Another Homemade Almond Milk Trick

So, you want to make Homemade Almond Milk . . . and you're especially keen on the idea after seeing how easy it can be if you use a French press to do the heavy lifting. Your problem now: Having leftover milk you can't seem to finish before it gets sort of funky. Thankfully, I have a super easy solution for you!

Make a big batch. Perhaps a double.

And before you place it on your refrigerator shelves, take a 1-ounce ice cube tray and fill each cube about 3/4 of the way full, and place in your freezer for a couple hours. Yup -- you can easily freeze your almond milk into cubes.

I love the perfect cube silicone trays made by Tovolo. I use them for foods and even for body care recipes, like my Natural Lotion Cubes.

Anyway, freeze like so:


Plop these cubes into your hot morning coffee or thaw overnight in the fridge for use in baking (8 ounces = 8 cubes = 1 cup of liquid). I don't usually thaw to drink straight because you will notice some separation, but the milk works great in stuff. Like SMOOTHIES! Indeed: I also like to use mine in place of ice in smoothie recipes. I just add a little water to the mix to help things get blending.

All the nutrition is there -- minus the crap that's in store-bought almond milk.


PEANUT BUTTER CUP GREEN SMOOTHIE
A delicious, protein-packed way to start your day.

Blend the following ingredients together . . .

• 1 ripe banana
• 2 handfuls of kale
• 6 almond milk ice cubes
• 1/2 cup water (or more to achieve preferred texture)
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder*
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter (perhaps homemade?)

* I use PlantFusion Chocolate, but you can also use 1 tablespoon cocoa powder if you don't want the added protein or have any powder on hand. A green smoothie is still a good smoothie.

// Oh, and if you missed yesterday's recipe -- be sure to check it out! It's my new favorite cookie. Plus, it's a great fall twist on your usual dessert favorite: Oatmeal Raisin Peanut Butter Chocolate Chippers. Vegan, gluten-free.

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Protein-Packed Green Smoothie and KT Tape

Happy Friday and Happy 600th Post to us! We can't believe it's been nearly a year since we began (never home)maker. That's right: We're nearing our 1st blogiversary on November 11th. We haven't yet decided how we're going to celebrate. Just know it's going to be BIG. Or maybe not-so big. Special is a better word, I guess.

If you're nostalgic like me, check out our very first post: Easy Tofu Marinade. Since then we've certainly added a lot of recipes to the site. And now that we've completed our handy Recipe Index, you can find them all easily!


We knew it'd be a milestone day, so we celebrated a bit last night. Then I fueled myself the best way I know how this morning: With a protein-packed green smoothie. After a (very) unsuccessful attempt to incorporate protein powder into my coffee yesterday, I needed a success. If you're still grossed out thinking about thick soy powder clumping into coffee -- creating a brick, please keep reading.

It will get better.


I love piling all the ingredients next to the finished product. I also love when there are only a few, simple ingredients that create something healthy, delicious, and gorgeous.

SOY PROTEIN-ENHANCED GREEN SMOOTHIE

What you'll need . . .

• 1 banana
• 2 handfuls of kale, rinsed
• 1 to 1-1/2 cups almond milk (or other substitute)
• 1 scoop of chocolate PhytoSoy (or your favorite protein powder)
• 1 tablespoon homemade peanut butter (or store-bought)

Method . . .

1. Toss everything into your blender and blend.
2. Note: You may want to start out using just 1 cup of almond milk and if your blender is having trouble, add more 1/4 cup at a time. Mine did well with 1 cup and a splash. Some of you have asked, and I don't have a fancy VitaMix since it doesn't fit into my budget right now. So, you need only a blender capable of crushing ice to make this green smoothie.
3. Trust me: The kale WILL incorporate. Just let it go for a couple minutes. Three should do it.

KNEE UPDATE

I ran on Tuesday and Wednesday. 4 and then 5.2 miles. On Tuesday, I didn't have pain until mile 3, when rolling hills kicked in. Expected. And even then, what I felt wasn't pain. Just sensation that something isn't quite right. I iced. And iced again. And I iced in the morning, too. Then Wednesday, I was feeling great until mile 4. Again, it wasn't pain, just tightness, maybe. I iced and then we went to Wegmans. What happened on the walk from our car to the store? OUCH. My knee started to REALLY hurt.

While. WALKING?! OK. Sooo, I bought one of those knee straps (image source).


I have yet to use it because I decided I'd take Thursday off. And aside: It's funny, but when I feel tired or drained during training, I have no problem taking a day off. However, when I'm injured, I fight it and try to complete every workout. Testing myself. Weird. Bad habit. I'm also taking today off. Will run tomorrow, likely 6 miles with Dani (from the Bread for Schools Half Marathon).

Something that's helped, at least I think, is KT Tape. My friend Andy told me about it. During lunch yesterday, I hunted around and found a roll at a local sports supply store (sadly, the store doesn't carry fun colors. I wanted blue or pink -- they only had beige).


I followed the taping instructions for runner's knee . . . and my knee actually feels slightly better. Almost like magic, really. We'll put it to the test tomorrow. And Sunday's 12-miler should tell me a lot about my ability to finish the Philly Marathon next month.

I'm hoping I've applied it correctly. I feel light support. Less pain while walking down stairs, especially. It is supposed to stay on for days . . . and successfully survived my shower this morning. I'm wondering if the KT Tape people are planning to be at the Expo. I'd love to have a professional tape me up so I know what is right and what is wrong! However, I'm sure I'll get better at it myself.


That's right. Finish. Not 3:50:00. Not "anything sub-4." With all this injury crap, I can't concentrate on keeping pace right now. And if I don't get well enough to run, we'll deal with that later. Ugh. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!


So, you can see I've had to change my new marathon plan just a bit. So far, so good. Caitlin has also dealt with major runner's knee issues, and she suggested I possibly take an entire week and cross-train only. It's a good idea. If I keep experiencing pain, I'll definitely heed her advice. Ashley, too, says I should lay off. What a good friend. A voice of reason, really. I'll listen to her eventually. However reluctantly so :)

For now, I'm putting my faith in the tape.


How do you deal with disappointment? Any kind, not just sports-related. After my D(id) N(ot) F(inish) at the Wineglass Marathon, I didn't think things could get worse. But the possibility I may not be able to run the marathon next month has me down in the dumps. If I indeed need to take time off, I'll embrace cross-training, but will definitely still feel disappointed. Just leave a comment or email us at neverhomemaker [at] gmail [dot] com.

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