Tag: drinks

Dairy-Free Golden Milk Latte

Categories Recipes2 Comments on Dairy-Free Golden Milk Latte

This latte concoction is based off a latte I’ve fallen in total love with, but can’t justify spending $5 on for a whopping 14 ounces of (very often). 

I could tweak a bit with the foaming (the original is super thick; mine is not) – maybe a nice full-fat coconut milk would help? 

Gluten-free, paleo, Keto, vegetarian, vegan with substitutions


Dairy-Free Golden Milk Latte

1 cup your favorite dairy-free milk (I used almond, but cashew or even full-fat coconut would be great here) 
Brewed coffee
1/2 inch unpeeled fresh ginger cut into 2 coins
1/2 tsp. turmeric (if you can find fresh, even better!)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. black pepper (I used ground, but peppercorns would be even better – that, or more ground)
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
Sprinkle cardamom 

Add everything but the coffee to a small pan. Whisk to combine. 

Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer 10 minutes to infuse the milk with the flavors.

Strain.

Pour half into your coffee; buzz to foam up a bit if you want to be fancy. I used my immersion blender, but the blender would have been better – or a milk foamer would have been ideal.

Makes enough for 2 lattes if you only have coffee at home if it’s in your 20-ounce travel mug like me 

Note: If you don’t use it all at once, store in the fridge and zap in the microwave for a minute to heat back up.

Paleo Almond Coffee Creamer

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It seems like homemade almond milk has been everywhere on the blogosphere this summer, and I spent almost the whole season holding out – running from its charms – denying that it’s not only crazy simple to make, but cheaper than buying the good stuff – and puts my mind more at ease than buying a carton of milk with added chemicals. Turns out, it’s cheaper even than my beloved coconut milk.

Here’s the cost breakout for home almond milk vs. store almond milk vs. coconut milk in my area (NYC):

“Regular” Storebought Almond Milk
Blue Diamond – the best of the readily commercially available options, IMHO

Cost: $3.29 for 64 ounces
Servings: 32 (2-ounce servings)
Cost Per Serving: $0.10

Fancy Storebought Almond Milk
Califa Farms – a brand with no added crap

Cost: $3.79 for 48 ounces
Servings: 24 (2-ounce servings)
Cost Per Serving: $0.16

Homemade Almond Milk
Made by me with whatever flavorings I want to add and no added crap

Cost: $5.99 for a 16-ounce bag of almonds from Trader Joe’s, which yields just at 5 cups of nuts – with 2.5 cups of water per batch, we’re looking at about 100 ounces of milk.
Servings: 50 (2-ounce servings)
Cost Per Serving: $0.12

Canned Coconut Milk
My favorite is from Trader Joe’s and it has no added crap.

Cost: $0.99 for 14 ounces
Servings: 7
Cost Per Serving: $0.14

The cheapest alternative for my morning coffee looks to be “regular” almond milk – but for pennies more, I can make my own and avoid unnecessary added chemicals. I think that’s a good trade-off. Plus, it’s fun to make.

All you need to make almond milk is a high-speed blender (I have a Vitamix), a mesh bag of some sort (I use one I got for free at the botanical garden a few years ago), some water and time.

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Almond Milk

1 cup almonds
2.5 cups water
Pinch salt

Soak 1 cup almonds in water 12 – 24 hours. Drain and rinse.

Add the drained almonds to a blender with 2.5 cups water (I prefer lukewarm to warm). Blend. Add a pinch of salt and blend some more.

Fit a mesh bag over a bowl. Pour the almond milk into the bag. Lift and squeeze until you can’t get any more liquid out.

Funnel the liquid into containers – I’ve found that splitting the batch between 3 small re-sealable pop bottles works the best for clean retrieval + optimal flavor selection.

My Favorite Coffee Creamer Flavorings

Whiskey Cinnamon (1 tsp. Honey Jack + 1 tsp. ground cinnamon in 1/3 of a batch)

Maple Vanilla (1 tsp. maple syrup + 1 tsp. vanilla extract in 1/3 of a batch)

Pumpkin Spice (1.5 tsp. pumpkin pie spice in 1/3 of a batch)

Keeps about a week in the fridge

 

What do I do with all that leftover pulp? Make cookies! These are pretty great. I’m also dying to try these crackers. 

Herbed Lemonade

Categories CSA Shares, RecipesLeave a Comment on Herbed Lemonade

I don’t know about you, but I always seem to have a plethora of herbs leftover at the end of each CSA week. A bunch of herbs that are threatening to shrivel into blackened husks of their former selves; a whole bouquet of usingallthethings defeat. Welp, no more. I’ve found a cheap, fast and above all else, tasty way to use up a whole hand of herbs in one shot: lemonade.

I realize I’m not reinventing the wheel here, but I’m completely happy with my new evening sip. So far, I’ve done sage and chocolate mint and I’ve loved both. Sage was a surprising love – didn’t think that one was going to work, but it worked magnificently. And now I know what to do with a small bush of sage.

Safe for everybody but Whole30-ers – even vegans. 

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Herbed Lemonade

1 lemon
1 hand full of herbs
1-2 tsp. maple syrup
4 cups warm water (warm from the tap is fine – you want a little warmer than room temp, but not boiling)

Peel your lemon (I use a vegetable peeler) – you want large strips with as little pith as possible. Add to a bowl with the large hand of herbs. Add the water and let the herbs & lemon steep for 30 minutes.

Fish the herbs & lemon peel out and add to your storage vessel. Add the sweetener and all the juice from the lemon and stir.

Serves 4.

My Fall Addiction – Pumpkin Spice Latte (paleo)

Categories Life3 Comments on My Fall Addiction – Pumpkin Spice Latte (paleo)

It’s fall, and here in NYC the mercury is finally sort of starting to agree with that statement. Not that I’m complaining about the lack of brisk coolness (much), since I’m dreading winter, but fall is my favorite season. No more blazing hot sweat fests! Boots! Jackets! Cute Scarves! Not freezing to death!

And with all of that comes my love and my nemesis … the pumpkin spice latte. I have a seriously love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with the mermaid coffee shop. Their coffee on its own sucks. It’s bitter and burnt and undrinkable without a metric ton of sugar and other fillers, and that’s just no good and not what I desire to be putting into my body. But … they’re everywhere. And they have pumpkin. And the pumpkin. Lucky/not lucky for me, they have never made a “skinny” sugar-free version of the syrup they use & the sugar content of their full fat/sugared coffees makes me sick, so for the last few years I’ve limited my consumption drastically.

This home made version, I’m happy to say, is tasty. Really tasty. I’m still working on the sweet ratio – for me, 1 tsp. of maple syrup is a bit too sweet — I may drop it completely from subsequent batches — but it is solidly good. And it has a vegetable in it, so score there.

For my inaugural run, the version in the picture, I used Earl Grey tea as the base – mostly because I was too lazy to grind coffee. Feel free to use coffee instead. 🙂 The amounts of tea to coconut is also scaled to fit my tea container, which I think is 12 ounces.

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Pumpkin Spice Latte (paleo)

1 1/4 cup brewed Earl Grey tea
1/2 cup coconut milk
1.5 Tbsp. canned 100% pumpkin
1 tsp. 100% Maple syrup
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (equal parts cinnamon, ginger, allspice & nutmeg)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Brew the tea. While the tea is steeping, heat the coconut milk + all other ingredients in a small pan until just bubbling, whisking to combine fully.

Combine the brewed tea with the milky mixture and go to town. If you’re looking for a fancier drink, top with whipped cream and extra grated nutmeg. I drink all hot beverages out of a travel mug (sippy cup for grownups – don’t let me fool you; that pretty latte in the picture went right into the mug), so whipped cream is a no-go. But, were I having company similarly obsessed with pumpkin, whipped cream would not only be a go, but a necessity.

Serves 1