My son LOVES food. He loves seeing it, smelling it, being around it, touching it, preparing it...and EATING IT!!
For his birthday, he and I decided to do up a birthday buffet. The menu went something like this:
-Homemade Soda bar with 5 different flavours
-Cream Puffs with Creamy Almond Filling
-Double-Chocolate Cashew Cookies
-Brownies
-Homemade Herbed Crackers
-Cashew "Cheese" Spread
-Sliced Red Peppers
-The aforementioned Almond Play-Doh Ball
-Potato Candy
-Parslied Rice with Tomatoes
-Marinated Cucumber Salad
I think that was everything; all gluten-free and dairy-free!
The potato candy was made with icing sugar, so you'll want to check labels if you plan on making some.
Recipes to follow!
Showing posts with label almonds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label almonds. Show all posts
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Almond Milk
There are all sorts of ways to make homemade non-dairy milks. We've done rice milk, potato milk, and almond milk. We've tried them all with vanilla, with honey, with sugar, and plain. For regular daily milk use, we prefer plain almond milk.
Consistency is a personal thing. I prefer one cup of almonds to about 2 1/4 cups of water. My son prefers a less almonds:more water ratio.
Some folks soak their almonds overnight for better nutritional value.
Toss almonds into blender. Add water. Blend very very well. Strain through a sieve. For us, we've found it's best to rest the sieve on a pot, then pour in the milk mixture. It takes awhile for the mixture to rest long enough for all the milk to drain out. For a finer strain, sometimes I drop a coffee filter into the sieve beforehand. A quicker option is to line the sieve with cheesecloth and, after the initial liquid has dripped through, bundle and squeeze the cheesecloth over the sieve.
If I'm using the milk for pudding or other cooking, I usually just use a sieve then nudge the straining process along a little by using a wooden spoon.
Don't toss out the almond mash that's left in the sieve! It's good on cereal, as a topping for casseroles or baked goods, even just as it is with a bit of honey drizzled on top and a sprinkle of cinnamon! We tried making a "cheese-type spread" with it once by adding pureed tomatoes and spices. My son said he liked the taste. I didn't. And it looked like play-doh. But who knows, with further experimenting....
Consistency is a personal thing. I prefer one cup of almonds to about 2 1/4 cups of water. My son prefers a less almonds:more water ratio.
Some folks soak their almonds overnight for better nutritional value.
Toss almonds into blender. Add water. Blend very very well. Strain through a sieve. For us, we've found it's best to rest the sieve on a pot, then pour in the milk mixture. It takes awhile for the mixture to rest long enough for all the milk to drain out. For a finer strain, sometimes I drop a coffee filter into the sieve beforehand. A quicker option is to line the sieve with cheesecloth and, after the initial liquid has dripped through, bundle and squeeze the cheesecloth over the sieve.
If I'm using the milk for pudding or other cooking, I usually just use a sieve then nudge the straining process along a little by using a wooden spoon.
Don't toss out the almond mash that's left in the sieve! It's good on cereal, as a topping for casseroles or baked goods, even just as it is with a bit of honey drizzled on top and a sprinkle of cinnamon! We tried making a "cheese-type spread" with it once by adding pureed tomatoes and spices. My son said he liked the taste. I didn't. And it looked like play-doh. But who knows, with further experimenting....
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