Vegan day 42: Freshly squeezed almond milk
Milk your own almonds!
Since I love smoothies- I figured.. why not? It’s only going to be THAT much healthier! No processing, no packaging, no preservatives or sugar!
The first time I made almond milk- I had no idea what it entailed. I didn’t realize that I really had to squeeze the milk! Now I have made it a few times- I feel so proud when I make my own food- I’m on the sillier geekier side yes! It’s so much fun though to create your own foods from scratch.
This is something fun you can do with kids too!
The left picture is the blender with the soaked almonds and fresh water. The right picture is what it looks like after blending.
You will need:
*Almonds
*Figs or dates for sweetening
*Water
*Blender
*Strainer, cheesecloth or Milk bag
*Glass jar to store the almond milk
*Ice cube trays if you want to freeze the extra milk made
Step (1)– Soak your almonds over night
Step (2)– Rinse the almonds and then add them with fresh water into a blender. The ratio I used was 1 1/2 cups of soaked almonds to 4 cups of water. I may have had a little extra of both.
Step (3)– Add pre soaked figs or pre soaked dates without the pits
Step(4)– Blend
Step (5)– Strain! This is the hardest part- lol-ok it’s not that hard- just a little messy for me. I usually use a strainer and press the crushed almonds through with a wooden spoon. This time I used cheesecloth- but I’m guessing an almond bag is best!
Step (6)– Store and refrigerate in glass jars
Step (7)– If you want to save some longer, pour the almond milk into ice cube trays for future use with smoothies, teas or coffee!
* The shelf life is less than an open container of packaged almond milk- I would say 2-3 days best!
Now I am going to sit down and have a glass of milk. I haven’t had a glass of milk since I was about 10 years old. I never really cared to drink milk. When thinking about going vegan or even talking about dairy with friends- we usually say “well- I don’t drink milk anyway.” I hear this a lot and always thought I was one of those people who didn’t have milk in my diet— however MILK IS EVERYWHERE! I learned this while going vegan! First and obviously, it’s in cheese, yogurts and daily coffee creams! Milk is also is chocolate- grrr! Just before January 1- I remember living as vegan as possible with the exceptions of yogurt, chocolate, whey protein and vitamins! You see- that’s where it sneaks in. It’s in so many health drinks, protein shakes and powdered vitamins (and vitamin D3 I believe.) Those were the last to go for me.. and honey!
Who needs dairy milk when you can make your own nut milk!
Enjoy some freshly milked almonds! No pain, no pus and no antibiotics! Besides, without really getting into detail- we are the only species who drinks milk past infancy and the only species to drink the milk of another species- weird when you think about it!
My vitamin brand is DEVA– I take the vitamin D2, CAL-MAG Plus, and vitamin B2 sublingual.
