Trying something new without commiting

It's interesting that in my last post I was writing about marriage and in this post I want to focus on trying new things without having to commit fully.

Sun setting over the clouds

Back in May I wrote a post about trying a week without milk. It was something really different for me because I really love dairy. I mean REALLY love it!!! I would probably go through about 5 litres of milk a week and then cheese; cheddar, cottage, brie and then yoghurt and whey protein and ice-cream. The list goes on and on but the main point is I consume a lot of dairy. In fact, when I think about it I would probably say that the majority of my protein came from dairy sources. I used to be a vegetarian for years and while I switched back to including white meat and fish when I moved in with my fiancé, I still wouldn't eat a huge amount of it. Therefore I got most of my protein from dairy and I loved it!!

KerryMaid Country

However recently I have been doing some thinking and soul searching. Now I am not, absolutely not, going to stand here and criticise anyone else. Neither am I here to preach because lord knows I have consumed enough dairy in the last few years to feed probably about 5 people, so..... But there are a lot of people out there advising against too much dairy, for a variety of reason and I guess I have started to wonder if eating this much dairy is right for me?! And right now........ I'm not sure what the answer to that is.

So, I've decided to try something new, without making a massive commitment. So before the Vegan police descend - I cannot and will not tell you, or myself that I will never consume dairy again. In fact, I think I will probably deliberately leave myself the possibility of consuming dairy for ever, in a limited way, in one form or another. I mean I'm a baker, for goodness sake, and not a massive believer in overly processed substitutes. I may well be converted one day. However for the moment I have decided to try going dairy free for a little while and see how it is.

Also another side note to the Vegan Police - I am not Vegan, I do not claim to be Vegan. I have good people in my life who are Vegan and I respect them and their, at times, difficult choices for the benefit of animals. I believe in making some Vegan choices and you will see a number of Vegan recipes or alterations on my blog. However as a baker, a food blogger and a psychologist there is one thing that I firmly believe in and that is spreading hate and attacking people is never okay!! I understand that you view meat as murder, it kind of is, and I realise that living in a world where this is the norm frustrates you greatly. However I WON'T EVER agree that hateful behaviour towards others will successfully promote your cause. If anything it will shut down the very conversation you wish to start. So I compel anyone who finds this blog and feels the need to attack me or anyone else for where they are on their journey with food to just leave. This is not the place for you! 

That said I welcome and am excited by anyone who would like to share with me their story with dairy and their experiences with dairy-free too!! Particularly any tips! Please?!

So this week I tried an exciting new recipe and I wanted to share. You may remember if you read my previous post about giving up milk that I am on a bit of a quest. If there is even the slightest hope of giving up milk then I need to find something to put in my tea. As a born and bred Irish person, tea is an essential part of the day. In fact you can almost chart my mood based on whether I have had tea, and carbs but that's another story. So I need, NEED a dairy-free milk that will work in tea or this dairy free life is not manageable. I appreciate that this sounds dramatic, but I have come to know myself a little bit and I know I need tea.

So when I discovered this easy homemade cashew milk I jumped for joy!! It's creamy, milky and has minimal lumps. It works perfectly with cereal, amazingly in coffee but ..........awful in tea. So my quest continues but that doesn't diminish my love for cashew milk because this stuff is amazing!!!

Cashew Milk

225g/ 1.5 Cups Cashews
1.4L/ 6 Cups Water
2 Dates
1/2 tsp vanilla

You need - a blender
                 - an airtight glass jar
                 - a sieve (optional)
You Do Not need cheese cloth or any other special straining equipment

1 - Put the cashews in a jar cover with water and let them soak for at least 3 hours.

2 - Drain and rinse the cashews

3- Add Cashews and 1/2 the water into a blender and blend until smooth. At this point add the dates
     and vanilla if you want.

This is now a perfect consistency for creamer if that's your thing, so if you want that then stop here.

4 - Add the rest of the water until you have reached the desired consistency.

5 - Store in an airtight container in the fridge for  3 days, some say 5.

Then just enjoy in a delicious coffee...

This was full at one stage but I honestly couldn't resist it long enough to get photos

Note of caution ; It has been drawn to my attention that there can be an issue with raw cashews and mycotxins and although I have also found research that claims that properly treated and stored cashews contain little or no toxic substances. However I have yet to complete my own research on this subject and if you have any concerns I suggest that you do the same and reach your own conclusions.

Healthy and happy

This week's recipe is super easy and I must admit that I am a little bit late on this bandwagon. However we tried this recently and I have to say, it was a revelation! It's so delicious and so so simple. It makes a meal feel so much healthier and when it's this little effort, well why not?! What is it??

Cauliflower Rice!!

Churros for Cinco de Mayo

Yesterday was cinco de mayo, a holiday not usually celebrated in this part of the world but I love it! Mexican food, sombreros, tequila and if you are lucky perhaps a pinata!! Yesterday we went to a wonderful Mexican restaurant (Cortinas) that was celebrating cinco de mayo in style with a south American style BBQ, initially the bf wasn't sold on the idea but once he saw the delicious steak sandwiches covered in delicious spices and served with traditional Mexican sides and stuffed chilis he was happy out! I was hoping for a pinata but no such luck, maybe next year (wink,wink, nudge, nudge), I did get a free t-shirt tho =) After dinner we decided to come home because I wanted to take the opportunity to make one of my favourite Mexican sweets for dessert - Churros!

Churros (Adapted from a recipe by Deborah M. Schneider)

475ml Water
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 heaped tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
350g plain flour
1 pinch baking powder
4 eggs
1L sunflower oil (or other vegetable oil suitable for deep frying)

to dredge
50g caster sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Pour your oil into a deep sauce pan and start heating it on a medium heat. Pour your water into another saucepan with the 2 tbsp of vegetable oil, the salt and the sugar and bring to the boil. While this is boiling, sieve together the flour and baking powder. Once the water mixture has boiled remove from the heat and add the flour. Mix thoroughly until you have a smooth paste. Beat the eggs in a seperate bowl and then add them slowly, in 4-5 sections. Mix thoroughly between each additions so that the eggs don't cook with the residual heat. Continue mixing and beating until the mixture is very smooth and thick.

Depending on your humidity you may need to add more flour, if so add it through a sieve and beat very very well so as to incorporate it fully.

At this stage your oil should have reached 350'F. You can check with a thermometre or if none is available go with the Nigella method of throwing in a square of bread and see how it frys, if it starts to turn golden brown then you're golden (get it! No? too annoying, ok...)

Pour your churro mixture into a piping bag with a large star piping head. This particular recipe is quite runny so you may still have to hold your piping bag upside down between piping. Then pipe directly into the hot oil. Obviously this is quite dangerous so exercise extreme caution. I used a knife to cut off the stream of mixture as you can see my bf doing here.

 

 

Let them fry until they have reached a deep golden brown and then flip, once both sides as done scoop them out onto some paper towel and let the excess oil drain before dredging them in the sugar and cinnamon mixture, then serve and smile!