Tuesday, March 12, 2013

"make do" tuesday

Inspiration hit on
laundry day.
After folding a fresh
clean load of
kitchen towels.

After pricing milk bags
at 
Whole Foods...$16.
Ouch!

I get so discouraged with myself
when I want to try
new things
like making my own soap...
making candles...
or on this day making almond milk,
and I get hung-up on 
needing all the right equipment
before I get started.

Well...I am here to say
You don't need all that stuff!

I have enough stuff
(more than enough!)
can't I make it with what I already
have?

Yes.
And so can you.

I don't have a Vitamix blender
(the Rolls Royce of blenders)
but I do have a Ninja.


And all the ingredients:
Soaked Almonds
Filtered Water
Dates (for sweetness)
Sea Salt.

No milk bag?
No problem.

Check this contraption out.

Lined with a just from the washer
bleached
super-clean
kitchen towel.

After blending for about 3 minutes
I poured the
almost almond milk 
into the center and let gravity
do its thing
while I washed and tidied my work space.
Gathered what was left in the towel
to squeeze out the 
goodness.

Milking the Towel  :)

Poured through one final 
stage 
(to check for pieces)
Really not necessary...
I was just curious as to how my
method was working.

Splendidly!

I didn't "catch" any 
little pieces.

Smooth.
Creamy.
Like milk.

One last test.

Delicious.

I won't lie to you
soy milk is my preferance
but like anything
moderation is key
and variety is the spice of life.

I like using plain almond milk in 
many recipes that call
for milk...
because it blends so well with other
ingredients
and doesn't alter the flavor
like soy can.
Now I have a fresh stash in the frig
and a nice batch of
almond meal...
all that almondy stuff left in the towel
which can be used
in many recipes.
No waste!
I am seeing almond meal cookies
in my very near future.

The best part.
Trusting my ingenuity
to guide me.
Knowing that everything
I need
is already there.
Making do with what I have
instead of buying into 
the thought that
the next best thing
will make it even better.

Wrong.

It doesn't get any better than this!

3 comments:

  1. You are so wise, Jennifer...really enjoyed reading this post and will be trying my own version with whatever tools I have on hand very soon. : )

    Thank you for the inspiration,

    Lesley

    ReplyDelete
  2. So very,very clever.

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I make almond milk every week and also don't have a nut milk bag, but I just used a piece of fabric to line a strainer from my sewing stash, and it works great!

    My kids love it too, total bonus :-)

    ReplyDelete