Friday, February 19, 2010

Heart Month - How To Make Almond Milk!

Tip #2

Making almond milk is easy, inexpensive, and a healthy alternative
to cows milk, soy milk, or even processed almond milk.

Don't get me wrong, we do suggest people purchase almond milk from
the store. However, if you can make your own almond milk you are
more in control of what goes into your tasty beverage.


Here's the step-by-step process if you want to get right to it:

How To Make Almond Milk

Ingredients:

1 cup soaked almonds

2-3 cups water

1 strainer bag- read money saving tip below

Optional- 1-2 dates, agave nectar, stevia, cinnamon, vanilla
extract/vanilla bean, dash of sea salt

How To Make:

We recommend soaking 1 cup of almonds in water for 24 hours prior to
using (remember to rinse and add new water after 12 hours). This
will make the almonds soft and easier to blend.

Add the 1 cup of almonds to approximately 2-3 cups of water and
blend until you don't hear the almond chunks hitting the blade.
Using 2 cups of water instead of 3 cups will give the milk a
stronger almond flavor. A high powered blender works great but a
regular blender is fine, too.

When you're done blending, there may still be some almonds chunks,
but that's ok. Get your mesh bag and pour the contents of the
blender through the nut bag into a container/bowl. Squeeze the
contents of the bag until you're left with pretty dry almond pulp
in the bag. Voila, you're done!

Once you have your almonds, put it in a sealed jar or container and
store it in the fridge up to 5 days.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Heart Month - Healthy Tips For The Heart!

We will be focused on tips for keeping your ticker in top shape for the entire month of February.

Tip 1 - Scale down on the White Stuff!
Americans eat more than 22 teaspoons of sugar (about 350 calories worth) and nearly 2 teaspoons of salt per day, both habits can do a number on your heart. Sugar ups your weight, blood pressure and triglceride levels; excessive salt raises blood pressure by making your body retain fluid.

So what's the fix? The American Heart Association (AMA) recommends getting less than 1 teaspoon (6 grams) of salt per day; however, 1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) reduction would mean 6 percent fewer new cases of heart disease, heart attacks and deaths.

Women are recommended to get no more than 6 teaspoons or 25 grams of sugar per day. 9 teaspoons/38 grams per day for men. If a women cut back on this plan by limiting foods and beverages containing sucrose, fructose or glucose, she could lose about a 1/2 a pound a week. A man would loose slightly less.

Give it a try and post your results.