About a year ago I gave up milk, not dairy, mind you. I still eat yogurt and cheese, but I gave up daily milk to help my arthritis. (There is a whole list of foods I should give up, but life without tomatoes was unbearable.) Soy milk never really worked for me. I like eating edamame pods and tofu, but the newer applications of soy leave my intestines feeling a bit funny and my brain a bit puzzled. Also, soy can aggravate arthritis. I turned to almond milk, and I’ve never turned back. It is so delicious and low in calories. My only problem has been the jaw-dropping price. It didn’t take me long start looking for a way to make my own. I tinkered with the proportions for a while and finally came up with the richest, creamiest almond milk you can find.
2 c almonds
4 c filtered water
1. Blanch almonds to remove their skins. Place them in boiling water for 1 minute.
Then plunge them into ice water.
2. Rub the almonds between your hands to create friction that easily removes their skin. Doing them as a group is quicker and easier than trying to skin each individual almond.
3. Place blanched almonds and water in a blender. Puree for about 1 minute, until you have a creamy milk.
4. Pour milk through a fine sieve lined with cheese cloth to separate milk from the bits of nut.
Squeeze the cheese cloth to get out all excess milk.
4. Shake before drinking and enjoy. You can store it in your fridge for a week or two, but I doubt it will last. So yummy!
Vanilla Almond Milk
The stores may have you hooked on their vanilla versions, but you can make your own. Add the agave nectar for an extra sweet version or just add the extract for a hint of vanilla flavor.
1/2 t vanilla extract
2 T agave nectar (optional)
1. Follow all of the same directions for basic almond milk. Rinse out your blender. Add almond milk, extract (and nectar) and puree. Voila, vanilla almond milk.
What To Do with Leftover Nuts
Don’t toss out the almond bits after making your milk. They’re still edible. Toast them up by spreading them out on a baking sheet and roasting them at 350° for 20-30 minutes, until they turn a toasty color and you can smell them. After that you can sprinkle them on top of yogurt, fruit, cobblers, ice-cream or add them to granola. I tried to make almond butter with them, but it didn’t work. I did end up with a yummy, marzipan-type treat, which tastes pretty good.
Almond Joy Bon Bons
toasted almond bits
2 T coconut oil
dash of sea salt
2 T honey
toasted coconut
cocoa powder
1. Puree toasted almonds until they are a fine powder. Add oil and puree for another minute.
2. Add honey and salt. Puree for 2 minutes, until it forms a nice paste.
3. Roll paste into small balls. Roll the balls in either coconut or cocoa powder. Eat and enjoy.
The Bottom Line
I’m sensing a trend here. The last few recipes for Making Groceries have used just one ingredient, and I’m not bucking the trend today. Their processed counterparts have a whole list of other additives. I suppose that’s just keep them preserved on the shelf for as long as possible. Personally, I’d rather eat fresh, simple food. This milk tastes great! Removing the almond skin was the only real effort. Getting a helper or doing a large batch would help mitigate it. It only took about five minutes. I know you can buy blanched almonds, but they’re also more expensive, so I’ll make my own.
A carton of almond milk costs almost the same as a gallon of gas, a whopping $3.84 for the brand I like. Mine cost $2.64 for the almonds and I have the bits and bon-bons as well. Buying large quanities in bulk can lower it even more. Nuts are a funny grocery item. They are found in the snacks, baking and produce aisles making it hard to compare costs. If you don’t go to a bulk food store, usually the cheapest and less processed nuts are found in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips. Danger zone!
I definitely plan on making this again because I don’t need to drink: calcium carbonate, tapioca starch, potasium citrate, carrageenan, sunflower lectin, vitamin A palitate, vitamin D2 and D-alpha-tocopherol.
Does anyone?
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