by Lisa Curcio

Created on: November 13, 2009

Almond Milk is a great alternative to cow's milk, but has a tendency to be a bit pricey. Making your own Almond Milk at home is a great way to save money and still get all of the wonderful heath benefits. Almond Milk is lactose free, cholesterol free, and has almost no saturated fat. It is high in protein, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin E and unsaturated fats. It also contains vitamins and minerals such as calcium, folate, iron, potassium, zinc and magnesium.

There are a few different recipes that I use to make Almond Milk, and all of them are equally good. You can try out the different recipes and decide which one you like best.

You Will Need:

2/3 Cup of Raw Whole Almonds
4-5 Dried Dates
Honey
Vanilla (Optional)
Water
Blender
A Sieve, or
Cheese Cloth, or
A Nut Bag
Pitcher

Soak 2/3's of a cup of Raw Whole Almonds in water over night. You will need to completely cover the almonds and add extra water for absorption. All of my recipes involve soaking almonds overnight, or for at least 8-10 hours.

Almond Milk with Dates:

Add 3 cups of water to the blender. Drain the Raw Whole Almonds that have been soaking overnight, add them to the blender along with 4-5 Dried Dates, depending on how sweet you would like it to be. You can also add 1/4 of a teaspoon of Vanilla if you wish.

Blend all ingredients on high speed for 1-2 minutes, until all large chunks are chopped. When you are done, it will still be thick with small almond and date pulp.

Strain the pulp using your sieve, cheesecloth or nut bag into a pitcher and add 3 more cups of water. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Almond Milk with Honey:

This is made the exact same way as with the Dates, except you will use Honey instead. Add 1/4 to 1/2 of a cup of Honey, depending on how sweet you would like it to be.

Unsweetened Almond Milk:

You can also make the Almond Milk with no Dates or Honey if you prefer to have it unsweetened. Unsweetened Almond Milk still has a wonderful, rich nutty flavor. For unsweetened Almond Milk use 1 cup of Raw Whole Almonds instead of 2/3 of a cup.

The left over pulp still has plenty of nutrients left in it and can be used for several things. As with the Almond milk, it can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Examples of things to add it to are:

Add it to a Fruit Smoothie
Add it to Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat
Add it to Cookies, Bread or Muffins
There are so many great things that you can do with the left over pulp, experiment in your own kitchen and see what you come up with.

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