Fresh Homemade Almond Milk
Since we're on a trend with this thread, I thought I'd mention how easy and economical it is to make fresh almond milk. If you like the taste of almonds, you'll love almond milk. It's delicious! It tastes way better than the commercial stuff in the store and has a lot less additives. It's also a great replacement for cow's milk, for those of you who are lactos intolerant, or are on a non-dairy diet. Here is a plain, non-sweetened version. You can add sugar, vanilla, or cocoa, if you like. I like it plain in my coffee each morning.
Put 2 handfuls of raw, organic almonds into the blender. Fill the blender up with about 6-8 cups of water. Turn on the blender and blend until the nuts are finely ground, about 2 minutes. Pour mixture into a strainer that is lined with a cotton cloth. (A scrap of old bed sheeting is perfect.) Allow to sit and drain for about 10 minutes. Gather up the cloth and twist it to help release the rest of the "milk." Put the almond grounds back into the blender and blend again with about 3-4 cups of water. Repeat the straining process. Store milk in the refrigerator. Save the grounds in the freezer to use as a crumb topping in a dish later on.
*Note: Almond milk will sometimes separate. To prevent that, you can blend in about 1/4 teaspoon of Xanthan Gum, or Guar Gum. (Bob's Red Mill sells these. Look for them in a health food store or co-op, Whole Foods, or the baking section of a major grocery store.) It's kind of messy to use, so sometimes I go ahead and just buy a half gallon of commercial Almond Milk, such as Blue Diamond, or Silk brands, and just mix my homemade together with the commercial stuff, which already has the emulsifiers in it.
The cost for freshly made almond milk is about 1/2 of buying it in the store, on sale. It takes a little time and effort to make, but I think that it's really worth it.
~C