Archive for July 11th, 2006

11
Jul

make yer own damn soymilk

By vegankid 13 Comments
Categories: around the house and diy

There are many great things about soymilk. It has more protein than cow’s milk or humyn milk. Its calcium is easily digestible. Its much lower in sodium than cow or humyn milk. Its got 15 times more iron than cow’s milk. Its got isoflavones (known to prevent cancer in estrogen-rich bodies). And its really cheap. If you make your own, that is. In fact, break it down and it only costs about a quarter to make a quart of soymilk (and there is a LOT less waste than buying pre-packaged. In fact, you can turn the “waste” from soymilk into protein-rich veggie burgers). Oh, and did i mention is pretty easy and takes less than half an hour? Well, let’s get started.

What you’ll need:
Ingredients
1.5 cups dry soybeans, washed and drained 3 times, soaked in 4-6 cups water at room temperature for about 10 hours, then drained and rinsed well
12 cups (hot) water, approximately

Gear
teapot or kettle
blender (preferably stainless steal or glass)
15″-by-15″ coarse-weave linen or 2-foot-square dish clothe (or i use cheese cloth)
colander
cooking pot

  1. Run 12 cups water into a large teapot or kettle and bring to a boil. Place a deep, 6-to-8-quart pot in sink, set a large colander in mouth of pot, and line colander with a moistened pressing sack (cloth mentioned above). Divide soaked beans into three equal portions (about 1 1/3 cups each).
  2. Preheat the blender by slowly pouring in 2-3 cups boiling water. Allow water to stand for 1 minute, then discard. In the blender combine one portion of beans with 2 cups boiling water (from teapot) and purée at high speed for 1 minute, or until very smooth. Pour purée into sack in colander. Purée remaining portions of beans with 2 cups water each and pour into sack. Rinse out blender with 1/4 cup boiling water to retrieve any purée, and pour into sack.
  3. Twist mouth of sack closed. Using a glass jar or potato masher, press sack repeatedly against bottom of colander to extract as much soymilk as possible. Shake solids (okara) into one corner of sack, twist further closed, and press again. Open mouth of sack wide in colander, stir okara briefly, then pour 2.5 cups boiling water over okara. Stir again. Twist sack closed and press repeatedly with jar. Transfer pot containing soymilk to stove. Reserve okara for use in cooking (i like to add some wheat gluten and make veggie burgers). (Or, to get 1/2 cup more soymilk, open sack wide, allow okara to cool for 5 minutes, then twist closed sack and use your hands to squeeze out remaining soymilk.)
  4. Bring soymilk to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring botom of cooking pot constantly with a wooden spatula or sppon to prevent sticking. When foam suddenly rises in pot (or milk comes to a boil) reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 7 minutes. Remove pot from burner. Or heat for 30 minutes in a covered double boiler or in a covered saucepan set in a pot of boiling water.) If desired, add to the 7.5 cups soymilk one of the following flavoring combinations:
    • Agave-Vanilla Soymilk: Add 2.5 to 4 tablespoons agave nectar, 1/4 teaspoon or less vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt; mix or purée well.
    • Rich and Creamy Soymilk: To any of the flavoring combos above or below, add 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil; purée at high speed until well dispersed. For extra thickness, add 1/4 teaspoon granular soy lecithin.
    • Carob-Agave Soymilk: Add 4 tablespoons agave nectar or natural sugar, a pinch of salt and, if desired, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract. After milk has cooled, whip in 2 1/4 to 4 teaspoons carob (or cocoa) powder, which has first been creamed in a little of the cold soymilk.
    • Malt, Mocha, or Coffee Soymilk: Add 2-3 tablespoons granular malt, mocha, or coffee to the Agave-Vanilla Soymilk
    • Sesame or Calcium-rich Soymilk: To Agave-Vanilla or Rich and Creamy Soymilk, add 5-8 tablespoons sesame butter.
    • Orange Soymilk: Stir 1 1/4 cup orange juice into cold soymilk (it may sound gross, but its really tasty).
    • Go ahead and try other flavorings, too. Strawberry, grated ginger, cinnamon & anise, nut butters, coconut, whatev.
  5. Soymilk may now be served hot. Or for a richer, creamier consistency, a deeper sweetness, and a flavor more like that of dairy milk, chill by covering and setting pot in circulating cold water for 10-15 minutes. This quick cooling also increases shelf life. Pour soymilk into clean (or steralized) bottles and cover tightly. Refrigerated, it will keep for 3-6 days; if frozen, it will keep infinitely.

If you are using a plastic blender, you probably want to use the non-boiling water grind variation: Substitute hottest tap water when puréeing, but mix okara with boiling water. If using a food mill or jiucer, grind beans without-water, mix ground beans with 6 cups boiling water, and allow to stand for 2-3 minutes. Rinse out mill or juicer with 1/4 cup boiling water, then transfer purée to pressing sack and proceed from Step 3.

To make high-yielding, “lite” soymilk (which just means watered-down, since soymilk is naturally low in fat): In step 3, rinse okara with 3.5 - 4.5 cups boiling water. Yields 8.5-9.5 cups thinner (but still good) soymilk.

Later i’ll explain the simple process of making incredibly healthy soy yogurt.

11
Jul

local media as healthcare

By vegankid 0 Comments
Categories: diy, healthcare and praxis

Found this on OneWorld.net. Its a great story about, well, stories and how many local media makers and organizations are teaming up to document people’s stories as a way to improve health in their local communities.

Using Local Media
by Sallie Bodie and Alison Highberger

In a country where a few national media outlets control much of the news that Americans get, Sound Partners for Community Health has spent the last eight years helping local media collaborate with communities to tell their own stories. Radio, television, and print journalists have worked with local partners, like health agencies, to improve the health of their communities.

Although the Sound Partners projects are local, they focus on health concerns that are common across the United States, including children’s health, the special needs of vulnerable populations, chronic illness, addictions, and end-of-life issues.

We have found that by linking local media with ordinary people, partnerships form that invigorate and change communities. Six ideals are at the heart and soul of every project: partnerships, local voices, local media, empowerment, vulnerable populations, and social marketing. What this means in practice is that Sound Partners believes that each project should have a local focus and solution.

Locally produced broadcasts that feature first-person stories about everyday problems in American communities can both generate awareness and lead to solutions. There are hundreds of success stories. KUSP Radio in Santa Cruz, California partnered with Planned Parenthood and KION-TV, for example, to engage youth and their parents in a dialogue about reproductive health, drug use, violence, and healthcare access. The youth were empowered by learning how to produce radio documentaries. And, by bringing their concerns to the airwaves, they helped improve community awareness.

WBHM-FM, Birmingham, Alabama, the Oasis Women’s Counseling Center, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health worked to decrease the stigma surrounding mental illness, especially as it affects African-Americans. Using a creative approach, the project broadcast a radio SOAP opera called “Body Love.” The storyline drew listeners into an on-going saga starring African-American women dealing with mental health topics in everyday life.

In Eureka, California, public television station KEET collaborated with commercial radio station KHUM to reduce the high rate of methamphetamine use in their county. They worked with local schools, drug counseling professionals, and community leaders to raise awareness and educate the public about the terrible consequences of meth use.

Hawaii Public Radio focused their Sound Partners project on the unique health care and cultural concerns of Native Hawaiians, particularly chronic diseases such as diabetes. Joining with a commercial station and a Native Hawaiian nonprofit health organization, the project hosted “fish and poi gatherings” to promote dialogue around nutrition and health concerns.

In the United States, corporations and commercial media can spend millions of dollars nationally on slogans and slick advertisements that sound good, but have little impact on improving the heath of the average American.

What makes Sound Partners a “best buy” is its demonstration that a small grant of money, shared between local media and community organizations, can be leveraged to make a big difference in changing health behaviors at the local level.

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