I think, after the reflection of this pandemic, it’s time we learned how to do basic staples in the kitchen. We can reduce virus spread by minimising our lifestyles, and therefore we can do a lot more good too by reducing our expenses and consumption. It’s also great for the animals to realize that we can manage easily without disturbing them for usage! So let’s get our hands stuck in.
Homemade Oat Milk:
- 1 Cup Oats
- 4 Cups Water
Blend 1 cup of oats with 1 cup of water until smooth, then add in 3 more cups of water and blend again. Store in the fridge to set and stir before each use as it separates.
Nut milk:
– 4 tbsp nut butter of choice
– 4 cups water
Blended/shaken together
Homemade butter
A lot of arm work went into this butter and I didn’t make a great deal! I think, for it to be successful, you need to be whole hearted with your shaking the whole time. I sat and shook lightly while eating pringles. however, I still got a buttery substance at the end!
Ingredients:
– 1 cup Alternative milk of choice
– 2 tbsp Cornflour/Flour
– Pinch of salt (preservative to make it last a couple of weeks rather than days)
Jar/whisk
Alternatively:
– 2/3 milk
– 1/3 oil
To make a heavy cream, stir the cornflour and milk together until it thickens.
To make the butter: place mixture into a jar and seal tightly. Shake for 20 minutes until there’s a separation with liquid at the top and a lump at the bottom. Use a fine sieve or thin cloth to drain the liquid, saving the lump of butter that’s left.
This is what my finished product looked like on homemade bread (I’ll share the recipe for that next week!). Using homemade oat milk, the butter didn’t have much flavour, but it did have the right fatty consistency. Probably better when left in the fridge to set!
Homemade flour with oats:
- 1 cup of oats pulsed in a blender/ grinder
= 1 cup of oat flour
Easy Pancake Recipe:
*The trick is to leave it before cooking*
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup Milk
- Oil or butter for frying
Leave the milk for five minutes. For better results you can add a bit of lemon juice or cider vinegar but it’s not necessary. They make it light and fluffy and non sticky but you can still make it without!
Add the flour to the milk and mix lightly with a fork, or a whisk with upward motions. Leave for ten minutes and do not stir again.
You need a tiny bit of oil for frying but you really don’t need a lot! 1/4 tbsp will do.
Scoop some of the mix into a pan and fry them as normal.
Alternatively you can simply use 1 cup of water mixed with 1 mashed banana, and add in 1 cup of flour after five minutes before leaving again for ten minutes. Same procedure applies as above.
Alternatives and my opinions of them:
Egg:
- Aquafaba (liquid in tin of chick peas) will create a stretchy, soft binding for baked goods and make things go fluffy.
- banana will add body to a mix and make it denser but also add sweetness so less sugar is needed. This is nice for a chewy, long lasting mouthful which feels filling.
- cornflour will thicken a recipe up and bind it
- buttermilk with bicarbonate soda will also thicken but make it rise and be fluffy with an acidic taste
- oil will make it moist and dense. Great with chocolate goods and other melt in your mouth ingredients.
- milk will make it moist with a slightly bland taste
- apple sauce I hear is good but haven’t tried it!
This useful article tells you when eggs are needed in recipes and what the appropriate substitutes would be: https://www.google.com/amp/s/parade.com/847535/kavitharamaswamy/18-super-easy-ways-to-replace-eggs-in-your-cooking-and-baking/amp/
Sugar:
- mashed bananas. I always add hot water to thin it out so it’s not too stodgy.
- Date syrup (1 cup of 20 minute soaked dates in hot water, drained and blended with 4 cups fresh hot water). This is my favourite because it’s cheap, efficient, good for you and tasty.
- syrup. Obviously the different kind s will have different effects. Golden syrup makes biscuits dense and sticky as an example, so I prefer not to use them with biscuits so I can have a fine, melt in your mouth crumb, or soft texture.
Oil:
- butter, especially melted makes things have a warm homey taste. Melts in your mouth and is a moist bite.
- peanut butter has a savoury taste and isn’t quite the same melt as butter.
- coconut oil has a light texture and a crisp effect but can also make things crumbly fluffy.
- date paste (1 cup of 20 minute soaked dates, drained and blended with 1 cup fresh hot water). This is great as an alternative to Caramel flavouring and adds richness.
- mashed bananas with hot water make a sweet, chewy texture.
- apple sauce. I haven’t tried but hear it’s good.
Grace King 