Milking the almonds

Yes, one of the most common vegan "problems"

MILK

My son once asked me how I milk the almonds. It made me chuckle but also sad to know that at this young age he knew cows needed to be milked to obtain milk by humans.

I don't go preaching to people to give up cows milk, but I'm open to educating people about what goes behind the closed door of dairy farms.

The reason why I went vegan was me watching the film called "Earthlings" , I'm not going to go into any details here.But it has opened my eyes and over night I decided to go vegan.

We drink homemade almond milk. Mostly because all the other milks I found in the supermarkets contain lots of additives. I completely understand that manufacturers need to make sure milks last longer as they will sell better but what they put in them is plain scary.

I'm raising my kids vegan because I want them to be healthy, so giving them milk full of chemicals isn't an option. We take pride and joy in our milk, its simple and delicious. We make it plain, but later add agave, dates to sweet it up.

Here is the recipe:

Almond Milk

Makes 2 small bottles:

200g of organic raw almonds 

400ml of cooled boiled water

1 cheese cloth ( or baby's muslim will work too)

2 small bottles ( sterilised with boiling water and cooled)

1 pint of boiling water

You will need a blender

Step 1:

Pour water over the almonds and cover with cling film. Leave it for 1 h

Drain the almonds and peel the skin. They should "pop" out of the skin. Some people like it with the skins on, and thats ok. We prefer it smoother and that is without the skins.

Step 2:

Put the cheese cloth over a tall dish, make sure its clean as its where your milk will drip to. Leave a generous amount of cloth sticking out, the weight of the milk will make the dish sink.

Put the almonds in a blender, pour the cooled water with the almonds. Make sure to shut the lid!!!

Blend on low speed for 30 sec, then on fast for another 30 sec. 

Once its all blended pour over the cheese cloth. Grab the edges of the cheese cloth and squeeze it tight. Repeat until no milk is coming out. 

Step 3: 

Pour the milk into prepped bottles. Shut tight. Refrigerate. 

Step 4:

Do not throw away the pulp!!!

Spread it on grease prove paper, and dry in the oven. about 2h on 140C

Once its dry, put in food processor and blend slightly to ensure even and smooth texture. 

Voila! you have made your own almond flour!! use it in cakes, sprinkle over chia puddings. Possibilities are endless!!