Be Your Own (Almond) Milk Man!
Ditching milk (and all other dairy products) has been one of the best things I could have done for my body. For all of the amazing vegans and lactose intolerant peeps out there, you know how important it is to have almond milk readily accessible in your fridge. Unlike soy or rice milk, it’s gentle and mild on your insides and light enough to serve in your desserts, smoothies and even soups. Best of all, it digests easily in your body unlike conventional milk.
Almond milk is heaven’s dairy-free drink.
So there’s a few leading brands that I’ve tried like Silk, Almond Breeze and even Soy Delicious. Silk’s Pure Almond milk used to be my go to because I found there to be less additives and emulsifiers (weird stuff like tapoica starch, carrageenan, natural flavours, guar gum, etc) compared to the others. It was difficult finding a brand that was actually just “pure” almonds and water.
Then I came across a cheesecloth at the dollar store. What’s a cheesecloth? Don’t worry, it’s vegan. 🙂 Actually, it’s this thin cotton cloth that’s used primarily as a strainer. It was an impulse purchase that day so I had to figure out what to do with it! I decided then that I would make my own almond milk. What’s the healthiest almond milk (or pretty much anything) you can have? The one you make yourself.
Almond (or any nut) milk is one of the easiest raw foods you can make at home from scratch. I found investing just a little effort and time in my own homemade almond milk has paid off in a few ways – easy on the wallet, ingredient control and the knowledge of where it came from!
All you need is:
1 cup of whole raw organic almonds (soak in warm filtered water for 8-12 hours)
4 cups of filtered water (you can add another cup if you don’t want it too rich but you’re better off without it!)
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract or flavouring or contents of a vanilla bean
Sweetener of choice like stevia (it’s good without it if you omit)
Additions: cinnamon, cacao, dates (optional)
Blender or Vitamix (Someone please get me a Vitamix!)
After your almonds have soaked, rinse them, drain the water out and place them in the blender. Add cups of water. Blend, blend, blend. Depending on your blender, a minute should do. Pour the almond milk through a kitchen strainer (cheesecloth, mesh milk bag) into a mason jar or a jug. Squeeze the remaining amount of liquid from the strainer. Store in the fridge (covered) and voila, you’re an almond milk man (or woman!)
Don’t throw away the leftover almond meal. You can dry them and use them as flour for desserts to go with your milk. 😉 Happy blending! x
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