It’s just an ordinary day, except for the fact that I made milk! Not the yummy stuff that comes from the cow, but Almond Milk with a touch of honey. It might just give Old Bessie a run for her money.
Let me tell you a little about me. I’m part Irish, part African American, and A Little Bit of Hippie. Today we’re only going to discuss the Hippie in me. My parents raised me on, what seemed at the time to be, the gnarliest health food on the planet. I remember sitting down to dinners of Tofu Potato Baker (which I did eventually come to love- thank you ketchup), loads of barely-steamed-mostly-raw broccoli, whole wheat fig bars and fresh squeezed carrot juice. Granted, I love all that stuff now, but what I would have given for some Chips Ahoy and Kentucky Fried Chicken when I was 5.
I make my family’s dinner habits sound like abuse, don’t I? That’s probably not fair. In their choices, my parents instilled in me, what I call, A Little Bit Of Hippie.
As a person with A Little Bit of Hippie in her I am prone to do things like enjoy vegan food on Friday night and throw back a medium rare filet on Saturday night. I also might ride my bike to work, but only twice a week. It’s also the Little Bit of Hippie in me that lead me down the granola bar path and inspired me to make these Banana Blackberry Smoothies with Homemade Almond Milk.
I think we all should have at A Little Bit of Hippie in us. Maybe the the world would be more full of peace, love and Homemade Almond Milk
The milk is SO easy to make. It tastes light, but full of almondy flavor. Give it a go! I love it in smoothies and on granola.
Almond Milk
1. Place 1 cup toasted almonds in a glass jar, or clean container with a lid.
2. Cover almond with 4 cups filtered water.
3. Tightly close the jar or place the lid on the container.
4. Refrigerate for 1 day, 2 days at the very most.
5. I know the picture isn’t all that charming, but pour the almonds and water into a blender and blend until relatively smooth. It will never smooth completely, but blend on and off for about 1 minute and 30 seconds. (During this step I added 1 Tablespoon Honey to the almond milk.)
6. Drape a cheesecloth over a medium sized bowl and place a fine mesh strainer on top. Pour the contents of the blender into the strainer. Gather all four corners of the cheesecloth and slowly lift and squeeze the liquid from the cloth.
7. You’re left with almond milk and almond pulp. Discard the pulp, or think of something extra hippie to do with it. The milk- drink it.
Banana Blackberry Breakfast Smoothie
In a blender combine:
1 ripe banana
6 blackberries
3/4 cup almond milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
Andie Paysinger
I have been preparing almond milk, as well as other nut milks, for many years. I’ve had a series of Vita Mix blenders for the past 35 years and they did an excellent job. However, I was always looking for a better product so when I read about the Soyabella appliance early last year, I ordered one. It has taken my nut milk efforts to an entirely new level and I am very happy with the results.
The nut pulp that remains in the integral strainer (there is a separate one for rice milk) is much finer than I was ever able to achieve in the Vita Mix and I have found that I can dry it on a sheet pan in my oven or in my dehydrator on one of the “fruit leather” sheets, sieve it through a coarse tamis and use it in baking for adding both flavor and fiber.
I don’t have any connection with the manufacturer or the vendor but this makes the process so much easier that I think it is worth it. I have recommended it to a few friends and two (both have children with allergies to bovine milk) have found it very helpful.
I was never a “hippie” but I was an SCA member for several years and interested in medieval recipes and almond milk was one such. I’m fortunate in that I live in an area where almonds are grown and can buy direct from the local growers. I also make my own marzipan using a recipe from the 17th century.
Willa
I tried to raise my kids with a little bit of Hippie in them too!
The smoothie sounds delicious- I need to root around in the freezer for those blackberries from last summer. Yum!
AOK
I’ve used the leftover almond pulp to make a nice face scrub. Just spread it out to dry, then store it in a sealed plastic bag or a jar. Whenever you want to do a face scrub, mix some of the dried almond pulp with a bit of yogurt and honey, apply to your dampened skin, massage gently, and rinse with lukewarm water.
Eli
Wow never heard of almond milk, but this does look like pure deliciousness (I’ll put my vote in on that being a real word). I’ve just started to drink coffee, but only seem to like it with French Vanilla CoffeeMate. Which seems unhealthy. This looks like a great alternative! And it seems that the leftover pulp has numerous awesome uses. I can’t wait to try it out!.
becky
Hehe, your post reminded me of my 9th grade bio teacher. He’d eat cereal with almond milk out of our classroom beakers…yeah. He was weird. The breakfast smoothie looks tasty!
Holly
This sounds very cool to make. I know exactly what I would do with the leftovers though – I’ve been thinking about making homemade body scrub and I think this would be perfect.
AppetiteforChina
You can also put the almond pulp in the blender with water for a second time to extract more “milk”.
I love homemade almond milk warm, with a bit of honey and bananas.
Amy
Very interesting! It looks and sounds very refreshing!
Memories in the Baking
That looks absolutely delicious; I love almond milk, and it’s so much better than cow juice. But you know, I’ve always blanched the almonds first. I don’t know what I was thinking.
Btw, one way to use up the pulp is by, first, dehydrating it, combining the ground almonds with a little Parmesan, and S & P to taste. Dip chicken (or fish) in beaten eggs, then fresh, seasoned breadcrumbs. Dip chicken in beaten eggs again, and finally coat with the almond mixture. Sauté in equal amounts of butter and oil (2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons of a neutral oil, such as canola) until golden. And herein ends my babblng.
Susan/Wild Yeast
I’ve been buying almond milk and putting it in coffee and on cereal. This is great — thanks!
Suganya
Indira at Mahanandi has blogged about almond milk and rice milk
http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/archives/2008/04/09/homemade-almond-milk/
http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/archives/2007/09/01/homemade-rice-milk-horchata/
I am yet to try, but they look divine.
Deborah
I have to admit that I’ve never even had almond milk, but this sounds so delicious!!
Steph
I’ve never heard of almond milk, but it sounds like pure deliciousness-is that a word?
joythebaker
Hi Sarah- The pulp comes out thicker than almond meal, so iIm not sure you could use it place of the real stuff. Maybe if you dried the pulp and them put it in the food processor. That might work! Hm… It’s such a shame to waste all that beautiful almond goodness!
Sarah P
When dry, the pulp could be used as almond meal to add in place of flour couldnt it? Just a thought… sounds yummy though!