Good Food Good Mood: DIY Food Projects

It has been a while since I write about food. Last time was on December 2013, I seriously thought it hadn't been that long. Time sure flies. Since my last blog, of course I had cooked, both old and new recipes. I had planned to write, even took pictures of some of my cooking, but somehow I accidentally deleted those pictures *sigh*. I guess it just wasn't mean to be. 

Being able to make/cook some things by yourself is actually really rewarding. It may not as good as you expected but knowing how much effort you have put on it, it's really self-boasting, make you think 'I actually can do it'. I am speaking from my experience. I am a big fan of DIY thingy. Be it clothes, accessories, or even furniture (You really need to check on shelves I made for my room). Lately I've been into DIY in food (although, technically homemade food is also DIY project, so I have done my part). What I mean by DIY food is more like 'Making your own chocolate candies' or 'Making your own mayonnaise' not 'Hey, I made this brownies by myself from scratch' XD. These are not my latest projects, as I have been making  them several times now, but they are my kind of favorites lately.

Homemade Soy Milk

I love milk. SUPER DUPER LOVE it. There were times when I could drink two liters/day. That is how much I love milk. Consequently, I gained weight (D'oh). I was actually okay with my weight, but my mom warned me that it is not okay that I drink that much of milk in a day. Health-wise, I decided to cut down my milk intake to a glass a day and I lost 7 kilos in two months. It is quite scary actually but I have gradually gained it back (YAAAAY!). I have tried soy milk before and I quite like it, but the ones I got at supermarket are quite sweet even when it is said 'Plain' on the package. One day I decided to make my own soy milk since my mom always have soy beans in then kitchen's cupboard. I just went roughly with the measurements and the technique (soak-blend-strain) and it turned out.... very nutty. Me no likey DX. That when I thought soy-milk is just not my thing, maybe I only like it when it's sweetened. Until I came across this food-blog I really like called justtryandtaste.com, when I realized I have been doing it wrong. I should have removed the beans' skins and bleached the peeled-beans on hot water for a while before putting them on blender. The recipe suggested you to add some roasted sesame seeds to remove the smell, but I didn't do it and it turned out okay. At least it doesn't as smelly as my first attempt. You can check the full recipe here . 

Chocolate Banana Milk

I also add the milk to my coffee and tea, It tastes good and knowing that I have contributing to be a better eater, I am quite happy. You can also make banana milk with it and the taste is really delicious. I added some cocoa butter, just because I had to :) You don't have to add more sugar because the sweetness of the banana will do. You can have it as a healthy breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack. I always put my banana milk into this favorite tumbler of mine. It is a 470 ml tumbler, so I never count it as a snack XD 

Still soy-related, when you make your own soy-milk, you will always have the ground beans left-over no matter how long you blend it. Do not throw it away, it is not a waste. I add an egg, some flour, and some chives into it, mix it into a batter, fry-pan it, and I can get some soy pancake for my side-dish.    

Soy Pancake

Years and years ago, my mom once told me that making your own peanut butter is very easy. You just need to put some peanuts, sugar, and oil into the blender and voila. Back then, my cooking 'sense' was not quite there yet, even the simplest dish sounded complicated to my laziness and my mom didn't try to convince me further by making it herself. Since few years back, my curiosity towards cooking has grown a lot (thanks to Master Chef Junior aired on TV. I mean, if those 7-13 years old kids can cook, why can't I?). So, one day, approximately two years (a year and a half?) ago, I decided to make my own peanut butter. And, oh yes, ladies and gentlemen, It is really easy. Like, super super easy. Plus, I can add sugar as much as I like or as less as I like. Usually, I only put a tbsp of sugar for 500 gr of peanuts. You don't really need a recipe for it. Well, my recipe was my mom's words. Ever since, I never buy peanut butter again (Sorry, Skippy).

This jar is always on my desk so I can dip my spoon in it ^^

I still have a lot on my DIY list, I just need to find some times to do it. If you are an Indonesian-spoken reader, I really recommend you to visit one of my favorite food-blogs, justtryandtaste.com. I find a lot of DIY foods there that I really want to try (my next to do is definitely homemade cream cheese) an another recipes that just by looking at it makes you wanna hit the kitchen and start cooking. Mbak Endang sure know how to make the pictures look delicious. I sounded really biased, but I really like her blog. If you need the English-language blog to find recipes, I recommend you to visit marthastewart.com (I'm really into it, lately). It's starting Ramadhan next week (or is it later this week?) so I might be not going to write any food-related post until Eid al-Fitr, for my own sake :)
I might be going to post something food-related right before Ramadhan, but just in case I don't have the chance to do so, Ramadhan Mubarak!

People who love to eat are always the best people - Julia Child