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January 28, 2011 · 2:45 pm

HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY ALMOND MILK

Strawberry Almond Milk

Homemade almond milk is sooooooo creamy and NOTHING like the almond milk you buy in the store. Today I made some plain almond milk and when my son came home from school I used it to make him strawberry almond milk, which is one of his favorites. As we were sitting around the kitchen island drinking the strawberry milk, I mentioned that I was going to post my recipe for plain almond milk and my husband told me that I NEEDED to post my recipe for the strawberry milk as well (he was literally telling me this while drinking the tiny amount of strawberry milk that was left straight out of the blender container). I hope you enjoy the strawberry milk as much as we do!

INGREDIENTS FOR PLAIN ALMOND MILK

2 cups raw almonds

4 cups filtered water

INGREDIENTS FOR STRAWBERRY MILK

1 cup plain almond milk

1 ½ – 2 cups frozen strawberries

2 tsp. raw agave syrup (adjust depending upon the sweetness of your berries)

Place the raw almonds in a container and fill the container with filtered water. Place the container in the fridge overnight to soak.

Soak the Almonds in Water

Almonds Soaked Overnight in Fridge

NOTE: The almond milk can be made without soaking the almonds, but I strongly suggest that you do. Soaking the nuts will make the milk more creamy, but the main reason you want to soak the nuts is to destroy the enzyme inhibitor. Nuts were created with an enzyme inhibitor that prevents them from prematurely sprouting. This inhibitor also makes it hard for many people to digest nuts well. When you take the time to soak the nuts, the inhibitor is neutralized and the enzymes come to life…per my earlier post enzymes are very beneficial to us.

Rinse the soaked almonds under cold water. At this point you may remove the almond skins if you’d like. I personally don’t mind the skins and keep them on when I make my milk.

Rinse the Soaked Almonds

Remove the Skins if You'd Like

Place the clean soaked almonds in your Vitamix or blender with 4 cups of filtered water and blend until smooth (2-3 minutes).

Place Rinsed Almonds in Vitamix w/ Water

Blend Thoroughly

Put the nut milk bag into a large bowl. Pour the almond mixture into the nut milk bag and squeeze the liquid into the bowl. Once all of the liquid is out of the bag your plain almond milk is complete.

Place Nut Milk Bag in a Large Bowl

Pour Blended Mixture Into Bag

Squeeze Bag

Only Pulp Remaining

Reserve the nut pulp for another recipe. I put my pulp in a bag and lay it flat in the freezer until I am ready to use it in a recipe.

Almond Pulp

The plain almond milk is now complete. I prefer to store the almond milk in the fridge in its plain state (great with cereal)…that way I can embellish however I’d like.

Plain Almond Milk

Store Plain Almond Milk in the Fridge in a Mason Jar

Sometimes I will add some stevia for a sweeter taste or add some chocolate syrup and make chocolate milk (warmed-up it makes a very yummy hot cocoa), but our family’s FAVORITE almond milk is the strawberry…

Rinse out your blender. Pour 1 cup of the plain almond milk into the blender. Start the blender and add the frozen strawberries one at a time through the opening in the lid. Blend until smooth. Add the agave syrup and blend again. Taste the strawberry milk and add more sweetener if needed. Drink immediately as this is when the flavor is best. It will not store well, so it is best to make it in small batches that you will drink right away.

: Strawberry Almond Milk

For a printable version of this recipe click here.

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Filed under Dessert, Drinks, Gluten Free, Raw, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tagged as almond, almond milk, dessert, drink, milk, milk alternative, nut milk, nut milk bag, strawberry, vegan, vegetarian, vitamix

January 10, 2011 · 8:27 pm

MY KID’S MORNING JUICE

Ready to Juice

As often as I can I try to start the kid’s morning off with fresh juice made from my Breville juicer. The school week can be really busy and it isn’t always easy to cram in all of the nutrients they need to fuel their afterschool activities. Fresh squeezed juice is a fantastic way to give their bodies what it craves. In a perfect world my kids would drink 100% vegetable juice, but reality is different. I can get the kids to drink their green veggies as long as I temper them with the sweetness of apples and carrots. Little by little I have been able to add more and more greens.

These were the ingredients in my kid’s juice this morning:

My Kid's Morning Juice Ingredients

If your kids are new to juicing, start them off with apple juice (I have never met a kid that didn’t LOVE fresh squeezed apple juice). Move on from there by slowly adding more and more carrots to the mix (also very sweet). After a while you will be able to add in greens. I find spinach, romaine, and sugar snap peas to be very mild in taste, so those are your best bets when starting to add greens to your juice.

You don’t need to own a juicer in order to make fresh juice. If you own a blender or a Vitamix and have a nut milk bag or cheesecloth, then you can make juice. It will be a bit more work, but well worth it. In order to make juice with a blender you will need to add some water to the pitcher, chop in your veggies (watery veggies and fruits should go in near the bottom where the blade is), blend and then strain through the nut milk bags into another bowl. Work in batches until you are done.

Nut Milk Bag

Cheesecloth

To make the juice, prepare all of your fruits and veggies by washing them and cutting them down to size if they are too big to fit through the opening of your juicer. Once your produce is ready, set-up your juicer. In order to minimize clean-up, I like to line my juicer’s pulp collector with one of my recycled produce bags. Also keep some paper towel or an extra cup on hand for when you remove the juice pitcher. I block the juice nozzle with a paper towel whenever I move the juice pitcher away…otherwise it will drip onto the counter.

When you juice, make sure you juice the softer fruits and vegetables first (i.e. romaine, cucumber, sugar snap peas, tomatoes) and then push the rest of their pulp through with the harder fruits and vegetables… this will ensure that you get as much juice out of them as you can.

Softer Produce First

Most importantly, get your kids involved. When children participate in making their food, they are much more likely to actually consume that food.

Get the Kids Involved

Some kids are very put off by the color of juice that has carrots or greens in it. I have found a way around that by purchasing some fun cups in different colors. When my daughter drinks out of her fun green cup with the cool straw, she has no idea what color the juice actually is. You could also get some wacky straws to help encourage your children to drink the juice.

Using a Fun Colored Cup

Since we are on the subject of juice, I thought I’d show you what my morning juice consisted of. Most of you won’t start with this many veggies…work up to it with the same method as described above for the kids.

My Morning Juice Ingredients

When my daughter saw the juice she named it “Mommy’s Rainbow Juice.”

Rainbow Juice

Don’t forget to compost your juice pulp…your garden will thank you.

Here’s to health!