The difference in taste between homemade almond milk versus the box stuff is astounding. The first time I made Dreamy Almond Milk, my eyes brightened and lips smiled from this new taste discovery. It blew the other stuff out of the water! I can’t wait for you to taste it - it's sooo delicious!
Now you can experience the clean and creamy goodness of homemade almond milk in no time. It tastes really fresh, like the difference between fresh-pressed o.j. versus concentrate. Check out my recipe and see how surprisingly easy it is to make.
Always use raw organic almonds like nature intended (not pasteurized nor irradiated): buy farmer direct online or at the farmers' market. Also, be sure to soak them the night before - it makes them easier to digest. I promise once you try it you won't want to go back to the box!
With a taste like spiked lemonade and the health promise of probiotics (coming from the Greek meaning for life), folks from coast to coast have climbed on the Kombucha bandwagon. What's Kombucha? It's a tea-fermented drink of Eastern European origin with live cultures that provide a natural source of probiotics that can be great for digestion.
If you've tried one of the commercial brands of Kombucha available nationwide (GT, Synergy, etc.) you already know it's an acquired taste, especially if your taste buds are used to drinking Diet Coke every day. However, it's a very refreshing drink and the naturally added sweet berry flavors incommercial brands aren't sticky-sweet - they merely add a nice balance and familiar flavor that tones down the alcohol-like essence.
Just like mom said, "too much of a good thing isn't always good", so I don't recommended Kombucha for every day use as it can cause yeast overgrowth. If you have candida you should stay away from it (see this article for tips on dealing with candida). For those who can and want to try it, it's especially great to drink in warmer weather when you want something only a little bit sweet and very refreshing.
Kombucha's not just in stores anymore and the fruity combinations are getting very fancy. For instance, you can order Watermelon Jalapeno Kombucha at Berkeley's Cultured pickle store, order it at a restaurant in place of a cocktail (see
the SF Weekly list for spots in San Francisco) or buy your own home-brewing kit (check out http://kombuchakollective.wordpress.com/).
Though it's been around a while, Kombucha being served in restaurants and made at home is a tasty trend we're likely to see continue.
Glass is great as a container for drinking water at home, but what about for around town? Starbucks recently recalled faulty glass water bottles sold in Target stores (yikes!). Plastic has its drawbacks (chemical leaching, odor, environmental concerns), yet sturdy stainless steel bottles can look pretty battered and give water a slight metallic taste.
Enter Lifefactory's glass water bottles encased in an cheery array of colorful 100% non-toxic silicone sleeves. I was hesitant at first to recommend their 22 oz. bottles for fear that mine would break either in the dishwasher or on the sidewalk soon after posting my recommendation. Over a month of abuse later, my fears have flown the coop.
What's cool is that they not only offer sturdy, chic-looking bottles for adults but also baby bottles and teethers for kids. Their non-slip sleeve is free of BPA, phthalates, PVC, and polycarbonates, which are known carcinogens, reproductive toxins or endocrine disruptors.
Curiously, though, I occasionally catch a plasticy whiff from the silicone sleeve when I drink from it, so I called the company. With the assurance of the Director of Ops, an MSDS report, as well as information posted on various other blogs, so far, all assurances I can find point to silicone's safety as an inert substance made from natural rubber.
You can check out or order the svelte looking bottles online at www.lifefactory.com.
With fresh green grass and warmer, sunnier days, Spring is high-time in the new year for naturally pastured chickens to be laying eggs. These great conditions give yolks a more intensely yellow-ish orange color as well as higher levels of Omega 3s, vitamins D and A. However, did you know that you're supposed to rinse your eggs before cracking them for an omelet?
"Bacteria can be on the outside of a shell egg. That's because
the egg exits the hen's body through the same
passageway as feces is excreted. That's why eggs are washed and
sanitized at the processing plant.
Bacteria can be inside an uncracked, whole egg. Contamination
of eggs may be due to bacteria within the hen's
ovary or oviduct before the shell forms around the yolk and
white. SE (Salmonella Enteritidis) doesn't make the hen sick. It is also possible
for eggs to become infected by Salmonella Enteritidis
fecal contamination through the pores of the shells
after they're laid."
So how does Salmonella develop and how widespread is it? Wikipedia reports, "According to U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2002 (Risk Analysis April 2002
22(2):203-18), of the 69 billion eggs produced annually only 2.3 million are
contaminated with salmonella—equivalent to just one in every 30,000
eggs. However, the risk of infection is dependent on the sanitary conditions under which the hens are kept."
There are the stats, folks. Of course, the safest bet is to put on your farm hat and raise your own hens. Short of that, I recommend buying your eggs from a source you trust. I love getting pastured eggs from a neighbor, the farmers' market, Rainbow Grocery or Bi-Rite here in San Francisco. These quality eggs have more flavor and bring a creamy lusciousness to your scrambled eggs - mmmm - once you have it, you'll be spoiled for life. Besides taste, the hens' unconfined, cleaner environs on pasture is clearly the natural way to raise them and reduces the chance of illness due to unnatural factory conditions. (See the Meatrix video - www.themeatrix.com for an animated depiction of factory raised hens.)
Here comes the mantra again..."buy local"! By doing this and washing your eggs every time you'll stay on the "sunny side" of breakfast!
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