Really Almond Milk

Have you ever had Orange Juice from Concentrate? Have you ever had Orange Juice from an orange?

Yeah, the difference between store-bought almond milk and home-made almond milk is like that.

I knowww it's this big commitment to spend 10 bucks on a nut milk bag, but-- oh wait. It's not that big a commitment, plus you get INSANE delicious fresh almond milk and you get to say the words "nut milk bag" more.

I can't even call this a recipe, it's so simple.

Tools:
Bowl, nut milk bag (tehe), blender, big glass jar to keep your almond milk in (look at Good Will).

Ingredients:
Almonds
Water

Do this:

1. Soak 1 cup of raw almonds in water overnight. Maybe covered, so you don't get dust and floaties and non-vegan bugs and stuff falling in there.

2. Wake up! It's time to make almond milk!!!

3. Drain the almonds and put them in the blender with 4 cups of water. Blend for a minute or 2. I know, but wait!

4. Pour the almond milk into the nut milk bag over your big glass jar or container (or a big bowl, for now). SQUEEEZE all the extra milk out of the bag.

5. Ayo, what's that left in the bag? Almond meal? SO MANY USES FOR THAT LATER. Put it in some tupperware in the fridge.

6. What are you doing, drink your almond milk!!! Drink it up, within 3 days, probably. Awesome. Ahhh.

Better than regular chocolate chip cookies

Spoiler: The secret is coconut oil instead of butter, or some fake butter. Seriously. It is. Amazing.

(Disclaimer: I know sugar is poisonous and I try not to use it but I haven't yet figured out a way to make cookies as awesome as this without it. But I will let you know. That said, this definitely doesn't use as much sugar as some other cooke recipes.)

Tools:
Medium bowl, fork or mixing apparatus, spoon, measuring cups, cookie sheet, oven

Ingredients:
Virgin Coconut Oil
Sugar
Vanilla
Baking Soda
Baking Powder
Flour
Balsamic Vinegar
Non-milk (optional)
Vegan Chocolate chips
Walnuts (optional)

1. In a medium bowl, combine 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil with 1/2 cup sugar with a fork. The coconut oil might not like this at first, but it'll come around.

2. Add 1 (generous) tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp baking soda.

3. Add 1 1/2 cups flour a little bit at a time. I like to use half whole wheat and half white to make them the teeniest bit healthier (and a bit.. heartier?), but if you want the full-blown non-nutrition of all that is cookie, by all means, use allll white flour.

4. How to make them fluffy! In your used half cup, combine 1 tsp baking powder withhhh 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (apple cider vinegar works too) and 1 tbsp water. FZZZZZZ. Add this to the mix.

5. Add a little bit of non-milk (or water) to get the consistency of cookie dough.

6. Add lots of chocolate chips. Or however many you want. I use almost a cup. I also love to put walnuts in there.

7. (I like to re-use parchment paper instead of greasing a cookie sheet...so I don't have to clean it.)
Spoon out onto a cookie sheet and bake for 11 minutes / keep an eye on them. I like mine more well-done.

8. SOOOO GOOOOOOD. Make sure you invite friends over so you don't eat them all yourself. Or eat them all yourself, whatever, they're vegan.


(This recipe was adapted from KB's The Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe)

The Tortillas Dreams Are Made Of

Have you ever had a fresh tortilla?

I'm sorry.

Welcome to a new life.

These are so easy to make and you will never want to buy tortillas in plastic again.

Tools:
Bowl, fork, rolling pin or rolling pin-type-thing, skillet, spatula, mouth

Ingredients:
Wheat Flour
White Flour
Vegetable Oil
Baking Powder
Salt
Water

(Measurements are approximate-- very forgiving. I just throw it all together. Makes 3 tortillas.)

1. In a bowl, use fork to combine:
     1/2 cup Wheat Flour
     1/2 cup White Flour
     1 tsp Baking Powder
     1/4 tsp Salt

2. Add 1-2 tbsp oil and mix with fork.

3. Add a littttttle bit of water at a time, mixing until it looks like this:

Should feel like tough play-doh.

4. Roll into balls.

(5. OPTIONAL: let sit for 20 minutes, covered in a bowl, to let the baking powder activate more, yielding fluffier tortillas. I am too impatient for this step.)

6. Roll out into tortilla-shapes. I never make the effort to make perfect circles. Unperfect circles are more delicious.

7. Add a little oil to the pan and fry over medium heat. The dough will get little bubbles, about 30 seconds per side, or whatever you like.

8. NOMMM.

Also, if you are making rice & beans with this (good idea!) just slop 'em into the bowl you made tortillas in. Save a dish-washing.

Protein Pants

I've been vegan for about a year and I still get flustered when people ask me where I get my protein. So I'm mostly writing this as a cheat sheet for later.

1. There are stats all over from the World Health Organization and the American Dairy Association (conflict of interest?) about how much we should get from food-- somewhere around 5-10% of our calorie intake. Let's say we should aim for 30-40 grams of protein a day, but really, everyone is different, and apparently most people in the U.S. get too much protein.

2. Some vegans take supplements to ensure a consistent source of protein. I'm not really into this, and if you are I would just say make sure to do your own research.

3. I like the idea of getting nutrients from whole foods.

Here is an example of a classic simple vegan meal with the protein breakdown.

RICE & BEANS ~31 grams of protein.

Rice & Beans like to be eaten together, but also legumes + grains = whole protein.  Yum.

Most beans (1/2 cup, cooked) : 8 g
Brown rice: (1/2/ cup, cooked) : 3 g

Wow! I bet you are eating more than 1 cup of rice & beans. Probably more like 2 cups. That's 22 grams of protein right there! And guess what? There is usually even a little bit of protein in most food, and that adds up. Let's add another gram for any salsa, peppers & onions, and avocado you want to slop on there.

Oh, I almost forgot-- the tortilla. First, take 10 minutes to make your own mind-blowing home-made fresh tortillas for your awesome rice & beans meal. Is your mind blown? Are you never going to buy tortillas from the store again?

Whole wheat flour has a BOOM crazy amount of protein in it. 1 cup has 16 grams. So even if you have the equivalent of a half cup of flour in your tortilla (good luck eating just one..), this vegan meal of rice, beans, salsa, peppers & onions, avocado, and tortilla will give you about 31 grams of protein. Congrats.