Creamy Dreamy Almond Butter!

Ok, so on my 4th try, I think I've finally done it -- I've made creamy, dreamy, drool-worthy almond butter! And to think I nearly gave up entirely!

One of the reasons for us buying the Blendtec blender (which is THE best blender in the whole wide world) was so that we could make our own nut butters. However, that didn't go exactly according to plan.

Try #1 Failure: Used 1 cup of almonds straight from the bulk bins at Whole Foods. Obviously this wasn't a large enough amount for my big 3 quart blender jar and so it just didn't work.

Try #2 Failure: Used 3 cups of almonds straight from the bulk bins at Whole Foods. I blended one cycle at level 1, then several cycles at level 5, scraping down the sides each time. This turned out okay, but wasn't creamy and was difficult to spread. I think I should have blended for a longer time.

Try #3 Failure: Used 3 cups of almonds from the bulk bins at Whole Foods, soaked for 24 hours, then dehydrated for about 12 hours. I blended the almonds one cycle at speed 1, then multiple cycles at speed 5, scraping down the sides each time. After 40 minutes of blending, I had nothing that resembled almond butter. The contents of my blender jar were steaming (so much for RAW almond butter!) and I was super frustrated. I added some coconut oil, and eventually some water, and what I ended up with was some sort of watery tasting almond paste (think toothpaste) and it was disgusting! What a waste of perfectly good almonds! :( I think the real problem here was that my almonds were not completely dried before I tried to make the almond butter, or perhaps it was the type of almonds I used.

Try #4 Success: Used 3 cups of organic unpasteurized carmel almonds purchased from Anderson Almonds (an almond farmer in California), soaked for 24 hours and then dehydrated for 24 hours. I blended the almonds one cycle at speed 1, then several cycles at speed 5. There was very little scraping to be done and I didn't time it, but I bet it was done within 10 minutes. I didn't have to add anything to the almonds as they blended. (Ignore the little piggies in this photo!)

When it was done, I literally POURED it (with a little help from my handy dandy scraper) into the jar to put into the refrigerator! Amazing!



While I did remember to grab at least a few cell phone shots of the finished product, I didn't get any photos of the process, so I really found this post to be helpful in showing the stages the almonds go through when making nut butter. The beautiful photos give you a good idea of what to expect. I obviously used my blender and the photos here are from a food processor, but the results are similar. The only stage I didn't see while blending my almond butter was the one where a ball develops; for me it went straight from crumbly to the oils beginning to release.

So now I have creamy, dreamy almond butter and fresh baked bread in the house! Guess you don't have to guess what I'm about to go have for a snack! :)

Bulk Buys: Organic Strawberries & Almonds

I have been busy in my kitchen putting away bulk purchases the past few days. Buying in bulk is something we've just started doing to become more green...and save some money, too! Buying in bulk reduces packaging waste, saves on fuel costs, and is generally cheaper than buying in smaller quantities. Not to mention it means we always have food on hand as well as less trips to the grocery store, and with a 2 year old and a 7 month old, that is a blessing...for me AND the other shoppers! :)

While I have been buying in bulk from Amazon.com over the past 2 months, I had my first experiences with buying in bulk directly from farmers this week. Buying directly from farmers ensures you get the freshest products, reduces fuel costs, and generally saves you money since you eliminate the middle man.

Earlier this week, I got strawberries. Not just any strawberries. Organic, hydroponically grown strawberries...about 50 pounds of them! We use strawberries a lot in hot cereals and in smoothies, so I wanted to buy a bunch while they were fresh and freeze them. Fifty pounds of strawberries should last us a really long time! :)

Now, here in North Carolina, strawberries won't be ready for picking for another month or two. But Florida strawberries are ready NOW! My parents were just down in Florida visiting relatives, so I asked them to look around for an organic strawberry farm while they were there. Why organic? Because strawberries are on the Shoppers Guide to Pesticides' Dirty Dozen list! This list details the 12 produce items you should always buy organic because of their high pesticide load when grown non-organically.

Well, my parents not only found me organic strawberries, but hydroponically grown ones as well at the Parke Family HydroFarms. While hydroponic strawberries weren't a requirement of mine, it definitely was an interesting experience for my parents since the plants are all grown in vertically arranged pots, so there was no bending or kneeling required to pick the strawberries! Because my parents were kind enough to pick the strawberries themselves, they saved me about $50! So, what does 50 pounds of organic strawberries cost? About $100. Because of the quantity and because they picked them, the strawberries cost $1.99 a pound. That's cheaper than non-organic strawberries in the grocery stores!

When I heard my parents were able to find organic strawberries, I searched on Craigslist to find a FoodSaver. I was able to find a Vac 900 with 2 rolls of bags, a few pre-made bags, and a canister for $35. I figured this way I'd be able to vacuum seal the berries to keep them as fresh as possible. This was a pretty good deal considering 2 rolls of bags cost upwards of $19.99 + tax by themselves.

So, late on Tuesday night, my hand-picked strawberries arrived. Everyone was tired, so we waited until the morning to get them put away.

On Wednesday morning, I got to work on the strawberries while my mom played with the kids (read: kept them out of my hair). I had researched on the internet the best way to freeze strawberries, so I had a rough plan in mind. I think what I did ended up working really well.

First I topped (cut off the green top of the strawberry) and washed them. I had 5 flats total and I did one flat at a time. After I washed a small batch of them, I laid them out to dry on flour sack towels. Once I completed an entire flat, I hand placed them on cookie sheets lined with wax paper so that none were touching. Then I stuck them in my mostly empty garage freezer (another great Craigslist purchase...3 year old Frigidaire commercial freezer for $75) to harden. While they were freezing, I started on the next batch. After about an hour or so, I removed the frozen strawberries from the freezer and vacuum sealed them in FoodSaver bags. Ideally now I'll be able to open the bag and remove single strawberries instead of huge clumps!

So, from the "fields" to my freezer in about 24 hours!!


My second large bulk purchase arrived today: truly raw organic almonds!


We'll use them for almond butter, trail mixes, nut toppings, and raw desserts! Yum! In trying to learn more about the raw diet several weeks ago, I learned that most almonds labeled as raw, really aren't. A California law passed a few years ago requires that farmers steam pasteurize their almonds before they are sold, though they can still be labeled as raw. Unfortunately, this process "kills" the enzymes in the almonds and they are no longer living foods. If you soak these steam pasteurized almonds (labeled as raw) they will not sprout, like truly raw almonds should. The California law does have a loophole though; it does not specify that almonds sold directly to consumers be pasteurized. So, if you want truly raw almonds, you have to either buy imported almonds from Spain, or buy directly from a California almond farmer. I chose to do the latter.

After much research, I settled on Anderson Almonds.


My local health foods grocery quoted me a price of $12.99 for organic almonds (which aren't even really raw). Anderson Almonds sells their organic almonds shipped to your door for $8-10 a pound AND they are really, truly raw AND shipping is included in that price! If you order 5-10 pounds, you pay $10/lb and if you order 25 lbs you pay $8/lb. I had a few questions before ordering, so I emailed them and received fast, courteous replies. When I was ready to order, I called and talked to the owner himself. I gave him my credit card number to pay for the 25lbs of almonds ($200 even). He told me they normally take about 6 days to arrive, and on day 6, guess what UPS dropped off at my door?? That's right, my organic, raw almonds!!

I noticed right away upon opening the box that these almonds were carefully graded. There were virtually zero broken, cracked, or chipped almonds...very unlike the bulk bin almonds I had been buying from Whole Foods which, although "whole" were most definitely not!



I immediately went to work to freeze my almonds. I like to store my almonds for daily use in the refrigerator in a 1/2 gallon mason jar. So I figured out how many cups of almonds it took to fill up my 1/2 gallon jar: 8. Then I got out my measuring cups; I used the 2-cup one as a scoop to fill up the 4-cup one.


I put roughly 8-cups of almonds into each food saver bag...


...and vacuum sealed.


I ended up with 11 bags which immediately were placed in my freezer.

I can't wait to try them, but figured I'd finish using my not-really-raw raw almonds from the grocery store first. I'll be sure to update you on them later and show off some recipes using them!

Here are the 25 pounds of vacuum sealed organic raw almonds in my freezer:

I now have an entire shelf of organic strawberries and most of a shelf of organic raw almonds!



Now, off to enjoy the rest of this unseasonably warm Friday evening...and maybe munch on a few fresh organic strawberries I hid in the back of my refrigerator!! ;)

Trail Mix

I am a snacker. Always have been. Probably always will be. One thing that has changed recently though is my choice of snacks. Instead of a whole sleeve (or two!) of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies, I'll have something a lot more health conscious. This doesn't mean I have to sacrifice my chocolate or that it can't be delicious!

One snack I have come to really love (read: CRAVE!) is trail mix. I've had various trail mixes throughout my life, but really started to get into them when I found a couple of varieties I liked at the health food store Trader Joe's. Problem is, they're fairly expensive, and unless you buy different varieties, they're always the same. Since I have started buying in bulk and have begun to learn to use a dehydrator, I really enjoy creating my own trail mixes.

Here are some of the "pros" of creating my own mixes:
*I can whip up a snack in minutes
*I can have as many or as few ingredients as I want
*It can be a different mix every time or I can repeat my favorites
*I can include more variety than store bought mixes
*I control the ingredients, so I can be sure there are no unnatural additives or preservatives
*I can ensure my dehydrated fruits and my nuts/seeds are really raw for added nutrients
*Since I buy all my ingredients in bulk, creating the mix is much cheaper than buying a small bag of pre-made trail mix
*Because I buy in bulk, I always have ingredients on hand that make nice trail mixes
*I can make as much or as little as I want

When I buy foods in bulk, I take out a portion for daily use to keep in an airtight jar or canister. The rest of the food is stored away in an appropriate place (i.e. pantry, freezer). As my daily portion runs low, I simply refill from the larger portion that has been stored.

To make my trail mix, I simply pull out the containers with the ingredients I want to use and scoop the desired amount into a bowl. I mix the ingredients up with my fingers, and TA-DA! There you have it: instant (healthy) snack!



Today's trail mix consisted of:
*Raw Coconut chips (Wilderness Family Naturals -- I blogged about these yesterday!)
*Organic Raw Pepitas/Pumpkin Seeds
*Raw Sunflower Seeds
*Dehydrated Apples (Just Tomatoes, purchased through a coop)
*Dehydrated Bananas (homemade)
*Dehydrated Cherries (Just Tomatoes, purchased through a coop)
*Dehydrated Blackberries (Just Tomatoes, purchased through a coop)
*Organic Rolled Oats
*Raw Almonds
*Raw Cashews
*Organic Goji Berries (Navitas Naturals, purchased through Amazon subscribe & save)
*Organic Raw Cacao Nibs (Navitas Naturals, purchased through Amazon subscribe & save)

It only took a minute or two to throw together, but WOW was it yummy! And filling! I didn't produce any plastic waste that needs to be thrown away, and I ate a wide variety of fruits, nuts, and seeds. I even snuck in a few grains!

Now, this trail mix wasn't perfect. Ideally, I'd have liked for it to have been all raw, but I am just getting into this and learning more and more. To be as "green" and thrifty as possible, I feel I need to use up my on-hand ingredients first. I have purchased a lot from Just Tomatoes through coops in the past and actually have a large order on the way now. I am pretty sure these dried fruits (while super delicious) aren't dehydrated at temperatures that are considered raw. My goal now that I have a dehydrator of my own is to begin dehydrating my own fruits more and more; and actually the banana chips were dehydrated by me, but I'd better stop there because that's a WHOLE other post! :)

So, what do you like in YOUR trail mix??

My New Favorite Dessert

Mexican Chocolate Shakes...completely RAW and ultra-delicious! You won't believe there's no dairy in this because it is SO creamy!

I put these into my 3 quart Blendtec (the best blender in the whole world!) jar:

3 frozen bananas
a hefty pinch of cinnamon
a scoop of raw cacao powder (Navitas Naturals brand purchased from Amazon)
handful of organic, raw walnuts (from bulk bins at Whole Foods)
a big scoop of homemade almond butter (probably 2-3 tablespoons)
water (probably around 2+ cups)

I also added these mix-ins for extra nutrition and thickness:
chia seeds
flax seed meal (freshly ground is best)

Just a note in case you couldn't tell...I am a bit of an "un-chef" in the kitchen. I don't usually measure things. I just throw things in and taste, taste, taste, so be sure you do the same to get it to your liking!

I blended everything up on the "Whole Juice" setting on the Blendtec. I usually run it twice just to get it as fine as possible.

This made two servings. DH and I drank it in tall clear glasses (3/4 full) with our new Glass Dharma straws which are my favorite thing ever! Seriously...every drink in our house now has to have one of these straws. They are just so pretty and they're fun! Not to mention, they are very sturdy and they're NOT made of plastic! Yay!

Ok, but back to the shake. The cinnamon is what makes this so special to me. I first fell in love with cinnamon mixed with chocolate at Locopops in Durham. So, I figured why not in shakes, too! I love it. Now if you like things really sweet, you may need to add your choice of sweetener to this recipe: agave, honey, pitted dates, etc. but both DH and I liked this just like it was, so we didn't mess with it.

Hope you enjoy as much as we did. YUM!