Revamp Your Cooler for Outdoor Parties!

My hubbie and I are about to buy a new house and it's got a basement that is ripe for converting to our new entertainment room. It has a garage door opening to it and we're already hard at work designing that new space. I also wanted to make an ice chest/cooler like one I had seen that converted an old refrigerator into a cooler.  During my search for it again, I stumbled on one that I like even better.  Probably because it seems like it will be WAY easier to do. I like that!  Instead of using an old refrigerator, it uses an old cooler. You just build a frame around it and put legs on it and that's it. Okay, it's just a bit more involved than that, but the results are great!

 

I found this at Killer B Design and there's a great tutorial to show you just how to do it. I think I'm going to tackle this project once we get moved into the new space. I can hardly wait!! If I actually end up doing this, I'll post my photos.



 

How To Make Your Own Almond Milk

Well, lately I've been trying to eat more healthy. I like a good smoothie from time to time so I can gulp down a whole bunch of veggies and fruits real quick without having to do any cooking. Sometimes I use fresh organic apple juice as my base (when I want it to be sweet). Other times I prefer a "milk" base. I use almond milk for that. The store bought ones are fine (but a bit pricey). I decided to make my own. Making your own almond milk isn't anything new. I actually don't have any idea how almond milk is commercially prepared, but here's my take on my own almond milk.

It was really easy, but just a bit time consuming. (A fact that I didn't entertain when I got up at my regular time and thought I could do it before work.) Lesson learned.

First off, you need to soak the almonds in water overnight in the refrigerator. That part means you have to pre-plan to make it.  Just put that in the refrigerator over night and the following morning, pour off the water that was in the cup. Rinse off the almonds and then throw them and new (filtered) water into a blender. Blend away! 

Then strain the liquid and voila' - Almond Milk! If you want to add anything to it such as vanilla or some kind of sweetner, add it in after you've strained it. I added a little bit of vanilla extract to mine because it makes my smoothie taste better. Without anything added, it pretty much tastes just like almonds.

The details:

Soak one cup raw almonds in one cup of water overnight in the refrigerator.

Next morning pour out the water and put the almonds into a blender. Add 3 to 4 cups of water. The amount you use is really a personal preference. If you add 4 cups it will be more liquidey than if you only use 3 cups of water. Bottled and/or filtered water is probably best, but if you don't have that, just use tap water.

Blend the heck out of it!  Several minutes should do it. At this point what I did was to pour the liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. I used two strainers. While one was dripping out, I pressed the other one to get all the liquid out. Then I pressed the other one out and so forth.

 For my purposes, this straining was enough for me. I was using it in a smoothie, so it didn't matter that it still had a little bit of almond pulp in it. If you want it smoother, you'll need to strain with a nut milk bag.

The pulp that's left must be useful on it's own. I went ahead and saved mine, just in case I find something to use it for. Maybe almond butter?


I love being able to do this all by myself. This way I know EXACTLY what's in it. There is also that self-satisfaction from having made this instead of buying it. Get's me feeling like a pioneer woman or something. Next think you know, I'll be sloppin' the hogs!

I really think I could just drink this straight if I wanted to. I think it needs to be really chilled to make it better.

I'd love to know if someone knows what I can do with the almond pulp that is left over from making the almond milk.

Enjoy!