Made:: Almond Milk

Something that I've been making on the regular (two times a week) for the past month is Almond Milk. Before making it, I really thought it would be a daunting process. To my pleasant surprise, it's one of the easiest and tastiest things in the world to make. Seriously, if you make your own milk, it will be hard to go back to store bought. There are many recipes online or you can try the one I use. This recipe is from the beautiful and yummy Huckleberry cookbook by Zoe Nathan. The milk is so creamy, fresh, and tasty. And because there's no preservatives or added junk, you can feel good about what you're putting into your body.

Vanilla Almond Milk

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3/4c of raw almonds

4 dates, pits removed

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 

cold water

Soak almonds and pitted dates in 1 cup of water overnight in the refrigerator. Drain water from the almonds and dates. In a blender place the almonds, dates, salt, vanilla, and 3.5 cups of cold water and blend for a minute or two. Strain the mixture using cheesecloth or fine mesh sieve. Bottle and refrigerate. Milk will keep for 4 days. Enjoy!

notes: Vanilla bean can be used instead of extract. Split bean lengthwise and scrape seeds into the blender. Add the vanilla bean pod to the bottled milk. The milk will separate so just shake bottle to mix. Also, I read somewhere that you could use the strained almond mixture for almond meal once it's dried out. I haven't tried this so if you try it, let me know how it works.

xo, jen