Thickening Home Made Almond Milk - was - Smoothie Advice for Honey Thick Liquid Diet

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Branching off of this topic a bit… , I was thinking about how the almond milk I've made in the past doesn't have as creamy of a mouth feel as the stuff in the store. What do you think would be the best way to give home made almond milk more of a creamy mouth feel? Chia? Tapioca? Coconut OIl? (and if you tried coconut oil, would it be possible to emulsify it, or would it separate and harden in the fridge?

Blessings,Lea Ann SavageSatellite Beach, FL(321) 773-7088 (home)(321-961-9219 (cell)))><'>www.VitamixLady.comwww..com<))><

On May 17, 2011, at 8:28 AM, Berry wrote:

Hello, Robin. Sorry you and hubby are having to go through this, but having a Vitamix should make this a breeze for you both! Tapioca, pumpkin, hard winter squash, flax seed, and beans all make wonderful thickeners that would not thin out. Tapioca is my favored method for adjusting the consistency of most things. I can't use many of the "typical" types of things that people use in smoothies and such due to food allergies, so I rely on many things that will still give me body and smoothness. You could make up a batch of "tapioca gel", which is nothing more that cooked tapioca (I do mine in a crock pot most often-very easy) and pureeing the cooked mass in the Vitamix, thinning with water until it is the desired consistency. You can also make a gel with flax by buzzing up the seeds in the VM, then adding WARM water,

covering it and letting it sit for a few minutes. Both of these would give you easy bases to thin or thicken as needed-neither will thin in the mouth, so would stay at "honey" or "nectar" stage as he transitions. Pumpkin and winter squash (these would be hard skinned squash, such as butternut, acorn, etc) will also add a TON of nutrition to his diet. Good luck to you both!From: Robin <rsmallen@...>Subject: Smoothie Advice for Honey Thick Liquid Diet Date: Tuesday, May 17, 2011, 8:01 AM

Looking for some advice on making smoothies for my husband who has dysphagia. He is able to eat pureed solid foods and liquids thickened to honey thickness only. He may be upgraded to nectar thick liquids later this week dependent on his MBS study. My VitaMix arrives today!

I want to take protein rich smoothies to him in the rehab hospital which they've said is fine...as long as none of the ingredients are such that they melt in the mouth to a thin liquid consistency. Examples would be ice cream...or, I'm guessing, the ice in the smoothie. If so, I must thicken the smoothie with Thickit (which is kind of yukky stuff if you ask me).

Does anybody have experience with this diet? Did you need to thicken due to the ice? When you drink these nice thick smoothies does it thin down in the mouth due to the ice?

Thanks for any and all advice!

Robin

www.nanashouse.wordpress.com