7.14.2016

Homemade Almond Milk

This is nothing new. I'm sure you've seen other recipes floating around the internet for Almond Milk, but this is my go-to & I'm sharing it.

4 years ago, when my middle son was a baby, he had a dairy intolerance. I learned a lot about food during that year of breastfeeding him. The biggest thing I learned was how to avoid dairy, specifically the protein casein, & how much better I felt without it.

When I was little I had a problem digesting dairy as well. If I ate pizza with cheese, or had ice cream too close to bed time, I would wake up in the middle of the night sick. No bueno.

I outgrew it as I got older, but I still don't feel great if I go on a dairy bender! 😂

Insert: Almond Milk!

At the beginning of the year, we were going through way too many cartons of store bought almond milk, so I thought I'd try to make my own. This way I know exactly what's in it. Although I must say I'm happy the big brands have eliminated carrageenan.

The key is to use a nut bag. I'll refrain from the jokes... I attempted to make it with a fine mesh strainer, & I wound up with very thick mealy milk... eeh.

Get the nut bag.

And a couple glass liter carafes that are about $5 each at our grocery store. Everything's better in glass.

With that being said, here's the recipe I come back to a couple times a week! I always have a mason jar of almonds soaking in the fridge. When I make 2 liters, I fill the jar back up with almonds & water so that it's ready to go when I need to make more in a few days. We love this almond milk mixed in with our Shakeology.

Recipe

Makes 2 Liters

2 cups Blanched Almonds
8 cups Filtered Water + more for soaking
1 pinch sea salt
2 tsp vanilla (or better yet, scrape fresh vanilla beans!)
12 Medjool Dates, pitted (optional, if you want it sweetened)

Directions

  • Place the almonds in a quart mason jar & fill with water. Let soak in fridge for at LEAST 4 hours, but I prefer overnight, if not longer.
  • Strain & rinse almonds.
  • In a high-powered blender (I love our VitaMix!) add 1 cup almonds, 4 cups water, a pinch of sea salt, 1 tsp vanilla & 6 pitted dates.
  • Blend on high for 4 minutes.
  • Pour contents into nut bag fitted over a bowl. Squeeze every last drop of milk out! Now you can keep your almond meal & scour for recipes, including drying it to make almond flour if you wish. I tried making almond meal cookies once, but they were very dense. If you know if any good recipes, please share!
  • Repeat this process with the remaining ingredients. 
  • Try a small glass while it's still hot from the blender, it's delicious!
  • Store in your refrigerator for 3 days... if it lasts that long.
  • Enjoy!
21DF: 1/2 cup (unsweetened) = 1 Yellow







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