Thursday, July 10, 2014

Tropical Green Smoothie


Mmmmm. Spinach for breakfast. 

Doesn't that sound amazing?

Even though I'm vegan, the thought of salad for breakfast sounds horrible. I've got a serious love of sweet breakfasts.

But, when the taste of spinach is overpowered by sweet, fruity flavors, then I'm all in!

Check out this simple recipe that is sweet and satisfying and allows you get to get your veggies in first thing in the morning!


Tropical Green Smoothie
(Serves 1)

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups spinach (or kale)
  • 1/2 frozen banana
  • 1/2 cup pinapple
  • 1 stalk celery
  • 3/4 cup almond milk (or 3/4 cup water + 1 teaspoon almond butter)
Directions:
  1. Place all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth!



If you like this recipe, you'll also like this simple Green Kale Smoothie!

Eat Consciously,

Faith


Monday, July 7, 2014

How-To: Homemade Almond Flour from Almond Pulp


I started making my own Homemade Almond Milk a while back and I'm loving it so far. I love the real almond taste it has and that I can control the sweetness and ingredients that go into it. 

But in order to get the most bang for my buck I've been researching different ways to use the leftover almond pulp that comes from making almond milk. After my first batch of almond milk I made Almond Pulp Freezer Fudge that turned out great. It's super healthy and quickly satisfies my sweet tooth. I've also been working on a almond pulp cracker recipe, but have yet to have success. 

This last time I made almond milk I wanted to see if I could turn the almond pulp into flour for another baking experiment I was trying out. I've been trying to use more wholesome flours when possible. I did a little research and found that it's really easy to do! Also, if you make your almond milk at home, you can always save up a lot of almond pulp and then make one large batch of almond flour.


Almond Flour from Almond Pulp

Ingredients:
  • Almond pulp 
  • Welp, that's it!
Directions:
  1. Preheat your oven to it's lowest setting. My goes to 150, but if yours goes lower that's even better!
  2. Spread out your almond pulp on a baking tray to as thin as you can get it.
  3. Place the tray in the oven and let the pulp dehydrate for 4-8 hours. The length you keep it in the oven depends on the temperature of your oven. It will be done when all the moisture is baked out and it's dry and crumbly.
  4. Once dehydrated, place the dried out pulp into food processor and process until it becomes a fine flour.
  5. You can bake with it right away or store it in your freezer for a long shelf life.
Notes: The pulp from one cup of almonds makes about 1/2 cup of flour

Almond pulp leftover from making homemade almond milk.


The almond pulp after it's been dehydrated.

Almond flour!

Eat Consciously,

Faith

Friday, July 4, 2014

Perfect Recipes for the 4th!

Brett and I are still traveling around China and loving it! We are on the last leg of our journey and still have some fun excursions to look forward to before flying to New York to look for our new apartment.


Even though we weren't in America for the 4th of July (it's the 5th here) we were still able to celebrate twice with other Americans living here! The past two nights I've eaten lots of corn on the cob, watermelon, coleslaw, and raw veggies. While that might not sound too exciting, it is exactly what I've been craving after so many meals of noodles! I'm exited to share with you more about all the amazing Chinese dishes we've eaten here when I get back. And....Brett and I are also going to take a cooking class together! I'll definitely be sharing with you the recipes we learn during that too.

Since most I you are just now getting started on your 4th of July celebrations, I thought I'd share some vegan recipes from the blog that would be perfect for a cookout with friends and family. I'm sure most of you already have your dishes planned out, but just in case there are some stragglers...

Edamame Dip
Avocado Hummus
Cilantro Lemon Quinoa Salad
Black Bean and Quinoa Veggie Burgers
Strawberry Coconut Shortcake
6-ingredient Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have a great 4th of July!!

Eat Consciously, 

Faith