F.R.E.A.M.

Food rules everything around me, F.R.E.A.M., be a fatty, eatin' eatin' good y'all!

Okay, so maybe I am not meant to be a rapper and that opening line would make Wu-Tang cry. I apologize. Moving on.

All of you that know me know that I have a deep love for food (right after you, Franco!). Lately my love affair has been stressed. Our 30 day challenge has kept me away from all things fatty, sweet, and salty, which has led me to do some crazy things in the kitchen. (Did you miss the avocado brownies?) My latest creation was a challenge friendly milk and cookie snack.

For the cookies I made biscotti based on The Foodie Physician's Dark Chocolate Almond Biscotti. (Awesome food blog for those who are interested in healthy cooking; she's also on Instagram.) I substituted ground almonds for the white flour, chia seeds for the eggs, date sugar and honey for the white sugar and brown sugar, respectively, and dried cranberries for the chopped chocolate. The result: almost vegan, minimally processed, yummie, challenge friendly cookies!

For the milk, Franco and I attempted nut milk for our first time. It was surprisingly easy. I soaked 2 cups of almonds in water for four hours first. Then we blended them with 2 cups of water on low until it made a thick, creamy paste. Next we added four more cups of water and blended on high. The last step was to pour this liquid through a fabric bag (I got a special nut milk bag at Rainbow Grocery, but you can also use cheesecloth). Ta-daa! Almond milk!! Then we added a little maple syrup, vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon for some gluttonous flavor. Making almond milk was pretty messy and more expensive than just buying it, but we had fun and we had a product without any gellan gum or zinc glucanate in it.

I also made a couple great food-related book purchases recently: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and The American Woman's Cookbook (1948 version).

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle has really inspired me to continue eating healthy foods and even step it up a little, a.k.a. make my own almond milk. Franco and I recently ordered some apartment-friendly gardening books and one on urban homesteading (read: make our own cheese and grow mushrooms) and are super excited to get more involved in our food chain.

The second book, The American Woman's Cookbook has been a long-time favorite of mine. It is a vintage cookbook with the recipe for every American classic you can think of and lots of tutorials for how to prep certain foods and even entertaining. My mom has a copy that was my great-grandma's and we daughters all hold it near and dear to our hearts. Instead of borrowing it again and again, I decided it was time to finally find a copy of my own. God bless the Amazon Marketplace. I found a copy from the Salvation Army for only $18.99. Score!

That's my foodie/fatty update for now. As always, thank you for reading. Now go pick up a food-related book or go cook something delicious! Enjoy the flavors of the weekend. :D