Many of us have dairy and soy intolerances yet the majority of milk sold at the supermarket are made out of them.
More and more markets are carrying alternatives such as almond and hemp milks, but most processed milks contain a lot of sugar and other ingredients that you don’t necessarily want to be consuming on a daily basis.
Why not make your own milk? In this post I am going to teach you how to make your own nut and seed milks.
Making your own milk is super easy and cost about a third of what it does to buy it in the store. And, you can control all the ingredients that go into making it. Once you are done you are going to be excited at how easy it was to do this.
You can make your own milk with just about any nut or seed that you like, or a mixture of them. My favorite nuts to use are cashews because they are creamy and smooth and don’t require any straining. I often use almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and/or macadamia nuts.
The general rule is that 1 cup of nuts makes about 8 cups of milk. But of course, you can add more more or less depending on your desire for creaminess.
The secret to smooth and creamy milk is to soak 1 cup of nuts or seeds overnight in purified water. Soaking makes the nuts a little softer and brings out their enzymes making them more nutritious. If you don’t have time or patience for this step then you can skip it but, I encourage you to try it at least once. I think you will find that the milk tastes better this way.
After soaking overnight, pour out the water and give the nuts a good rinse. Then put them in your blender with about 3 cups of water.
Let the fun begin!
You can blend the nuts alone as is or add any flavoring you like such as vanilla bean, a dash of cinnamon or cardamom, a few mint leaves, a pinch of celtic sea salt, cacao, a tablespoon of raw honey, or 2 dates. Whatever you like or have in the pantry at that moment. I usually blend the nuts with about 1 tablespoon of raw honey.
After you finish blending, pour into a large jar or pitcher that has a lid. Depending on the texture you desire you may want to strain it using a mesh filter. I find this step is not necessary if I’m using cashews or planning on using the milk in a smoothie or oatmeal.
Once strained, and add 5 more cups of water to it and you are done! That’s it!
Homemade nut/seed milks can be used for anything you would use traditional milk for. I add it to my tea in the morning, you can add it to oatmeal, blend it in smoothies, add it to soups to make them creamy, or you can just drink it on it’s own. Nut milk last for about 5 days in the fridge.
Enjoy!
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