Chai 3 pints water 8 crushed cardamom pods 4 whole cloves 2 whole star anise 2 cinnamon sticks 1 T freshly grated ginger 1 T whole fennel seeds 1cup milk Sweetener In large saucepan, bring water to a boil over high heat. Add the cardamom, cloves, star anise, cinnamon, ginger, and fennel. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in milk. Add sweetener. Continue to simmer ‘til sweetener is incorporated into tea (2 to 3 more minutes). Pour chai through a strainer into heated mugs.
Almond Milk 1 cup almonds 4 cups water ¼ agave nectar ¼ tsp vanilla extract Soak almonds overnight, or for at least 6 hours. Remove skins by rubbing the almonds between both hands. Discard skins. Put the almonds and 4 cups of water into blender. After blended pour milk through cheesecloth in a wire colander. Press nut pulp against the cheesecloth to express all the liquid into the bowl. Return to blender and add agave and vanilla and blend again. Another Almond Milk recipe: Put 1/3 cup blanched nuts and 2 cups of fresh water into your electric blender. Make sure you put the lid on. Blend them until you’ve crushed as many of the nuts as you can and the milk is creamy white and thick. You may have to stop and start the blender, picking it up off the base and shaking it from time to time, as the nuts can get stuck under the blades.
Hemp Milk 1/4 c. hempseeds 1 c. water flavorings (vanilla, or a sweetener) Place seeds into a blender and add small amount of water 1 inch above the seeds. Turn blender on at multiple speeds and agitate seeds so they become a thick hemp cream. Then add either vanilla, maple syrup or honey or only a ripe banana and serve a a thick drink or add water at a ratio of 4.75 water to 1 part seed for a lighter hemp milk.
Another Almond Milk recipe Soak a cup of raw almonds overnight or for 8 hours or longer. If you’re in a time crunch just soak them for 1 hour or so and it will still turn out fine. Rinse and drain the almonds and pop them into your blender along with 34 cups of filtered water (I like 3.5 cups water in this recipe). My favorite flavor combo is a whole vanilla bean, a couple Medjool dates, cinnamon, and a pinch of sea salt. The result is intensely vanilla flavored milk. The secret to an intense vanilla flavor is blending an entire vanilla bean. Just chop it up and toss the whole bean into the blender. You’ll be left with some amazing vanilla almond milk. Of course you can always use vanilla extract or liquid sweeteners too. If using the dates and/or vanilla bean, add them along with the almonds and water. If you simply want to add a liquid sweetener or vanilla extract, you can add that now or at the end. Your call. Blend for 1 minute on the highest speed. Place mixture in a nut bag over a large bowl and slowly pour in the milk. A bit of cinnamon and a pinch of fine grain sea salt can be added for even more flavor enhancing.
Almond Pulp You can use the almond pulp for all kinds of things like oatmeal, hummus, homemade granola, smoothies, cookie or muffin batter,
crackers, or you can even dehydrate it and then blend it up to make almond meal. Oh, and you can freeze it too.
Coconut Milk Here are the ingredients you’ll need: 1/2 c. coconut, 4 cups of really hot water, a blender/food processor, and something to store your coconut milk in. Choose shredded, unsweetened, dried coconut. (Organic is best, so you’re not getting any sulfites in it.) Put coconut in blender. Just pour the water over the coconut and pop the lid on. Pulse for 10 seconds. You don’t want to run your blender or food processor on high. And you do NOT want to run it on high and then walk away. What you’ll be left with, after about a minute, is a pulpy, gloppy mess. Instead, what you want to do is pulse the coconut and water for about 30 seconds (or 20ish times). Then let it sit for about another minute and pulse it 5 or 6 more times. I do this because I think I’m letting it steep and making stronger coconut milk, but I may just be kidding myself. When you’re done pulsing, strain it As you strain, be sure to press down on the coconut shreds to push out all the good stuff. Here’s where I differ from what all the other recipes say to do. They say to use cheesecloth. Instead I used a fine mesh sieve. And it results in something I think the others don’t have: A nice, thick chunk of coconut oil that rises to the top when you chill the milk. If you strain it through a cheesecloth (which you’re more than welcome to do if you want), the fabric will catch the oils, so your coconut milk won’t have nearly as much in it. REUSING THE COCONUT. You can save (freeze) the coconut and make more milk two more times. Using it more than that and the coconut will be pretty well sapped of all its goodness.
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Here are two things to remember: 1. Keep a lid on your coconut milk, and store it in the fridge. It’s good for up to 5 or so days, if kept tightly covered and refrigerated. If you want to reuse the leftover shreds (after you’ve “milked” them), you can make macaroons.