almond milk.
January 23rd, 2012 § 3 Comments
I’m a cliché.
I’ve been doing a New Year’s Detox.
And I’m at that point in the detox wherein I’m starting to feel a bit cleaner and more energised on the inside, but I look somewhat revolting. That’s part of detoxing, right?
I decided to get pretty serious about it last week, when I found out that my liver isn’t functioning well. As well as reverting fully to my sugar-free diet, I’ve decided to cease taking a prescription drug that I’ve been on for more than three years. Even though I already consume little dairy, I also decided to start experimenting with nut milks.
I don’t drink soy, as it’s bad news for auto-immune sufferers, but nut milks? They contain more nutrition than even fortified soy and rice milks, taste better, and almond milk, for example, contains 30% of your daily calcium and 25% of vitamin D needs in a single serving.
This cute video showed me that it wasn’t difficult to make. (WATCH IT.)
So, on the weekend I soaked two cups of almonds in the fridge overnight, and drained them the following day. Since then, I’ve been making a glass or so of almond milk at a time by taking a large handful of almonds, placing them in a blender, and topping up the water to 2-3 times the volume of nuts. Blitz. Strain. Done.
I know the recipe in the video calls for one litre of water per cup of almonds, but I prefer a little less water for a richer milk. I have been consuming half a glass at a time, especially when I’ve been feeling sick, because, like coconut water, it’s a great way to get some nutrition down the hatch without my body objecting.
The almond milk can be a trifle bland on its own. For my next batches, I’ll add in some macadamias or bazil nuts, and use the milk to make chai or smoothies.
One obvious tip: do use a blender and not a food processor to whizz the nuts and water. This may sound redundant, but I was silly enough to have used a food processor the first time! Not one of my best ideas. The processor leaked water all over the bench and the milk was full of big nubbly pieces of almond. A stick blender might work OK, but a proper smoothie blender is the best apparatus for this job, I think.
Also, don’t throw out the almond mulch left over after straining the milk. I kept mine and turned it into a flourless chocolate cake (no sugar, either!), but you could also use it to make crumble toppings, energy balls, muesli bars, and all kinds of lovely things.
So there. You can have your almond milk and eat your cake too.
So what if it’s a cliche? You go girl! You’re doing something good for yourself. No shame there.
I’ve gradually been doing more things to improve my wellbeing since 2012 began. More exercise, better food choices, more sleep. DEEP BREATHING WHEN STRESSED! It’s a difficult adjustment at first, but I’m doing it in steps.
I’ve decided to do the Sarah Wilson sugar quittage. (Thanks for the link!) And Febfast.
I’ve been thinking about making almond milk for a while, so perhaps this would be a good time to add a new drink into my life when my beloved vino will be out of the picture for a while longer!
Not the vino, Erin ?!
[...] have been making more nut milk, this time with a mixture of nuts. I’ve happily discovered that combining almonds with [...]