Are you a lover of almond milk, but hater of the price? I am! I live in a small town with small town grocery store prices and the cost of almond milks has gotten ridiculous, so I started making my own and it is extremely fast and easy to do....which I need in my life.
disclaimer: I have not mastered flavoring it, like the dark chocolate version I love, BUT it’s not good for me, so I’m working on reducing my consumption as I experiment for an alternative to this one (I’d love suggestions).
Which brings me to reason number 2 why I started making my own almond milk; clean ingredients. As I’m working on cleaning up my diet in an effort to flush inflammation and gain more energy among other great things, this is an easy swap out I can handle all day long. Store-bought almond milks are loaded with stabilizers, preservatives, emulsifiers, and added sugars. Scan them with those healthy food apps and they don’t score very high on the health radar for this exact reason. However, almond milk when made at home without these unhealthy additives is actually quite good for you and make a great healthy swap out for savvy living.
Almond milk is lower in calories and carbs, and higher in calcium than dairy milk. A good source of vitamin E too. It has less inflammatory effects than dairy, and can be used almost anywhere one would use dairy milk.
Making your own almond milk is super easy.
1. Take 1 cup of raw almonds and soak them in water for 8-12 hours.
2. Rinse these soaked almonds off, discarding the dirty water.
3. Put 2-4 cups of new filtered water in a blender, add in rinsed almonds and blend for 90 seconds. The amount of water will determine the creaminess, less water = slightly more creamy. I have found 3.5 cups fits perfectly in my quart mason jar.
4. Strain the milk from the solids with some form of nut milk or jelly strainer bag, squeezing as much liquid out as you can. Chill and enjoy. Keep those solids though. I've got ways to use them up below.
The homemade almond milk will be good for about 3 days. I store mine in a mason jar. Shake it if it separates.
If you like a bit of flavor add a teaspoon or so of vanilla extract. You can also add in 2-4 medjool dates before you blend it as a sweetener. Honey or stevia works too. Just stay away from processed white sugar. This is inflammatory and will reverse the health effects we are trying to accomplish here.
What do I do with almond milk?
Use your DIY almond milk anywhere you would use dairy milk ex. On cereal, baking recipes, in your coffee, smoothies, oatmeal, just to drink. Anywhere you like.
Save the solids for recipes that call for almond meal. If you can get a finer grind, you can also use it in place of almond flour. Just keep the moisture content in mind when using it. HERE is a recipe for almond ball truffles that are a healthy treat my whole family loves.
For more savvy swaps like this one, check out our FB community.
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