Kahakai is a Hawaiian word for Beach.
Living in beautiful Hawaii, I like to spend time at the beach and in the kitchen. This blog is about cooking, eating and living (mostly healthy) in Paradise.
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Saturday, January 16, 2010
Chocolate Mylk (No, That's Not a Typo, It's a Raw, Healthy Chocolate Almond Milk & "Simple Saturday Sipper")
I have never been much of a milk drinker. I am not sure where it started but it was certainly compounded by my kindergarten days when a red wagon of little cartons containing whole milk was pulled up outside the classroom in the morning, allowed to sit there for few hours and then we were forced to drink it warm at lunch. Yuck--it still haunts me today! The only decent day was Friday when there was chocolate milk, albeit warm chocolate milk. Anyway I grew up just using milk for cereal, to dunk warm chocolate chips cookies in, or in recipes and getting the occasional craving for (cold, thank youvery much) chocolate milk. Lately I have given up most all dairy as I am not convinced it does my body (or lungs) good. I am missing the cheese a lot, yogurt a bit, and milk not so much, except I am still getting those occasional cravings for a cold glass of chocolate milk. Re-exploring "Ani's Raw Food Kitchen" by Ani Phyo, I was inspired to try her Chocolate Mylk, one of her raw many "mylks"--dairy-free milk substitutes made from nuts or seeds blended with water. With cocoa powder providing the chocolate, and dates for sweetness, it also seemed a good way to eliminate the processed sugar chocolate milk usually contains.
Chocolate Mylk "Ani's Raw Food Kitchen" by Ani Phyo (Makes 4 Servings)
1/2 cup almonds 1/2 cup pitted dates 3 Tbsp cocoa powder or cacao nibs pinch sea salt 5 cups water
Put the almonds, dates, cocoa powder, salt and water in the blender and blend until smooth. Will keep for four days in the fridge.
Per Serving: Calories 141, protein 5g, carbohydrate 15g, fat 8g, sugar 8g, Percent Daily Values: potassium 7%, calcium 6%, iron 7%, vitamin E 21%, riboflavin 9%, phosphorus 10%, magnesium 17%, zinc 5%, copper 16%, manganese 23%, dietary fiber 16%.
Notes/Results: Actually really good! Do I sound surprised? It actually tasted better and more authentic than I expected it to. The texture was a little off, slightly thick, even blended in my Vita-Mix (Phyo recommends 30 seconds in a high-powered blender, 1 minute in a conventional blender), but a quick pour through a mesh strainer made it nice and smooth. It hit the spot and resolved the craving--plus it was fun to experiment. I would make this again and also plan on trying the basic Vanilla Mylk and her Cinnamon Banana Buttermylk made with cashew butter.
Good tip about straining it, the texture would have thrown me off. What a fascinating drink. I love using dried fruits for sweetening. And, ooh, flashbacks to those warm milk boxes.. *shudder*.
Same here Deb. I think I was turned off by milk because of those same warm little cartons. Thanks for this introduction to Almond milk. Very interesting.
Mary--you honestly taste chocolate and not dates at all but if they bug you maybe use a banana--although you will get a banana taste or maybe some sweet prunes would work. You may have to add a touch of sweetener to it though.
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Good tip about straining it, the texture would have thrown me off.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating drink. I love using dried fruits for sweetening.
And, ooh, flashbacks to those warm milk boxes.. *shudder*.
I think that sounds really delicious - actually, I wonder if you could thicken it and eat it as a pudding.
ReplyDeleteSame here Deb. I think I was turned off by milk because of those same warm little cartons. Thanks for this introduction to Almond milk. Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI was with you till I saw the dates. Could another fruit be used?
ReplyDeleteoh this is a cool drink very creative of that was cruel to make you drink warm milk at lunch! nice to be in a group smiles Rebecca
ReplyDeleteThat sounds incredible!My kid would love that.
ReplyDeleteGreat tip on straining the mylk to make it smoother. I absolutely love fresh dates and would love to try this one.
ReplyDeletesounds really good!
ReplyDeleteI love everything in here, and with the cocoa to flavor it I bet it's delicious!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone! ;-)
ReplyDeleteMary--you honestly taste chocolate and not dates at all but if they bug you maybe use a banana--although you will get a banana taste or maybe some sweet prunes would work. You may have to add a touch of sweetener to it though.