homemade almond milk

4 Comments April 16, 2018 hdoan3

Recently, a friend was telling me how store bought almond milk really doesn’t have that much actual almond in it. It was one of those things that made total sense, same with all the ingredients (some scary ones) that keep its shelf life for a couple months. So in the spirit of being more of a basic SoCal blonde, I started making my own almond milk!

I don’t think I can ever go back to store bought after mastering this craft. I usually make a batch twice a week, because it only stays fresh for about 3-4 days…and I also go through it faster than that! A lot of my friends have been asking for the recipe so I thought I would share it here in this space! If you have any suggestions or tips on your recipe, drop a comment below!

What you need:

Depending on whether you have a blender or a smaller nutri bullet, you may need to do the next step in batches. With a nutri bullet, I do about three to four rounds.

wishful thinking that my mom hopefully reads this and sees what kind of dilemma I’m in 🙂

Anywho…

3-4 cups of almonds (I get mine at Trader Joes or Costco)
3-5 pitted dates, depending how sweet you want it. Remove the pits before blending!
Cinnamon, vanilla, sea salt, flax seed, or anything else you want to add some flavor
Cheesecloth
Mason Jar (a few small ones or a large one)

After soaking the almonds overnight, drain the original water used. Using the old water will turn the almond milk brown and not taste good at all. (Not to be confused with the picture below. That is mixed with cinnamon, dates, and the fresh water will turn a little dark from that and the almonds!)

Add dates, vanilla, and another additional ingredients you want. Add filtered water, you want to have enough in there so that it’s easy to strain and you get more milk out of it. This is really up to your discretion and may take a few tries! This picture is a pretty accurate display of how much water I add to each batch. But if you like to thin it out more, just add more water.

After blending for about 20-30 seconds, start pouring the mixture in to a cheesecloth. This will take a few rounds to strain the entire batch. Also be sure to try your mixture when you go through the first round to gage the sweetness and flavor. I like to use a measuring cup to catch the milk so it is easy to pour into a mason jar after.

Yes, we joke about what this looks like as you massage the cheesecloth… go on! Nothing to see here! And if you don’t get it now, you’ll understand when you get to this step and your boyfriend asks what the hell you’re doing…

Voila! You’ve got yourself some kickass almond milk (and a whole new inside joke to laugh about with your friends). I love using my almond milk to make lattes in the morning, or for overnight oats. You may even find your significant other trying to pour some in their coffee…! There’s also the concept of using the ground almonds. I’ve heard of people dehydrating it and making almond flour, or just adding it to smoothies for extra protein. I have yet to get into that project, but if you have any tips let me know!

What do you like to use almond milk for? Leave a comment below!

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expectations.

January 22, 2018 hdoan3

My Reiki coach, Lisa, recently gave me an assignment. For one week, she wanted me to just “be”. Instead of running from my emotions and anxieties, I was to sit still, meditate more, get out in nature, and really be with my feelings. Another thing she wanted me to do was to speak with any parts of me that came up (i.e. anxiety, fear, courage, love) and just to love them, instead of pushing them away. So yeah, I was talking to myself a lot too, nothing new.

Since moving to California, its been both exciting and scary–here I am, where I’ve been wanting to live and now its time to figure it all out…

“Where will I work?”

“How am I going to meet the right people?”

“What is my passion?”

“How am I going to figure this all out?”

So instead of running to Target for the millionth time, buying something I most definitely don’t need, I was forced to sit. I was encouraged to just be. No real plans, just seeing where the wind took me. A lot of this revolved around expectations, and Lisa encouraged me to really get clear on what they mean. During this week I had a powerful shift, and I’ll share with you the journal entry that really impacted me and my life practice:

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Expectations

Part of this exercise this past week (most of it) was about expectations. I would sound off Lisa and say expectations are bullshit. Expectations go with manipulation. They derive from old patterns, beliefs, family dynamics, history. Nobody knows the answer, so how can I fear/believe that they know the answer for my life?

I’ve been worrying all week that I’m not doing the assignment right. I’m not sitting wth myself and sitting still as much as I was told to. But those times I did meditate, repeat mantras, journal, talk to the aspects of me (and love them), and sit down to read and do some of Gabby Bernstein’s work had so much power, it makes me believe that doing more of it will intensify. I believe that I have a huge calling. I know that the Universe has big plans. But for now, I must learn through every experience.

In just a few days, I have been given so many opportunities and have just believe and said yes. I will figure out the rest as I go…

Part of me feels like Lisa will be disappointed in my work this week. But the other part of me hears her sigh of relief knowing that I am paving my own way beautifully as me. Expectations, right? She simply assigned something to me and it was up to me to discipline myself and discern how it was going to go. It was up to the Universe, my divine being, to pave it out. I hope that I am correct in this thought, but feel like Lisa would agree because expectations are bullshit. But vacillation is here, and I love her so much. She and indecision are two special ones that make me who I am.

Everything I’ve just accepted to do is about to be a huge lesson. I can feel it. So here’s to venturing out, letting my higher self carry the torch before me, and give me the strength to love myself so much that I create my own destiny. She’s telling me to REMEMBER: nobody is out to get you, and it’s nobody’s fault, they are simply a mirror for me and I will love them. I create my destiny. I am the center of my universe. Love will guide me. Universe is saying “have no fear in the power that you hold for yourself, it’s time to step into it!”

Pretty powerful, right? If this assignment calls to you, I really think it’s worth trying! Now I am more mindful in my everyday interactions with myself and others and know when to unplug from the world, get out in nature, or just simply be still.

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For those of you interested in Reiki or any spiritual life coaching, I highly recommend finding someone that you really connect with before just going for the first google match in your area. Lisa was my hair stylist in Colorado, and once I saw she did Life Coaching it just unfolded organically. She is incredible if you live in Aspen/Snowmass, and also does Reiki distant work! Her website here! Trust your intuition, you will know the right one for you 🙂

finding peace

November 12, 2017 hdoan3

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Image via pen_friend

Devan and I just spent ten days exploring Maui. My parents spent time there years ago during my dad’s windsurfing days. It was so cool to visit and feel their presence in certain areas of the Island. However, a common trend of travel for me lately is taking my mind out of the beautiful present and focusing on what’s out of my control.

Just before leaving for this trip, the word “presence” kept entering my mind. It’s easy to get caught up in “future thinking”, as my life coach calls it. We all know that…be present, live in the moment, blah blah. But seriously, when we are too caught up in our thoughts and not enjoying what’s in front of us, we miss out on a lot…

Photo taken at the Ali’i Kula Lavender Farm in Maui

Devan encouraged me to try out Headspace, since I have been very inconsistent with my own meditation. The app has been a great way to sit down every day and tune out from the world for only ten minutes. It also gives you the option to have reminders sent throughout the day, with different facts and quotes regarding mindfulness. I think the best way to stay consistent is through routine–adding just ten minutes of meditation to a normal everyday routine, such as brushing your teeth.

Not to mention..how cool is it that my boyfriend keeps me in check with mindfulness and meditation? I love this element of our relationship, and am so grateful to have someone like him!

Another component to let go and be present is to forgive yourself. Yes, let yourself off the hook! We aren’t always perfect–I can tell you that considering I spent a lot of the trip future thinking. So on one of our last days, as I sat on the beach watching the surf, I forgave myself and it felt like a weight was lifted. I felt my feet ground into the sand, I focused on the waves and the setting sun, and I just clicked into the moment. And then, just like that, things started falling into place. Pretty soon after, (and after some trial and error with other housing applications) a housing opportunity came up and we decided to make the move to Encinitas! This move to the San Diego area has been on our minds, but I think just going for it was the best thing for us to make a decision.

I had this post drafted before leaving Hawaii, and of course it’s taken me this long to post! So now I’m sitting in my new kitchen in beautiful southern California. Somehow we got here, and I am so content with that. Our nest is coming along and I love seeing the progress.

However, I have felt disconnected in some ways during these memorable days. I know it’s time to get back into a routine and embrace this new chapter in our lives. As we were leaving Colorado, I felt like I was in a haze. I knew these moments were memorable and tried so hard to take them all in.

My biggest takeaway from leaving though: I met some pretty awesome people this past year that will continue to be a part of my journey, and I am so lucky for that!

I’ve started to understand synchronicity as a real and powerful thing–a lot of us are experiencing some of the same feelings, ideas and/or revelations at the same time. I am so grateful for my synched up tribe, and can’t wait to meet more people out here.

My thought for today is: why not just be you? What is actually holding you back? It’s usually your own self, and I say that because I do the same thing. But when we align ourselves with our own truth, let our own guard down and just trust the universe, life starts to shift in the right direction.

grounded.

September 1, 2017 hdoan3

When I was little, running around barefoot was normal. My feet would get filthy, and I’d have to rinse them off every time I got home from playing in the neighborhood.

I remember this because it’s not so normal to be barefoot when you grow up. But when you are, do you really think about the earth beneath you? Do you really take in the ground you’re walking on?

Okay, I’m not barefoot here but it’s a cool picture

I ask this because I have been thinking about being really grounded. Connecting with nature, but also feeling my being rooted in the earth. I have such a vivid memory of walking barefoot in Sydney. I forget who said it, but as my trip was coming to an end they said something along the lines of really embracing each moment, and feeling the ground beneath me. I can always go back to my morning routine: walking barefoot to the beach across the street, feeling the sand as I headed towards the cool ocean, and walking along the brick path to get coffee after. I know in that moment I truly felt the earth that I was walking on.

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Okay, back to the present…

Now that I live in [another] beautiful and natural paradise, I have wanted to get more connected. So I found out that there is such thing as “Grounding” or “Earthing.” Clearly this concept has been around for a while so I apologize for being late in the game… but if you’re with me and didn’t realize that Grounding is an actual practice then read further!

Grounding is the concept of standing barefoot on the ground outside. It is known to balance us out as negative ions from the earth’s surface enter into our body and discharge the free radicals we pick up from our daily routine. Basically, it’s like plugging into the source, where the earth’s magic comes in and wipe away ions containing disease, aging and inflammation.

In Baptiste yoga, we emphasize grounding down to lift up. Feeling all four corners of your feet on the mat, connecting into the energy of the earth, it’s powerful to focus on that in your practice. Another concept of grounding that is powerful when mindful.

Just writing this post makes me want to go run around barefoot… how about you?

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the high priestess

August 29, 2017 hdoan3

Woah.. did the universe flex its muscles this week. Or, for the past month or so for that matter…

I have been patiently pulling from The Wild Unknown tarot card deck for about a year now. I purchased the cards and booklet when I was in Australia three (ugh, yes, three) years ago. I played with them here and there, but really started diving deep this past year. Sometimes I would pull some scary cards and not want to believe it. I mean, pulling the death card isn’t the most comforting card…but I sometimes took it too literally or even applied it to the wrong thing, which I then focused my energy on and stressed over too much.

So I have had a pattern of pulling the high priestess card, almost always the third card. I believe the cards represent past, present and future. So with this being a future card, what could it possibly mean for me?

Upon reading the card’s message, and some more online, it is simply the truth that is for me. From what I understand, the card is asking me to sit with myself, even in the dark places that I hide from, and learn to trust the inner voice. Just looking at this strong, ever so sure tiger tells me to be strong with myself and trust my inner knowing.

That being said, some doors have been shut. I was too afraid to let go of some things, not listening to the voice within. I was also making myself miserable by choosing to be emotionally invested. So the Universe pulled some strings, whether I wanted it that way or not.

This may sound vague, only because I am still processing, but I will share more soon. What I do know is that I will come back stronger and rise above anything I do not believe in. This has been a powerful lesson.

take time to tune in and listen to the voice within. trust.

I am ready for new beginnings. I believe that closing these doors will very soon lead to the opening of a beautiful landscape in my life. Aspen is such a beautiful place for me on my journey, always reminding me that there is no end goal, but just to live the journey of life.

And if I’ve learned anything recently… nobody knows the right way to live life. Advice is always helpful, but know that YOU know your own way. Be strong, and trust that the Universe will always guide you home.

cheers!

January 1, 2016 hdoan3

Happy New Year!

2015 has been an incredible year. It’s been full of fun and many lessons. I am confident that 2016 will be even better, I can’t wait!

I’ve totally been slacking on my blog, I apologize! One of my new years resolutions is to share more on my site, so expect more to come this year!

I hope you all had a wonderful new years, here’s to another amazing year!

if i had 24 hours in sydney…

November 3, 2015 hdoan3

It’s been a year since I’ve been in Sydney and (go figure) I miss it so much! I can’t wait to visit again soon, but when I daydream all I think about are the top things I would do if I had one day to spend in Australia again….
First, I would go for my morning swim in Coogee. I lived right across the street from the beach and couldn’t go about my day without a fresh dip in the cool water.One day, a girl who worked at Love Juice in Coogee Pavillion told me she was very jealous of my morning routine, seeing as I would show up wrapped in a towel, with wet salty hair and sandy feet. I’ll never forget when she told me “you never regret a swim”…which takes me back to a time that I told myself that as I jumped into the rough, sea-weedy water on a stormy day… might have regretted that one.

Wrapped in my towel and barefoot, I’d make my way over to Coogee Pavillion. I’d get an almond flat white and chat with my favorite people working there. Coogee Pavillion was one of my favorite Marivale restaurants–I’d do anything to go back for some pizza there too! I found myself sitting at he high tops for hours on end working on school work and my blog. It was peaceful to watch all of the people coming and going, and seeing people walk along the beach sidewalk.

I wouldn’t think twice about doing the coast walk! I love going on walks with friends or sometimes alone to clear my head. Each bay throughout the hike was so special and beautiful. The picture above is Gordon’s Bay, just at the beginning of my coast walk….

…and at the end are the Bondi Icebergs! I never went for a swim in any of the ocean pools, but I was so fascinated by them! The water from the ocean would flow right into the pools.

And then there was brekky at Porch and Parlour at the very end of the walk! I could eat there for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I had my way!
At some point in the day, I’d be sure to pay a visit to my Aussie family! Michelle is like my second mom (I love you too, mom!!) And her kids are like my younger sisters and brother. This was when we went to Opera Bar to see the sunset before seeing a show at the Opera House. It was such a beautiful night!And OF COURSE, I would go to Messina for the best ice cream in the entire world. I’m pretty sure Messina was the leading cause of my weight gain in Sydney, but it was so worth it! They have a list of specials every week, and the line is always down the block!

Dinner would 100% be at Three Blue Ducks. I love sitting up at the bar and having hand made cocktails with kangaroo tartare and their pork belly! Yeah, you probably just read that and thought those both sounded equally disgusting, but don’t knock it till you try it! They also just opened The Farm at Byron Bay, which I will definitely be visiting next time I am there!

So there you go…I’ve hopefully sold you on Sydney, and successfully made myself want to cry after making this post. It is such an incredible place, I can’t wait to go back and explore more!

let’s not keep this on the DL

1 Comment October 23, 2015 hdoan3

[image from @dirtylemondetox]

Who here hates cleanses? I do! I feel like every time I try to do a detox cleanse, I want to eat everything I’m not supposed to eat even more! I even tried a 2 week cleanse that had a whole list of foods I couldn’t eat, and one was red bell peppers…guess what I craved? Red bell peppers! So bizarre… anyways…

Dirty Lemon Detox is the light at the end of the dark tunnel of cleanses and detoxes. It goes in line with my eating lifestyle: everything in moderation. I eat a healthy diet, but there are times where oreos or a few extra tacos are essential to a happy day.

This detox drink contains activated charcoal, cold pressed lemon juice, dandelion root and ginger. Charcoal drinks have been making an appearance lately, however, most contain pure cane sugar to add sweetness.

Charcoal has been around in the wellness world for some time. It is used in extreme cases to extract poison and even help patients who overdose on drugs. In our case, the amount of charcoal added to the drink is just enough to help you feel less guilty about that late-night pizza order (or in my case, an extra side of bacon with my avo toast!)

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I enjoyed sipping on DL in the late afternoon or even after dinner. It helped ease digestion and went to work on my daily food intake. I even enjoyed it in the bubble bath, instead of a glass of merlot!

I also follow their Instagram and love their cheeky posts!

You can order Dirty Lemon on their website, where you can add your phone number to coordinate your next purchase (because you will want to buy another detox!) You get six bottles of DL for a one week detox for $65, which is worth the price! I already have my next order on its way after all the continuous birthday celebrations (and sweets!)

[you can also see this post on bondtwenty.com, sign up today!]

never let go of your summer glow

September 17, 2015 hdoan3

At last! I’ve finally found the best self tanning product out there. Yes, I use self tanning lotion..but hey, at least I’m not at the tanning bed!

One of my least favorite things about winter is the steady decline of my natural tan from being home in the summer. I usually just deal with it, and attempt one or two products that leave my sheets orange and make me look like an orange zebra after a sweaty workout. Not to mention, they usually smell bad!

The other day I purchased the new St. Tropez ‘In Shower’ Gradual Tan. So far, after using it for a few days, I’m hooked! It leaves a streak free, minimal odor, summer glow that builds with each use. It takes only three minutes out of your shower routine–how easy! I have always been a fan of the St. Tropez line, especially their original instant tan mousse. The ladies at Sephora said that the shower gel is great for a base tan, and the mousse is good to build on top for that instant tan you might need before an event.

I highly recommend this new product. I’m excited to see how it works out throughout the winter! Although, the thought of winter itself does not sound exciting…especially with summer around the corner in beautiful Sydney!

(my heart breaks a little every time I see this)

so much to learn, so much time

August 5, 2015 hdoan3

Looking back on the first half of 2015, I realize that I have learned so much about myself, others, and life in general. I have been enjoying Dallas, really living in the moment and have grown so grateful for the amazing friends I have there. I have spent quality time at home, as well as ventured out to California, New York, Nashville, and a couple trips to the Bahamas!

I feel so lucky to have the opportunities to get out of my comfort zone and see more of the world. After Australia, I have been plotting my escape out of the states to get back to that amazing place. However, I am learning so much through living in the moment.

Here are some quotes that really stood out to me–they embody the things I have discovered throughout the past seven months. I have experienced good and bad, and through it all I fully believe that everything is part of the experience. Every thing I face makes me stronger and more confident. It’s all a learning lesson-there’s no end result to be happy. It’s all about rolling with the roller coaster, and taking every experience for what it is.

There’s so much to learn, and I will continue to learn throughout my life. Things change, people change, and it’s all about being confident in yourself that life is working out the way it should be.