September's Healthy Eating Support Group Notes and Recipes

What a great discussion we had at Thursday's meeting and with some really good questions asked.
Some of the things we discussed:
*What is the best oil to use?  Coconut oil and Extra virgin olive oil
*What are good alternatives instead of dairy?  Almond milk, coconut milk, Organic soy milk
 I have included the recipes for homemade Almond and Coconut milk below
*How to get more vegetables in our diet?
     Smoothies, lettuce salads, stir fry's, crudites, and making your own fresh juices were just some of the things we discussed.

You heard me talk about the Green Smoothie Girl a few times.  Here are some great articles I found on how two families get their kids to eat healthy.  You'll find the links, here, here and here
     
Homemade Almond Milk
       1 cup soaked almonds (soak 6-8 hours or overnight), rinse thoroughly
       2 or 3 cups distilled or filtered water   (I use 3 cups)
       1 tsp vanilla
       Sweeten to taste (I don't usually add sweetener, but if I do, I use Agave)
     
Directions: Place soaked, rinsed, drained almonds into blender, add water and blend on high until thoroughly blended.  The amount of time will be determined on your particular blender.  High speed blenders like the Vitamix or Blendtec take about a minute.  Pour blended mixture into a large bowl lined with a nut bag, 100% cotton muslin, or linen ( I made my own nut bag out because the store bought one wasn't big enough).
Squeeze the "milk" out of the bag until all that is left if dry almond pulp.  Stir vanilla and sweetener into milk and refrigerate.  This keep about 3 days, if it lasts that long.  The milk will separate while in the fridge.  Just shake or stir well before using.
Notes: I usually put my almonds on to soak the night before and make the milk the next morning which takes about 5 minutes or less.  I don't usually put vanilla and sweetener in mine, because I mainly use it in recipes that already call for these ingredients.  If you are going to drink it, you might want to add them.

Homemade coconut milk is made the same way as Almond Milk, but instead of Almonds, use dried shredded coconut (unsweetened only, found in the Health food store).  I use a 2/1 ratio (2 cups water, 1 cup coconut).

Green Smoothie Recipe #1
all amounts are approximate and to personal taste
1 cup milk (a good place to use your homemade coconut milk)
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 frozen banana
handful of spinach (or other greens such as: chard, dandelion, kale, collard, etc)
optional - 1 tsp coconut flavoring

Place milk and greens in first and blend a little, then add frozen fruit a few pieces at a time, and blend until fruit is thoroughly blended.  If too thick, add more milk, If too watery, add more frozen fruit or ice cubes.

Green Smoothie Recipe #2
all amounts are approximate and to personal taste
1 cup apple or grape juice (or water)
1 cup mixed frozen berries
1 frozen banana
handful of spinach (or other greens)
optional - handful of frozen grapes

Place juice or water and greens in blender.  Add frozen fruit a few pieces at a time and blend until fruit is thoroughly blended.  If too thick, add more juice, if too watery, add more frozen fruit or ice cubes.

Notes: I make my own homemade juices so I know there are no preservatives and fillers.  This is not an option for many people, so look for 100% pure fruit juice, without added ingredients.  As I mentioned, I don't like my smoothies left in the refrigerator overnight.  I think it gets too "pulpy" tasting.  This did not bother others in our group.  If I make more smoothie than I can eat at one time, I pour it in a cup or pint mason jar and cover with tin foil and a rubber band.  This makes a quick and easy lunch.  Just place frozen smoothie in an insulated lunch bag, and by lunch it is just right.  Make sure and pack a spoon, I forgot this once and it was challenging to eat.  Or, you can take a frozen smoothie and place in the refrigerator just before going to bed.  It will be about perfect in the morning.   When traveling in a car, I make several smoothies ahead of time and freeze.  Then place them all in a small cooler and cover with ice.  They last for several days this way.  
   Smoothies can be made out of most any fruit.  Be adventurous and try different things.  During the winter we often make Orange smoothies, which resembles an orange julius.  We always buy fruit when it is in season and freeze.  I peel, then slice into pieces that will blend easily and lay the slices on a cookie sheet and freeze.  Then just place the frozen fruit into a Ziploc bag and you have individually frozen fruit for months to come.  Freezing fruit while in season is more economical and much better tasting than fresh fruit (transported from another country) purchased during  other times of the year.