Homemade Almond Milk

[Please welcome back our guest blogger, Jamie, with another one of her delicious recipes!]

KITCHEN EXPERIMENTS WITH JAMIE

**Jamie’s passion for food and cooking began as a young girl, while watching her mother in the kitchen.  Her curiosity has pushed her to learn how to make a lot of her own products from scratch instead of buying it at the market like hummus, granola, yogurt, pickles, and much more. Jamie is currently studying to become an Occupational Therapist and would love to incorporate cooking into her practice one day.**

Today, one can find milk made from almost anything—soy, rice, different kinds of nuts, etc. They can be a little easier to digest than milk and I personally like the taste. While it is possible to find great quality milk substitutes at Whole Foods and other health food stores, they can be pricy and some brands can be high in sugar and contain additives. So, why not make your own?

Making your own almond milk is unbelievably easy and resourceful because you can utilize the whole almond with zero waste. After pulverizing the almonds to make tasty milk, try using the almond grounds in granola, in baked goods, or even just toast them in the oven with some sugar or spices and use them as sweet or savory crunchy topping.

Here’s my recipe for homemade almond milk. As always, feel free to play around with it!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups raw almonds, soaked in water overnight
• 5-7 cups water
• 5 Tbs. simple syrup (use any sweetener you like)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract (or a whole vanilla bean, chopped)
• small pinch of salt
• Cheesecloth and large bowl

Directions:

1. Drain and rinse the soaked almonds.

2. Place almonds in a blender along with the water, simple syrup, vanilla, and pinch of salt. (I had to do mine in batches because my blender could not hold all the liquid)

3. Blend for a minute or so.

4. Place cheesecloth over large bowl (I held mine in place by wrapping a rubber band around it), and slowly pour almond mixture over it. Squeeze the bottom of the cheesecloth to release the milk.

5. Pour into a pourable container to store in the fridge for about 5 days.

Makes 5-7 cups

You can make your own simple syrup by boiling equal parts sugar and water until the sugar dissolves and letting it cool to room temperature. I like to infuse mine with herbs like rosemary or sage and vanilla beans! Enjoy this recipe and as always, stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC