There's so much beauty in this world, it would seem a shame to drink coffee from a paper cup, or only wear tattered sweats in the morning (there are some days that I do wear my tattered sweats -- I'm usually not at all caring about pretty on those days). I'd hate to see myself spend all day, everyday, cooped up and hunched over the computer screen, or keep my homemade rice milk in a repurposed cool whip container.
So, when feasible, I choose what is lovely to look at, over what is purely practical. Here's my pretty little jug for holding rice milk. I had it just sitting on a shelf for months. And I was storing my rice milk in the fridge in a canning jar. Then the proverbial light bulb moment -- the pretty things can have a practical use. Do you have some lovely things that you use everyday? Do you find satisfaction in indulging in simple pleasures?
For a bit more on rice milk. . .
More and more I am moving away from soy products. There's some question about whether or not they can be harmful. In an effort to just play it safe, until more is known, I've been relying on my homemade rice milk more often lately. I used to just make it in an emergency (yes, there are rice milk emergencies in my home -- if it means I can eat some of the cake I'm making for the family, I call that an EMERGENCY). But lately I've been using it as my main milk. The rest of the family still enjoys dairy milk (lucky them).
What this means is I've been tinkering with my rice milk recipe. I want it to be even more appealing. So I thought I'd share my *new* and *improved* homemade rice milk. (This is not required reading. You may click away at any time, should recipes on making rice milk make you feel grumpy, and sorry you ever came to creative savv today! I won't be the least bit offended if you leave the page right now.)
Here it is:
A Better Rice Milk
1 1/2 cups (288 g) brown rice, washed
4 cups (950 mL) water
1 1/2 teaspoons (7.5 mL) oil (any kind of vegetable oil)
up to 2 tablespoons (up to 30 mL) sugar
1/4-1/2 teaspoon (1.25 - 2.5 mL) salt
1 1/2 teaspoons (7.5 mL) vanilla extract
1)Wash rice, drain. Place in large container with water. Soak for 24 hours.
2)Pour some of water off, but set this water aside. You'll need it later. Dump the remaining water and rice into blender. Process very well. Add oil, sugar, salt and vanilla, and blend.
Straining is a two-step process.
3)First step -- Pour blended rice through a sieve over a large bowl. Set rice pulp aside (to cook into rice cereal or add to muffins -- we make rice cereal with it. You could also just compost it, but I don't like to waste).
4)Second step -- Now, line your sieve with 3 or 4 layers of cheesecloth. Pour the strained milk through this cheesecloth. Pour the set aside water (from #2) through cheesecloth as well.
5)In a microwaveable container, "cook" (in the microwave) about half the milk, for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking. Stir well. If there are any lumps, then run this cooked milk through the blender, along with some of the uncooked milk.
6)Blend in the remaining milk into the cooked milk. Add more water, sugar and vanilla to your preferred texture and taste. Store in the fridge for up to 10 days.
Rice milk can be frozen, too. So, if 1 quart is too much, you can freeze in portions you would likely use within a week's time.
This makes just short of one quart of rice milk, and leaves about 1 cup of rice pulp.
*a note* I've had differing results from one bag of rice to another, with regards to thickness of homemade rice milk. Some batches turn out perfectly, as directed in the recipe. Other batches require a bit of extra water, sugar and vanilla.
To use the pulp to make a hot rice cereal:
Bring about 1 1/2 cups (355 mL) of water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the rice pulp, 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 mL) salt, 1 tablespoon (15 mL) sugar, 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) maple extract. Stir, bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to lowest setting, cover and allow to cook for 20-30 minutes, until rice particles are thoroughly cooked. You may need to add a bit more water during cooking, to make it the consistency you enjoy.
This is a lot like cream of wheat cereal. I prefer to make this the evening before, then we reheat the next AM. I think it has a better texture the next day. And a large pot of this will keep in the fridge for several days. I eat it as an afternoon snack. Just spoon some up and reheat. Yum! It reminds me of my childhood.
