#veganprep-veggiebroth

Planning ahead...

I use a lot of vegetable broth in my cooking.   Have you looked at the ingredients on a box of this stuff??? I tend to buy natural, but even so, there are a lot of ingredients I just cannot pronounce, and if I cannot pronounce them, then  I do not want them in our bodies.

Nothing beats the convenience, though, of pulling out a box of stock from the pantry.   But some recipes take 6 cups of stock, others only 1...and boxes do take up space that could be used to store more beans and grains.....and vegan chocolate chips.

I always want room for more chocolate chips . . . .

Uses for veggie broth

 How about....soups...stews...chili... rice.....  a great way to add a little flavor and nutrition...without the chemicals, oil, salt, and sugar.

Methods

Making fresh vegetable broth is easy to do. You can make it on a stovetop in an hour or let it slowly cook overnight in your slow cooker.

You can use vegetable scraps or purchase vegetables or do both. I keep a gallon size ziplock in the freezer and add peelings, tops, veggie parts. When the bag is full,  I make stock. Anything wilted goes straight to the freezer bag.

If I need more stock before that is full, then I simply use fresh veggies I already have.

Let's get started

Ingredients
1 to 2 onions                                           1 bay leaf
2 to 3 carrots                                           1 small bunch parsley
3 to 4 celery stalks                                  1 tsp whole peppercorns
4 to 5 sprigs fresh thyme

Optional Extras: leeks (especially the green parts), fennel, tomatoes, mushrooms, mushroom stems, parsnips....

1. Gather Some Vegetables and Herbs: Onions, carrots, and celery give stock a great base flavor, and you can round these out with any of the other vegetables listed above. You can also make stock using any amount of vegetables that you happen to have on-hand, but it's good to have a roughly equal portion of each so the resulting stock will have a balanced flavor.  I tend to always have onions, carrots, and celery..... and love to add in basil, thyme, dill...whatever I have on hand.

2. Roughly Chop All The Vegetables: Wash any visible dirt off the vegetables and give them a rough chop. You don't even need to peel them first unless you really want to. Throw all the vegetables in a pot big enough to hold them plus a few extra inches of water.

3. Cover with Water and Simmer: Cover the vegetables with enough water that you can easily stir them in the pot. Less water means that your stock will be more concentrated; more water makes a lighter-flavored stock. Set the pot over medium-high heat and bring it to just under a boil. Once you start to see some bubbling around the edges of the pot and a few wisps of steam on the surface, turn the heat down to medium-low.

4. Cook for One Hour or So: This isn't an exact science, but one hour is generally enough time to infuse the water with vegetable goodness. If you need to take it off the heat a little early or don't get to it until a little later, it will be fine. Give it a stir every now and again to circulate the vegetables.

5. Strain and Store: Take the pot off the stove and remove all the vegetables with a slotted spoon. Set your strainer over a big bowl and line it with cheese cloth or coffee filters. Pour the stock through. Divide the stock into storage containers, then freeze. I tend to freeze in 1 cup containers.

 
Want to try a slow cooker?

Then put everything in your slow cooker before bed....add water...and cook on low.  In the morning, strain and freeze.....or use in a recipe!

The more we cook the more comfortable I am with plant-based eating.   We feel healthier and more energized.

I recently co-led a clean-eating group on Facebook, and it occurred to me, that one cannot eat more clean than vegan!

We can do this!

#veganprep-almond milk

Medical update

We are both still losing weight steadily.  John's FBS tends to be 100 or less despite whatever snack he eats at 9 pm while he takes his last round of meds for the day.

Basically we are biding our time until his April cardiologist appointment where we will explore the possibility of dropping Plavix and exchanging Warafarin for Xlarelto as the Xlarelto does not require regular blood tests....saving us $25 an office visit...

Got milk?

You have probably noticed that a lot of our recipes (waffles, pancakes,  soups) call for non-dairy milk. We tend to use almond milk rather than soy during to our allergies.

After a week or so of using almond milk in shakes and in cooking, I developed a rash and some stomach issues. When I mentioned this in passing to a colleague who works with dietetic interns and is herself vegan, she suggested I might be having a reaction to one of the chemicals in the processed almond ilk and to try making my own.

Yeah.  right.  Make my own milk.  sure.  Wait....chemicals in the milk?

I grabbed milk from the fridge and checked the side panel ... and found lots of items that just didn't seem natural.  So I googled other labels o other brands....and found none that were more pure.

Hmmmmm....

I have long been a proponent of whole foods...and no chemicals...no wonder I was having rashes...

Additional research suggested that the chemicals added to shelf life ...and I really could keep one  carton of almond milk for almost a month....

So, I decided to make my own almond milk and avoid the chemicals.

The why behind the process

Let me be very up front.  Homemade almond milk only lasts a few days in the fridge....perhaps 3-4 days only.  This means I need to plan ahead as to when I will need the milk for baking as the first step is to soak the almonds at least 12-48 hours.... so if we are making pancakes on Saturday morning, then Friday night I need to start soaking almonds.

You must start with raw almonds...not salted, not roasted, but raw.

As I mentioned before, plan ahead, allowing the raw almonds to soak at least 12 hours before blending. This saturates the nut from the inside-out, resulting in a smoother, creamier texture. It also yields more liquid, because fully saturated nuts blend better and leave less "pulp" behind. Soaking the almonds also activates the enzymes, making the milk more nutritious. The longer the soak, the creamier the milk...so...to make better milk, I start soaking almonds on Thursday.

The process

almonds that have soaked 12 hours

Making almond milk uses a Vitamix in all of its glory! I'm sure there are other ways to do this, but I love my Vitamix.

The ingredients are simple:

• 1 cup raw almonds - soaked for 12-48 hours
• 3 cups filtered water

So...one or two days before you plan to make the milk, measure out 1 cup of raw almonds into a glass contained.  Add enough water to cover with an additional inch or so of water. Cover this container with a cloth and set aside until you are ready to make your milk.

Yes, when you take the cover off, the water will have a reddish tent and look murky.  that is good!   This means you have saturated the nuts and have activated the enzymes....and pulled out anything in the almond that you don't want in the milk.

Rinse the almonds thoroughly.  Then rinse them again. The soaked almonds will actually have swelled up as shown below:

Add the rinsed soaked almonds to your Vitamix and add 3 cups COLD WATER.

Here it is, all whirling around!

after 45 seconds of blending

Select variable 1 Start machine and slowly increase to the highest speed.  blend for approximately 45 seconds or until you reach the desired consistency.  Blending for much longer than this could warm your milk.

When you finish, it will look like the photo on the right.


Now it is time to strain the milk to remove the pulp.  some people like to leave the pulp in and just shake thoroughly before drinking.  when I bake, however, I want as little pulp as possible, so I strain.


You can purchase a nut milk bag and pour the liquid into it and then squeeze as if you were milking a cow - in case you know how to already do that. If milking is new to you, then start squeezing down from the top of the bag. It makes sense after a few tries

I tend to use a fine mesh strainer (and I am thinking about adding a layer or so of cheesecloth the next time to reduce clean up). Gently pour in the milk, being sure to not overflow the strainer. Once the milk stops dripping, gently press all of the almond milk from the pulp.  I use a small silicon spatula for this.

When it looks like the pix to the right, you can remove the pulp and pour in more milk to strain.

This makes 3 cups of FRESH almond milk.

If want to make sweetened almond milk, add in a little vanilla and three whole dates before blending.

I am still checking out recipes and have another waffle recipe to share...regular waffles,not Belgian waffles.

My husband reminded me this morning about  liquids....

I have cooked with whole wheat flour for years and tend to forget that it soaks up liquids faster or slower based on its temperature. ...and that those who are are new to using this flour might not know this.  I keep my whole wheat flour in the fridge, so mine tends to be chilled, unless I think ahead and remove it from the fridge when I first crawl out of bed and make coffee.

What this means is that sometimes I need to add more almond milk than what a recipe originally calls for to get the right consistency for the batter.   Actually, I mix, my husband cooks, so HE adds the additional milk,  If I use up all of the milk in a recipe, I simply add a little water...

This week's recipe follows. this one is not as sweet, but if you always add a little sugar.....or make up for it with your warmed maples syrup when you eat.

Simple and Easy Chocolate Chip Vegan Waffles

 makes 9 waffles

2 cups whole wheat flour                           2 pinches salt
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed                   2 Tablespoons oil (applesauce to us)
4 tsp baking powder                                   2-3 cups almond milk
2 Tablespoons sugar                                   1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
. 
Preheat waffle iron to your desired setting.  We like ours crispy!

Vegan chocolate chip waffles

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, flaxseed, baking powder, sugar, salt, and chocolate chips).

In a small bowl, whisk together 2 cups of the almond milk and the oil (applesauce).  Save the additional almond milk to add in case you need it for pouring consistency.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just until combined.  If needed, add more almond milk at this point.

Pour batter into waffle iron and cook until golden brown.

Enjoy with fruit or warmed maple syrup.

Ah.....the joys of baking with fresh almond milk.  The trick here is to (1) keep plenty of raw almonds on hand and (2) plan 1-2 days in advance as to when you need to make more almond milk.

Life is all about planning, isn't it? Particularly when you want to eat whole food, healthy, and fresh!

We can do this!

#comfortfood

Medical update

Great news! John's cholesterol was so low that he has been taken off of his cholesterol meds. In fact, his cholesterol is 74..... Normal is 150. We're good with this. They will retest in 3 months to see what the levels are wile vegan and not taking cholesterol-lowering meds.

Winter  life

It's winter here: cold wet and sometimes snowy.   This does not impact our lifestyle, though.   I workout in he mornings to Beachbody's Chisel, and John sometimes walks on the treadmill.   We do lean toward comfort foods when it is cold.  Just because  we eat plant-based does not mean we have to forgo comfort foods. We just cook them a little differently.

 Recipes

As the weather gets colder, I tend to want comfort food, and that shouts SOUP. I didn't want vegetable soup, I wanted something different and eventually found Isa Chandler's Roasted Potato and Fennel Soup.  Oh my!  heavenly!   It was cold and rainy outside and within an hour we had this savory serving of goodness to enjoy...very filling, too....and enough leftover for lunch the next  day.

Isn't that the best type of recipe? It was even better on day 2. (Don't forget:  we are oil-free, so no olives were pressed in roasting the potatoes, onions, and fennel).