Today's kitchen experiment: homemade rice milk

Does a slice of chocolate cake or fresh baked cookies make you reach for a cold glass of milk?

Not me - I'm not a dairy girl. For me, milk is a vehicle for cereal and a necessary ingredient to get a smoothie moving along in the blender. It's for cooling down hot chocolate and making overnight oats. But to drink it by the glass? No thanks.

I've been using alternative milk for a few years (soy, almond, coconut, whatever). Recently, I stumbled over a recipe for homemade rice milk. I thought I'd give it a try.

Here's the recipe:

Throw into a blender -

1 cup cooked rice

4 cups cold water

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Blend. Chill.

Makes 5 cups

What I did:

I rinsed 1/3 cup of basmati rice (the only rice I had in the pantry) and then added it to my rice cooker with 1 cup of water. Once the rice was cooked, I threw it all in the blender with the other stuff. And I did actually measure everything, since this was an experiment and all. When I saw how full the blender was, I opted to split it into batches and poured 1/2 of it back out. I'm glad I did. Next time, I may even blend it in 3 batches. You have to blend for awhile. I set it on high and let it go. Then I poured the mixture through a fine strainer into a washed and labeled empty milk jug. Homemade rice milk can last 4-5 days in the fridge so it's best not to make more than you will use in a short time.

(You can also use brown rice -- just know the finished product will be off-white in color.)

Pros:

• super easy
• pretty quick (minus the rice cook-time, it took about 5 minutes)
• ridiculously cheap (like less than $0.50 per 1/2 gallon, I'm guessing)

Cons:

• needs to be shaken well every time you use it
• nutritionally unimpressive, even if you opt to make it with brown rice

Here's the breakdown:

Homemade Rice Milk serving size, 1 cup	using white rice	using  brown rice
calories	43	46
carbohydrates	9.6 g	9.5 g
protein	.8 g	1 g
fat	0 g	.4 g
fiber	.1 g	.4 g
cholesterol	0 mg	0 mg
calcium	<1 mg	4 mg
potassium	10 mg	30 mg
Other vitamins	almost none	almost none

And just for grins and giggles:

Comparing other milks serving size, 1 cup	Skim dairy milk	2% dairy milk	Silk Light vanilla soy milk	Almond Breeze unsweetened vanilla almond milk
calories	80	120	70	30
carbohydrates	13 g	11 g	7	1
protein	8 g	9 g	6	1
fat	0 g	5 g	1.5 g	2.5
fiber	0 g	0 g	0 g	1
cholesterol	5 mg	20 mg	0 g	0
calcium	300 mg	300 mg	450 mg	450 mg
potassium	410 mg	342 mg	340 mg	170 mg
Other vitamins	A-10%, D-25%	A-10%, D-25%	A-10%, D-30%, B12-50%	A-10%, D-25%, E-50%

(US RDA: calcium - at least 1000 mg, and potassium - at least 4500 mg, for most populations) 

What I thought:

It's not bad. It tastes like what you'd think - a light rice-ish flavor. It had a nice white milk-like color but is definitely thin. For me, the vanilla isn't optional. It only needs a few drops but it does make a difference. Some might even want a little stevia or some other sweetener, but I didn't think it was necessary. I wouldn't drink this by the glass, but again, I don't drink milk by the glass. It's great for smoothies or protein shakes, as it has slightly more body than water, if that makes sense. And over cereal, it's just fine.

I may play with this some more. It's thin and a little too watery for me. A starchier rice may yield a creamier consistency and I regret rinsing my rice. Though usually a good idea, in this case, more starch might be better. I've also seen recipes which call for the addition of 1 tbsp sunflower oil which would make a creamier, richer milk. And if I could just figure out how to fortify it...

I'm not yet convinced I'll be making homemade rice milk on a regular basis. The lack of overall nutrition makes it less appealing; though it could mean one less plastic-coated cardboard carton in the landfill every week, so we'll see. 

Last week's activity (9/16 - 9/22)

Monday

1 hour deep water running
30 minute upper body weight training

Tuesday
30 minute dog walk
45 minute yoga class

Wednesday
1 hour deep water running
30 minute ab challenge

Thursday
1 hour water fit class
30 minute upper body weight training

Friday
1 hour deep water running
30 minute dog walk

Saturday
1 hour water fit class

Sunday
laundry (can that count??)


Injury update: I have a doctor's appointment this Thursday. I hope to find out how much longer I have to wear the boot and an estimation on when I can resume impact and high impact activities. Related posts: Va Beach 1/2 Marathon Recap and The Saga Continues.

Last Week's Eats (9/16 - 9/22)

Here are some eats from the last week or so, in random order:

1. Lunch / Dinner: roasted butternut squash - on its own the first day, then the leftovers inside quesadillas the next (ours)

2. Dinner / Lunch: crispy baked tofu sticks (hers)

3. Lunch: sauteed squash, tomatoes, onion, broccoli, and spinach with a side of hummus (hers)

4. Dinner: tomato and grilled onion topped veggie burger, spinach salad, and apple and peanut butter (hers)

5. Lunch: fried egg and tomato on grilled sandwich thin (ours)

6. Snack, Lunch, Dinner: Spicy Garlic Hummus - I put it on everything!

7. Lunch: butternut squash and black bean quesadillas with veggie shreds (hers)

8. (Birthday) Dinner: garlic and butter topped steak, double baked potato, big salad (his)

9. Dinner: Southwest Quinoa stuffed peppers and summer squash ratatouille (ours)

Treats from the week:

Snack: Chocolate Dipped Coconut Luna Bar - my first time for this flavor. It was delightful.

Breakfast: REAL pancakes, as in they contained flour and wild blueberries, instead of banana, egg whites, and protein powder. They were light and fluffy and wonderful.

Snack: dried mango, yum

Dessert: Pumpkin Pie Lasagna - dinner with friends gave me the excuse to make this. It's a take on what we call Eclair Cake but made with pumpkin mousse. I didn't have any mini chocolate chips so I used chocolate curls. Dangerous.

Dinner Home Alone

My honey travels for work occasionally. Sometimes on those nights, I have cereal for dinner. Okay, often on those nights, I have cereal for dinner. Okay, okay - almost without exception on those nights, I have cereal for dinner. But it never fails ~ an hour and a half after my cereal dinner, I'm back in the kitchen, scrounging around for something else to eat. Anything else to eat.

Not a good situation.

So this time, I vowed to make a meal.

I decided to make Crispy Baked Tofu Sticks, inspired by Poor Girl Eats Well. They're pretty good. Dipped in a mixture of ketchup, Siracha, and Garlic Mrs Dash - they're REALLY good.

I sliced my 12 oz block of extra firm tofu into 8 slices, pressed it between paper towels, then cut each slice in half to make sticks. A serving is 1/4 of the block of tofu, or 4 sticks.

I lightly coated them with a mixture of corn starch, a little salt, and plenty of pepper and Chipotle Mrs Dash.

 I dipped them in a little plain almond milk, (-no picture of this step, oops)

and rolled them around in some Italian flavored bread crumbs.

I put them on a foil covered cookie sheet coated with cooking spray and baked them at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, turning them over at the halfway point.

And since I already had the oven on, I made some sweet potato fries too.

After I cut up my sweet potato, I threw it into a zip lock bag with a little corn starch, a little salt, plenty of pepper, and shook it around. Then I added a little olive oil and shook it around again. I spread them out on another foil covered cookie sheet and baked them at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes, turning them over at the halfway point.

I made some spicy ketchup sauce

and a little spinach salad to go along with my finger food entrees.

Let's eat!

And the nutritional info of my dinner:

Tofu sticks (including breading mixture) 1 serving or 4 sticks: about 126 cals, 11.4 g carbs, 5 g fat, 9 g pro, 2.3 g fiber
Sweet Potato Fries (made from 1 medium sized - and yes, I ate the whole thing): about 234 cals, 36.2 g carbs, 9.1 g fat, 2.3 g pro, 4.4 g fiber
Spicy Ketchup (2 Tbsp): about 30 cals, 9.6 g carbs, negligible fat, pro, or fiber
Spinach Salad (about 1.5 cups) with mandarin oranges, green onion, sliced almonds, and Walden Farms Calorie Free Dressing: about 94 cals, 11 g carbs, 4.4 g fat, 3.8 g pro, 3.6 g fiber

For a nutritional total of about:
484 calories
68.6 grams of carbohydrates
18.6 grams of fat (but only 2 of those being saturated fat, the rest were the heart healthy variety - yay!!)
15.6 grams of protein
10.4 grams of fiber

It was plenty of food. And I didn't scrounge around afterward. Not even a little.  :)

Oh, and by the way - can I just say? Clean up was super simple too. You know those foil covered cookie sheets? Money.

Dinner home alone - ain't so bad.

12 Minute Workout #18: Head to Toe

I can't really do this one yet, but I'm planning ahead.

Here's a 12 Minute Workout that will get your heart rate up, burn some calories, and work every major muscle group from head to toe. You'll need a timer, a chair (for dips), a little bit of space, and a set of hand weights. (Go heavy, if you can.)


12 Total body exercises: set your timer or app for 50 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest (use the ten second rest to get in position for the next exercise). Repeat the whole series again, if you can.

1. Side to side low jumps plus 2 jacks

standing, use arms to help with momentum, jump to the right landing with both feet together, then immediately jump back to the center, then jump to the left landing with both feet together, immediately jump back to the center, then do 2 jumping jacks 

2. Weighted squat chop - right

hold weight (or medicine ball) above left shoulder with extended arms, chop diagonally to the right as you sit back into a squat, bring weight back to start position as you squeeze up out of the squat, complete all reps chopping to the right

3. Weighted squat chop - left

hold weight (or medicine ball) above right shoulder with extended arms, chop diagonally to the left as you sit back into a squat, bring weight back to start position as you squeeze up out of the squat, complete all reps chopping to the left

4. Triceps dips

sit on the edge of a chair with hands close to hips and legs fully extended resting on heels, slide bum off chair, bending elbows to the back, drop bum down toward floor then straighten arms back to start position; for extra resistance, place a weight in your lap

5. 3 squat touches plus 1 squat jump

Moving quickly from standing, with chest still lifted, sit back into a squat, touch the floor with fingertips of right hand, stand, squat again touch the floor with finger tips of left hand, stand, squat again touch the floor with fingertips of right hand, then power up from that squat into a squat jump taking arms overhead for momentum, landing back in squat position. On the next set, with chest still lifted, sit back into a squat, touch the floor with fingertips of left hand, stand, squat again touch the floor with right hand, stand, squat again touch the floor with left hand, then power up from that squat into a squat jump.

6. Alternate lateral lunge touches

standing with feet under hips, step out to side with one foot into a side lunge position, touching fingertips to floor on sides of front foot, step back to standing, and lunge out to side with the other foot, again touching floor on both sides of front foot

7. Pushed up alternate toe touches

in full push up  position, alternately lift a leg bringing it under the body and out to the side to tap the toe with the opposite hand, repeat with the other leg, keep shoulders pulled back and down, try not to pike or sag

8. Table top alternate hip dips

sit with knees bent and hands on floor near hips, fingertips pointing toward heels, lift bum into table top position, eyes on the ceiling, alternately drop one "back pocket" to the floor and then the other, squeezing back up into table top as high as possible between each

9. Jumping jacks

you know the drill, land soft, use big arms

10. Balancing biceps

with a hand weight in each hand, balancing on right leg (left knee raised to the front),complete 25 seconds of biceps curls, then change legs, and continue biceps curls for full time

11. Balancing triceps extensions

with a hand weight in each hand, balancing on left leg (right knee raised to the front), complete 25 seconds of triceps extensions, then change legs, and continue triceps extensions for full time

                  

12. Alt high knees with butt kickers

pick a number - 8, 10, 12 - do a set of high knees followed immediately with the same number of butt kickers, use arms, belly pulled in the whole time

You get out what you put in. 

Hammock Weather

Fall. 

The temperatures are starting to dip a little.

The leaves are changing. 

It's the perfect time to relax in a hammock. 

At least that's what my youngest thought. 

So she bought a hammock, 

for her fish.

Fish loves his new hammock!!

It was never my plan to use this blog to promote products. But this is one product I just really needed to tell you about.

If you have a betta fish, stop whatever you're doing right now and go to the pet store. This will be the best gift you can give your fish. (Well, other than feeding him and keeping his water clean - That's really important.) But a hammock? You will have the happiest. fish. ever. if you get him a hammock. Seriously.

Here's the packaging info:
(And no, I didn't make this up. The fish photo above is Fish, my youngest's pet who currently resides at Virginia Tech.)

A naturalistic leaf hammock for your Betta to rest on.

Allows your Betta to rest near the surface of the water just like they do in nature. Attaches to Betta enclosure with suction cup (included).

Instructions:
Carefully remove from package and rinse leaf and suction cup in water
Insert leaf stem into the hole of the suction cup
Attach to your Betta's enclosure, about 3/4" below the surface of the water

Helpful Hints:
Train your Betta to use the Betta Bed Leaf Hammock by feeding your Betta above the leaf
As water evaporates, be sure to add more water to allow your Betta to swim onto the leaf

Made in China.
Leaf is 3.5" L.

Priced from $1.99 - $3.99. 

~A real bargain for all the joy and amusement it will bring both you and your fish.

Who knew?!

Last week's activity (9/9 - 9/15)

Monday
30 minute pilates/yoga video (with lots of modifying)

Tuesday
1 mile (slow) dog walk

Wednesday
12 minute upper body workout
15 minute abs

Thursday
1 mile (slow) dog walk

Friday
20 minute upper body workout
15 minute core

Saturday
7 hours - helped my honey move offices: carried boxes, hung pictures, etc.

Sunday
a whole lotta nothin - I over did it yesterday and I am hurting and swollen today  :(

Meal plan (9/16 - 9/22)

Another week, another meal plan. I try to plan on Fridays so I can shop and prep over the weekend. As always, these meals reflect what I plan for myself (a vegetarian) and my honey (a meat-eater). Though he certainly doesn't mind going meatless a couple of times a week, I try to fix his protein of choice as well. For those meals, I just forego the meat and sub in a plant protein (or I just eat another spoonful of peanut butter).  

I don't want to imply that we eat only what's shown on these meal plans. There are days when I can't live without chips and salsa or I just want cereal for dinner. But having a plan makes sticking to our goals a lot easier. We both strive to limit packaged / processed foods, sugar, salt, and other white stuff. We focus on lean proteins, lots of fresh fruits and veggies, and whole / high fiber grains. That way, on our Free Day, we can go CRAZY.  Just kidding.    Sort of.

*protein pancake: I was making and eating these all the time and then got tired of them. But after a little break, I'm a fan again. I put 1/4 cup egg beaters, 1/2 banana, 1 Tbls oats, and a 1/2 scoop of protein powder in my personal blender and blend until smooth. Then I pour it into a hot skillet, flip when the bubbles start to pop, and cook on the other side until done. (Start to finish takes like 2.5 minutes.) I like mine topped with syrup and peanut butter or yogurt and berries.

Eat healthy. Be healthy.

Recipe: kale and chick peas

This is a quick, clean meal you can make ahead of time. And how many salads can you make ahead of time? That aren't covered in mayo, anyway. By processing into smaller pieces and allowing time to marinate, the kale not only picks up great flavor, but a nice texture. A quick tip: don't add the roasted chick peas until you're ready to serve. You want them to stay nice and crunchy.

Start by draining and rinsing a can (or two) of chick peas. Cook them with some onion and dried basil in a little olive oil. Turn up the heat and let them get browned.

Then transfer to a cookie sheet and bake until they're nice and crunchy. Set aside to cool.

Wash and dry a big bunch of kale.

Process the kale in batches in a food processor to get small pieces.

Dress and mix, and then serve with cherry tomatoes and roasted chick peas.

Roasted Chick Peas

What you'll need:

1-2 cans of chick peas (also known as garbanzo beans)

1/2 large sweet onion, chopped

1-2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp dried basil

salt to taste

What you'll do:

Drain, rinse, and pat dry the chick peas. Be sure to remove as much moisture as possible. I rolled them around in a large bowl lined with paper towels. (I made 2 cans, using about 1/2 of them for the salad - but they make a great snack so I made a big batch.)  Heat all of the ingredients in a pan on medium to high heat. The chick peas may start to pop, then turn the heat down a little. But you want to get them nice and brown. Transfer the chick peas to a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes until dark and crunchy. Set aside to cool.

Kale Salad

What you'll need:

1 large bunch of kale

1/3 cup dried cherries

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp honey

3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup sweet cherry or grape tomatoes

What you'll do:

Tear leaves from kale stems and rinse in a big bowl of cold water. Remove leaves from water and arrange on paper towels. Roll up the leaves gently in the paper toweling to dry. In batches, chop leaves in the bowl of a food processor into small pieces. But don't get carried away - you want it to still look like kale, not green mush. In a small bowl, mix lemon juice, olive oil,  honey, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Drizzle dressing over chopped kale, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and dried cherries. Stir gently to combine. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

To serve, top with tomatoes and roasted chick peas.

Yum.

Currently. Sept '13

I thought I'd be really bloggy today and jump on the Currently bandwagon.

So here goes.

I am currently...

eating -

lots of veggies!

The produce is just so great this time of year.

drinking -

mango strawberry Spark.

With 45 calories, 21 vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, and about as much caffeine 

as a cup of coffee, it is my go-to drink of choice.

making -

a blue and white maxi dress (with pockets!).

I'm using fabric I stole from my daughter. Well, fabric I bought for her but she never used. Is that technically stealing? I'm making a long version of the sleeveless one. I thought it would be great for fall with a denim jacket and a wide belt.

reading -

this book by Brene Brown.

After reading a few novels, I decided to take a break from fiction. I'm really striving to live

 a wholehearted life!

watching -

Hell on Wheels, Season 3. 

At the end of Season 2, I vowed not to watch anymore after they killed off one of my favorite characters. But I couldn't stay away. There's something about Cullen Bohannon....   ;)

catching up on -

ironing. Ugh. 

I don't know why I do this to myself. Instead of ironing 4-5 things every week, I let them pile up for a month and then have to iron 20 things!!

a fan of -

fake toenails!

After losing my big toenail last month, I tried some glue-on fake ones ($5 at Wal-Mart) and almost 3 weeks later, they still look great.

missing -

running.

I know -- boo hoo for me. 

(Grrr. I hate this dumb boot and can't wait to be rid of it. Stress fractures - heal thyself!)

looking forward to -

hiking in fall.

I love all the color.

*The inspiration for this post comes from Emily.