Green Hemp Milk

I would have thought I'd have my opinion on milk figured out by now, but I don't.

And because I cannot decide if my image of the good life involves domesticated mammals, I am trying to limit my dependence on their products. Just in case.

I've dabbled in other nut milks, but hazelnuts and almonds seem to be in a lot of trouble these days, so I've been shying away from them.

Hemp milk has been a pleasant alternative. The process is quick and easy, and the milk has a nice, mild flavour. I also feel better about the sustainability of hemp products.

I add vanilla and salt for flavour, and spirulina or chlorella for fun and colour...and health, I guess. Mostly, I use hemp milk in tea and hot chocolate, but I have used it for making pancakes and some baked goods, without issue. It's good for cold drinks too, like chocolate milk!

I'm going home to Ontario in a few weeks, to kiss my dogs, my family and the warm lake water! 

Happy Summer!!!!!!

Green Hemp Milk
(makes 1 ½ -2 cups)

Ingredients:

• 50 grams hemp hearts
• 1 ½ -2 cups water
• 1 tsp spirulina or chlorella powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• honey to taste (optional)

Instructions:

1. Blend all ingredients together.
2. Strain through a fine sieve.
3. Store in a sealed container in refrigerator—it will keep for a few days.

Notes:

• Straining is optional, especially if you have a good blender. I don't have a good blender, and I find it separates less in my tea when I strain it.
• I give the hemp pulp to my dog as a treat. She loves it, and, according to a quick Google search, all of the ingredients are quite good for her.
• I only add honey if I intend to drink it on its own (vs in a sweetened tea).
• I haven't had my milk go bad yet, but I also haven't kept it for more than 3, maybe 4 days.

Green Smoothie

Another long absence, woops! But the move to Nelson is complete, more or less, and I don't plan to move cities again for quite a while. All the basic needs have been met (apartment, job, etc)...now I just need friends and to find time for more fun and activities (like blogging!).

While I was traveling between provinces and homes, I drank a lot of smoothies. I was introduced to the combination of green apple and parsley, and became obsessed. Because A, it is delicious, and B, parsley is has a lot of nutritional good in it.

I make this smoothie daily lately, so I tried to keep it more green and less sweet. Not a dessert smoothie, although there is a lot of fruit in it. Since there's so much in season, I've been making a lot of fruit swaps  lately (blueberries for strawberries, peaches for mango...), but this is less about the exact smoothie recipe, and more about how I think parsley is great in sweet drinks.

Green Smoothie
(makes 1 large or 2 modest servings)

Ingredients

• 140 grams frozen mango (or peaches)
• 90 grams/1 small green apple (I've been wanting to try juiced green apple)
• 60 grams frozen strawberries or blueberries
• 30 grams spinach
• 30 grams parsley
• 250 grams water, or there abouts
• 1 tsp ground flax or chia seed (optional)
• 1/4 tsp chlorella or spirulina powder (optional)

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Enjoy!

Good Morning, Grapefruit

I'm pretty tempted to just overlook my online absence...I'll at least be brief. 

As I previously mentioned, I drove from Ontario to British Columbia this Fall. I now live in a ski resort town where I run a bakery with another baker I met this summer. Needless to say, running a bakery is quite a step up from my previous role as a simple baker, and that's where all my time has gone. Thankfully, a bit of a routine is developing and some free time has finally presented itself.

Whether or not the bakery becomes a success remains to be seen, but it is what it is...a good and challenging experience.

Since every aspect of my working life revolves around baking, recipes, and trying new ideas, it might not surprise you that I pretty much never bake at home. I originally intended to post about vanilla hazelnut shortbread, but it seemed like a lie, and was just a re-hashing of my pecan shortbread from last Christmas anyways. Instead, I decided to be honest about what I've been eating (or drinking) lately...and I also ate most of the cookie dough raw.

Since purchasing my machine this Fall, I have become a regular juicer. I may be accused of falling victim to a trend, but who cares...I just love juice. I do more time consuming juices in larger batches, to last a few days, but I make this grapefruit concoction fresh every morning.

This juice, along with most of my juicing experiments so far, is inspired by one from my beloved Live Food Bar. Someone send me the Seoul Bowl...or tell me how to make pulled burdock.

Without the cayenne or chlorella powder, this is actually a sweet juice...but I heard somewhere that cayenne helps get your digestion going in the morning, and I need some vessel for my chlorella powder, so in they go.  It may not be the most beautiful or delicious juice, but I really like starting my day with it. 

Good Morning Grapefruit Juice

(inspired by Live Food Bar)

Ingredients:

• 1 grapefruit, peeled
• 1/2 lemon, with peel
• 1/4 cup water (give or take)
• dash of cayenne pepper (or as much as you can handle)
• dash of chlorella powder

Instructions:

1. Pass grapefruit, lemon and water through juicer.

2. Transfer to a container with a tight fitting lid. Add cayenne and chlorella and shake vigorously until combined.

Simple Granola

I really enjoy living in Muskoka. It's liberating to have a job that satisfies my urge to bake, leaving my spare time open for other favourite activities, like running, reading and practicing painting.



I miss working on recipes and having my own kitchen space, but because I sometimes stress myself out over creating new recipes, I am finding a summer away relaxing. For now, I leave my recipe workbook in a drawer, and, instead, spend my time refining my practical baking skills. The only thing I miss about baking for myself is eating it.

I had been making this granola during my last few weeks in Toronto, but with the activities of the pending move, never found time to share. This week, I paid a visit to my parents' cottage and took advantage of their new oven to refill my stock. I made the recipe below 6 times, hoping it'll last me until I next find myself with a kitchen.

There is nothing complicated about this granola recipe. Everything can be mixed in one bowl, and the only reason I add the hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds after baking is because I don't like their toasted flavour. My favourite way to eat it is with yogurt and berries—original, I know. 

Granola

(makes enough to fit nicely on a cookie tray)

Ingredients:

• 94 grams coconut oil, room temperature (solid)
• 125 grams maple syrup
• 250 grams rolled oats
• 26 grams coconut flour
• 25 grams flaked coconut
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• zest of 1 lemon
• 50 grams raw hazelnuts, chopped
• 25 grams raw pumpkin seeds

Instructions:

1. In a medium sized bowl, combine oats, coconut flour, flaked coconut, lemon zest, cinnamon and salt.

2. Add coconut oil and maple syrup. Mix until combined—small clumps of coconut oil are fine, though this is not a clumpy granola.

3. Bake at 320F for 18-20 minutes, until oats and coconut flakes begin to golden. Stir as necessary for even baking.

4. Once granola is baked, add hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds.

Oatmeal Cookies II

If you will believe it, I haven't just been lazy about posting oatmeal cookies. It actually took me a month of obsessive oatmeal cookie making to arrive at this recipe. Creating an oatmeal cookie for my dream bakery was way more difficult than I anticipated...in part because I struggled to define my "perfect" oatmeal cookie, but also because of the increased number of variables to consider, adjust and change, especially compared to a basic shortbread or sugar cookie.

Rolled Sugar Cookies

Like shortbread, sugar cookies were a staple I thought I should be able to make using local sugar. This time, I stopped counting after trial batch number 6. While a nice tasting cookie was quickly achieved...a nice texture, not so much.

Pecan Shortbread

To somewhat resolve my inner conflict over the sugary food related things I do at work, I've decided that I'd really like to establish my own repertoire of basic recipes, made with local sugars...perhaps to appear in my imaginary bakery. I really enjoy working on recipes and testing my knowledge of baking theory to adapt them. Shortbread was a delicious and simple place to start. And pecan sandies are among James' favourite cookies.

Raw Hazelnut & Cacao Nib Refrigerator Cookies

As winter approaches, I am becoming less strict about my adherence to a raw diet. However, I have found I prefer many raw recipes to their unraw counterparts—I am maintaining my switch to cashew yogurt and nut milk, and zucchini hummus is just so delicious, and much easier to make than chickpea hummus. I really did miss tea, though.

Zucchini Hummus

I am still eating raw, but I spend all day working in a kitchen, and with summer weather drawing me outside, my food preparation at home has been very minimalist. Mostly, I just eat an assortment of fruits and vegetables with no preparation required.

Raw Dough-Nots

Fruit is my typical raw dessert, but James was visiting this week, and I wanted something to distract him from my cherries and watermelons. So, I made raw dough-nots.

Raw Rhubarb & Strawberry Crumble

I usually care more about eating locally than eating raw, so I was disappointed when I realized that rhubarb season was here, and that I didn't know how to enjoy it raw. Inspired by a couple of recipes, I decided to make a raw crumble. 

Green Apple Guacamole

A problem I have with a lot of prepared raw food is that it's often heavy on the nuts. I love nuts, very much, but my stomach reacts negatively when I eat large quantities of them. So, I've been looking for more vegetable based meal ideas.

Carrot Cake

Happy Easter!

This year, instead of a big Easter dinner, my family and I had Easter brunch with James and a few of our neighbours. This carrot cake is the result of my desire to contribute to our meal, a sudden realization that I have less than a month until my raw commitment commences, and an abundance of dehydrated almond pulp left over from making almond milk.

Raw Corn Chips

Last summer I worked for a local farmer, whose primary crop was sweet corn. Wonder of wonders, the farmer gave me and the other employees permission to bring home any unsold vegetables and as much corn as our families wanted, which, for us (dad), was a lot.

Cashew Yogurt

I know I had previously wished for winter's early demise, but 24C in March is unsettling. I tried to take advantage though—I went for my first run of the season yesterday(!), turned soil and de-pooped my garden, and planted a few flats of seeds. Hopefully my garden will be more successful than last year...chicken wire is definitely going up before my dogs have a chance to pee my plants to death.

Cauliflower Popcorn

Continuing on my path to raw, I have been collecting snack recipes. Raw cauliflower popcorn was a recipe I'd heard about, but never could bring myself to make. Mostly because the ingredients list usually included nutritional yeast and I had no idea what that was, or where to get it. As it turned out, nutritional yeast was easy to find—I happened across it in the organics section of my local grocery store. 

Raw Almond Milk

I have been feeling dietarily stagnant lately, so I decided to make a new goal for myself. I would like to try being completely raw for the summer—from May to August—while fresh vegetables and fruit are more local, plentiful and, of course, cheaper.

Warm Milk & Chai

C'mon winter...end! I am somewhat afraid of the cold, and I feel a direct correlation between my sense of independence and the thermometer.

Sugar Cookies

Another Christmas has come and gone....boooo. It went by too quickly—I never had a chance to fully prepare. Next year, I resolve to avoid committing to too many big projects, so I have more time to realize the excitement of the season...definitely no more giant, sugary, baking trays.

Strawberry Banana Fruit Roll Ups

I wonder if it is pure coincidence that I am making Fruit Leathers around the same time as my first attempt last year? Or maybe there is some unknown force at work...