Colourful Palate

Hey all…a few posts ago I opened my blog up to questions…so here’s the results to that!

Your blog is slap-tastic, just sayin’. My question is about Almond milk. I got the idea from here… I’ve tried making it and it is deliiiicccciious, but how on earth do you make enough to have in tea and cereal every day?! I used three cups of almonds and the resulting milk lasted for one day. (confession: I went a bit milk-crazy and drank a whole lot of it, but it still only made about 400ml.)

We make our almond milk in our Vita-Mix…because we like to save money and prefer a thinner milk, we use one cup of almonds to make about 6-7 cups of milk. I’m guessing you like a creamy milk if you used 3 cups of almonds, but how about try using 1-2 cups of almonds and blending it with 6 cups of water. You’ll make a lot more milk! Here’s my exact almond milk recipe, if you want to try it!

I have a food question…I am terrible at cooking most days. Occasionally, I create an amazing dinner, but it’s always based off of a recipe that I found on a blog or Food Network or something.

Your recipes seem so original and are awesome. How do you do it? Is this something I can learn? TEACH ME!

Aw, thanks! If I could blush, I would! I really like making up recipes, but I’m certainly no gourmet (I leave that to my sister)! What I love is quick, easy, tasty, recipes that are also healthy…and so that’s what I like to invent. I have so much to learn!

But one thing I would suggest is to think of a kind of food you enjoy. Say, soup. Now this is where you get creative! Decide if you want a creamy or clear soup? Veggies? Or maybe something with seafood? Does it have to be vegan? Low calorie?

Now once you decide what you want your recipe to be (say you’ve decided that it must be vegan, creamy, and low calorie) you have to think of what ingredients will make those qualifications work.

Since you want it to be vegan, you’ll probably choose your milk base to be a nutmilk. Soups need a thickener, so you’ll use a flour or a cornstarch. You might add vegan cheese and broccoli. Or maybe you want a corn chowder. Don’t forget to think about spices and herbs. So basically, all the fun creativity of making a recipe is up to you!

You can also grab a recipe from a cookbook and revise it to suit your needs. That’s a great way to get fresh ideas! Hope that helps!

Just remember absolutely anyone can bake or cook! Julia Child started cooking when she was 32! And we all know what happened to her!

Hey Charissa!

1: I dont know if you actually had posted this somewhere/anywhere on your blog haha i couldnt find it… but what camera are you using? :P its really good quality and all.. and do you use any special lighting?

2: do you post any videos of you singing? :P

Right now I’m using a Canon Rebel XTi and I’m pretty happy with it! My dream camera is a Canon 60D (someday)!

Special lighting? I really love to use natural lighting. We have a room in our home with a giant window, so I love taking all my food photos in there. I am hoping to make a lightbox in the future.

Me singing? Aw, you’re sweet! Right now I’m keeping my health/food blog separate from my musical life…but I will keep your request in mind for the future! (smile)

Hey. Love your blog! I was also wondering how you come up with your own recipes. AND… I’m interested in blogging. Any advice you could give?

Thanks so much! Hopefully the answer I gave for the recipe question (above) will help! As for blogging, in the near future I will do a post about it! So keep checking back!

My question is: On the web it asks for e-mail address and under “subscribe”. What am I subscribing to? Thanks.

If you put your email address in the subscribe box you will get an update every time I put up a new post!

I noticed that you were reading “Nourishing Traditions”…what’s your opinion of it?

I love how the book is a recipe book, but at the same time it’s a health book…every page is chock full of health information! The author strongly believes in organic animal foods being a part of our diets, so this book is definitely not for vegans. It also places a firm emphasis on fermented foods and foods that were a big part of the human diet hundreds of years ago…foods with high nutrition, few ingredients, and everything from scratch. The recipes look good, but also do appear to take more time. I am enjoying reading all the health information, studies, and tips that it offers.

If you have any other questions, thoughts, or ideas for me…you can always email me at charissa@colourfulpalate.com

Thanks for the questions guys! That was lots of fun…