all about almonds

I recently gave up dairy and grains as part of a larger healthy eating initiative (more on that later), and almonds are a big part of filling those gaps in my pantry and diet.

I hate DIY recipes that leave you with a lot of waste.  Making almond milk at home is a two-for-one deal: after your milk is strained and ready to drink, the leftover bits can be dried and used as flour!

Homemade Almond Milk & Meal

Step one: Fill a bowl with two cups almonds and enough water to cover the nuts + one inch. The almonds will absorb the water and expand. Set in fridge (or on counter) for at least 8 hours. I left mine overnight.

Step two: Drain off the gunky brown water and rinse.

Step three: Using a blender, add 1/2 cup soaked almonds + 1 cup water and blend on highspeed for 1 minute.  Remove to a large bowl and repeat until all soaked almonds have been used up.

Step four (optional): Add flavorings to the collected large bowl of milk - I used 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp cinnamon, but this is unnecessary. Return to blender in batches to mix in flavorings.

Step five: Strain. The almond milk will still be fairly gritty at this point. Set up a fine metal strainer over a large bowl to drain.   I lined my strainer with an old thin dishcloth, but cheesecloth works well too. You can express milk from the strainer by pressing with a spoon or gathering your cloth and squeezing.

Step six: Refrigerate almond milk - I ended up with five cups of milk, which will be good for 4-5 days.

Step seven: Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment.  Spread the collected almond bits from the strainer or cloth and allow to dry in a 150 degree oven for three hours.  I heated my oven and then let the pan dry overnight with the oven off.  Remove to a food processor to grind the almond meal to a uniform fine texture - you just made almond flour!

Banana Chocolate Almond Shake
dairy, gluten, sugar free
(makes one serving)

1/2 cup ice cubes
1 frozen banana (in chunks)
3/4 - 1 cup fresh almond milk
3 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp almond butter

Crush ice in blender, then add remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth. Enjoy!

~RLM

Comments

[limejuicy]

thanks for writing this up! I need to try it.

[Jocelyn]

Brill! I never thought to do anything with the dregs. I usually just don't strain and enjoy the crunch bits on my cereal. :)