What I've been eating recently

Well you may be shocked to hear my news. I broke my raw streak and this is how it started. 

For days I had been thinking that I was ready to do a juice cleanse and then try fasting again. So I had the mentality one day that if I'm doing a juice cleanse then I can eat whatever I want. That whatever I want turned into a bag of roasted and salted groundnuts (peanuts in the shell), a carton of soy milk, a warm chocolate cookie and ice cream plus fresh bread from a vegan bakery. 

How I loved every minute of it (apart from when I felt so bloated). The vegan bakery was awesome and their menu is beautiful! The bread tasted so sweet. But the only problem with my decision was the fact that I'd not eaten grains in over 1 year and my body didn't know what hit it. 

I did the juice cleanse for 2 days using store bought pasteurised juice and when I was supposed to shit for Thailand the only thing that came out of me were some hard stools. Surprisingly they didn't smell bad. 

I made the decision to visit Rasayana with my friend and I had a looser bowel movement, but since then I have only been having hard stools again because I have been on cooked juices again for 2 days. I wanted to experiment with using cooked juices and what I noticed was that my skin has gone even softer, but the whites in my eyes have gone yellow. I wasn't sure if that was down to the poor sleep, but then I've been feeling pains below my stomach so I am thinking that the cooked juices are no good at all and my body is telling me so! 

Yesterday I craved avocado so much and salad so I went and bought them. I think my body craved real food with real nutrients because the juices were just not providing the minerals and vitamins my body is used to. 

What I've learnt from this experience is that cooked juices are not ideal for me, I'm still not ready to give up food and I just want to eat the fruit that's in season, which is mangoes! So I actually filled up my basket and bag with mangoes yesterday (8kg in total) and I shall be eating them when they ripen. 

Fantasies

I've been living in a bubble recently, allowing my imagination to run wild with possible scenarios for what could happen to me in the immediate future. Whilst this can bring up joyful and pleasant thoughts, it's just not very productive. 

I've spent most of my life living in a fantasy land, probably because I've been too afraid of facing up to my reality and living in the present moment. I can see that what I've been doing recently is avoiding the issues I have right now. 

Whilst it's nice to have warm fuzzy thoughts about a member of the opposite sex, it's counter productive due to my choice to be celibate and to be alone to find out who I am as a spirit. I've allowed the ego to rule for so long that now I am awakening it would be a shame to let it continue to rule my decisions. 

Tonight I had this realisation as my school girl crush ate meat and drank beer. I have vowed to be vegan sexual, meaning I will not have a relationship with anyone who isn't vegan and on top of that I give my body to God. In this day and age finding someone of the opposite sex who fits in with my goals is almost impossible. 

Most people tell me I'll meet someone and fall in love, but after 12 years of loving numerous men (conditionally) and then being told by that one special guy that we're not compatible I think it's better if I stop spending time thinking about it and use the time in other productive ways. 

I'm not looking for external love. I still need to love myself entirely. Sure it's nice to be close to people, to hold, caress and kiss, but I'm getting to that point where it doesn't matter anymore. As long as I meet people who can touch my soul then I know I'm progressing. 

Life lessons

I learn something new everyday, whether that be a new word in a different language or I become aware of certain things I do that I had never noticed before. Life is full of lessons and I have had a few this week. 

The first lesson I have learned is that I have been excluding myself from so many social situations that it has partly fuelled those lonely times when I just needed a friend. The reason is because of my lifestyle. 

80/10/10 aka raw veganism has changed my life incredibly in the 2 years I've known about it. I changed my diet, changed my beauty routine, changed my goals, job, even friends and this is great, BUT I have also excluded friends and family from my life and missed out on events that I would normally love to attend. I have avoided situations because I thought that these people were no longer relevant in my life because they don't eat the same as me. 

What a fool! 

I don't have anyone to blame but myself. How can I follow a so called compassionate lifestyle trying to bring balance and harmony to myself through what I eat and what I practice, yet I cut myself off from the majority of the world?! Sure I need to love myself first before I can love anyone else, but I also need to love EVERYONE and not just the minority that follow my lifestyle. And let's face it, the raw food movement is full of anger, bitterness, backstabbing, jealousy, greed and hypocrisy right now so we're not "better" than anyone else. 

Love man no matter what, for most of them are still sleeping and do not know any better. One day we will no longer be animals, we will realise our potential as spiritual beings. 

The second lesson I have learned is regarding food. I am a binge eater. I am a thoughtless eater and I am greedy. It's not really a new lesson though because I've always known this, it's just recently I have become increasingly aware of what I am doing. It's as if I am deliberately trying to make myself sick and I think subconsciously I am, so that I can learn how to break my food addiction and realise that it is absolutely ridiculous to plan everything in my life around food. And yes, you can be addicted to all foods, not just cooked ones, which I broke the addiction for last year! 

This is a third lesson. I am living for food. My travels are solely planned around food and the raw food lifestyle has encouraged these bad habits. I've listened to people who say "you need to get in the calories", "carb up", "fat makes you fat", etc. Again I only have myself to blame. I eat until I am stuffed, I eat when I think I should (because of school, jobs, etc we have to eat when we're given the free time) and I eat when I desire it, not when I am hungry. Eg say I eat a fruit meal of melon and I see durian but I'm not hungry, I'll still eat the durian. 

As I cycled to yet another fruit market I questioned my sanity. Why am I cycling around Bangkok for fruit? Why am I not submerging myself in local culture or history? I haven't seen one gallery, museum or performance in Bangkok. Last year I visited 2 temples and the rest of the time was spent shopping in the malls or hunting down fruit. 

I have spent so much money in Rasayana, it's not even funny. I have used so much time eating when I'm not necessarily hungry and where does it all go?! Down the toilet. Essentially I'm flushing money away down the toilet! 

I don't believe we need to eat as much as we are told to, especially on a raw food diet, the fact that were eating nature's candy is enough for our bodies, but the more we eat the more stress we put on ourselves. Of course my aim isn't to be an athlete, but I don't want to live my life for food. Food is medicine after all. Let's use it wisely. 

To wrap this up I want to thank one particular person from my hostel. Matthew was so open, friendly, welcoming and kind to me (and everyone else) when I met him, despite our differences in lifestyle choices he's showed me there's more to life than what we eat. I have enjoyed listening to his background (and boy what a life he's had!) and have had a good laugh. It doesn't matter what you eat, it's about what you do with your life and how you interact with people. Sure watching someone eat a dead animal has its downside, but it's no fun to constantly exclude yourself because of it. At least that's what I've discovered recently. 

We may think differently about food, but life experiences are of greater value. Plus you never know who you will influence :) 

Wishful Wednesday - flashback!

Wow, it was just over a year ago that I wished for a vegan vampire boyfriend. To those who missed it, here is that post.

I have some more thoughts and opinions on this. I believe I was presented with a vegan vampire, yes it is true! My wish was fulfilled, although when I asked for a boyfriend I meant long term, but I suppose I didn't specify the longevity of our relationship.

When you think about vampires you'll either think of Buffy (if you're male) or Twilight (if you're female). As beautifully poetic as the twilight vampires are (sparkly and somewhat handsome) these characters are merely allegorical. Vampires are not infected beings who suddenly turn into blood thirsty immortal beings. They are, however, immortal.

Going into more detail, vampires are simply immortal human beings that are able to walk the earth for a very long time (until they're killed or their higher spirit decides they've accomplished their goals I guess) and have somewhat conquered the universal laws - meaning that they are no longer bound by time, ageing, etc.

I believe that it is very possible for humans to become vampires in this sense. As far as I am concerned I once believed that the human life should last until at least 120 years and over the last 100 years we have severely fallen short of that number. Nowadays you hear of people living till well over 100 and it's not actually that special anymore. 

However, you cannot become a vampire over night. You need to be taught the secret.

Yes, just like every other worthwhile society there is a secret. 

It is too early for me to reveal the secret, but if you are curious then my first and most important suggestion is that you need to stop eating meat. I swear on my life that this is not just a ploy to turn you vegan, it is the truth. It depends on how ready you are to face the truth.

In time you will see.

When you are ready, take the first step and if you are already vegan, well you're already one step ahead of 95% of the world.

Stay tuned to find out more about vampire vegans.

Jennifer x

Wise Wednesday - Are you ready to go vegan?

Becoming vegan

I cut out meat because I didn't really enjoy it, I always enjoyed the seasoning or the batter that coated it! I've always had an instinct that eating meat was bad for us but I'm easily persuaded by nutrition "experts". Until I discovered 801010 I thought protein only came from animals! So naive of me. I changed my diet because I saw the results that one can achieve from being vegan and now I'm living this lifestyle I know how easy it is to sustain, even a raw food diet is easy, it just takes a bit of effort to beat the cravings of other foods. 

Are you ready to go vegan? 

It depends what type of person you are as to whether you are ready to go vegan. Are you willing to go against the beliefs of others no matter what they say? Are you willing to stand up to pressure no matter what it takes? Are you willing to be the minority? Are you willing to stand up for the animals? Are you willing to put your health first? 

My experience of being vegan. 

I've had countless discussions, countless sarcasm, countless comments. It's about being willing to stand up and say "I am not eating animals because I can sustain a life on plants". For me it's about health. I look at the majority of people around me and they are fat, sick and unhealthy. I look at me and I'm losing my fat, my skin glows when I eat and I hardly get ill anymore. 

What do YOU want for YOUR life?

If you need help with transitioning to a vegan lifestyle I am here to help, but the one thing that will help you the most is to actually want it. Like really want it so bad that there's nothing else that seems important. The main reason for going vegan should be your health. The animals are important, but first you should concentrate on yourself. 

The world is awakening and veganism is only the start of it, so don't be the last to get on board. Start a lifestyle where you'll thrive and be an excellent example of health. Open your mind and your eyes. Listen to your heart. 

Believe in good. Believe in God. 

Jennifer x

Think Thursday

Can vegans do more?

Most people I've met on a raw/mostly raw vegan diet say they came to this lifestyle to be more healthy, there are few people who change because of the cruelty to animals, but we all become compassionate some point on our vegan journey.

I (briefly) read an article that says just being vegan isn't enough. The animals will die no matter whether we eat them or not, if they're not used for human consumption they will be used as animal feed.

It did make me stop and think, but we cannot change something overnight that took years to build momentum. 

I do wonder what it will take for all the unnecessary death to stop. Do you think we need to do more than just stop eating and wearing animals?

Jennifer x

Wishful Wednesday

Today I wish that I had a fountain of knowledge. 

More specifically, I wish that I could recite facts, quotes and important information about why eating oils are bad for your health.

I do my best to stay out of peoples eating habits at work, but when someone says oils are "healthy" and they are not healthy looking, I start to question why we are all fed such BS and believe it. 

Omega 3 is apparently essential, but why is it that people automatically tell you to eat fish? Well according to this website, you are better off having ground flax seed. Just 2 tbsp provides 132.9% of the RDA for Omega 3, followed in second place by walnuts. Oh, fish came third but you'd have to eat 4oz of salmon just to get 61% of the RDA, which means if you rely on fish you'd need to eat a lot. Obviously I recommend the flax (as I am vegan and care about the life of fish), but I just cannot see why you would justify eating fish over plant based food.

Anyway, my colleague was talking about olive oil. I said it's better to go to the source of the fat than eat the oil, e.g. eat the olive (but they are normally coated in oil anyway *rolls eyes*) or if you really want healthy fats eat avocado. If I want to eat fat, I will eat it from a whole foods source. I do not like nuts as a source of fat because you have to eat so little and they can become addictive (and again the controversy about them being cooked/roasted to stop them going rancid), but I will make nut milk. 

This argument is also good for sugar. Why eat a chocolate bar loaded with preservatives, saturated fats, artificial ingredients, etc when you can just go for the fruit? Fruit is the best source of sugar hands down. So why do people keep eating the shitty seriously unhealthy bar of candy? The best days of my life have definitely included when I gave up chocolate, stopped drinking alcohol and stopped consuming meat and dairy. 

Give it up! You'll feel great (providing you eat the right foods once you've given up the wrong foods). 

Anyway, let's get back on topic. 

So, a fountain of knowledge would help me in situations when I have to defend my eating habits, my lifestyle in general and when I want to provide insight to people who believe the BS and are so closed minded that they do not know of any other way.

If I can recommend one thing to do this year it would be to cut out fat.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Next time you see me, please give me a hug!

Much love

Jennifer x

Think Thursday

Welcome to Think Thursday!

More than likely you have all done your Christmas shopping and perhaps this should have been a post a few weeks ago, but if you're like me you will not want to be paying for gifts that potentially add to the problem of animal cruelty.

I opted out of my work's Secret Santa because a lot of people wanted things that I did not want to purchase (it is a specific Secret Santa, e.g. write 3 things you want and then your Secret Santa must buy from that list). I did not want to end up picking someone asking for booze or chocolate so that is why I decided against it.

I think gift giving for a vegan who stands by their morals is tough if they are buying for a non vegan who is particularly fussy about brands, etc.

Nowadays I tend to give money, which I feel is just the same as not giving a present. It is not creative, does not require any thought for that person and could not be more impersonal if it tried!

I think gift giving for a vegan could be the perfect way to plant seeds.

Gifting books, DVDs, peronal hygiene products, vegan foods, fair trade products, etc could be a great way to introduce a non vegan to this way of living. To seek a more harmonious way of living that does not involve cruelty and want to live a healthier lifestyle.

I believe that if we start small and local, we can all make a big difference together.

Now, do not give in. Do not buy anything that compromises your morals.

Much love

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

Hello and welcome to another Tasty Tuesday.

I have a "blonde" confession to make. I thought I had grown rosemary in my garden, but upon buying prepacked herbs at the supermarket I have now discovered I grew thyme! So along with flat leaf parsley I thought was coriander I have decided that I am in fact a total gardening noob. Any recipe I said I used rosemary, well I actually used thyme ;) I am going to update my posts!

So, I did another 30 days raw (well except for nuts) and I didn't feel as good as the first time. I do not know whether it is down to weather, daylight (lack of), general motivation, or the quantities/quality of my food etc but I still aim to be raw. However, I did prepare some baked, boiled and steamed vegetables and there are no excuses for you not to try this, you'll be totally satisfied. No need for animal products, just a whole load of root veg!

Here is what I had

White potato and celeriac mash with nutritional yeast (thanks to Peter who suggested it)

Baked sweet potatoes (still in the oven at this point of the picture)

Boiled red potatoes

Asparagus

Sprouts (oh my goodness I had to have them, they're my favourite!)

Carrots

Parsnips

Mushrooms (fried in water)

It was so filling and it just feels clean even though it was cooked, it still has nothing on raw, but this is a better back up and full of nutrition.

I hope you all "go root yourself" and stay away from junk.

Much love

Jennifer x

Wishful Wednesday

Hello and welcome to Wishful Wednesday.

My wish is something that keeps coming up this week and although it is a change I made this year, it is the best one I've ever made so I want others to do the same.

I wish that everyone was vegan.

The animals wouldn't suffer, obesity would reduce (providing people lay off the fat and ate a more natural raw diet), there would be less pollution, everyone would feel so much healthier, there would be a reduced chance of developing a disease caused by eating animal products and other variables around that and we'd all have a better relationship with each other and the earth.

At least that is my hope.

Why would you want to kill innocent chicks?
Male chicks get ground up ALIVE on their 1st day of being born because they are "useless" to the meat industry

How could you kill a sweet intelligent pig?
Did Babe not melt your heart???

Shooting deer is also disturbing, as is skinning foxes and any other animal for fur.
Did you know that most skinning is done when the animal is ALIVE AND HAS NOT BEEN ANESTHETIZED!!!

Why do you want to stop little lambs being happy and playing in the fields?
Why would you KILL a baby and take it away from it's Mother?
WHY THE FUCK DO YOU WANT TO EAT AN INNOCENT BABY?!?!?!?!

Come on, this is so sweet. Animals need affection like humans do. The baby gets it from it's Mother.
What right do we have to steal a calf?
What right do we have to constantly impregnate cows and steal their milk?
WHY DO WE STILL DRINK COWS MILK IF IT IS DESIGNED FOR A COW??????

We should love every animal and being on the planet.
No matter what race or species.

I hope that this has given you some insight into my thoughts and feelings. One day the world will realise how evil it has become and perhaps we are just waiting for that alien invasion to make peace (as my friend James suggested a few weeks back).

Consider the animal that was murdered when you next tuck into one. They did not die willingly, remember that. Some humans commit suicide, but these animals are slaughtered without having an option to live.

Much love

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

Welcome to Tasty Tuesday!

I was craving pizza this weekend, thinking that I would need a dehydrator to make it truly satisfying I felt like I would probably never have it. Having watched numerous raw food videos that do not require a dehydrator I knew I could do it, after all I am Miss throw-it-together-and-make-something-amazing ;)

So here is my raw vegan pizza recipe. No photos of the process but it's pretty easy (it is me who made it, I do not make complicated things!)

First one - was delicious!

Ingredients and steps

Pizza base

• Courgettes
• OR shop bought raw crackits
• OR find a recipe and dehydrate your own bases

Slice down the middle of a courgette, then use a mandolin to create thin slices. You will probably have to double or triple layer them if the layers are very thin. The other way is to very carefully slice the courgette with a knife, but the mandolin and using 2 or 3 layers is best...

Tomato sauce

• 2-4 spring onions
• Celery - I used about 1/4 of a stem just because I am not overly fond of it
• 6-8 tomatoes
• Basil

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend away!

Strain excess juice with a sieve.

"Cheese" - it does not taste like cheese, but it is creamy and better than cheese

• Half or even less avocado
• Some courgette
• Splash of water

Place ingredients into a blender and blend until creamy. Add more water to make it more runny if necessary.

Toppings

• Whatever you want!

I used mushrooms, okra, cherry tomatoes and cress. 

To put it all together, start with the tomato sauce, then your toppings and finally add the "cheese". Hold with both hands and get it in your mouth ASAP else it will fall back onto your plate :)

I made 5 pizzas with a courgette base and 1 with a raw crackit - the courgette bases were the best!

Enjoy making these, you'll be making them again I am sure because they were delicious!

Much love

Jennifer x

Think Thursday

Welcome to Think Thursday!

Think about the animals.

Animals have eyes, mouth, nose, ears, heart, lungs, veins, blood, why should we kill them? Example, I'm English. I don't kill Spanish, Chinese, German, Russian, etc speaking people because we don't communicate in the same language, so what gives us the right to kill a cow, pig, sheep, dog, rat, mouse, duck, etc because they cannot speak for themselves in our language? 

I'm sure that if you spend time with an animal before it is slaughtered you won't be thinking "mmm tasty flesh" you'll be horrified you just killed an innocent being for your selfish greed AND their cries will haunt you forever.

Just because it is considered "normal" to eat animals does not mean that it is right. We should challenge our thoughts and our hearts. What does yours say?

When I ate meat, I hated it. I would always visualise the animal on my plate. I imagined the living conditions, especially with regards to chicken, but one thing I never thought about was the slaughter they endured, or the abuse that people acted out on them. 

I wanted to be vegetarian as a child but I am easily influenced by family (well not so much anymore!) and I still kick myself that I only turned vegan THIS year! Although I did reduce my animal consumption dramatically over the last 2 years by having vegetarian dishes when eating out and buying vegetarian food to prepare at home. I just never sat down and thought about it to the extent I have done this year.

My life has changed completely. 

I love my life the way it is now and the only thing I would change is being able to find a way (that fits in with my current lifestyle) to influence others to make this change. Not only is it healthy for your entire body, but it is great for the planet and even better for the animals.

Take this seriously.

Much love

Jennifer x

Wishful Wednesday

Welcome to Wishful Wednesday!

I always find myself wishing away over the week, but come Wednesday I have forgotten what it is I wished for!

I guess most vegans (if not all) can relate to this one.

I wish that my family (one person in particular) would accept me for being vegan and not constantly question my decision/choice to embrace this lifestyle and find negative examples to try to convince me that what I am doing is "wrong".

I started taking B12 shots over the last week due to my levels being low according to NHS standards. This is the only supplement I feel that I should put in my body. Vegans, vegetarians AND meat eaters can be deficient in this vitamin. My dad is one of them, being a meat eater who believes the only way to increase your levels is to eat animal products (because the "experts" have fed this bullshit to us for years). I am beginning to believe my problem is not dietary but in fact hereditary. Apparently my nan suffered and my dad does too, so it makes sense. 

My dad thinks that I have this problem due to being vegan, but in fact it only occurred to me last night that when I was 19 I tried to donate blood but my iron levels were too low. I never got it checked out, so perhaps I have always had a problem. I only decided to check it out due to the change in my lifestyle. Turning vegan has possibly made me aware of issues I've always had.

So anyway, I just want my family to support my choices.

Have you got similar wishes? Let me know.

Much love

Jennifer x

Tasty Tuesday

Welcome to Tasty Tuesday!

You do not have to wait any longer, today I will be sharing my Raw Vegan Lasagne! I am waiting for a decent photo editor, so my photos look very noob-like :P

For those who do not know about the Raw Vegan lifestyle it is basically the consumption of fresh fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, etc (preferably organic) that have not been cooked above 48 degrees Celsius. Ideally people on this lifestyle are aiming for 100% raw, but it is very common that people are raw for breakfast and lunch but eat a cooked vegan dinner. Once you embrace this lifestyle you will reap the benefits such as more energy, feeling lighter during exercise, having more endurance and have glowing skin! 

So, this raw vegan lasagne is uncooked, cold/room temperature and packed with a whole lot of love, because remember "fruit and veggies love you back"! Next time you pick something up that is processed, high in fat or from a "fast food" shop say to yourself that you may love what you're about to eat, but it definitely does not love you back.

I think this will work best if I list the ingredients, tools and instructions for each section and at the end do one big instruction for putting it together. Oh and this serves one very greedy, hungry belly.

Ingredients/Tools/Instructions

Pasta sheets

• 3 courgettes/zucchinis (the only ingredient I measured haha)
• Mandolin slicer
• Peeler
• Knife

This is completely optional, but I peeled the courgettes because they were not the freshest! Once peeled slice in half length ways and very carefully use the mandolin slicer. If you do not own one then you could very very carefully slice the courgette thinly with a knife but please be very careful!!!

Place the slices to one side and keep the left over bits that are too thin to use as a layer.

Sliced courgette

Tomato sauce

• A lot of tomatoes - I filled up the food processor with 2/3rds tomatoes
• Sun dried tomatoes - preferably soaked (the longer the better)
• Spring onion - I like this a lot, so I used 5 stems! I'd say 2 or 3 are enough
• Fresh basil - put as much or as little in as you with but I used about 25-30 leaves
• Fresh rosemary - same as basil, use as much or as little but I used 3 long sprigs
• Walnuts - I used about 5 just because I had them to hand
• Food processor/blender
• Sieve
• Bowl
• Chopping board
• Knife

Wash your ingredients then if you are using large tomatoes chop them up a bit as well as the spring onion, then add everything into the blender and blend away. It's up to you whether you want it chunky or smooth. My blender does not get anything smooth so I had chunky bits which add texture! Place the sieve over the bowl and drain the excess liquid from this mixture.

Put to one side.

Sauce blended - tomatoes blend down to next to nothing!

Sieve away - if you like it slightly runny add some juice back in

Creamy sauce

• Half an avocado
• Spring onion
• Left over courgette
• Basil (optional) - about 5-10 leaves 
• Rosemary (optional) - 1 sprig
• Blender
• Knife

If you are just making this for one person cut up half an avocado, mine was about 64g, which is about 9.5g fat.

Place all of the ingredients into the blender (that you will have to wash!) and blend until it is smooth and creamy. You may need a little bit of water if you want it less thick but I did not add any.

Place to one side.

Putting it all together

So you should have made all of your components for this tasty meal, now all you need is one deep dish.

I started by putting 2 layers of pasta on the bottom and then the tomato sauce followed by another layer of pasta and then the creamy sauce, tomato sauce, pasta, creamy sauce. I got about 2 layers in my dish because it was a beast of a dish so perhaps if you have a thinner but equally deep dish you'd get more layers. Have fun with it, I certainly did. I am a naughty chef because I was eating as I was going!

Bottom two layers

Added tomato sauce and another layer of pasta before the creamy sauce

Looking like it came straight out of the oven!

Who needs a separate plate when it's all for ME!!! :D

If you want me to be more specific I suppose I could make it again :P but for me, making dishes is one big experiment, which is why I am very loose with measurements because we all have different tastes and as much as I love basil that I could use almost half the plant you may only want 5 leaves.

I hope you do make this and do enjoy it. I mainly got inspiration from Kristina, but if you google "raw vegan lasagne" you'll find soooooooooooo many recipes.

Tomorrow is Wishful Wednesday and I'll probably be wishing for this meal ;)

Much love

Jennifer x

Make it Monday

Welcome to the second Make it Monday!

I said I would share my raw lasagne recipe today, but it's not just a Make it sort of post, it's a Tasty one so stay tuned for the recipe tomorrow.

Today I want to rave about home made nut milk. In particular hazelnut milk. I made it after I got home from work and I have to say I cannot believe how easy it was to make and just how tasty it was to drink!

It is so easy all I used to make it were hazelnuts and water!

Some websites I have browsed for recipes suggested dates to sweeten it up, but I don't think it needs it, especially if you use it in a smoothie like I did.

5 bananas and 300ml nut milk (had a drink before I thought to take the picture!!)

So here's what you will need to make your own nut milk

• A bowl
• A colander
• A blender
• A nut milk bag 
• A jug/funnel
• A sealed jar
• Nuts - I used all of the hazelnuts I had so I didn't measure them. I just used the logic that for however many cups of nuts use double the amount of water :)
• Water
• Patience
• A little frustration/anger for squeezing

Here's what you need to do

• Place your nuts into a bowl and soak overnight. This is where you need your patience. I waited almost 24 hours before I made the milk. 
• Drain the water - use a colander/sieve/whatever method you use (some people use pan lids positioned in a way that lets the water drain but the food stay in!!)
• I rinsed them a few times, optional I guess but I suggest it.
• Put the nuts into your blender, add double the amount of water.
• Blend, blend and blend some more until it looks milky and you are happy with the consistency. I didn't need to add any additional water in.
• Place the nut milk bag into the bowl and then add the contents of the blender into a bag.
• Allow to drain and then prepare for some squeezing!! This is where you can relieve some stress!!
• Place your milk into the jug and put into your jar or funnel it straight into your jar.
• Put the pulp into a sealed container for another recipe.
• Wash up!

How easy was that?!?! 

It should last a few days in the fridge, but when you blend it with ripe bananas for a smoothie it won't last that long!

Here's the website I was inspired by.

Here's a great recipe for nut pulp hummus that I intend to make

Here's a website to make raw tahini to go into the hummus

If you make your own milk please tell me what your favourite nut is, if you've ever used your nut pulp please share what you do with that too.

I hope you have enjoyed learning how to make nut milk and I encourage you to check back tomorrow for my very unmeasured but very tasty raw vegan lasagne!!

Much love

Jennifer x