Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Almond Mania: Almond Milk and Almond Butter Bars

Yesterday was a great day! I managed to get all 3 of my resolutions in! I read from my Women on the Bible book, I attended hot house yoga, AND I made a clean recipe!
Remember how I said I was going to attempt to make almond milk....well I DID IT!
Almond milk
is a good alternative to those that can't tolerate the lactose in regular diary milk.

Almond Breeze is a brand you can purchase....but seriously this was a breeze to make and tastes just as good.
Here's the very breezy process:
first you need one of these....

nut milk sack....I purchased mine online after googling them
soak 1 cup almonds over night (8-12hours) in about 2 cups water

rinse almonds and place in blender with 4 cups fresh water, blend away!
my almonds were almonds pieces so they blended easily.

when almonds are well blended and you have a nice white liquid, place milk sack in a glass jar and pour liquid through (may take an extra set of hand...J helped).
gently pull the sack out of the milk and squeeze out any excess milk.
(don't throw out the ground up almonds leftover in the sack...see use for it below!)

flavor you milk with a little Stevia, Agave Nectar, honey, and/or vanilla
YUM YUM! Santa's in for a treat next year with his cookies!


Almond Meal...that leftover stuff in the sack.
there are lots of things you can bake/cook with it, but the easiest is spreading it on a baking sheet, sprinkling it with cinnamon and brown sugar and baking at 350F for about 10-15 minutes.
J and I like is a top our steal cut oats in the morning

Almond Butter Bars
these are soooo incredibly good....it's almost ridiculous
my friend Abby came over to help me whip these up. With both of us being active we thought these would be a tasty treat to keep us fueled throughout the day.
Ingredients:
1/2 C raw, unsalted almonds
1/2 C walnuts or pecans
1T butter mixed with 1 T olive oil (I used Smart Balance tub butter)
1/2 C natural almond butter (you could use peanut butter as well...I suggest natural still)
2 T maple syrup
1 tsp honey
pinch sea salt
1 tsp Watkins vanilla
1 T instant coffee granules (now we're talking)
1-2 T sesame seeds
1/2 C craisins
1/2 C dried apple slices or other dried fruit
Instructions:
preheat oven to 400F, line baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly spray with Pam. arrange nuts on baking sheet and roast for 8 minutes.

transfer nuts to food processor and process until coarsely chopped. set aside.
in large mixing bowl combine butter and oil, almond butter, syrup, honey, and sea salt. Mix well. add vanilla, coffee, nuts, and sesame seeds. Combine well.
add berries and fruit. press into 8x4 in. pan. let set in fridge or freezer for 1 hour. cut into bars once hardened. For an easy take with you snack...wrap each bar in plastic wrap and store in freezer.
Nutrition for 1 bar: 419 calories, prot 8g, carbs 29g, fat 33g, sat fat 2g, trans fat 0g
Until next time...
look good, feel good, do good

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