It started with a jar of cashew butter I had got from a friend of mine from the USA. I tasted it and I fell in love with it instantly. All this happened after Adam was born and I needed natural foods that increase breast milk production. And cashew is one of them that boosts lactation. I think it is important that if you have a low milk supply it’s always best to try first to increase milk production naturally through herbs, drinks or your daily food intake.
Raw almonds, cashews, walnuts, macadamia nuts are the best ones to snack on during breastfeeding. Choose raw nuts instead of salted or roasted ones!
Make sure that you are eating (leafy green vegetables; carrots; beets; whole wheat pasta; grains like oats, barley; garlic; ginger, etc.) enough calories through your day. This will help increase breastmilk quantity and quality in general.
And the most important advice from me is to drink enough water (at least 3 liters a day). Your body will need extra water to keep up with milk production and keeping you hydrated.
So after the whole jar of cashew butter was gone I was heart-broken. Cashew butter is not available at stores in Hungary. It’s not common to use nut butters in my country but thanks for the open minded people (like me! 🙂 ) who are willing to eat more healthier, nut butters are getting popular. The most common is peanut butter of course… it is availabe at few stores. I had to do something to have cashew butter in my pantry. I decided to make it on my own… I was so happy with the result. Since than I didn’t stop making it!
My favourite way to eat it: whole wheat bread slices are toasted, spreaded with cashew butter and I spoon my mom’s homemade sugar free plum jam on top. Oh My!
Here are a few phase photos of the making from the beginning until it turns into creamy cashew butter…
After 1 minute it will turn from whole cashews into cashew pieces. Spin 3-4 minutes more and it’ll turn almost flour.
Another 3 minutes and you’ll see oiliness of the cashews. Keep the food processor spining and it’ll slowly stick together into a paste.
Another 3-5 minutes and it really becomes a thick paste. It starts to look like a “dough ball”. Keep going, you are almost there! 🙂 In the meantime give your food processor a few breaks otherwise it’ll be ruined from the too much work!!!
When the butter looks like a ball, stop the processor and push your finger into it. The consistency should be very soft. Turn the processor on and keep it spining. The ball will slowly fall into creamy butter after 3-4 minutes.
And voila! Your cashew butter is made! Now give your food processor a rest!
Homemade Cashew Butter
Ingredients (makes about 250-300 ml = 1 cup)
– 400 g raw cashew
Method
Add cashew to the bowl of your food processor and process for a very long time, until creamy and smooth. Giving your processor a few breaks it’ll be ready in about 25 minutes.
