I love almond milk! We can easily go through 2+ cartons per week in my household. The 365 brand vanilla flavored from Whole Foods is my all time fave. The other day I was enjoying a glass and happened to look at the ingredients list. I just assumed that since it was from Whole Foods, it was totally good for me, which is why I guess I never went through the ingredients before. I was shocked to find that I couldn't pronounce some of the ingredients:
Ingredients: Organic almondmilk (filtered water, organic almonds), tricalcium phosphate, sea salt, potassium citrate, gellan gum, sunflower lecithin, xanthan gum, natural vanilla flavor, vitamin a palmitate, ergocalciferol (vitamin d2), dl-alpha tocopherol acetate (vitamin e).
Tricalcium Phosphate, potassium citrate, gellan gum?? What the hell is all that? Not cool, 365 Brand, not cool. This is when I decided to go online to look up how to make my very own almond milk. Most recipes I found were pretty similar to each other: basic recipe ratio being 1 cup of almonds to 3 cups to 3.5 cups of water. I went with 3 cups of H20 to make the milk more rich and creamy.
I was surprised how easy it was to make and how DELICIOUS it was. Next time I'm going to quadruple the recipe so that we can actually save some in our fridge for later. If you store in a glass container, the milk is good for 3-5 days. But good luck with that...you're going to want to drink it ALL up right then and there.
Ingredients:
1 cup raw almonds
3 cups filtered water
Optional: coconut water, dates, cinnamon, maple syrup, vanilla extract
Recipe:
1. Place almonds in a bowl and cover with water. Soak for 6+ hours. The longer, the better.
2. Rinse and drain the almonds.
3. Transfer almonds into a blender. Add 3 cups of filtered chilled water. (Optional: replace water with coconut water; add dates for a natural sweetener).
4. Blend on high until smooth.
5. Strain through a nut milk bag. Gently squeeze the bottom of the bag to get every last drop out. If you squeeze too quickly or hard, the pulp will ooze out from the top. I used a cheese cloth, which really wasn't very convenient. I'd suggest using an actual nut milk bag for this process.
6. Rinse your blender, pour in your filtered milk and add your favorite flavorings. I used a dash of cinnamon, vanilla and maple syrup.
7. Pour yourself a glass and enjoy!! If you have any left over, pour into a tightly lidded jar and refrigerate. Milk should keep for 3-5 days. Give a good shake before each use.
