the guy with the smile: almond milk.

I've purchased regular milk, soy milk, and almond milk many times before, but I became intrigued when read a blog post regarding homemade almond milk. I figured this had to be difficult, so of course, after work I purchased the supplies to experiment. Ready for the ingredients: Almonds....yep. That's basically it. There are variations, that I will definitely try, but that's the basic ingredient you need. You can add other ingredients to change up the flavour and/or consistency, but you gotta have nuts.

I picked up a container of Almonds that were on sale for $3.00 (about 2 1/2 cups), so it wasn't too pricey. I need to calculate how much Almonds are normally and if it would be worth it to make it regularly. I think it will be a great substitute, especially for cereal.

Anyways, here's my spin on the recipe:

Measure out 1 cup of almonds and put them them in a bowl of water (enough to cover the nuts). These need to soak for at least 8 hours. I threw them in after work and made the milk in the morning. Some of the recipes called for 48 hours, but that seems a little excessive.

Once the almonds have soaked, drain and rinse your nuts. Dump the almonds and 4 cups of fresh water into a blender and blend away.

Now time for the only part that is slightly annoying. Pour the mixture through some form of filter (I used cheesecloth, but I found actual filter bags that can be purchased and re-used multiple times if you like the finished product). Squeeze and wring out the cheesecloth or whatever filter you have so you can get all milky goodness.

The leftover "pulp" of the almonds can be used still. Take a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and sprinkle the "pulp" on it. Place it into the oven on its lowest setting and cook for a couple hours. Voila! You just made almond flour.

Back to the milk.

Once all the liquid is in your container ( I used a 1 Litre Mason Jar), tighten the lid and place in the fridge. It should have the consistency of skim milk, but the flavour or almonds. Each time you go to use it, make sure to give it a little shake. The milk will last about a week. If you want to try adding flavour, add a splash of vanilla or blend in some dates. Like chai latte's? Add some cardamom to the mix and spice it up a notch.