Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Almond Milk - The Easiest Food I've Ever Made!

Surfing the web as I do, I came across a great blog:  http://sogoodandtasty.blogspot.com/2010/02/homemade-almond-milk.html

Basically it's this:
1 cup almonds
4-6 cups water (I used 4.5 C. since my blender is small)
Soak almonds in water overnight.
Pour it all into a blender and blend until pieces are as tiny as your blender will get them.
Pour it all through a fine mesh strainer, using a spoon to get as much liquid out as possible.

My twist, one teaspoon of vanilla and about 2 tablespoons of honey mixed in.
I also saved the pulp, one small container with cinnamon and honey in it and one container plain.

Place the milk into a clean, well sealed jar and refrigerate. 

The first thing I did was make my usual morning oatmeal. I cooked it in the almond milk instead of water and it was much richer, mellower tasting. Then I added about 4 spoonsful of the pulp and it was really good! I'm sure the extra almond pulp added a nice protein boost!

The plain almond milk was good to drink. I like the extra oomph of the vanilla and honey, but taste it first! You might just prefer it plain! My next batch will be plain and I'll experiment with mashed potatoes. 

As much as I've always loved cow products, they do create mucus and if you have sinus issues or use your voice a lot, you know dairy products are not good for you.  Many people love soy milk, as did I until I had some issues with it.  Rice Milk is also good, but not nearly as many great benefits as almonds! The protein and B vitamins in almonds are much higher than in rice.  Also, with 3 pounds (about 9.5 cups) of almonds costing under $10 at BJs, it's less expensive to make my own almond milk than to buy any other product.  A huge plus is that the ingredients are known and controlled by you! So you know it's pure!

I hope you try it! And stop by the So Good and Tasty blog! Jacqui has  many more interesting recipes shared there!

1 comment:

jacqui said...

I'm so glad you made almond milk and enjoyed it! I loved that you cooked your oatmeal in it too, great idea!