01 February 2014

Eating made easier

I often don’t feel like eating. Well, eating I could probably do, but there’s all the hassle of getting food ready and then cleaning up and quite a lot of the time, it just seems like food is more trouble than it’s worth.

I’ve been keeping an eye out for a blender for awhile now. A long time ago I had an Oster Kitchen Centre with the mixing stand and bowls and food processor and blender, it did everything. It was too big though, and once I moved to the country I found I didn’t use it very often … I have a breadmaker, and it’s great for dough mixing, I do pretty much everything else by hand (I enjoy it), and we have a Magic Bullet for smaller beverages.

Still, the Bullet doesn’t pulverize things quite as well as my big ol’ blender used to. Nor can it do as much at once. The blender jars (I had a big glass one plus several small ones, perfect for baby food – or guacamole) and food chopper attachment from my old unit would work on a new blender base … and when the Oster blender went on sale half price at Canadian Tire yesterday, I decided now was the time.

I’ve been experimenting with nut butters and cheeses for a friend with some dietary restrictions, so that was really fun: toss in some soaked nuts, blend with a bit of water, add some seasonings, and you have a fabulous dip for chips or crackers or to spread on bread. Yum.

I have almond milk straining as well – just blender almonds in water and strain through cheesecloth … excellent for making smoothies. The almond that remains can be dehydrated and added to baking, too, so that’s cool.

I took all the oranges that were sitting around here getting weary (we all seem to think we like oranges, but rarely eat them), got them peeled and put the insides in the blender. Whooshed them thoroughly for a bit then put the pulp in my Lee Valley Juice Strainer as I don’t like pulp in my OJ (ask my mom, she used to make me drink a little tiny A&W mug full of juice and I always strained the pulp with my lips as best I could). Voila: over a litre of lovely, pulp-free juice! And I can take the pulp that remains and spread it on trays in the dehydrator … the chickens will happily eat it, and maybe the lovebirds will, too, you never know. (The lovebirds don’t seem to realize that they are supposed to go crazy over raw fruit. They just look at it, they won’t eat it.)

For breakfast, I pureed some soaked almonds with a cored apple, some cinnamon, and a scoop of oatmeal and a dash of honey. Yum. It’s afternoon snack time and I’ve got another apple with some saskatoon syrup (store bought), cherry syrup (that one is home made), a bit of oatmeal and wheat germ and some of the aforementioned orange juice. Yum! The oatmeal gives it a bit of heft and extra fibery goodness, the syrups sweeten the tang of the orange, and the whole thing is full of healthy vitamins and things. Yay.

Lots better than a bowl of ramen noodles, eh? And cleanup is simple: rinse the blender jar, and you’re done. Yep, I think this was a good idea.

I’m thinkin’ guacamole and nachos for supper… there were avacados on sale at the grocery store yesterday!

2 comments:

  1. I will be right over to test taste all this yummy-ness.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's so awesome. I was in a hurry this morning and so I tossed some yogourt, milk, wheat germ and oatmeal in, blendered (30 seconds, on a timer, while I did other things!) and poured it into my cup and off I went! Breakfast to go!

    Healthy and fast and inexpensive.

    ReplyDelete

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