How to make cashew sour cream + 10 ways to use it

Munchie Motivation

Hey it’s Nutritionist and Maintainable Weight Loss Coach, Trisha Mandes and it’s Munchie Motivation time! I’m here to show you how to turn your favorite munchies in to optimal eats so you satisfy your cravings while advancing your health.

Today, I’m sharing how to make cashew sour cream, 5 reasons you want to make it and 10 ways to eat it.

5 Reasons to Make Cashew Sour Cream

• it’s delicious! I think it’s better than “the real thing”

• only 5 ingredients

• takes 5 minutes to make!

• it’s versatile aka it goes with A LOT of optimal dishes

• it has more nutrition than regular sour cream (aka it has phytonutrients (regular sour cream has none) and a wider variety of vitamins and minerals)

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Cashew Sour Cream Recipe

(Thank you Angela Liddon for introducing us to this recipe and the many new things I love to cook because of you).

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups (225 g) raw cashews, soaked

• 3/4 cup water

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Soak cashews:

Soaking option one (if you're in a pinch): Place cashews in a microwave safe bowl with enough water to completely cover the cashews. Microwave for two minutes.

Soaking option two: place cashews in a bowl and cover completely with water. Let sit with a lid or plate on top for 8 hours. You can do this overnight.

Soaking option three: boil enough water to completely cover the cashews and pour the boiling water on-top of them. Soak for about an hour.

2. Rinse and drain the cashews (you don't want the soaking liquid in your cashew sour cream).

3. Place the drained cashews in a high-speed blender (you can use a regular blender but the final texture won't be as smooth. It'll be slightly grainy but the flavor will still be great).

4. Add the water, lemon, vinegar, and salt to the blender with the cashews. Blend on high until really smooth. You may need to blend for about three minutes straight. Stop half-way and scrape the sides of blender if need be.

5. Place in a small bowl with a lid and put in the fridge until chilled. It'll thicken slightly as it cools. Then use it in one of these five ways. If you have a different idea, let us know in the comments section below how you'd use cashew sour cream.

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10 Ways To Use Cashew Sour Cream

1. On optimal nachos

2. as a taco topping

3. on toast with sautéed garlicky kale on top

4. to toss sautéed or roasted veggies in for my flavor

5. on top of tofu scramble

6. a salad dressing base (i.e. to make cashew Caesar or Russian dressing)

7. dollop on “cream”-based soups as a garnish (i.e. creamy butternut squash or tomato soups)

8. as a dip for optimal potato fries

9. with burrito bowls

10. on-top of baked potatoes

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Now I’d love to hear from you so I can make Munchie Motivation even better for you…

Would you make this munchie at home? What would you eat the cashew sour cream with? Comment below.

And if you liked this video, if you learned anything or want more people to see it, please “like it” and share. Now, more than ever we need to become healthier Americans and inspire others to do the same.

Want optimal munchie recipes of your own? Click here and get 25 optimal recipes when you signup for my email updates.

Remember, optimal munchies can satisfy cravings and help you live longer at the same time. Tune in next Monday for another episode of Munchie Motivation and I hope to see you tomorrow on Take Control Tuesdays!

4 Easy Ways to Eat More Greens

Leafy greens are some of the healthiest foods on the planet.  Edible leafs such as kale, collard greens, swiss chard, the many varieties of lettuce, mustard greens, frisee, cilantro, parsley, spinach, arugula, broccoli rabe, dandelion greens, cabbage, bok choy, turnip greens and beet greens are some of the best foods you can put in your body.

Organic dandelion greens on their way to be planted.

Why are leafy greens (especially dark leafies) so good for you?

These beauties are jam-packed with vitamins, minerals and cancer fighting compounds, more than most all other foods, while being incredibly low in calories and fat.  

Kale for example, contains 100 mg of calcium in just 1 cup, as well as 329 mg of postassium, 95 mcg of folate, 80 mg of vitamin C, 335 mcg of vitamin A, 3971 mcg of beta-carotene, 5493 mcg of lutein + zeaxanathin and SO many more health enhancing compounds in trace amounts (1).

Freshly picked organic kale.  Yes, that's me in the field!

But as Americans, we're barely eating these glorious leafy greens and you should be eating them everyday!  Your goal is to eat leafy greens at least one time each day!

But to do this you need easy and delicious techniques to actually eat them, that both you and your family will love.    

4 Easy Ways to Eat More Greens

1.  Make delicious dressings and sauces.

When you pour amazing dressings and sauces over salads or steamed greens, it makes it delectable to eat them.  I LOVE Cathy Fisher's avocado-cucmber dressing which even has leafy greens in it!  Or, try this lemon-tahini dressing, again from the talented Cathy Fisher (2).

Make a large batch of dressing every 3-5 days and keep in your fridge.  This way, you'll always have delicious dressings on hand and you can ditch those bottles of ranch that are disastrous for you.

2.  Eat more than 1 type of green in your salads.  

Instead of just ice-berg lettuce, try romaine combined with spinach, and cilantro for example.  This would be great with black beans, sweet potato chunks, peppers, onions and salsa on-top.

You can also find pre-made salad mixes in the grocery store, or freshly picked and more exciting salad mixes at your local farmer's market.  

When you add an amazing dressing from the examples provided above, it will be so easy to start munching on salad.  You won't want to stop!

Make sure you top your greens with other veggies, herbs and beans (even potato chunks!) to make your salad even more delicious.  

3.  Add leafy greens to smoothies.  

Next time you make a fruit smoothie try adding just 1 leaf of kale or collard greens, 1-2 pieces of romaine, or a 1/2 C of raw spinach.  Because the taste of fruit is so sweet, you'll never even taste the greens!  

I'll even add romaine leaves to my banana ice-cream.  Romaine is a bit sweet so you don't taste it, plus, it turns the "ice-cream" green!  (You could turn it into mint chocolate chip ;-).  

P.S. kids love fruit smoothies, even with greens!

4.  Add finely chopped greens to soups and most meals.

This is a very simple technique.  Chop 1 kale leaf or other 'tougher greens' like mustards, collards or swiss chard very finely.  Then, simply add this small amount to a large pot of stew, chili, on-top of your pizza, in pasta or into your veggie burger mix.  Add spinach leaves to a sandwich or a rice and bean bowl and then add a bit of chopped romaine on-top.

You can also buy pre-chopped frozen kale (or other greens) mixes and simply 'pour' them into chili or soup.  

Every little bit of leafy green counts, so try and add them whenever and wherever you can!  

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Now I'd love to hear from you.  What did you think of this article?  I encourage your to share your comments and feedback below, to share this article with a friend and show me some love by 'liking' this article.  Thanks!

Take Control Now Question

What's your favorite way to incorporate greens into your daily diet?  Which one of these techniques would you try first and why?

References 

1.  Kale, USDA Nutrient Database, Accessed online July 2014 at http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/3030?fg=&man=&lfacet=&count=&max=25&sort=&qlookup=kale&offset=&format=Full&new=&measureby=#id-1

2. Cathy Fisher, www.StraightUpFood.com