Make your own: Almond Milk!

I have been wanting a blender for, at the very least, one year. I asked for one for Christmas since the blender I desired was way out of the student life budget. Sadly, it was not under the Christmas tree this year but an envelope of money to buy one was there instead! I waited and waited for the blender to be on sale and finally last week it was! Quickly it was purchased and two days later, waiting at my childhood home for me to pick up. I’ve had the blender for less than a week and it is legitimately life-changing. I pondered over what the first thing I’d make would be –  would it be a green smoothie? Ice cream? I finally settled on almond milk. In fact I had known I’d make almond milk since before Christmas! Ha! So that’s what I did. I soaked some almonds over night and made some fresh and delicious almond milk. I’m so delighted to share with you the recipe today! With the left over pulp, I made cookies – although I’m still working on that recipe so I’ll leave that for another day.

Almond milk is such a great alternative to dairy milk or soy milk for several reasons:

1. I’m going to be blunt here. Regular dairy milk is, well, gross. Humans are the only species to consume milk not from their mother’s breast. Somehow we have been convinced that milk is the greatest source of calcium and other vitamins like vitamin D, ever. Did you know that even though North Americans consume so much dairy (the most in the world), they also have highest rate of osteoporosis? Aren’t we being told that calcium prevents osteoporosis so drink your milk? Well, your bones actually need more than just calcium. Your bones are mineral matrix that need a fine balance of calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, Boron, zinc  and MANY, MANY more. More importantly, for calcium to be absorbed it needs to be in a 2:1 ratio to magnesium. Dairy milk does not contain any magnesium. In fact, the greatest source of magnesium is from plants, not milk or anything that had a face. So, if you are chugging milk by the carton to fortify your bones without at the very least, eating a salad or taking a multi-mineral, chances are you are doing more harm than good.

2. Animal Rights. I am a huge proponent of animal rights, I do not support conventional meat industry due to how these animals are treated but also because what these animals eat. For the most part they never see the light of day, are holed up in stalls in the dark, forced to eat nothing but corn and soy. Then they get sick from not being active or eating what they are supposed to naturally eat (GRASS), and so they are pumped full of antibiotics. Did you know that the 80% of antibiotics in circulating in North America (specifically the US) are actually being injected to cows, pigs, and chickens. Not like I believe that humans should be pumped full of antibiotics either but…Um…

3. Almonds are great! Almonds are such an awesome nut. Loaded with one of the most powerful antioxidants, vitamin E, consuming almonds helps reduce levels of high cholesterol and ultimately help reduce plaque build up aka a contributor to cardiovascular disease. But! If you are fortunate to not have any of those issues, Almonds are a great way to balance blood sugars aiding in the management of blood sugar imbalances like hypoglycemia or diabetes. Although almonds may be high in “fat” they are high in mono-saturated fats which are easily digested and absorbed in the body because they are short chained making almonds a source of good fats you WANT to be eating.  In addition to its powerful antioxidant fighting abilities, almonds are also a great source of minerals like manganese,  magnesium and copper. All essential in skeletal and muscular health. BOOM, take that cow milk.

This post was long, thanks for reading! Below is the delicious recipe:

Almond Milk

Ingredients:
2 cups raw almonds, soaked over night
6 cups of  pure filtered water
3 pitted medjool dates, soaked
0.5 tbsp organic vanilla powder or pods scraped from a vanilla bean
1 cheese cloth or nut milk bag

Directions:
Soak your almonds overnight in filtered water. Rinse them well in the morning and put them in your blender. Add 6 cups filtered water. Blend very well. My blender has a juice setting… but if yours doesn’t, blend everything together until you no longer can see chunks of almonds.  Pour your concoction through a nutmilk bag or cheese cloth to separate the freshly made almond milk from the almond pulp. Once this has separated pour the mixture back into your blender. Add your dates and vanilla powder and blend until it has combined. Voila! Home made almond milk. Store in a mason jar or resealable jar for up to 4 days in your refrigerator. This makes about 1.5L of almond milk. If you are not sure you will consume that much in 4 days, cut the recipe in half!

Bon Appetit!

Kasia