Jan. 5, Day 5: Almond "No Peanut" Sauce

No exercise to report for today (other than some stretching and foam rolling). I took a rest day because I felt so busted after yesterday's "Fran". But I'll be back to Albany Crossfit tomorrow, and happy to be there!

What I ate:

• 9 AM: 2 eggs fried in olive oil, 1 small apple, 1 medjool date, and 6 oz fresh almond milk
• 12 PM: 1 c quinoa + raisins + 2 tbsp. toasted flax seeds + 1 tbsp flax oil (workin' in those omega-3's)
• 4:30 PM: 8 baby carrots + 1/4 cup sprouted raw chick-pea hummus
• 7 PM: 1/2 c brown rice, 4 oz steamed, then fried tempeh, 1 c stir fry veggies (mostly collards and fresh sprouts, with carrots, onions, garlic, ginger, olive oil and white wine), and "No Peanut" Sauce. 

Okay, so this "No Peanut" Sauce is made with equal parts almond butter, coconut milk, and applesauce, plus a few other things. It's from the blog Everyday Paleo, and I got the recipe recommendation from a paleo person at my box. This sauce was SO GOOD. And this compliment from me means something, as I have eaten--and prepared--quite a bit of peanut sauce in my day. This almond sauce was simple and lovely. You can find the recipe here.

I had no applesauce in my closet, so I had to make some out of apples that were sitting on my counter. I like to think that made the final sauce even tastier. I also replaced the fish sauce with plain old soy sauce. Best thing about this recipe? I have lots left over, so I'll be eating this lovely "No Peanut" sauce on lots of things over the next few days.

In other news, I experimented this evening with making "granola" out of the ground almond solids left over from my almond milk-making this morning. It worked really well! So I need to add one more thing to my list of foods for today, since I can't just go to bed without eating some:

• 1/2 c wheat-free, oat-free "granola" (only lightly sweetened with a little maple syrup) and 1/2  c almond milk. Yum!

Here's the recipe:

• 1 tbsp butter, melted (you could substitute coconut oil) to grease the pan
• Ground almond solids left over from making almond milk (see yesterday's post--that recipe left me with about 1/2 cup of almond solids)
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup toasted flax seeds
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup cranberries
• pinch of salt
• pinch of nutmeg
• 2 or three pinches of cinnamon 
• 1/8 cup dried unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/4 cup maple syrup (you paleo people could probably substitute honey or agave for a more paleo option)

Preheat the oven to 300. Grease your pan. I used a 8x12 Pyrex (see picture).

Spread the almond solids out evenly in the pan. Bake them for 20 minutes in the 300 degree oven. This step is to remove some moisture.

While the almond solids are drying out in the oven, combine in a separate bowl: sunflower seeds, flax seeds, raisins, cranberries, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and coconut. Stir.

Remove almond solids from the oven. They won't be completely dry, and that's okay. Add them and the maple syrup to your bowl. Mix well. Dump this whole mixture back into your pan and spread it evenly. Bake for 20 minutes more at 300.

Remove pan from oven, turn the heat up to 350. Stir your granola. Return to the oven and bake another 20 or 30 minutes, but take it out every once in a while to stir it and check it.

It's done when the granola is browning evenly. It won't feel completely "dry" when it's hot, but it will be crunchy after it cools. This recipe didn't do that stick-together thing that oat granola does, but I'm okay with that. I like it in small pieces.