Mildly flavored Homemade Organic Almond Milk

Homemade Almond Milk is a great alternative to dairy! This 100% natural, vegan & Paleo friendly milk is super easy to make at home minus the preservatives.

Recently while I was talking to a friend from Sydney, she mentioned that they have given up dairy products completely. She told me that they now only consume store-bought Almond milk. She had apparently done some research on this and told me to only buy Carrageenan free brand of milk, which claims to have fewer additives and sugar than the others. Intrigued, I too began doing my own research on Almond Milk. There were some brands available here in the US which met the criteria, but still it was not completely free of sugar, additives and preservatives. Lot of articles that I read online had only one thing to say by the end - If you are not happy with the ones you get in the stores, make them at home yourself. Making it at home is the easiest and simplest way to obtain nutritious and delicious milk! Until then it had never occurred to me that we can make any kind of milk at home. This was like an eye opener and I just had to try it myself to believe it! In fact, when growing up, I had never ever heard of any other kind of milk other than dairy. We sometimes used coconut milk in certain recipes but that was it. Almond milk, Soy milk, Oats milk, Rice milk were unheard of back then.

In those days, we would never hear of someone being allergic to dairy. That never happened, so I guess the need for other kind of milk didn't arise. Nowadays, things are very different, even in India. We all have been exposed to different kinds of milk and we also like to try each of them out (allergic or not). This interest in non dairy milk has increased in multiple folds in last few years. Even popular coffee chains like Starbucks have begun to serve their beverages using plant-based milk. Grocery stores are filled with a variety of brands selling vegan milk. This is a reflection of the society we live in today. Each milk has its own set of pros and cons. If you ever tell an Indian parent that dairy milk is not good for you or your child, they will look at you as if you are an alien. We Indians love cow's milk and think that it is the No.1 thing our body needs. But studies have shown that cow's milk could be one of the reason for improper digestion and cause bloating. KR suggested that we try going off dairy for a week or two and see how it feels. We did this for two weeks and did feel a huge difference. Coming from families that relies heavily on dairy, we seemed to be better off without it! 

In those two weeks, we tried every non-dairy milk available. We were in the testing phase. Since we had heard stories that soy is not good for males in the long run, we skipped that. I am still not sure if that is true though. We tried Almond Milk, Oats Milk, Rice Milk and Pea Protein and liked all of them. We anyways always buy unsweetened milk in-order to reduce the percentage of added sugars but we were still worried that we were consuming lots of other things other than just milk which was not good for the body. That is when I decided to try making milk at home and I chose Almond Milk to begin Milk made from almonds surely has its share of benefits. Firstly, it is a fantastic alternative for those who are allergic to dairy or soy. It is cholesterol free, low in calories, this milk helps you keep your weight in check, contributes to a glowing skin while keeping you healthy. While it is a popular alternative, I realized that it doesn't contain as much protein as cows milk. So weight watchers can add protein powder to a glass of almond milk to make it your go-to healthy drink. Since I decided to give it a try, I wanted to make it mildly flavored. Many recipes that I saw online called for dates and cinnamon powder to be added to give it a flavor, but I skipped it.

I have used Organic Almonds and they are preferred as well, however you can use the regular ones too. You can use almonds with or without the skin. Soak almonds in warm filtered water with salt for at-least 12 hours or overnight. After being soaked for so many hours, the skin will peel of easily (if using almonds with the skin). You can choose to keep the skin on while grinding them or discard it. In a blender, add the almonds, maple syrup and vanilla essence. Add 2 cups of water for every cup of almonds you blend. You may need to do this in batches depending upon your blender size. Blend it for a good 2-3 minutes on high. You will see a frothy milky texture. It will smell heavenly due to the vanilla in it. Strain the milk. Do not throw away the pulp. It can be reused in many recipes. I made Hummus from Almond Pulp with it. I decided to blend the pulp with some water once again as I wanted skim milk. If you want the milk to be thick, then you can stop here. This yielded a sizable amount of almond milk, sufficient to take us through the week. This milk can be stored in the fridge for a week. Its best when served chilled. You can use this in smoothies, with oats, cereal, milkshakes or just drink it as it is. Am loving it! It's creamy, tasty and healthy! Enjoy it guilt-free!

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