Tag Archives: almond

April 5, 2011 · 1:43 pm

PB and C COOKIE DOUGH BITES

*** I recently added this to the Secret Recipe Club’s Cookie Party ***

There was once a time when I would buy Pillsbury cookie dough and eat the whole unbaked sleeve myself (gasp!)!!! Something tells me that didn’t help any of the medical conditions I was experiencing.

I know we all grew-up eating raw cookie dough, but I need to confess that now the idea of eating cookie dough made with raw eggs makes me cringe…can anyone say salmonella? This cookie dough can be eaten without worry since there are no eggs in the dough.

Do you know what else isn’t in the dough? Butter. I have created a healthy cookie dough recipe for those (like me) who have a fondness for eating raw dough. I do however want to point out that this is a dessert and isn’t meant to be eaten in one sitting (although it would be a heck of a lot better for you to eat this whole batch than a whole batch of conventional cookie dough). Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS – Makes 30-32 cookie bites

1 cup organic peanut butter

3/4 cup blanched almond flour

1/2 cup pitted Medjool dates

1/4 cup flax meal

1/4 cup vegan carob chips

2 Tbs. water

Mash together the pitted dates and peanut butter. I wear a latex-free glove and mash them together with my hands. The dates will not break down completely.

Pour the almond flour and flax meal over the date/peanut butter mixture and combine well. You can mash it together with your hands or with a pastry cutter. Add the water and mix well to combine. Add the carob chips and combine.

Place the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm-up.

Use a small scoop and shape the dough into balls.

Store the completed cookie dough bites in the refrigerator. I store mine in a mason jar.

For a printable version of this recipe click here.

*** I am sure this recipe would work well in a food processor as well.

5 Comments

Filed under Dessert, Gluten Free, Nuts, Raw, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tagged as almond, blanched almond flour, cookie dough bites, gluten free cookie dough, healthy cookie, peanut butter, raw, raw cookie dough, Secret Recipe Club, Secret Recipe Club Cookie Party, vegan, vegan carob chips, vegetarian

February 20, 2011 · 8:47 pm

REGAL CINEMA’S – fruit, nut, and snack pack

Photo Courtesy of http://www.regmovies.com

Movie Snack Pack

My husband and I went to the movies this weekend to see Unknown and I forgot to bring myself a snack…yep, movie theater popcorn really is as bad for you as they say! I was excited to see that Regal is now offering a more healthy alternative in the form of raisins, almonds, and pretzels. While the almonds do have safflower oil in them, it is still a major improvement over other movie concessions!!! I love seeing theaters taking steps in the right direction!

HAPPY BELATED ALMOND DAY!

Visuals in this post courtesy of The Almond Board of CA

Yesterday was Almond Day, so Happy Belated Almond Day!

When eaten in moderation, almonds are a great addition to your diet. Here are some ideas on how to incorporate more almonds into your diet from the Almond Board of California (Yep, California has an Almond Board):

Tossed in a salad
Topping a bowl of porridge
Before or after a workout
In a tasty trail mix
Why not include in the trail mix at the office?
In a delicious, healthy dessert
In the glove compartment
As a late-night snack
As appetizers at parties
Sprinkled over entrées
Don’t forget the Maple Almond Granola recipe I posted from Earthbound Farms!
Also remember to use almond milk as a good dairy milk alternative

Below is a visual of what one ounce of almonds looks like:

1 handful= 23 almonds = 1 ounce

One serving of almonds 28(g) has 13g of unsaturated fat and only 1g of saturated fat.

Almond Nutrition Facts

Just make sure you don’t overdo it. Limit your daily consumption to an ounce. If you have heart disease it is best to avoid nuts due to their high fat content.

HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY ALMOND MILK

Strawberry Almond Milk

Homemade almond milk is sooooooo creamy and NOTHING like the almond milk you buy in the store. Today I made some plain almond milk and when my son came home from school I used it to make him strawberry almond milk, which is one of his favorites. As we were sitting around the kitchen island drinking the strawberry milk, I mentioned that I was going to post my recipe for plain almond milk and my husband told me that I NEEDED to post my recipe for the strawberry milk as well (he was literally telling me this while drinking the tiny amount of strawberry milk that was left straight out of the blender container). I hope you enjoy the strawberry milk as much as we do!

INGREDIENTS FOR PLAIN ALMOND MILK

2 cups raw almonds

4 cups filtered water

INGREDIENTS FOR STRAWBERRY MILK

1 cup plain almond milk

1 ½ – 2 cups frozen strawberries

2 tsp. raw agave syrup (adjust depending upon the sweetness of your berries)

Place the raw almonds in a container and fill the container with filtered water. Place the container in the fridge overnight to soak.

Soak the Almonds in Water

Almonds Soaked Overnight in Fridge

NOTE: The almond milk can be made without soaking the almonds, but I strongly suggest that you do. Soaking the nuts will make the milk more creamy, but the main reason you want to soak the nuts is to destroy the enzyme inhibitor. Nuts were created with an enzyme inhibitor that prevents them from prematurely sprouting. This inhibitor also makes it hard for many people to digest nuts well. When you take the time to soak the nuts, the inhibitor is neutralized and the enzymes come to life…per my earlier post enzymes are very beneficial to us.

Rinse the soaked almonds under cold water. At this point you may remove the almond skins if you’d like. I personally don’t mind the skins and keep them on when I make my milk.

Rinse the Soaked Almonds

Remove the Skins if You'd Like

Place the clean soaked almonds in your Vitamix or blender with 4 cups of filtered water and blend until smooth (2-3 minutes).

Place Rinsed Almonds in Vitamix w/ Water

Blend Thoroughly

Put the nut milk bag into a large bowl. Pour the almond mixture into the nut milk bag and squeeze the liquid into the bowl. Once all of the liquid is out of the bag your plain almond milk is complete.

Place Nut Milk Bag in a Large Bowl

Pour Blended Mixture Into Bag

Squeeze Bag

Only Pulp Remaining

Reserve the nut pulp for another recipe. I put my pulp in a bag and lay it flat in the freezer until I am ready to use it in a recipe.

Almond Pulp

The plain almond milk is now complete. I prefer to store the almond milk in the fridge in its plain state (great with cereal)…that way I can embellish however I’d like.

Plain Almond Milk

Store Plain Almond Milk in the Fridge in a Mason Jar

Sometimes I will add some stevia for a sweeter taste or add some chocolate syrup and make chocolate milk (warmed-up it makes a very yummy hot cocoa), but our family’s FAVORITE almond milk is the strawberry…

Rinse out your blender. Pour 1 cup of the plain almond milk into the blender. Start the blender and add the frozen strawberries one at a time through the opening in the lid. Blend until smooth. Add the agave syrup and blend again. Taste the strawberry milk and add more sweetener if needed. Drink immediately as this is when the flavor is best. It will not store well, so it is best to make it in small batches that you will drink right away.

: Strawberry Almond Milk

For a printable version of this recipe click here.

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Filed under Dessert, Drinks, Gluten Free, Raw, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tagged as almond, almond milk, dessert, drink, milk, milk alternative, nut milk, nut milk bag, strawberry, vegan, vegetarian, vitamix