I stole this pic off the internet since I didn't have a store bought carton to take my own picture.
Homemade almond milk is better for you, cheaper, and tastes way better. It's kinda a hassle to make but I have a lot of free time so it's no bother. The first step is to buy the almonds (duh!). I now only buy organic almonds because I learned that almonds are heavily sprayed. Who wants to drink that crap?!
So I buy in bulk at Whole Foods or The Good Health Store in Hanover. The price per pound is quite a bit more for the organic. Per pound it is $8 vs. $5.
Next you will take one and a half cups of almonds and soak them in a large bowl of filtered water.
Rinse and replace water every few hours. There are many reasons you want to soak your almonds.
Almonds are difficult to digest because of an enzyme-inhibiting substance in their brown coating. Soaking almonds removes these toxic enzyme inhibitors so that the enzymes secreted during digestion can do their job. Almond is known as a brain tonic. It is rich in essential fats and can enhance memory and intelligence. Eating 4-6 soaked almonds every morning helps enhance your memory. Soaking almonds in water makes them softer. This means better digestibility.
After 6-12 hours the nuts will be ready. You will see that they will start to sprout. See that little white nubby at the tip?
Once the almonds have soaked for 6-12 hours give them a good rinse and add half to your blender. I invested in a vitamix blender and it is worth every penny. Add 3 cups of water to the nuts in the blender and let it mix for a minute. If you have a low quality blender you may need to let it mix for several minutes. The next step requires you to be creative. You'll need some sort of very fine fabric or strainer to separate the milk from the nut residue. I use a muslin sack, some people use cheese cloth, or you can buy a nut milking bag.
Whatever you choose just know that your will get messy. I pour the milk into the sack and then gently squeeze it into a bowl until I get as much milk out as I can.
The remaining almond pulp can be saved and frozen to use in baking. This is what the almond pulp looks like after:
Now that you have your milk you will need a container to keep it in. I use a glass milk jar that I bought at the grocery store. I had to pay a $5 deposit for the glass bottle but that's cheaper than having to buy a container.
At this point you can add ingredients to your milk. Some like to add vanilla, or almond extract, some add agave nectar or honey to sweeten it. Today I am making 2 separate batches so one will be left plain and the second will be chocolate. I use a "Super Food" called organic raw cacao.
No, this is not baking cocoa. The A and the O switch places and it becomes a great, healthy, antioxident. Here's more info: http://www.rawcacao.com/
I used the rest of my almonds and made a second batch of milk and added a whole bunch of raw, organic cacao powder. In its natural state this is bitter, so I added a teaspoon of stevia. I put this all back in the blender for a few seconds, and poured into into another glass milk bottle.
This chocolate almond milk is awesome. Its soooo much better than any store bought stuff you can buy.
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