You’re probably wondering how you make almond milk when almonds don’t have udders.

Mooove over and I’ll tell you…

• Soak 1 cup almonds in water overnight
• Rinse
• Blend said almonds with 1 liter of water

That’s it! 3 easy steps to homemade almond milk.

Now let’s address your questions:

• Why on Earth would you make your own almond milk when you can buy it in the store? Because you can, right Heather?
• Is it more expensive to make your own almond milk? Nope, it’s actually cheaper to make your own almond milk so run out and buy your almonds in bulk and get milkin’.
• How long will homemade almond milk last since it’s not full of preservatives? This almond milk will last about 4-5 days in the fridge. If you don’t use it up, freeze your leftovers in ice cube trays to mix in with protein shakes.
• What are you going to make next, homemade gym socks? Next question…
• What if I like sweetened almond milk? To sweeten add a few drops of stevia and if you really want to get fancy blend in some vanilla bean seeds. Oh, and off the record, if you want to try chocolate almond milk mix in a few tablespoons of dark chocolate cocoa powder and let me know how it turns out.

Now I really must go I’m udderly exhausted!

My Dad makes THE BEST popcorn.

When I was little, I remember watching my Dad in the kitchen whipping up a batch of stove top popcorn and waiting patiently for him to fill up our  bowls. His bowl could feed 5,000 and my bowl was big enough for a cricket’s lunch…but who’s complaining?

Last week a bag of locally produced popcorn was added to my Consumer Supported Agriculture (CSA) grocery bag. Get this…I can’t remember the last time I’ve had popcorn and I know for sure that I have never made popcorn on the stove in my entire life.

But, I figured it out.

I hopped into the Fitness & Spice test kitchen, tossed a towel over my shoulder (like my Dad does), threw about a tablespoon of olive oil and 1/4 cup of popcorn in a pan, covered it with a lid, and glided it over the hot burner for a few minutes. My first batch was topped with good ole sea salt and it was almost as good as Dad’s, only this time I had the entire bowl for myself.

The next day I experimented with a top coat of Pam Olive Oil Spray, Parmesan cheese, and a dash of Tabasco Sauce—we don’t call this site Fitness & Spice for nothing!

When watching the Biggest Loser grand finale, I topped my popcorn with (wait. for. it.) RANCH seasoning.

And last night I was craving something sweet so I called Carrie and we came up with…

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Popcorn (Sorta)

• Step 1: Pop a batch of popcorn
• Step 2: In a shaker combine a tablespoon or two of chocolate protein powder and powdered peanut butter (PB2) along with a packet or two of stevia
• Step 3: Lightly coat popcorn with butter flavor Pam
• Step 4: Sprinkle chocolate and peanut butter mixture all over the popcorn

Was it perfect? Not quite.

Did it taste like Crunch ‘n Munch or Cracker Jacks? No, whey.

Did I eat the entire bowl? Guilty!

Would I make it again? Don’t mind if I do!

What’s your favorite popcorn topping?

Now I really must go hit the gym before I say something corny!

In anticipation of the upcoming Earth Day celebration I thought I’d get the party started early and go green. Sorta.

Angela suggested I come up with a healthy green tea muffin so I stepped into the Fitness & Spice test kitchen and out popped these…

Lean Green Tea Muffins

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar substitute (like stevia for baking)
  
• 1/2 cup natural applesauce
• 3 T extra strong brewed green tea (or 1 T green tea powder)
• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 360 degrees. Whisk eggs and sugar substitute together, then stir in the natural applesauce and green tea. Add the oat flour, oats, and cinnamon to the mixture and stir. Pour into mini muffin tins coated with nonstick spray.  Top with a sprinkling of oats and bake for 10 – 12 minutes. Makes approximately 20 mini muffins.

If you decide to make these muffins, please don’t use cute little paper muffin liners like I did or they’ll stick, go au naturel instead…you’ll save your muffins and a tree. I knew there was an Earth Day lesson in this post somewhere!

Speaking of lessons…did you know green tea contains two natural chemicals that regulate appetite, mood, cravings, and energy? Green tea also contains compounds that block fat storage. So, when making these muffins, go greener and brew a cup of green tea just for you!

Now I really must go drink some decaf green tea and get ready for a good night’s seep.

…and the winners of the NuNaturals NuStevia drawing are:

• Carrie Sola
• Ibu
• Evan
• Tracy

Congratulations! Send an email to fitnessandspice@gmail.com with your mailing address and we’ll get your prizes right out to you!

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest…you are all a bunch of sweethearts!

Remember the movie Julie & Julia that came out earlier this year? It’s a sweet little story about Julia Child and a blogger named Julie Powell.

Well, this article isn’t about them. It’s about Steve & Stevia, child. Well, actually it’s just about Stevia, NuNaturals NuStevia to be extract.

Stevia is an all-natural sweetener without all of the calories of sugar and other sugar substitutes. Stevia does not raise blood sugar levels and has been used as a sweetener in other parts of the world for centuries. I, on the other hand, have been using stevia for about 6 months.

I have to admit I have a very sweet tooth and have to keep myself from going overboard on the sweet stuff. I think Julia Child said it best,

“Everything in moderation, including moderation.”

Lately I have be substituting stevia in place of sweetener in my coffee and tea, and using stevia in place of sugar in recipes for baking things like my friend Julie’s Wild Oat Bars (who, incidentally, is not related to Julie & Julia to my knowledge).

NuNaturals has two new products in their product “sweet”: NuStevia Sweetener Baking Blend and Alcohol Free Vanilla Stevia Liquid. And guess what? FOUR lucky Fitness & Spice readers will have the opportunity to win each of these Nu-Products.

Here’s how to enter the drawing:

In the comments section below, simply answer this question:

What makes your life SWEET?

Be sure to enter your response by Sunday at 10:00 P.M. CST and check back in on Monday, October 19th to see if you were one of the 4 winners!

Now, I really must run, I’m going to meet Steve for dinner and drinks. Bon Appétit!