No, not that milk. We had many great years together, but the breastfeeding days are over. I mean my homemade almond milk.
For a few years now, I’ve tried to make my own almond milk, using both methods/appliances detailed below. I never got it just right, the main problems being that the milk was always 1) a little too thin 2) a little too bland and 3) a little too grainy. But at last, I got the best batch ever. How do I know that it was the best batch ever? Because instead of refusing to taste it, as he has done with the past few batches of milk, the Boy took my word that it was “really good”, and he tried it. And promptly declared, “It’s really awesome.” So did the Girl. Between the two of them, they downed two glasses of it.
It wasn’t just that they really liked it. It was that they had given me another chance to get it right, and they had believed in me. Now that’s awesome.
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So now, instead of spending between $2.50 and $4.00/litre, I can make my own simple, nutritious, great-tasting almond milk for about $1.30/litre. Here’s how:
Homemade Almond Milk:
> 100 g. (approx. 250 mL) raw, unsalted almonds, soaked overnight
> 375 mL (3 c.) cold water
> 1/4 tsp. sugar
> 1/4 tsp. salt
> 1 tbsp. tapioca starch OR quick-cooking tapioca (I used the latter.)
> Optional: 1 tsp. vanilla flavouring
Method 1: Using the SoyaJoy Milk Maker
> Place all ingredients into the SoyaJoy and follow the manufacturer’s instructions to make milk.
> Add vanilla when the machine has done its work. Voilà! Warm almond milk in 15 minutes!
Method 2: Using traditional blender
> Mix water with sugar, salt, and tapioca starch, and bring to a boil on the stove.
> Pour water into a blender and add almonds. Blend on high speed for about 30 seconds.
> Strain almonds through a cheesecloth or a fine sieve, pressing with a spoon to get all the liquid out. Cheesecloth is best, if you don’t want grainy milk. Otherwise, you may have to strain several times, back and forth between two containers.
The almond meal may be thrown into the compost heap, or kept for baking. (We’ve used past batches, along with a little extra almond oil, to bake almond biscotti.)
The Nocturnal Lecturer 