Oat Milk

A few days ago, I ate halo-halo, a Filipino version of shaved ice dessert topped with mixed tropical fruits,  without milk. Unfortunately, it was indeed missing the creaminess of milk. Ever since becoming a vegan, I stopped drinking milk. I am not complaining. There were times when I really wished I never made this decision because I was missing a lot of things. But then again, there are delicious alternatives vegans can try. Although there are non-dairy "milk" alternatives for vegans out there, conventional vegan milk made from nuts like almonds and cashews are just too expensive. Moreover, some vegans are allergic to nuts.  

Being a pobreng (poor) vegan that I am, I decided to make my own cheaper version of vegan milk. There are many cheaper alternatives to vegan nut milk but let me start with this oat milk recipe as I have already tried it. The others like brown rice milk, soy milk and bean milk, I haven’t tried yet. I might try brown rice milk but I doubt that I will post any recipes for soy milk. I am avoiding unfermented soy products because of phytoestrogen, which can worsen my condition.

As expected, oat milk tastes like, well, oats. But if you have been drinking commercial oat milk like the ones you see in the grocery shelves, then this recipe will give you the same results – albeit this version is healthier and cleaner because it does not contain any preservatives and artificial coloring. You can also make this version sugar-free if you want. Drinking oat milk has many nutritional benefits. Oats contain adequate amounts of protein like cow’s milk. It also contains 36% of the recommended daily allowance for calcium compared to whole milk which only contains 28%.

Homemade oat milk is very easy to make and it does not require any special ingredients and kitchen tools. You only need oats, water, salt, and sweetener. Moreover, you only need a blender and a sieve to turn oats into milk.

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Cuisine: Vegan, Sugar-Free
Serving size: 6 

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

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Ingredients:

1 cup oats (steel-cut or rolled oats)
3 cups water
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

Instructions:

1. Place the steel-cut oats in a skillet over low flame and toast it for five minutes or until slightly brown.
2. Transfer the toasted oats in a blender and add the rest of the ingredients.
3. Blend until well combined and after the oats have been pulsed into tiny pieces.
4. Pass through a sieve lined with a clean cloth to separate the oats from the liquid.
5. This may take a few minutes. Run a spoon along the sieve to help facilitate the  liquid to pass through the sieve.
6. Adjust the sweetness.
7. Serve chilled.

The best thing about making oat milk is tat you don't necessarily need to strictly follow the steps nor ingredients. The thing is that you can use the recipe to make other types of non-dairy "milk". Once you are finished with straining the oats, you will end up with a mash. Do not throw it away as you can use it to make vegan cookies and cakes.

There are many versions on how to make oat milk and this happens to be mine. I prefer to toast my oats as it imparts a nutty flavor to the oat milk. The oat milk will keep for a few days in the fridge but since it is so good chilled, mine only lasted for a few hours. Enjoy!

XOXO,

Ang Pobreng Vegan

Vegan DIY: Make Your Own Turmeric Powder

Turmeric is highly regarded for its anti-inflammatory compounds. It has a warm, spicy and bitter flavor that takes a while to get used to. It comes from the root of Curcuma longa, which is a relative of ginger. It is widely used in both Indian and Chinese traditional medicine because of its healing properties.

It is a good source of iron, manganese, copper and Vitamin B6. It is prized more for its natural compound called curcumin that is its primary pharmacological agent. It is known to cure different maladies like digestion problems and cystic fibrosis. Studies also indicate that turmeric also reduces the risk of cancer and it can also inhibit the metastasis of cancer cells.

I have a habit of drinking turmeric tea every morning. My relationship with turmeric before was a combination of love and hate.  In fact, I wasn’t a big fan of turmeric tea the first time I tried it. I abhor its taste and I don’t like the thought of drinking a vile concoction just to reap its health benefits.

But ever since I planted turmeric in my garden, I learned how to love this super root. I have to! Otherwise I wouldn’t know what to do with all my harvests. Hahaha!

This plant grows well in the tropics and I have several planted in my garden. I have already harvested turmeric several times in the past and have used it to make my own herbal tea. As a poor vegan,  I don’t like the idea of buying the expensive powder from the grocery store. Thus, I decide to grow and make my own turmeric powder from scratch.

Making your own turmeric powder is a messy affair. There are no standard steps to making your own. Instead, I like to list down tips of making the powder so that you will have a mess-free kitchen and clean hands to boot.

• Clean the harvested roots and remove traces of soil and dirt on them. Pat them dry or allow them to air dry on the counter for a few hours.
• Slice the turmeric thinly so that they will easily dry up under the sun. Use gloves to avoid dying your hands yellow. If you don’t like using disposable gloves like I do, then use your hands by all means. In any case, the yellow stain will eventually go away after a few days as long as you wash your hands frequently.
• Use a ceramic plate when slicing the turmeric to prevent messy stains on your chopping board. I find using the ceramic plate crude but cleaning up the mess is really easy.
• No dehydrator? No problem! Place all sliced turmeric on a baking tray and look for an undisturbed spot in your garden that gets a lot of sun. Use solar power to dry your turmeric. If you are worried about foreign particles getting on to the turmeric, place a mesh cloth over them. That should prevent dusts and other particles from getting on the turmeric.
• Once they are dry, pop them inside a 175-degree Celsius preheated oven for about 15 minutes just to sanitize them and also to draw out their natural oil.
• Use a blender or a coffee grinder to grind your turmeric.
•  Store in a clean bottle with the right label. Keep the bottle in a cool, dark and dry place.

Drinking turmeric tea is simple. Some people try to improve its flavor by adding sugar or honey but since I try to avoid all forms of sweeteners except those naturally occurring in fruits, I have to take my turmeric plain or add other ingredients.

I often take my turmeric with crushed mint leaves and moringa powder. Drinking turmeric tea grows on you. At first,  I cannot say that it is delicious but as I kept on drinking this concoction every day, it seemed nice. Not delicious – just nice!

Making your own turmeric powder is a fun activity. I especially love the oven and grinding part because my kitchen would smell like peppers and oranges all at the same time. Enjoy drinking!


XOXO,

Ang Pobreng Vegan

Vegan Dinumugan

Dinumugan is a type of suman (rice cake) dessert that hails from the island of Bohol - my parents' hometown. This is the first vegan dessert that I have ever made. It is basically made from coconut meat, rice flour and ripe bananas. What I love about this recipe is that the bananas are naturally sweet so you don't need to put any free sugar in it (not that mine had any). Free sugar is defined as any form of sweet crystalline substance obtained from plants like sugar cane or beets. It is also commonly known as table and white (brown) sugar.  

Traditional dinumugan is very sweet because the recipe calls for white sugar. This recipe is all natural and is full of fiber that can aid in digestion. Moreover, it is so easy to make that I was able to make my first batch with success. Beginner's luck perhaps? For this healthy banana-rice cake recipe, below are the things that you will need:

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Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten-Free
Serving size: 3 to 4 (makes 18 small rice cakes)

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

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Ingredients:

5 cups ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup rice flour

1 cup coconut meat, shredded

1 cup water 

5 pitted dates, soaked overnight (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a food processor or blender, blend the dates until it purees into smooth mixture.
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
3. Scoop a tablespoon of the mixture onto a  banana leaf and roll the leaf just as you would      in making spring rolls.
4. Continue doing the third step until you finish packing all the mixture inside the banana leaves
5. Steam for 15 minutes.
6. Let it cool before serving.

By the way, I used dates as sugar substitute but you can always opt to leave it out. I happen to have dates because my sister gave me a pack of it. If you have difficulty finding them, you can always use coconut sugar or other natural sweeteners that you can find except honey as it is not vegan. But if you are not a vegan but you just want to try this recipe, you can use honey anytime. 

This recipe is so good that it did not have a chance to cool down at all.  Although still hot, we ate it for lunch. Surprisingly, even the non-vegans and sugar-lover members in the family loved this recipe. I cannot wait to make this recipe again in the future. I hope you can enjoy it too.

XOXO,

Ang Pobreng Vegan