New Year New Me…Homemade Almond Milk

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Hello out there!…if there is anyone still out there!  If not, hi Mom and Jen! :)  This last year was a busy one for ALL of us!  Jen and Mom (Debbie) both moved, I had my third baby (she’s six months old now)! and I know Kelly’s plate has been incredibly full too!

We have all been talking about how we need to get back on Threaded Together and start writing posts again.  There are now a couple thousand miles more separating us and I think we have more ideas to share than ever!  2012 brought about a lot of changes for all of us.  I think I speak for everyone here when I say we have spent the last year prioritizing our lives, spending quality time with our friends and family, being more active, and eating healthier.

For my family, that has meant a transition to a whole new way of eating.  For almost two years now I have been making progress towards cutting out sugars, oils, and more from my family’s diet.  It has been a long, slow, learning process.  My husband and I have been testing our boundaries and figuring out what we want/are willing to do with the food we eat.  I would be lying if I said it has been easy.  My kids were a tough sell at first.  Neither ate fruits or vegetables, EVER.  There were tears, long dinners at the table, early nights to bed, etc.  The best way to explain how I turned them???  Listen closely:

This boy who could not possibly be my child My son HATED fruit.  How do you hate fruit?  I introduced one new item at a time and we would eat it all week.  Apples for a week (he always could tolerate these).  Pears for a week.  Cantaloupe for a week…all the way to Watermelon for a week.  I worked from his favorite to his least favorite.  Watermelon?  Well, that was a tough week!  But THEN I started giving him choices.  Watermelon, or Cantaloupe?   Cantaloupe or kiwi?  Guess what?  It is amazing what your kid will eat when the other choice is one they like WAY less.  Now that he knows he isn’t going to DIE if he has to eat any of these fruits, he has found them all to be much easier to palate.

So, that’s how we did it.  And now?  Well, there just are no choices in our pantry or fridge that I would not be happy with.  They can eat anything at our house and it will be healthy, natural, and more.

Our newest adventure, though, has been to take it a step further.  We are entering the realm of a PLANT BASED, WHOLE FOODS diet.  EEK!  No meat, cheese, dairy, eggs, or processed foods.  It sounded really scary to me even though we have been so close to this for some time now.  We are just finally taking the leap to the “other side.”  My kids and husband will probably still eat the occasional yogurt, cheese, or meat, but I am trying to give it up all together.

ANYHOW, maybe I will be able to keep you updated with our progress on this blog.  If not, well, it still leads me to the reason for my post today:

Fresh Almond Milk!

We are cutting the regular milk out at home here.  The kids drink about a cup of milk each day.  Other than that, we use it in baking and with cereal.  Obviously, we don’t do much baking now without dairy in our diet, but it is still called for in plenty of the recipes I use.  I do not like buying the almond milk, coconut milk, etc., at the store because they are still full of several ingredients that just are not necessary.  Here at home almond milk is just almonds and water, and SUPER easy to make!

HOMEMADE ALMOND MILK

• 1 cup almonds
• purified water

Soak almonds overnight in purified water.  Be sure to cover them all the way.  After soaking is complete, drain and rinse the almonds.  Place them in a blender with three cups of purified water (more or less depending on how thick you like your almond milk).  Blend until almonds are well incorporated into water.  Using a SUPER fine strainer, or cheese cloth, or painters bag, or clean cloth or old t-shirt, strain milk into a container for storage and keep in refrigerator for 3 – 4 days.  Use as you would use regular cow’s milk.

Added bonus…the leftover almond meal can be dried either in your oven at 200 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes, or in a dehydrater and used as almond flour in baking.  GREAT!

finished product!

The almond flour before being dried out

…Yep, the lady who used to be known for her baking and super sweet foods.  Memories…

Tags: almond flour, Almond Milk, almonds, Marissa

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