Almond Milk

This is a super powerhouse of goodness if you aren't a fan of regular milk or soy.  I have been buying it fresh made at a local farmers market but it is sooooo expensive.  After reading a few different websites/recipes I decided to give it a go myself.  Success!!  It is absolutely delicious and super easy to make.

Health benefits of Almonds

• Almond nuts are rich in dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals and packed with numerous health promoting phyto-chemicals; the kind of well-balanced food ensure protection against diseases and cancers.
• These nuts are rich source of energy and nutrients. They are especially, rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids like oleicand palmitoleic acids that help to lower LDLor "bad cholesterol" and increase HDL or "good cholesterol." Research studies suggest that Mediterranean diet, which is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids helps to prevent coronary artery disease and strokes by favoring healthy blood lipid profile.
• The nuts are an excellent source of vitamin E; contain about 25 g per100 g (about 170% of RDA). Vitamin E is a powerful lipid soluble antioxidant, required for maintaining the integrity of cell membrane of mucus membranes and skin by protecting it from harmful oxygen free radicals.
• Almonds are free ingluten and therefore, are a popular ingredient in the preparation of gluten free food formulas. Such formula preparations are in fact healthy alternatives in people with wheat food allergy and celiac disease.
• These nuts are packed with many important B-complex groups of vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B-6, and folates. These vitamins functions as co-factors for enzymes during cellular substrate metabolism.
• They are also rich source of minerals like manganese, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, and selenium. 

Equipment:

Blender
Nut milk bag
Bottle/Jug for finished product
*you can buy nut milk bags online from a wide variety of suppliers/retailers, they cost around $15-$17

Ingredients:

1 cup insecticide free or organic raw almonds
Water for soaking, plus 3 cups of cooled boiled water
Pinch of Himalayan Rock Salt (or celtic sea salt). 
(I found that the above ratio of ingredients makes approx 1ltr of milk)

Recipe:

1. Soak the nuts overnight in enough water (plus pinch of Himalayan rock salt) to cover them.  Soaking the nuts activates them.  Activated nuts are easily digested and more nutritious than raw or roasted nuts. Raw nuts contain enzyme inhibitors that make them difficult to digest, inhibiting our body's ability to absorb nutrients.
2. In the morning rinse the nuts thoroughly.
3. Place them into a blender and add 1 cup of water and blend until finely ground, then slowly add the remaining 2 cups of water and allow to blend for around 1 minute.
4. Place nut milk bag inside a bowl or jug that is deep enough for the bag.
5. Pour contents from blender into the nut bag and then simply gather the top of the bag together and squeeze to remove all the liquid. 
6. Tah dah....you have just made your first batch of almond milk.  It might sound time consuming but it literally took me about a total 5-10minutes and tastes amazing.

You may wonder what you can do with the pulp that is left over, well some would just throw it away but you can also freeze small portions  for later use in smoothies to boost protein or you can make a yummy hummus, check out this great recipe from one of my favourite blogs My New Roots.

Let me know if you give it a go and how it turns out for you.