Liquid Gold (Aka Homemade Almond Mylk)

After visiting this amazing  raw cafe on the east side called Mylk Uncookies, and tasting their amazing, made-fresh daily almond mylk (pictured at left), I became inspired to make a batch of my own!

Usually, due to time contraints, I purchase my almond mylk in the box which means it is not raw, as it has been pasteurized.  When you make your own almond mylk, it is fresher, tastier and still contains all the living enzymes and nutrients that are destroyed by heating.

So, how do you make your own almond mylk? You take 1 cup of raw, organic almonds and soak them overnight.  In the morning,  drain and rinse the almonds and put them in a blender with 3 cups of filtered water.  Blend the almond mixture for 5 or 7 minutes (depending on the power of your blender) until the almonds become like a meal.  Pour the mixture through a large piece of cheese cloth over a glass pitcher so that the almond pulp is contained in the cheese cloth and your almond mylk is in the glass pitcher.  I like it like this, but some people choose to add pureed dates and some vanilla extract to sweeten it up. The mylk will keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

I know it's so simple to make, but I'm so incredibly proud of my first batch that I have to show you a picture:

It was so light and fresh! I enjoyed it in my smoothies, with my cold-infused tea and by itself!  I even found a way to use up all that leftover almond pulp by making these amazing cookies by Mimi Kirsh:

Here is a picture of them "baking" away in the dehydrator, as well as what they looked like as a finished product:

Yum! Blogging is so much more fun to do while enjoying fresh almond milk and cookies! 

How to Successfully Be A Raw Food Student

I'm not 100% raw, but I have been moving towards a predominately raw food diet over the past year.  This year will be the first that I will be mostly raw while studying Naturopathic Medicine as a full time student.

One thing I've learnt over the years is that preparation is the key to success and so I've been busy making preparations for the upcoming school year that will help me to be successful throughout the whole year.

I began with spending a little money: I found a great deal from Cruda Cafe in which they offer prepared raw food for 15 days that you can pick up from their restaurant.  It includes a smoothie, 2 raw meals and a raw dessert for only $10 a day! I thought this would be great to use during my final exams because I anticipate that I will be too busy studying and stressing out to really appreciate making my own food.  In other words? This will be a life saver!

Next, I shopped around for some prepared raw food that I could keep around as an emergency stash.  Here are some of my findings, all locally made by raw Torontonians! We have Mediterranean flavoured flax crackers (Make It Raw), banana coconut wafers (Nud) and a 100% raw chocolate bar (Giddy Yoyo).


Next, I began to freeze fresh fruit so that I could have ample fruits on hand to prepare my morning smoothies.  I bought a crate of mangos for an incredible price that I cubed and froze.  Another favorite trick of mine is to buy very ripe bananas for $0.39/lb, break them into bite-sized pieces, lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze them.  I use them to make banana ice cream as well as in smoothies and desserts :)  I also juice tons of lemons and freeze them in ice cube trays for when I need some freshly squeezed lemon juice in a pinch.

I also decided to dehydrate some snacks, as dehydrating foods helps them to have a longer shelf life without any added preservatives.  I made cookies, seasoned almonds and cashews and tried my hand at some crackers (not to worry, all will be featured in future posts!).  I'm fairly new at using a dehydrator, so I'm still experimenting with some recipes.

Hopefully these little tricks can help all of you aspiring raw foodies in saving time and encourage you to keep being rawesome.  Have a fantastic day!

Jas'd Up Rawnola

I love making smoothies because they are so forgiving; you can throw basically anything into them and they will still turn out great.

I teach a Living Food Dessert Course, so I had left over raw cashew coconut tart crust in the fridge so M threw it into a smoothie for me and guess what? It was delicious!

In this same spirit, I decided to apply this nonchalant attitude to my breakfast Rawnola (cute, right?). I added a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Here is how it turned out:

The verdict? Super quick to prepare and a great alternative to smoothies in the morning. Why I didn't think of this sooner, I'll never know. Also cheaper and more healthful than store bought breakfast cereal!

Jas'd Up Rawnola

*handful of raw walnuts, crushed

*tsp of gogi berries

*2 tbsp shredded coconut

*2 tbsp dried cranberries

*2 tbsp other dried fruit (raisins, apricots etc)

*1 tbsp dehydrated, sprouted quinoa

*1 tbsp shelled hemp hearts

*1 tbsp raw pumpkin seeds

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and cover with almond mylk. Try it alone or with sliced bananas and a drizzle of maple or agave syrup. Yum!

In Need of Nature

Most of the people I know underestimate the importance of their relationship with nature. There have been studies that indicate that when people are in nature, their stress response is instantly lowered. One particular study looked at the benefit of running in a wooded area versus simply running on a treadmill. Not surprisingly, subjects that ran outdoors derived more overall benefit from their running program than those that did theirs in a concrete gym.

When I was growing up, I was incredibly fortunate to have my house back onto a provincial park and I would spend most of my time walking in the valley, surrounded by nature. Here are some photos of Fish Creek Provincial Park:

I admit that since moving to Toronto, I'm often starved for wilderness. Walking around the city is fun, but I need some grass and trees every so often to keep me in a good mood.

That is why, this past Friday, I banished myself to the Toronto Island for some much needed nature. For only $6.50, I could regain my sanity by being immersed in nature without actually leaving the city of Toronto. $6.50 is the cost of the ferry ride and although you have 3 islands to choose from, I have found that Hanlan's Point is the most beautiful and rugged. I abandoned my mobile phone and packed a huge blanket, a good book, some fresh fruit and water and spent the whole day walking along the beach, dancing in the grass and dozing in the shade of the enormous maple trees.

Here are some photos of the trip:

The best part? I came back home completely rejuvenated and have been in the best mood since!

Do yourself a favour and get out there and rekindle your relationship with nature. Your body and mind will thank you for it.

Say NO to GMO!

When people would ask me what the problem is with Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs), I could never really give them a great explanation. They would argue that the heartiness of the crops meant that they would yield more food and so decrease the possibility of starvation. How could I explain that although we get our caloric needs from GMO foods, all their selective breeding has made them seriously lacking in nutrients and thus leading to the current phenomenon of our society being overfed but undernourished?

Luckily, I found a great article about this trend that you can read by clicking here.

This article explains how taste and nutrient density were both compromised in the scientists' quest to make higher crop yields so that you really do have to eat more of today's bland foods in order to get the same vitamin and mineral amounts that a smaller serving of your grandparents' tasty food supply would yield. The way I see it, everyone loses with GMO foods.

Stop the GMO movement by voting with your dollars and try to purchase only organic and heirloom fruits and vegetables. If big companies won't respond to your desire for health, they will respond to the lack of funds.

In a pinch...

Went to a 75 minute hot yoga class this morning and since you aren't supposed to eat 2 to 3 hours before, I was starving when I finally got home.

Since the weather today was perfect for being outdoors, I wanted to whip up something quick yet satisfying so that I could spend more time experiencing the sights and sounds of the city in summertime.

Luckily, in anticipation of my busy Sunday, last night I prepared some carob flavoured chia seed pudding (recipe below). This ended up being an ingenious move as it added an amazing layer to my RAW PARFAIT pictured here:

IT'S GREEN! Now, before you think I'm some green loving hippie who drinks wheatgrass juice by the gallon, realize that the green layer tasted exactly like bananas! I pureed frozen bananas with spinach because:

1) I wanted to add some green to my meal, since we all know the benefits of raw greens :)

2) My spinach was on the way out anyway, so to make less waste I figured I'd puree it!

Add to that a chopped up mango and a plum and what do you get? An amazingly quick and tasty raw breakfast/brunch option that an ND in training can be proud of!

While out today, I found a treat at M's favorite Thai place called Thai Basil, located on Bloor Street. I haven't had one of these since I was actually in Thailand more than 7 year ago! Completely refreshing and I'm sure it replenished some much needed electrolytes that were lost in this morning's yoga session.

Carob Flavoured Chia Seed Pudding

1 part chia seeds (1/2 cup)

3 parts almond milk (3/4 cup)

approx. 1 tbsp carob powder (to taste)

approx. 1 tbsp maple syrup (to taste)

Whisk all of the above together in a container and put in the fridge overnight. In the morning, stir ingredients again and layer it over fresh fruit and banana puree to make an amazing parfait, or eat it as is with fresh berries and sliced fruit. Enjoy!

Signs and the City

While walking around the beautiful city of Toronto (which I do a lot during the summer), I am certain to keep my eyes open for quirky, clever signage and am never disappointed.

Here are some pictures of what I found this past week: