Good Afternoon and Happy Sunday!
Today, I want to share with you just how easy it is to make your own Homemade Nut Milks. I am a huge fan of almond milk but actually like to make my own because to be honest those store-bought brands often contain extra ingredients that I really don’t care to be putting in my body.
One of those ingredients is Carrageenan. Have you heard about this ingredient? Carrageenan is a common food additive extracted from red seaweed. You will find Carrageenan is all sorts of dairy and non-dairy products, yogurt, ice cream and other organic foods. It is generally used as a stabilizer or emulsifier for these products.
Red seaweed sounds innocent enough but, research links carrageenan to gastrointestinal inflammation, lesions, and even colon cancer in animals. Individuals with Inflammatory Bowel Disease or other gastrointestinal disorders are cautioned to avoid this ingredient as it can make symptoms – and inflammation – even worse. You can read more about this by clicking here.
One of my clients who suffered with IBS, had her issues clear up within days of switching out her non-dairy milk that contained Carrageenan. She literally has healed from IBS and it was as simple as cleaning up her diet and removing that substance.
To find a comprehensive list of products that do not contain Carrageenan take a look at the below link that Cornocopia.org put together. So helpful!
Shopping Guide to Avoiding Organic Foods with Carrageenan
But the good news is that making your own Homemade Nut Milks is super quick and easy and they taste SO much better.
Homemade fresh raw nut and seed milks contain live enzymes with no additives or preservatives like most processed nut milks. They are more gentle on the digestive system than heavily processed milks and taste amazing in smoothies and granola or muesli.
Did I mention that making it is SUPER EASY?
Here’s what it takes to make nut milk:
- Almonds
- Filtered Water
- Medjool Dates (optional)
- Sea Salt
- A blender (regular or high speed)
- A fine mesh sieve, cheese clothe or a nut bag to strain.
Yep. That’s it.
Homemade Almond Milk Recipe
(makes 2-3 cups)
- 1 cup almonds- Soak almonds overnight with a pinch of salt to remove phytic acid.
- 4 cups filtered water
- 2 medjool dates (optional- but it adds a bit of sweetness and depth to the milk)
- pinch of sea salt
Procedure:
- Begin by soaking your nuts in some water with a pinch of salt. Eight hours is ideal, but an hour is fine if that’s all you’ve got!
- Rinse your almonds and discard the water. Add the almonds and the other ingredients (water, dates, sea salt ) to a regular blender or a VitaMix.
- Blend them on high speed for a minute to two. Until Creamy!
- Strain through cheese cloth/mesh sieve or nut bag. You can find Nut Bags at Health Food Stores and Amazon.com
- Enjoy your fresh milk! This should last about 2-3 days in the fridge if not longer. If it smells or tastes sour then you know it has turned.
Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think. I think you will be surprised by how easy it is to make.
In Health and Happiness,
