milk it.

Umm...it's actually rather ridiculous how easy it is to make homemade almond (nut/seed) milk. I'm embarrassed it took me this long to do it. Got a big bag of almonds from Costco and I'm on my way to saving a noticeable amount of money making almond milk myself! I've done, pumpkin almond milk (used pumpkin pie spice but I might add a tablespoon or two of pureed pumpkin to add more flavor), vanilla milk (using vanilla rice protein powder). For this batch I'm showing you, I added a few tablespoons of cocoa powder because Boogie asked for "chocolate almond milk". 

What you need:

• 1 cup of raw almonds (or other nut or seed)
• 4-5 cups (I've done both) of water (spring or filtered)
• 1-1.5 tsp of vanilla extract
• Just a dash of sea salt
• 1-2 Tbsp of maple syrup (you can also use raw honey/honey or stevia) NOT pancake syrup!! (Feel free to leave this ingredient out if you prefer to make a batch of unsweetened milk).
• Nut milk bag
• Blender

Soak your nuts or seeds in filtered water overnight. 

Drain and rinse the nuts. 

In your blender, put in nuts, water and all ingredients.

Blend. And blend until chunks of nuts are pulverized. About 1-2 minutes.

Pour the blended mixture into your nut bag (which should be inside of a medium to large-sized bowl).

Pull nut bag up and gently squeeze out all of the liquid into your bowl. 

If you have froth at the top, scoop it out.

I am known to make lots of messes while I cook, so I use a funnel to pour the milk into my container.

Ta-da!!! Again, I made chocolate milk so that's why it's not white. Feel free to play around with different flavors! Just put in the fridge to cool. You may notice it settles and separates while in the fridge...just shake it up before drinking and ENJOY!!!!

No really. That's it! I told you...

~Joy
(c) 2012 Joy-Jasmin Brunnelson All Rights Reserved

food and soap and PCOS

This past weekend I went to the Mother Earth News Fair (MENF)! It was absolutely amazing! It was at Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Pennsylvania, so as uncomfortable as it was to be in "Steeler Country"...the beautiful mountain views made up for it! My mama graciously let me take her Honda Insight for the trip (the gas mileage is pure awesomeness) but "Little Buddy" had a rough time with the mountain air. He huffed and he puffed but never gave up. He truly is the Little Engine That Could. 

I loved being around people that cared as much about food, health and the earth as I do. I made several friends, including a 66-year-young man named Don. He was my favorite. He taught me about the history of Hawaii (I know it seems random but it was awesome) and he told me about his juice fast journey. So inspiring! He has lost 40 pounds in 28 days juicing. Way to go Don! With recent major health diagnoses, he decided he "might be getting old but didn't need to be fat, sick and nearly dead". The documentary "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" inspired him to make a change...and he did it! He definitely inspired me to put into action the changes I want to make for myself. And to care for myself and be okay with that. 

I got SO MUCH information at MENF; herbs that can heal, what supplements will help my body work in the way I need it to, what veggies really do for you...kind of overloaded but so pumped to making the best food decisions possible for me and my family. It really opened my eyes to see how God has provided us with everything we need on this earth to heal and be healthy. Plus, I learned how to make soap and salves...BONUS! So, now you know what you're getting for Christmas this year! :)

Coming off of this past weekend at MENF, I also just started my PCOS Diva Jumpstart program this past Monday, which is perfect timing. Because this is a paid program that Amy (PCOS Diva) has put her heart and soul into, I will not give out recipe information and/or program details but I will say that learning how to eat to correct my disorder is hard and awesome and a lot of work and delicious. I have always believed that food is medicine and learning which foods can regulate my body falls right into line with that. The fact that everything that Amy teaches from PCOS Diva is exactly what I learned from the holistic health coaches at MENF makes me feel very encouraged that I've made the right decision in joining her Jumpstart program. I need someone to hold my hand and tell me what I can and can't do and what I can and can't eat...and Amy does that. She rocks. And here's a yummy picture of my dinner last night:

Salmon dinner with roasted root veggies and kale

As Amy has warned will happen around day 3-4, today I have felt awful (flu-like symptoms, nausea, and fatigue). Removing certain foods from my diet has caused my body to release toxins which is a good thing once they pass through but until they do, it is just "ugh". I will get past this though, I will push through. It makes me realize how much crap I was still feeding my body even though I thought I was eating healthy. I'm going to bed early tonight and hope to feel better tomorrow. 

Anyway, I'll pick one of the subjects I learned about from MENF and share tomorrow. Night y'all...

~Joy
(c) 2012 Joy-Jasmin Brunnelson All Rights Reserved