I love Almond Milk.
Besides the fact that Almond Milk is silky and nummy, I very strongly believe the cow's milk, especially the processed homogenized, pasteurized, hormone-filled milk that fills America's refrigerators, is incredibly dentrimental and hazardous to our health. I have witnessed it several times and done my research and there is nothing 'healthy' about store-bought milk contrary to what the Milk ads constantly throw in your face. That's all propaganda, folks, intent on one thing: sales.
But I digress. Let's move on to the recipe. One of the benefits of making your own almond milk is that it's really very simple, you know exactly what's going in it, and as the words organic and 100% natural become more of a trend, you need to be aware of companies who falsely label their products (yes, it happens) to bring you these items filled with things that are anything but organic and natural so that they can make a quick buck.
Almond Milk
4-5 cups spring or filtered water
1 cup almonds, soaked overnight
1 tsp vanilla extract (for flavor)
a few dates or 1/4 cup Agave, for sweetness
*you don't have to add the dates or the agave. Also, there have been times when I have just sprinkled in a small amount of Stevia and Cinnamon and shook it up into the milk later. Makes it super sweet ;)
** you will also need a fine strainer or sieve, a large-ish bowl, and a glass container to store your milk.
This recipe is actually very quick and simple once your almonds have had a good soak. Takes me about ten mintues is all :)
This is what soaked almonds look like. See how plump they are?
Look at the difference between soaked almonds and regular almonds (right):
I always throw a few extra nuts into the soak because I can't resist nibbling on them when I open the refrigerator.
Soaked almonds are actually very good for you!
Take your cup of soaked almonds and throw them in a blender or food processor along with all the other ingredients. Blend until smooth. I don't have a stellar blender and so I use my food processor. However, my food processor will leak a lot of liquids so I usually start out with all the ingredients and only 1 cup of water until everything is chopped to fine bits and then I gradually add a cup at time and then 'pulse' for a few seconds to blend it all together.
It should look like this when your done:
Doesn't that frothy goodness make you want to go make some right now?
Then you need to take a fine sieve or strainer and a large bowl to strain the milk:
Pour your milk into the strainer over your bowl:
And then you will end up with 'almond meal'. I like to press down on the meal to extract as much water as possible and then I save the almond meal to go on top of salads or yogurt.
Then pour your the milk from the bowl into a glass container that you can store your milk in. It will keep for about 5 to 6 days and is delicious over oatmeal, buckwheat cereal and the likes:
See? Easy-peasy! Now go make some of your own and be proud of how 'natural' you can be :)
