Kudzu Mochi Modoki - Arrowroot Mochi Style Soymilk Jello

Easy to make Japanese style gelatine dessert. I used jelly made with Soymilk instead of Kudzu (or Kuzu) Mochi, molasses instead of Kuro Mitsu (Japanese style brown sugar syrup).


What I used (Makes 4 servings):

• 2 envelopes KNOX unflavored gelatine
• 1/2 cup cold soymilk
• 1 1/2 cup soymilk, heated to boiling
  
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened Kinako (click for the recipe)
  
• 1/4 cup of molasses

Directions:

1. Sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup of soymilk in a small container or bowl and let stand 1 minute. Add hot soymilk and stir until gelatin completely dissolves, about 5 minutes.
   
2. Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours. Cut into 1-inch squares.
3. Devide jelly cubes into four dishes. Sprinkle unsweetened Kinako and molasses over the cubes to your liking.

"It taste like sweets grandma serves at her house in Japan!" is my daughter's comment. You can use green tea or coffee in place of soymilk for variations.

Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.

Kinako Mochi Recipe - Japanese Rice Cake covered with Soy Bean Powder

These are Kinako Mochi made with my whole wheat Mochi!


You just cover Maru-Mochi (round rice cake) while they are still moist and soft with Kinako (soy bean powder with sugar). I would like to keep mochi in a dish full of powder for about 1 to 2 hours and roll them occasionally. With the moisture from Mochi, Kinako makes a nice thin paste over mochi this way!

I have recipes for Mochi and Kinako in separate blogs.

Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.

Kinako Recipe - Soy Powder for Japanese Sweets

I'm not sure if you can call this a recipe, but I thought some people might want to know how to make them....


What I used:

• 1 cup of dried soy beans
• 1 cup of sugar

Directions:

1. Roast soy beans in a pan slowly in a medium heat on a stove top for about 10 minutes. Be careful not to burn them. You want to make them nicely browned. Once you count more than 10 beans pop, you are done.
   
2. Grind the roasted beans in a grinder.
3. Add sugar and mix.

The above is a photo of Kinako Mochi (Rice Cake covered with Soy Bean Powder). If you are lucky enough to live close to a Japanese/Asian grocery store, you can buy pre-made Kinako powder. You can also check Japanese Food Gifts. Asian Food Grocer offers great variety in Asian foods and food-related items, including utensils, cookware, recipes, snacks, candy, and much more.

Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.

Whole Wheat Mochi Recipe - Japanese Rice Cake Recipe

This is a non-traditional recipe for a pretty traditional tasting mochi using a grinder and a pressure cooker. You can use a microwave instead of a pressure cooker also. 5 to 10 minutes depends on microwaves.

What I used:

• 1 cup of whole wheat sweet brown rice (you cannot use regular short grain sushi rice )
  
• 3/4 cup of water
• 1/8 teaspoon of salt
  

• Some cornstarch to keep mochi from sticking to each other

Directions:

1. Grind sweet brown rice with a grinder. (you can use store bought sweet brown rice powder if you want. I just can't get them at where I live.)
2. Mix the ground rice with water well. Use a mixing bowl you can put in a pressure cooker.
3. Add some water in a Pressure cooker, put the bowl with the rice mixture in the cooker. Cook the mixture for 10 minutes after the pressure regulator begins to rock. Let the cooker cool - do not put a cold water to let it cool faster.
4. Put the hardened mochi dough onto a hard surface. Use water to keep the dough from sticking to things. Add salt and kneed dough by folding for 3 to 5 minutes. Add water if necessary to make the dough moderately stiff, but still elastic. Now your Mochi is done!

How to make Maru-Mochi (round mochi):

1. Divide the dough into 12 pieces.
   
2. Shape each portion into round. Use water to keep the dough from sticking to your hands.
   
3. Dust them with cornstarch.
   

How to make Noshi-Mochi (flat square mochi):

1. Move the dough onto a baking sheet, plastic wrapped and powdered with cornstarch, and spread it flat by hands to about 1/2 inch thick.
   
2. Sprinkle cornstarch on top, cover the top with a plastic wrap as well.
3. Once the dough is hard enough - 2 to 4 hours in a fridge should do - cut them into about 2 inchs by 3 inchs rectangles. Dust the cut surfaces with cornstarch.

These Mochi should stay soft for a couple of days in a fridge. You can freeze them also. When you are ready to use them, you can just pop them into a toaster oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.

Okara Waffles - Waffles with Soy Pulp

I got more Okara today, yeah! This recipe is based on the waffle recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. I added Okara, took part of flour and milk out.


What I used:

• 1 cups wholewheat flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1/2 cup cooking oil
• 1 cup Okara (Soy Pulp)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl; set aside
   
2. In another bowl beat eggs slightly; stir in soy milk, cooking oil, Okara, and vanilla. Mix well.
3. Add egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. (batter should be slightly lumpy).
4. Pour 1 to 1 1/4 cups of batter onto grids of a preheated, lightly greased waffle baker. Close lid quickly; do not open until done. Bake according to manufacturer's directions.

It will take a couple of minutes longer to bake than regular waffles.

Please leave me a comment and tell me how you liked the recipe! Please try out my other Okara Recipes also!

Okara Scone - Scone with Soy Pulp

Another batch of Soymilk and another try for a recipe with Okara!
This Scone turned out great! Both my husband and I like not so sweet scones, so you might want to add more sugar, or glaze it.


What I used:

• 2 cups of wholewheat flour
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
• 1/3 cup of cold butter
• 1 cup of Okara
• 1/4 tablespoon of soymilk
• 1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 425 degree F. Lightly oil a baking sheet and flour them.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

3. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

4. In a separate bowl put Okara, soymilk, and an egg. Mix them really well.

5. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients.

6. Put dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it into a circle (about 8 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick). Cut them into 8 pieces like you would cut a pie.

7. Bake for about 15 minutes. Cool them on a wire rack.

You can put powdered sugar over it if you want!

Please leave me a comment and tell me how you liked the recipe! Please try out my other Okara Recipes also!

Cute Caffe in Nelson, BC

We are on our annual Ski Vacation in Nelson, BC, Canada. The city of Nelson is in middle of nowhere, but their streets are like the ones in San Francisco. Very, very cute town.


We had nice espresso drinks and the best Chocolate Zucchini Bread this morning at "grounded - An organic coffee house" on Vernon street!

Sushi Rice Recipe & Asparagus Rolls!

My daughter wanted to eat Sushi Rolls today, but I didn't want to go out and get proper ingredients for them. I checked our fridge and found Asparagus!


Sushi Rice:

• 1 1/2 cups of short grain white rice
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar (apple cider vinegar works too)
  
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

1. Mix vinegar, sugar, and salt really well and put the mixture aside.

2. Wash the rice with cold water a couple of times in a pot and drain.

3. Add 1 1/2 cups of water to the pot and put it on a burner on high heat.

4. Once it starts boiling, put a lid on, reduce the heat to low.

5. Let it cook for 15 minutes or until the steam stops escaping from the lid.

6. Take the pot off of the burner and let it rest for 10 minutes.

7. Spread the rice in a big bowl, so it will cool quicker. Add the vinegar mixture while the rice is still hot. Mix it with spatula lightly while it cools.


Asparagus Rolls:

I used sushi mat to roll my sushi. It is made out of bamboo sticks and very flexible. If you don't have one, you can use plastic wrap about the size of sushi mat - 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches.

I don't know how to explain this, so I put some pictures.

You put Nori (dried seaweed) on the mat, spread the vinegered rice, and add the main ingredient (steamed asparagus this time).


Lightly hold Asparagus (or whatever you are using), so it will stay in the middle. Roll up the sushi using the sushi mat. Once you are done rolling, you can squeeze the roll while it is still covered in the sushi mat lightly. You take the roll out of the mat, and slice the rolls into 6 to 8 pieces!

Okara Chicken Nuggets with Teriyaki Sauce

I made soy milk today again. So I got more fresh Okara today again. Last Okara dish I tried was a disaster, but I decided to keep experimenting every time I get Okara. Today's experiment actually turned out pretty good!


What I used:

• 1 cup of Okara (Soy Pulp from Soymilk)
• 1 cup of ground Chicken
• 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• pinch of black pepper
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  

1. Mix all the ingredients together well.

2. Pour the 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a large skillet. Preheat over medium-high heat. Drop the mixture on to the skillet using dinner spoon. (about the size and shape of chicken nuggets)

3. Cook them for about 5 minutes, turn them halfway to brown both sides evenly.

4. When both sides of nuggets are browned, pour well mixed teriyaki sauce ingredients below in to the skillet. Cook and stir until bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minitues more.

Teriyaki Sauce: For the teriyaki sauce I actually used 1/3 cup of left over Sobatsuyu with 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch, but if you don't have it you can use these ingredients:

• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon water
• 2 tablespoon sake (optional)
• 1/2 tablespoon of cornstarch

Please leave me a comment and tell me how you liked the recipe! Please try out my other Okara Recipes also!

Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls, An-Pan, and Cheesy Dinner Rolls

I was inspired by cafenelison's Baked Buns with Red Bean Paste! I tried out making Dinner Rolls stuffed with Anko and with Cheese (not together!). Japanese version's Baked Buns with Red Bean Paste are called An-Pan. They are usually wrapped in a dinner roll type of dough. They turned out pretty good.


I used a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book for a reference and changed it around a little.

What I used:

2 cups of wholewheat flour
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup soy milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 beaten egg

1. Heat up soy milk until warm. Add yeast to the milk and let it rise for 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Mix all the ingredients along with the yeast and milk.

3. Kneed the dough for 6 to 8 minutes till it is smooth and elastic. (I used my KitchenAid mixer for this.)

4. Shape dough into a ball. Place in a greased bowl. Turn once. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double.

5. Punch dough down. Divide dough into 24 balls. Cover; let rest for 10 minutes.

6. Shape dough into your desired shapes. The ones in the photo are butterhorns. I made small wedges and loosely rolled them from the wide ends toward the points.

7. Place them on lightly greased baking sheets. cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size.

8. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until rolls sound hollow. Immediately remove from pan. Cool on wire racks.


An-Pan Recipe: At step 6, Roll each portion of dough to 4 inch circle. Put 2 tablespoons of Anko in the middle. Pull edges and pinch them together and place them pinched side down on to baking sheets. Move on to step 7, then 8.

Cheesy Dinner Roll Recipe: At step 6, put a cheese stick cut into 2 inches at the wide end of the wedges and roll them with it. Make sure cheese is covered all the way around by dough. move on to step 7, then 8.

Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.

Cheese Pockets with Wanton Wrappers

I was making Wantons with Okara as part of ingredients for the stuffing. The end result was horrible, we had to go out to eat that night.... I think I have to change the ratio of Okara...

Anyway, I had some left over Wanton Wrappers from it, and decided to wrap some mozzarella sticks and toast them in a toaster oven. (for about 10 minutes) It turned out pretty good. My daughter enjoyed them as her afternoon snack!

French Baguettes!

I was so happy with my pizzas and pita breads; now, I'm trying French baguettes! My wholewheat flour run out, so I used about 1/2 wholewheat 1/2 white flour. It turned out great! I'm getting really into baking now!

Soba Salad with Sesame Dressing!

I am making a Soba Salad today with left over boiled Soba from yesterday. I love eating Soba as a salad with crunchy veggies!

What I used:

• 1 cup boiled Soba noodles
• 1/4 cup halved grape tomates
• 1/4 cup sliced red radishes
• 1/4 cup chopped English cucumber (English cucumbers are cruncher than regular cucumbers)
• 1/4 cup mung bean sprouts
• 1/4 cup sprouted seeds (I used clover sprouts today)
• 2 tablespoons of chopped green onions
  

Recently I started to pour boiling hot water over any sprouts to kill bad germs on it for in case. Sprouts still taste fresh and crunchy this way.

Mix all the ingredients together and eat them with your favorite dressing! Here is how to make my personal favorite - Sesame dressing!


What I used for Sesame dressing:

• 2 tablespoons of Sesame seeds (I used hulled white sesame seeds)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of Soy Sauce
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon of Wasabi powder

Mix Sesame seeds and olive oil in a food processor until Sesame seeds are chopped into small pieces. Put the rest of the ingredients and mix them till the mixture is creamy.


Enjoy!

Over baked Pita Bread!

I was baking Pita Breads with left over Pizza doughs today. I started to talk with my daughter's friend after I put the last bread in the oven, then I forgot about it a bit too long.


This is what came out of the oven! All other Pitas went flat after they came out of the oven, but not this over baked one! It kept its shape. My daughter and her friend were so excited to see it. I will have to make some hummus, so they can eat it with this strange looking pita.

Cold Soba and Sobatsuyu - Buckwheat Noodles with Dipping Sauce

This is the very basic way we eat Soba (Buckwheat Noodles) at our house. We usually eat them cold with dipping sauce (Sobatsuyu). We top Soba with shredded Yakinori (Roasted Seaweed) and green onions. You can put Wasabi in your dipping sauce if you like.
1. Boil 4 bunches of Soba (about 16 oz) for 5-7 minutes in a pot full of water with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

2. When it's chewy but firm in the center, it's ready. Empty the entire pot of Soba into a strainer. Wash the noodles with cold water. Makes about 4 servings.


How to make Sobatsuyu (dipping sauce):

• 2 cups of Dashi (Japanese Soup Stock)
  
• 1/3 cup of Soy Sauce
• 1/3 cup of Mirin (if you don't have Mirin, you can use 1/3 cup of Sake with 2 Tablespoons of suger)

Mix all the ingredients in a pan, and bring it to a boil. Stop the heat and cool the sauce.

Dashi - Japanese Soup Stock with Shiitake and Kombu

I am making Dashi (Japanese Soup Stock) tonight. I always use "Mizudashi" method which is to make Dashi by soaking dried ingredients in water overnight. I am using Dried Shiitake Mushroom and Kombu (kelp) tonight. If you have Dried Shiitake only, that will work also. Kombu only is good, too. Katsuobushi (bonito flakes) works well also.


What I used:

• 3 pieces of Dried Shiitake Mushrooms
• 1 piece of Kombu (Kelp cut down to about 4 inches)
• 3 cups of water
  

Rinse the Dried Shiitake Mushrooms. Wipe Kombu with dump paper towel. Put them in a bowl with 3 cups of water and let them soak overnight (8 hours or more) in a refrigerator.

The stock will be ready to use by the morning. I squeeze water out of Shiitake and Kombu and put them aside to be used for other recipes later on.

I am thinking about making "something Japanese" tomorrow, but not sure what. I will post whatever I decided to make tomorrow!

Okara Nuggets with Hijiki and Carrot trial

I made some soymilk today, so I got more Okara (soy pulp). Since the Okara Falafel I made last week was a big success, I decided to make something similar. Instead of putting parsley and garlic, I put Hijiki and carrots. My daughter liked it. I thought they are so so. I think everything taste good to my daughter if they are fried and with sweet chili sauce....

What I used:

• 2 cups of Okara
• 1/2 onion - finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons Hijiki
• 1/2 cup Carrots - finely chopped
• 1/3 cup Flour

I washed and drained Hijiki (I didn't soak it in water, since my Okara is pretty moiste), then mixed all the ingredients together and fried them for 5 to 7 minutes with 350 degrees F oil.

Hijiki is a brown sea vegetable growing wild on rocky coastlines. It is known to be rich in dietary fibre and essential minerals such as calcium(1400mg/100g),iron(55.0mg/100g) and magnesium(620mg/100g).

Next time, I might add green onions instead of regular onion, and maybe shelled edamame in the dough....

Please leave me a comment and tell me how you liked the recipe! Please try out my other Okara Recipes also!

Homemade Pizza Party!

Since I had a big success with Pita Breads, I decided to try making my own Pizza dough. Actually the recipe was almost exactly the same as the Pita Bread Recipe I used. I decided to let the dough rise twice instead of once after reviewing different recipes on Internet. I got premade Pizza Sauce, Pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, and 6 screaming girls. The party was a big success!

An Kibi Dango - Millet Dumplings with Sweet Red Bean Paste Topping

I'm not sure if I can call this a recipe.... I just pour my homemade Anko over Kibidango, It was great!


Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.

Oshiruko with Kibidango - Sweet Red Bean Soup with Millet Dumplings

Traditionally, Oshiruko is made with Mochi or Shiratama (both of them are rice cakes - one made from steamed rice, the other made from sweet rice flour). I just replaced Mochi with my homemade Kibidango (Millet Dumpling).

You will need:

• 1/2 cup Anko (sweet red bean paste)
• 2 cups of water
• 6 Kibidango (Millet Dumplings)

1. Mix Anko and water in a pan and bring them to boil.

2. Stir the mixture till Anko is all desolved. Add Kibidango and simmer for a couple minutes.

You can use more/less Anko to adjust the sweetness to your liking.

Please check out my Mochi recipe! Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.

Anko - Sweet Red Bean Paste

I recently found out that the small red beans are the number one antioxidant-rich food. Red beans happened to be one of my favorite foods. Many traditional Japanese sweets are made with Anko (sweet red bean paste). My husband hates it, my daughter and I love it....

Here is the recipe I use to make them. Many people suggest to boil the beans once and change water to make the paste tastier, but I don't do that because I don't want to drain out nutrients along with the water.

You will need:

• 1 cup of small red beans (Adzuki Beans)
• 1 cup of brown sugar

1. Wash the beans in a pot. Cover them with enough water and slowly bring them to a boil.

2. Let it simmer for 3 to 4 hours or until the beans are soft. Make sure you have enough water for the whole time. (You can soak the beans overnight and cut down the cooking time to 1 to 2 hours.)

3. Add suger 1/4 cup at a time over 10 minutes once beans are soft.

4. Simmer more until water is almost gone. Beans will soak up more water after you stop cooking, so make sure you take them off of the burner while it is still somewhat runny.

That's it! You can use this paste to make Oshiruko (sweet red bean soup), as a topping for Mochi (rice cake), and for many other dishes! Please check my other posts for Japanese Desserts also! If you have a chance to try out any of the recipes, please let me know how you liked it.

Kibidango - Millet Dumplings

I was reading an old Japanese folk tale - Momotaro - to my daughter the other night. The main character fights with ogres in the story. When he told his mom that he is going to fight with ogres, his mom made Kibidango (Millet Dumplings) for him to take....

You will need:

• 1 cup of Millet
• 2 to 3 cups of water
  

It takes about 25 minutes to cook millet by simmering. I like grainy dumplings so I use 2 cups of water, but you can add more water to make it more mashed potatoes like texture. Once it's done, you mash it and form them into 1/2 inch balls. You get about 40 of them.

I made two dishes using the dumplings - Oshiruko (Sweet Red Bean Soup with Dumplings) and An Dango (Dumplings with Sweet Red Bean Paste Topping) - and put the rest in a freezer!

Okara Falafel Recipe!

Okara Falafel Recipe using Soy Pulp from your homemade Soymilk! I was driving when I thought about making Falafels out of Okara (soy pulp you get when you make soymilk). I thought I was a genius when I came up with the idea. Then I went home and typed "Okara Falafel" on internet; sure enough there were many of them. Here is the recipe I came up with after reviewing many different recipes.


You will need:

• 2 cups of Okara
  
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
  
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 cup of fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon Cumin
• 3/4 cup of wholewheat flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Pepper
• Oil for frying

1. Mix all the ingredients except the oil in a large bowl.

2. Heat 2 inches of oil to 350 degrees F.

3. Scoop the mixture with a dinner spoon and drop them into the oil one at a time.

4. Fry them for 4 to 7 minute.

The result was great! I tried hummus, sweet chili sauce, and tonkatsu sauce for dipping, and all of them were pretty good. I liked sweet chili sauce dipping better than others! Please let me know what you think about the recipe! I am thinking about adding Hijiki and Carrots next time to make it more like Ganmodoki.

Please leave me a comment and tell me how you liked the recipe! Please try out my other Okara Recipes also!

Furikake on your Rice!

Furikake Recipe! Have you ever had your Japanese friend tell you that you can't pour Soy Sauce over your rice and got embarrassed? Have you ever thought the Japanese style cooked white rice is little too blunt for your taste? Here is the secret! Not every Japanese people eat their rice straight. Many of them put "Furikake" on their Rice!


Furikake is any dry Japanese condiment meant to be sprinkled on top of rice. The main ingredients for most of the Furikakes are Sesame Seeds and Salts. Some of them consists dried and ground fish, eggs, vegetables, etc. Here is my basic Furikake Recipe I use at my house.

You will need:

• 3 tablespoons Sesame Seeds
• 1 tablespoon Salts
• 1 sheet Roasted Seaweed (Yakinori)

1. Tear up the roasted seaweed roughly into small pieces.

2. Put all the ingredients in to a food processor and grind them together for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the mixture resemble the photo above.

Please let me know what you think! I am thinking about adding chili peppers for my next batch.

Webkinz' New Cloths

My daughter was sick and stayed home for a couple of days last week. We were looking for things to do, and decided to go to a craft store and see if we can get something exciting.

I am not sure if everyone knows what Webkinz pets are. They are stuffed animals that each come with a unique Secret Code. With it you can go to the company's website and take care of your pet virtually. You can go to their website if you are interested.

My daughter who just turned 9 has been really into this Webkinz for a while now. She takes them to her friend's house and visit their Webkinz pets to have "Webkinz Play Date". They also communicate over Internet with each other through their Webkinz pets (parents can decide the level of access their kids can have - you can set it so kids can only use preset phrases from the list website offers).

Anyway, we went to a craft shop and found that their remnants are 50% off of already discounted prices! We purchased about $2.00 worth of remnants, and above photo is the result of the purchase!

Best Homemade Soymilk!

Soymilk Recipe! I finally did it. I've been thinking about trying for a long time, but wasn't sure if it was worth it to actually make homemade soymilk. It turned out to be pretty easy, and the end result was AMAZING! Try it out!

You will need:

• 1/2 cup Soy Beans
• 2 tablespoons Brown Rice
• 2 tablespoons Steel Cut Oat
• 2 cups Water
• 64 ounces Water
• 1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon
  
• a pinch of Clove
  
• a pinch of Nutmeg
  
• 2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
  
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

1. Mix Soy Beans, Brown Rice, and Steel Cut Oat in a small bowl. Wash & drain. Add 2 cups of water and soak them overnight.

2. Put the mixture in a food processor and blend till it becomes creamy.

3. Boil 64 oz of water in a big pot and put the creamy soy mix in, let it simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

4. Add rest of the ingredients and strain.

You now have 64 oz of Homemade Soymilk!

Believe me, it does not taste like eggnog. If you want "easy" soymilk, you can just use soy and water. Just experiment. The spices just lightly musk the beany taste. I tried cheesecloth to strain the milk, but it didn't work so well. If you don't mind some soy bits in your milk, you can just use a fine metal strainer and it works fine. It is a lot cheaper than store bought soymilk even with all organic ingredients and I think it taste better! Let me know what you think!

* I had to update the amount of sugar after many complaints from my daughter and husband. I guess not everybody likes to taste the beans....

Hummus with Olives!

Hummus Recipe! I love hummus! I went to Egypt last year and ate hummus for breakfast, lunch, and for dinner for 10 days and still didn't get tired of them. Actually, I started making my own after the trip. Here is my basic hummus recipe. Please enjoy!

You will need:

• 1 can of garbanzo beans (or 1/2 cup of dried garbanzo beans soaked overnight and cooked for 1 1/2 hour)
• 3 to 4 gloves of garlic
• 10 to 12 olives (Spanish olives, kalamata olives, garlic stuffed olives, any type of olives!)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon of cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon of paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon of salt

1. Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend them until they are creamy!

That's it!

You can add more olives if you like Tapenade; add more cumin and paprika if you like spicy hummus. Experiment and have fun! Check out my Pita Bread Recipe also. Homemade hummus with homemade pita breads....yum!

Baking Pita Bread!

Pita Bread Recipe to try out! I am baking Pita Breads today. They are so easy to make and taste a lot better than store bought! The bread qualify for a frugal item in my book, since you can use all organic ingredients and it still costs about the same as regular Pita Bread. Here is the recipe if you want to try!

You will need:

• 1 package of yeast
• 1/2 cup of warm water
• 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar
• 3 cups of all purpose flour (I use whole wheat flour)
  
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of warm water

1. Dissolve yeast & sugar in 1/2 cup water. Let it rise for 10 to 15 minutes. It is ready when it looks frothy.

2. Combine flour & salt in a large bowl and pour the yeast mixture. Mix it with a spatula. Add 1 cup of water gradually and keep mixing. Once all the ingredients are mixed, knead the dough for 10 to 15 minutes. The dough will be less sticky and becomes easy to manage when it's done.

3. Coat large bowl w/oil. Put the dough and let it rise for 3 hours or till the size of the dough doubles. I use clock pot for this in "warm" setting. It works pretty well!

4. Roll out in a rope, cut them with knife into 10 to 12 small pieces. Roll them into balls and let them rest covered for 10 minutes.

5. Heat oven to 500 F. Place a rack at the bottom and pre-heat baking sheet at the same time. You are trying to recreate a middle eastern style brick oven!

6. Roll out the doughs and make thin circles. Place them on the pre-heated baking sheet 2 to 3 at a time. Bake one side 3 to 4 minutes or until the dough puffs up, turn it over and bake a couple of minutes more. Put the bread immediately in a storage bag once baked.


I like really thin Pita Breads, but my husband likes thicker chewier Pitas better... By storing them right away, you keep them soft and moist! Check out my Hummus Recipe and enjoy them together!