EDIT: I realize now that I am repeating myself a bit from my last post. Sorry about that. I don't tend to re-read my previous posts before starting a new one.
I ordered some non-GMO soybeans and just finished making my first batch of soy milk. I am surprised to find that I like it.
I didn't always appreciate soy. In fact, for a long time, I have considered it dangerous in large quantities; but dealing with the return of hot flashes and doing more research in desperation has convinced me I was wrong -- at least for myself, as others may not do as well with soy. As a Blood Type A, soy is supposed to be more medicine than food for me, working miracles in my hormone-imbalanced, middle-aged body.
When I was growing up, my mom cooked healthy food. I'm talking crunchy granola, tree-hugging, hippy-type food even though she was not a hippy in any way. She ground her own wheat and made bread, we raised chickens for the eggs and meat, she grew a garden for years, and everything we ate was as natural as she could get it. Bean-cheese toast (on homemade wheat bread, of course) was a frequent dinner dish because it was a complete protein. She often said she only shopped around the edges of the grocery store, where all the whole foods reside.
We were also not rolling in the dough, so Mom never spent money on the unhealthy convenience foods and sugary treats that my fellow schoolmates had in their lunches (which made me pretty jealous sometimes). I think I've mentioned before that my high school lunches (which she was kind enough to make for me even though she could have told me to be a big girl and make my own, so thank you, Mom!) always included a wedge of raw red cabbage that I was instructed to eat for dessert, as cabbage has enzymes to aid in digestion.
My mom's early flirtations with soybeans gave me food nightmares for years. In elementary school, I remember one day pulling out my lunch and finding that it consisted of a cup full of rice mixed with boiled soybeans, seasoned with some soy sauce. I liked rice and soy sauce, but I hated boiled soybeans. They made me gag every time I had to eat them. The slight crunch, the taste, the consistency of the pulp left in my teeth after chewing...everything about them repulsed me in a visceral way (to this day I cannot stand edamame). I gagged my way through a couple bites of the rice and soybeans before I gave up and sat in dismay in that cheery lunchroom painted with massive Peanuts characters, my lunch inedible. I felt pretty sorry for myself.
Around 2005 or so, Mom was going through menopause, so she pulled soybeans out of her arsenal again. This time, she made soy milk and tofu and ate them daily. Doing that prevented her from suffering from the symptoms of The Change, and though it was time-consuming to make homemade soy milk and tofu, it was well worth it to her to be able to control what was in the final products. We lived with my parents at the time, and I can testify that her firm tofu, fried with soy sauce and garlic, was delicious, though I wasn't as much of a fan of the plain soy milk.
Fast forward to today, and my tastebuds must have changed because my body is desperate for the soy phytoestrogens it needs to balance my hormones.
I soaked the beans overnight before rubbing off most of the thin bean skins and discarding them. Then I boiled the beans for exactly fifteen minutes before draining them and blending them thoroughly with some fresh water. I added a little vanilla and a squirt of liquid Stevia, and the resulting smoothie was dang good and very filling. The soy milk itself has a very neutral flavor with just a hint of sweetness.
The nut milk bag I ordered with a tofu press and nagari salts (for coagulating soy milk into curds to make tofu) hasn't arrived yet, so I couldn't squeeze the milk out of the soybean pulp (okara); instead, I just drank the well-blended okara and milk together, which I enjoyed like a thick milkshake. Then I added a spoonful of peanut butter, a sprinkle of cocoa powder, and a pinch of salt, and that was also really good.
I soaked a lot of beans and didn't use all of them for today's experiment. I will freeze the rest of the soaked, boiled beans to await my return from Girls Camp, which starts tomorrow.
I'm trying to be excited. I better go pack.
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