On Food, Family & DIY Raw Almond Yogurt

Greetings Blogland.  

 So I made some yogurt.  And it was really good.  The notion came after reading this blog post by one of my favorite blogger idols, followed by our local food co-operative losing their supply of the almond milk yogurt that my Loukas loves.  A 'how to make raw almond yogurt' Google search, and a quick watch of this pretty entertaining video later and I was on my yogurt making way: (1) amazed at the simplicity of it all and (2) of course, a little weary I'd kill my whole family with my hippy concoction.

Good news:  it was easy and no one succumbed to bacterial pathogens.

Without further ado, my journey to creamy probiotic goodness::

Ingredients:
•  1 cup raw almonds (soaked over night, then strained and skinned)
•  pure water
•  2 probiotic capsules of your choice

First, soak your almonds. ("benefits include increased enzyme activity, greater absorption of the food's nutrients by the body and increased digestibility. When soaked, nuts and seeds will begin the sprouting process which bumps up their nutrient profile considerably." source:  about.com )

Place almonds in a bowl, cover with water and leave overnight.  Easy.

Soaked Almonds:

See their Plump goodness?

This little skinning trick was a new soaked almond venture for me.  I've been making our family's raw almond milk for the past year or so and use a nut-milk bag to strain the pulp and skins from the milk, but in this process, the pulp adds a nice body to the yogurt.  This skin popping bit is a Fun and easy.  Okay, I'm using the word Fun quite loosely there but I like to keep things exciting.

Pinch

Roll. 

 Careful!  These guys are slippery!!  I sent quite a few of them flying, collected them from the floor, rinsed their little valuable soaked selves off, and added 'em back to the lot.

These pretty almond casings ended up in our compost.

Bowl-o-blanched almonds::

So, after skinning, I placed the almonds in my blender.  I use a vitamix, but for this job, any blender will do.  The first time I made this yogurt, I used less water and while it was good, I wanted to stretch it a bit further and I wanted it to be less pasty so instead of just adding enough water to cover the almonds  like that adorable pony-tailed man from the You Tube video had suggested, I took the water up about a quarter cup.  And I think the next time, I'll add even more water.  That's another thing I appreciate about this whole yogurt making venture:  you can play around with the ratios and customize your yogurt's body.  Fancy, I know.

After you've photographed your water and almonds to your hearts content, annoying your family, taking up most of the space in the kitchen before breakfast has even been served forcing them out into the yard until you have completed your mediocre captures, blend.  Blend your almonds and water til smooth.

Really, the trickiest part of this whole process is getting ALL of the blended almonds out of your blender.  If you are a like me, you value your pricey whole foods ingredients and want to salvage every last drop.  It just dawned on me as I am typing this that you could- by way of adding water to rinse your blender clean- play with your yogurt's consistency at this point!  Eureka!

Next:  add some probiotics.  I use these capsules, as recommended by our family Naturopath.  They are 'tried and true,' shelf stable, and don't cost a million dollars.  You can even find this same brand at Target, but they don't offer the gluten free/ diary free variety which contains inulin, a pre-bitoic, in the form of chicory root extract that stimulates the growth of good bacteria.  I digress.  Open your probiotic capsules, dump them into your almost-yogurt and stir.

Cover your bowl with a pretty cloth and set on a shelf, or in a cabinet, or on your counter.  It will take longer for your probiotics to proliferate in a cooler environment.  My kitchen stays pretty warm and after leaving this batch of yogurt out from breakfast til bedtime, it was ready.  You can tell when the process is complete by giving it a quick whiff.  It will smell like... well, yogurt!  Place it in your fridge, chill, and Enjoy!

Viola!  Raw Almond Yogurt!

Drizzled in honey from friends across town who are raising city bees, which has a distinct grassy flavor.  Really quite lovely with local blueberries.  

This batch yielded about two cups, and it didn't last long.  I'll definitely be doubling the recipe next time because the kids ate it up- after, of course, I tried some and waited to see that I did not perish.  I'm an adventurous eater, but my husband will attest to that while I'll eat most anything and enjoy it, my instincts are quite cautious.

 Growing up eating pasteurized, processed, packaged, pre-washed, frozen, canned, store bought foods- not having much in the way of garden to table experiences as a child- eating foods that don't have a label that are not cooked or washed for that matter, has not come without a little twinge of fear from within.  It's very silly, I know.  Jerrmy has many a time plucked a berry or flower from a random tree and offered over as a little nibble and I'll partake but not without reassurance, eating things in 'the wild' is not my thing, exactly- but I always try. Oh, and when my savvy husband started fermenting foods in our kitchen last year, I was a little weary at first- he was our tester.  It's as if I somehow think if I don't buy something from the store it's probably going to make us all sick.  As if that little label and packaging and the mysticism of its creation makes it all the safer.  Why would I feel more comfortable about my food being created in an industrial kitchen, or in a factory(?!) prepared by strangers?  Fruits and vegetables with a little sticker giving me a green light?  It's all psychological :).  And really just a nuance of my foodie experience, probably something only my husband really knows about me.  And I'd venture to say that I am not alone in this mini-phobia.    

A few things have changed my life in regard to my food consumptions: first was my time as a fine dining waitress at chef owned restaurants.  Seeing the farmers call on the chefs, seeing farm to table in action, and becoming a complete lover of food and its preparations planted the first seeds of change. Then, just as my waitressing days were coming to a close, at my last stop on a decade long restaurant tour of duty, I fell in love with a food activist chef whilst working at his little conscious cuisine restaurant and married him.  Since then, I've been along for the ride, reaching new heights of commitment to nutrition as we've made a home together and have created two Sons- both of whom are quite effected by eczema.  

The eczema journey is a never ending conundrum, an actually quite painful and still very much on going journey that started when, at 4 months old, my first born child, Loukas, was covered from head to toe in inflamed skin.  I nearly had a nervous breakdown.  I was a new mom and exhausted and trying to figure out breastfeeding and my baby was inflamed from head to toe, oozing and bleeding and it appeared my milk was causing the very unsightly affliction.  We saw a pediatrician who prescribed steroid cream and were astounded how quickly the rash resolved, only to flare back twice as strong.  We were referred to a Naturopathic Doctor and I found myself on a pretty intense elimination diet for months.  Many of my peers and acquaintances and well-meaning friends commented on my weight-loss from the elimination diet, often times people made suggestions of what else I could be doing.  I became lost in trying to explain our approach, one that we were taking based on evidence, based on science that our caregiver assured us was the best approach- that in the end, avoiding steroid treatments for our child's sensitivities would in the long run ensure the best possible outcome for him overall.  And that involved healing ourselves with how we ate, and it worked.  Loukas' skin cleared, and stayed clear for a long time while we kept our diet free of the things we found triggered flare ups.  We regularly avoid wheat, gluten, diary, soy, and eggs and have recently even taken a break from peanuts.  We avoid processed, sugary foods- even the gluten free/ diary free/naturally sweetened organic varieties because they, too, do not help and we are super serious about our fish oil and probiotics, homeopathy and dietary supplements.  Still, we have flare ups.  

When Jasper came along we hoped that he would not be effected in the same way as Loukas, alas he also has eczema.  Currently we are on high flare alert; both kids are covered in itchy inflamed skin and even though it seems like it'd keep getting easier to deal, that the dietary limitations would find a way of working themselves out, that we'd find a flow and a sense of ease in this way of eating, but honestly, it hasn't.  It's pretty inconvenient.  It's exhausting and it's sad and I'm probably just saying that now because we are in the throws of a bad summer flare, but that's the truth.

Loukas is becoming more aware of his eczema and discusses it with complete strangers.  We can't go swimming because of the increased risk of infection.  Both kids wake frequently in the night, scratching.  And I'm concerned that everyone around me thinks I'm a monster for not putting steroids on my kids.  And I'm not even sure I should share this little bit of our lives, leaving myself open to criticisms of that regard, but it is our story, and it is our choice and we talk about it a lot.  We are doing what we think is best based on the information that we have. It is requiring some sacrifice but it seems in this journey of parenting, nothing is ever so very easy and the choices we make are heavy sometimes and we make them and carry on, and we make mistakes and we get tired and frustrated and we learn to let go and seek the next laugh, the next sweet moment, the next sunrise and sunset. And we grow victory gardens that our kids live to wake and water::

     

They'll both have the Gawthrop Green thumb, I just know it.  Jerrmy is a lover of plants.  I think that seeing the way he cared for his beloved green friends when we were in the early years of our love, was proof of what a great care giver he'd be.

hello, ladybug.

june's super moon

And here, I'll leave you.   Happy yogurt making and Happy July.  If you try the yogurt and like it, let me know!

We are experiencing some unusually pleasant cool summer weather here in Northwest Arkansas.  Hope the magically breezy Love makes it your way.

Much Love

N