Little Book Review + Soaking & Sprouting Nuts & Seeds

My latest favorite library find: DIY Nut Milks, Nut Butters & More by Melissa King.

I want to devour this whole book!  It goes far beyond your basic almond milk or peanut butter.

It got me in the kitchen making my own nut & seed milks.  (The winner? My own blend of soaked almonds & sunflowers, which made for an extra-creamy, flavorful refresher!)

 There are lots of beautiful dishes using the basic milk & butter recipes, many of them no-bake; perfect for summer! (the White Chocolate Coconut Fudge looks utterly to-die-for.)  These are decadent but doable, as well as totally good for you! 

Each recipe is vegan and gluten free. Most importantly, all are recipes which use pure, whole foods.  

I especially appreciate the chapter with ideas for using up the nut pulp usually leftover from making nut milk, which was something I'd had a hard time utilizing before. It ended up in the compost a few times, which seemed a terrible waste of food, so I quit making nut milks. Not anymore!

I love the large variety of ideas in this compact book. Definitely the best book on the subject that I have yet seen. 

A bit About Soaked Almonds

I've talked about these here before. When almonds (and other nuts & seeds) are soaked, the enzymes that aid in their digestion are released. The nutrients, many of which are essentially dormant in the unsoaked state, are made more available for our use. 

Also, most nuts and seeds, when unsoaked, are acidifying to the body; a soaked nut or seed has the opposite effect.

Soaking is a gentle process which does nothing to damage the good things of the nut, things like selenium and Vitamin E, and optimizes them for quicker absorption into the body.    

We don't have to try as hard to digest a soaked almond, and so, they are a quick source of energy.  I can't get over the feeling of instant alertness that comes over me every time I eat them (or drink them!).

Unlike sprouting seeds and nuts, which can take days, soaking takes only an overnight dip in water to uncover all these health benefits. 

I think that everyone should try their hands at this process; it's so easy to do and takes very little time. 

There is no set recipe: just place 1 cup of your favorite nut or seed in a bowl and fill with water to cover by at least one inch (almonds especially expand many times over during the soaking process) and let them soak overnight. (See my tips on how to store these without refrigeration) Once soaked & drained, they can be eaten as is or blended with fresh, cold water & strained to make milk. 

Give them a try & let me know what you think!    

Strawberry-Orange Kefir Smoothie

Kefir is relatively new to me. In fact, being mostly vegan for the past several years, the whole idea of consuming any dairy at all is new. I've been trying lately to eat for better health, and an honest look at my health showed that there is definitely room for improvement. The vegan diet was not giving me the vibrant feeling it once did. That is, in large part, due to heavy phytic acid build up from unsoaked/unsprouted grains, but that is a post for another time. In this post, I want to focus on kefir and its many health benefits.

Recently, I picked up a copy of Cultured Food Life by Donna Schwenk at my local library and began reading about kefir. 

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in fermented foods. It's loaded with information without being too technical, and makes DIY cultures fun and approachable. 

Fermented foods are powerful aids for improving health in general, and for that reason I have been making home brewed kombucha for my family. (It's easy to culture from a store-bought bottle.)

 However, according to the book, fermented foods are much more effective when the different types are consumed together.  The huge list of  potential benefits kefir can have convinced me to try it, in addition to my kombucha, and see for myself.

I can say without a doubt that I feel pretty great since kefir entered my life. 

The taste is that of yogurt, but stronger, with a more pronounced tang. The texture is like a thin yogurt.

 It took me some getting used-to, and I still don't drink it straight, but it is perfect as an ingredient.

 At first glance, it looked kind of weird on the shelf when I found it at a local health food place; it had separated and had clear liquid on top; but I quickly got over my unnecessary squeamishness, because separation means that it was not homogenized (and thus, minimally processed).  

I was thrilled to see that it also was organic, grass fed and raw. (There are benefits known only to raw dairy that are lost with pasteurization.) 

Being so whole and unprocessed naturally provides the maximum amount of health benefits.  

                 

Originally this was going to be just a typical all-fruit smoothie for breakfast, but I was hungry and feeling the need for something with a little more heft.  I wanted to get some kefir culture in me and thought the flavor of it would be well concealed within the berry-orange mixture. It worked! 

The perfect breakfast or post-workout drink. 

This recipe makes a lot, maybe five servings, but it's so delicious I didn't have much trouble consuming most of it! (I did have some help.) 

Any extra berry mixture could be frozen; it would make excellent sorbet or ice pops. 

Strawberry-Orange Kefir Smoothie

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1 (16 oz.) package strawberries, about 2 cups

2 oranges

1 cup ice

1/2 cup kefir per drink

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Wash & trim berries; slice in half. Place

in blender. Juice the oranges and add juice to berries.

Puree briefly until some chunks still remain.

Add ice to berry mixture; blend until frothy, just until no ice chunks remain.

To serve, pour mixture into 8 oz. glasses, filling half way. 

Top each glass with 1/2 cup kefir. 

Stir until combined and enjoy!     

An original recipe from http://anyfig.blogspot.com/  :)

Our First Duck Eggs & other signs of spring

Our Muscovy duck began laying eggs early this month, and has continued to lay for weeks. It has been a complete surprise, considering we had thought her to be a male!
  I think that the eggs are just the most beautiful things in the world. They never cease to amaze me. Each day, we gather a new egg, and I can't help but marvel at every little spot and speckle. Each one just seems miraculous. Every day, I am reminded to be grateful; every day is a precious gift.

Spring is just around the corner, and the eggs aren't the only sign: the Meyer lemon is blossoming, as well as the violets; the Anna apple is budding, and the rosemary is flowering (the best time to harvest some branches for drying).