. And I can tell you why it's on clearance. It is the cheesiest blender ever made.
I am now blending in style with a blender that you truly need to turn all the lights off to appreciate. The Hamilton Beach Liquid Blu Blender my friends, shines a ghetto-fabulous blue light out from underneath when it blends, not unlike a car that shines those neon lights out from underneath it? yes it's true. I know you are jealous. My smoothie making just got really exciting. :)
So back to the smoothies :) I've just been using about a cup or more of Almond Milk, a frozen banana, and then either a cup of fresh or frozen fruit. Throw in a Tablespoon of Raw Honey (my favorite) or Agave Nectar, a dash of vanilla, and a dash of sea salt (trust me, or I should say the Raw Food/Real World book, it's good) and I am once again in smoothie heaven. All I have to say is if I can eat these and be vegan, I may just be crossing over to the other side. If you try one and can't get it to blend, then you may need to just stir and add some more Almond Milk. Or get a new hot blender like mine. You know you want one.
P.S. If you have kids, pour any leftover smoothie into popciscle molds! I love these too. I actually do this with my morning juice too - who knew kids would like Kale or Beet on a stick! hehe! I guess anything is good with Apple and Lemon in it, especially cold on a hot summer day.
8 comments:
Hi! That's a great book.
You can make nut/seed milks in 1-minute!!! They'll last up to 4-5 days in the refrigerator. Just use nut or seed butter (raw, organic preferably).
Here are a couple recipes:
2 cups water
2 tablespoons hemp seed butter (hemp is GREAT for kids)
1-2 tablespoons raw agave nectar or a few dates
pinch sea salt, optional
Blend it up and voila! You can make it more or less sweet by playing with the sweetener and more or less rich by adding more of the nut/seed butter or playing with the level of water.
The same recipe applies for any nut butter such as pecan, almond, tahini, etc. Try to keep it Raw and Organic when possible for optimal health. My favorite brand for hemp is Manitoba Harvest. Their products are so fresh and delicious. I often just snack on a handful of hemp seeds.
Cheers!
Kristen
Thanks so much for the tip! I have dates right now, and some Raw Almond and Cashew butters, and I'm going to try it this afternoon. :)
You had me laughin' OUT LOUD, girl. Ghetto-fabulous? Absolutely! And yes, I totally want one. Seriously. But actually the first thing that caught my eye and made me chuckle, was that I have the exact same blender that you had. Did yours have the food chooper/processer attachment on it? Anyway, I also came upon this not-norm-for-me site about milk, and saw this recipe. Knowing nothing, make at your own risk. :D
http://drjimsaid.com/articles/5.%20To%20wean%20or%20not%20to%20wean.pdf
"The next time you want milk on your cereal, try blending ¼ cup of raw almonds with 1 cup of water for 2-3 minutes, making a thick cream or dressing base. Add water and ice cubes to make your almond milk like cold whole milk, and still more water to bring to the consistency of 2% milk. As an option, add a drop of vanilla
extract. Although some prefer the nuttier flavor of unstrained almond milk, you may strain the milk or just let it settle while chilling in the refrigerator. Just pour off the top, using the bottom sediment for gravies or smoothies. Others enjoy the smooth texture of cashews for creamier milk that doesn’t require straining, although almonds are preferred nutritionally because they are lower in fat and much higher in calcium. Many vegan cookbooks are readily available for creative cooking without dairy.
You might like this smoothie from a pro athlete
http://video.epicurious.com/?fr_story=a00e38e08badd5523c0473e4a2b77615b3d3a038&rf=bm
Thanks for the video Sarah - it inspired me to put flax and hemp seeds in my smoothie now too. I might look into some Green powder. I haven't worried about getting greens so much because I usually drink my green juice in the AM, but the days I make smoothies I don't also make the juice.
And THANK YOU Kristen for the way to "cheat" and make nut milk at home! I have been making this in the blender and then adding my smoothie ingredients. It's so quick, AND affordable.
Kelly - I'm not sure if my blender will handle just raw nuts, and I'm scared to try it. Would I need a Vitamix or something like that?
Thanks for all the tips! My smoothies are getting tastier every day! :)
I LOVE FLAX.
I get it sent directly from a South Dakota farm. And the golden flax (any flax seeds) ought to be kept refigerated because of the sensitive omegas.
I give some flax seeds a whrrrrr whrrrr in my magic bullet. The magic dust goes in everything. I put it on salads. I heap it ontop of smothies. I love it in soups as a thickener. Sometimes I just want a soup that eats like a meal, know what I mean?
I'm off to watch the video and will write again soon.
I will do some agic bullet experiementing with nut milks. That little thing is easy to travel (as I only travel it seems) and it pulverizes nuts easily in seconds. Now lets see how it stands up to adding water enough to take it past paste into milk. I wonder if nut paste could be another hummus sidekick?
Or if it at least would make the nuts into a crushed butter type form, you could then add that to the blender and make the nut milk in there. I can't wait to hear what all you do with that Magic Bullet!
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