Wow, what a busy week. Gardening, volunteering, cleaning, and of course hanging out with my lovely daughter are a few things I’ve done this week. My daughter is officially out of school for the summer, and I’m enjoying having her around.
Plenty of simple, nutritious, and delicious vegan meals have been prepared although finding the time to post them hasn’t been happening. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to post some of them this weekend.
A few days ago I made one of my favorite dishes Dhal with brown rice. It had the three qualities I enjoy; simple, nutritious, and delicious. Yesterday I made roasted root vegetables. They had those three qualities too. My daughter devoured both dishes.
Yesterday, I decided to make a nut butter. I have an overabundance of raw Almonds so that was what I made. Nuts are a healthy fat, and many are good for you. I decided to include some of almonds benefits below.
Almond Benefits
- Heart Healthy
Numerous studies have been done on the health benefits of nuts the British Journal of Nutrition published a study linking consumption of nuts with a lower risk of heart disease.
- High in antioxidants.
- Whole almonds provide the most heart healthy benefits
The Journal of Nutrition published a study showing that 20 flavonoids can be found in the skin of the almond.
- Almonds may help you lose weight
International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders conducted a study with 65 obese adults. Those on the almond rich, low calorie diet lost more weight than those on the low calorie, high carbohydrate diet…
Those eating almonds experienced a 62% greater reduction in their weight/BMI (body mass index), 50% greater reduction in waist circumference, and 56% greater reduction in body fat compared to those on the low calorie high carbohydrate diet
As you can see, nuts can be extremely healthy. I don’t tend to gorge myself when I do eat them (even though some of them are quite delicious.) Yesterday as I was preparing the roasted root vegetables I decided to make some raw almond butter but I decided to add a few seasonings; I’m including the recipe below.
Raw Almond Butter
- 2 cups of Raw Almonds
- Olive or coconut oil
-use as needed
Seasonings (optional)
- teaspoon of natural sweetener; honey, stevia, etc.,)
- dash of sea salt
Directions
- Grind nuts in a grinder
I use a coffe grinder, when I’ve used larger amounts of nuts I’ve used a blender (I used my Vita-Mix)
*If you use your Vita-Mix, make sure you don’t blend too long, since it will heat the nuts.
- Transfer ground mixture to food processor
*You can keep keep in the grinder, it just takes a but longer.
- Gradually add oil (one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.)
- Refrigerate, and enjoy!
Makes about 10 ounces.
*You’re almond butter will need to be refrigerated since no preservatives have been added. Although it can last a month this way, my butters never lasted more than a few weeks. Enjoy
My daughter and I enjoy nut butters, and we enjoy eating it on a variety of foods such as dips and sandwiches. Yesterday I made I added garlic instead of the seasonings I mentioned above. It was strong, but we still enjoyed it; next time I think I’ll roast the garlic, which will add some sweetness to the butter. Of course, my nut butter will no longer be raw but it still will be delicious.
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Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian, vegetarian, whole food, Nut Butter