Honey Roasted Almond Butter

April 3, 2015April 3, 2015 / ktbuchs87

You guys. This almond butter. When I found out that I would have access to a Vitamix for a few days the first thing I knew that I wanted to make was some kind of nut butter. I am a nut/seed butter junkie and I have some form of it everyday. The down side to this addiction is that it can get a little pricey. For some reason people seem to think that you need to add a bunch of ingredients to nut butter when in reality all you need is nuts and a little salt. You would think that the versions with less ingredients would in turn cost less but alas they are more expensive. Now I can still find peanut butter and almond butter for a decent price, but I can’t indulge in all the other awesome nut and seed butters out there unless there is a big sale.

It a lot more cost-effective to make your own nut butter, but I sadly do not have the proper equipment to do this. I tried once to do it with my food processor and I’m pretty sure I almost blew it up. That wasn’t the case with the Vitamix. In less than five minutes I had wonderfully creamy almond butter. It was magical.

I didn’t want to just do a regular nut butter for you today, I wanted to make it a little special. Celebrate high-powered blenders, ya know? So with just a few easy steps you can have this tasty honey (or maple) roasted almond butter to put on everything. And if you’re like me, you WILL put it on everything. Toast, oatmeal, celery, spoons, fingers…. Anywho, onto the recipe!

Honey Roasted Almond Butter

2 cups raw almonds
1/3 cup honey or maple syrup to make vegan
sea salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 375. Place almonds in a large bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the honey or maple syrup for a few minutes. Constantly stir and make sure that you don’t let it boil. You just want to heat it up to a nice pourable consistency.

2. Pour honey/maple syrup over your almonds and stir to coat. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spread out the almonds into an even layer. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and place into the oven.

3. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove and shake the almonds a little to move around and place back in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Make sure you watch the almonds carefully so they don’t burn. You want them to be a nice golden brown not black.

4. Once done remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Once cooled, place all the almonds into your blender or food processor. Depending on the kind of blender you have this could take a few minutes and you might have to stop and scrape down the sides a few times. Just be patient and soon you’ll have a smooth and creamy nut butter.

That’s it! A few simple ingredients, a few easy steps, and you have yourself a nice treat! Make sure you store it in an airtight container and it should last you a week if kept in the fridge. Now go find things to eat with your almond butter. Remember fingers work just as well!

Chocolate Macadamia Milk

March 27, 2015March 27, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Who doesn’t like chocolate milk? It’s chocolate that you can drink! When I was younger, we had a glass of milk with every meal but chocolate milk was a special treat. We didn’t buy it often and when my mom did let us have it she would mix it with regular milk to make it last longer and cut down on the amount of sugar we were consuming. Pretty sneaky mom!

I haven’t had regular chocolate milk in years due to my lactose intolerance and the fact that there really is a lot of sugar in those drinks. But I had a hankering the other day and I decided to try my hand at making a nut milk version. Now I will say that I don’t have a fancy high powered blender like the Vitamix or Blendtec but I was still able to make a decent nut milk with my old Ninja blender. So those of you who are lucky enough to possess those amazing blenders this will be a breeze for you and to those of you like me it will just take a little extra time.

You will have to soak the nuts for at least 6 hours so make sure that you plan ahead a little. Otherwise this recipe comes together fairly quickly and will last for about a week if kept in the fridge. Let’s get to that chocolate milk!

Chocolate Macadamia Milk

1 cup raw macadamia nuts
3 1/2 cups water
2-3 tbsp honey or maple syrup (could also use 5-6 dates)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
4 oz dark chocolate (at least 70% or darker)
cheese cloth or nut milk bag

1. Soak the nuts for at least 6 hours. Drain them and place into blender and pulse a few times to break up the nuts.

2. Add in water, sweetener of choice, vanilla, and salt. Blend everything until it is smooth and creamy. High powered blenders will take less time, regular blenders will take a bit longer.

3. Place cheesecloth/nut milk bag over a large bowl and pour nut milk into the bowl. Carefully squeeze out all of the liquid until you just have pulp left in the cloth or bag. (Save the pulp to use in baking/cracker/smoothies/or as bread crumbs) Pour the milk into a medium saucepan.

4. Turn heat to medium low and add the dark chocolate to your milk. Constantly stirring the milk, melt the chocolate completely. It may look like the chocolate isn’t going to incorporate into the milk, but don’t worry. Just make sure there are no huge chunks left.

5. Once everything is melted, using either an immersion blender or blender, blend until the chocolate is fully combined. Your milk should turn brown like regular chocolate milk and there shouldn’t be any pieces left.

6. Pour your milk into a container and let it cool completely. Store in the fridge and it should keep for up to 5 days.

I love how thick and creamy this milk turned out and it really hit the spot. You could use this to dunk cookies or pour over cereal for an extra treat. You can also play with the amount of sweetener you use to fit your taste. I used the lower end because I didn’t want it super sweet but you can use more if you wanted.

I hope you have a great weekend and I will see you back on Monday!

Fusilli N’ Cheeze

March 20, 2015March 20, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Part of my palate is still a small child and one of my favorite comfort foods is mac and cheese. I used to love eating that wonderful blue box delicacy, just like most kids in America. I can’t remember the last time that I had “regular” mac and cheese and given the recent recall on top of the fact that there isn’t any real cheese in there, I don’t think I will be indulging any time soon.

There are plenty of dairy free versions of mac and cheese out there, I actually have two of my own versions on the blog. I like those versions, but I was missing the smooth and creamy texture of the boxed variety. Many versions use cashews in the sauce and because I don’t have a fancy schmancy high powered blender, I usually end up with a slightly grainy texture. It tastes like mac and cheese but it doesn’t feel like mac and cheese. So I set out to make a “cheese” sauce that didn’t use cashews for those of us who have to suffer without a Vitamix or Blendtec.

While this does have a cheesy taste to me, don’t expect it to be an exact replica of Kraft or any other regular boxed version. It will have that nice and creamy texture though and that is enough for me!

Fusilli N’ Cheeze

1 package of brown rice fusilli (I get mine from Trader Joes. It’s awesome!)
1 cup non-dairy milk (I have used coconut and almond milk with great results)
1 1/4 cup water
3/4 cup nutritional yeast (this is your cheese flavor so if you want a cheesier taste, use up to 1 cup)
3 tbsp tapioca starch (you can also use corn starch)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp tahini (you can also use sunflower seed butter)
1 tsp miso (I used red but you can use white or whatever you have on hand. if you don’t have miso, use extra salt)
1 tsp brown mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp turmeric

1. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. While that is cooking, prepare the sauce.

2. Ready for this? Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until everything is combined. It will seem really watery but don’t worry, it’s going to thicken.

3. Put the pasta back into the pot you used to cook it in and pour the sauce over the noodles. Stir everything to coat the pasta and turn the heat on to medium high heat. Keep stirring and as the sauce heats up it will begin to thicken. Cook for about 5 to 10 minutes.

The other awesome thing about this? It takes less than 30 minutes to make. So when you have the urge for some good old comfort food you can whip it up just as fast as the box kind. This version though won’t have fake chemicals or pieces of metal in it.

Happy first day of Spring (even if it doesn’t feel like it) and have a great Friday!

My Favorite Hummus

March 13, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Hummus has almost a cult like following. People can’t get enough of the stuff and will put it on any and everything. I am one of those people. I love the creamy texture and garlicky, smokey taste. I like dipping things into it, spreading it on anything, and adding it to any meal that I can. It’s pretty much amazing.

But there is one problem. I have had a really hard time recreating the texture at home. Store bought hummus is so smooth and creamy and that’s what makes it so addicting. I really like making my own though because it’s cheaper and I control the ingredients. It seemed every time that I made my own the taste would be just fine but I would end up with a dense and thick paste instead of smooth and creamy. Not so good.

After a lot of testing out a ton of recipes and techniques I think I finally found the best method to make the perfect hummus. It’s actually a combination of a few techniques out there to help make that perfect texture. This is a little labor intensive, but I promise it’s worth it. You can make a really big batch so it will last longer and you will always have hummus on hand. Now onto the hummus!

Perfectly Creamy Hummus

You will need at least 24 hours to soak the chickpeas. Don’t skip this step!!

1 cup dried chickpeas
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 whole cloves garlic
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 tsp cumin (freshly ground if possible)
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup water, reserved from cooking the chickpeas

1. 24 hours before you want hummus, place chickpeas into a large bowl and cover with water. Stir in the 1/2 tsp of baking soda. Cover and place the bowl into fridge.

2. After 24 hours, drain and rinse chickpeas and place into a large pot. Cover with at least 5 to 6 cups of water. Add in the 4 whole garlic cloves and bring the water to a boil. With a slotted spoon, skim off any foam/skins that floats to the top. Lower to a simmer, cover, and cook for 3 hours. The chickpeas should be super soft at this point.

3. Drain the chickpeas and garlic, reserving at least 1/2 cup of the water. Now at this point you can remove some of the skins off the chickpeas if you want. I have tried it both ways and haven’t noticed a huge difference. Place chickpeas and garlic into a food processor or blender. Add in the rest of the ingredients except the water. Pulse a few times to start to combine everything.

4. Turn the processor on and slowly add in water. This will turn the hummus into that wonderfully creamy texture. You might need less water, but I have found the full 1/2 cup makes the creamiest version.

Yes, it seems like a lot to make hummus when you can just go to the store and buy some and be on your merry way. But it is really hard to find hummus that doesn’t have weird ingredients or preservatives, and it can get expensive to support a serious hummus addiction with store bought. Take the time to make this and you will be rewarded with a delicious hummus that is half the cost and ready to be used in any way you want!

Have a great Friday and wonderful weekend!

Chocolate Covered PB Balls

January 16, 2015 / ktbuchs87

When I was younger, my sister, mom, and I would spend most of our summer days at the park district pool. My sister and I would play in the pool all day while my mom would read by the side of the pool. Our park district pool was actually really awesome. It had slides, diving boards, drop slides, waterfalls, sprinklers, and a sand pit. Needless to say it was hours of fun and we would play to exhaustion. Like most pools there was a mandatory break every hour where everyone had to get out of the pool for 15 minutes. During this time we would eat the snacks that my mom brought along. She had frozen grapes, pretzels, and peanut butter balls. Those peanut butter balls were awesome. They were sweet, bite size, and provided more energy to play in the sun all day long.

I haven’t had those peanut butter balls in a really long time, but I thought about turning them into a dessert for the holidays. All I did was tweak a few of the ingredients and then obviously I had to dip them in chocolate to make them even better than before.

These were a hit and they are a great little treat to keep on hand for when you need something a little sweet. While the ingredients are healthier than say a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, this is still a treat. So try not to shove five in your face at once. Not like I’ve done that….

Chocolate Covered PB Balls

Peanut Butter Balls

3/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp honey
1/2 cup oat flour (grind regular oats until you have a fine powder)
1/4 tsp salt (less if your peanut butter has salt)

Chocolate Covering

1 bar of 100% Cacao baking chocolate
1-2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp coconut oil

1. In a large bowl mix together peanut butter, maple syrup, salt and honey. Slowly add in the oat flour until you have a dough. You might not use the full 1/2 cup or you might need more.

2. Using a tablespoon, scoop out some peanut butter dough and roll into balls. Place onto a baking sheet lined with foil. Once you have used all the dough, place the baking sheet into the freezer.

3. Either using a double broiler or a microwaveable bowl, melt the baking chocolate. Before adding the maple syrup, make sure it is room temperature. If you add it in cold, the chocolate will seize up and you will have a clumpy mess (trust me, not fun). Add in room temperature syrup and oil and stir to combine.

4. Remove peanut butter balls from the freezer. Using a fork, dunk the balls into the chocolate covering and place back on the baking sheet. If you want to make them fancy, you can sprinkle with sea salt, crushed peanuts or other nut. Once you are done place the peanut butter balls back into the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

Keep these in a container in either the freezer or refrigerator until you’re ready to eat. If you’re a huge fan of the pb/chocolate combo then these are going to be your new favorite thing. I think that I might have to keep them on hand at all times…..

What is your favorite flavor combo?

Have a great weekend everyone!