The Benefits of Fresh, Homemade Almond Milk

One of my Health Coaching clients and I made some fresh almond milk this week.  It's so easy, and so delicious, and so nutritionally superior, as well as easier on the pocket book than the "store-bought" varieties, I think the subject deserves a little attention.

 

The  first thing to notice is that packaged, cooked almond milk is now available in grocery stores everywhere.  It’s probably a sign of the times that more mainstream, Standard American Diet (SAD) grocery shoppers are now avoiding dairy when possible, (which is another story), and opting for heart-healthy almonds.  I’ve heard that it can even be used in place of milk in many cooked recipes. 

Although the switch to almond milk is an improvement on dairy consumption, there is still a bif difference between cooked, packaged almond milk and fresh, raw, homemade almond milk.  The energy and life-force in the cooked milk is boiled out, whereas raw almond milk, most often made with soaked, germinated almonds is packed with this energizing life force. 

Additionally, and this is important, when you make your own almond milk, you are familiar with all the ingredients that you choose to add.  Almond milk can be as simple as just almonds and water, or you can add honey, dates, a dash of oil and salt, a little vanilla, cinnamon, raw cacao, etc.  Cooked almond milks contain stabilizers, thickeners, and flavor enhancers all of which are chemical additives that detract the pure nutritional value and add unnecessary toxins.

 

If you’re interested in this line of thought, try googling any common ingredient found on a package of cooked almond milk.  One fascinating article, for example, can be found at

http://chriskresser.com/harmful-or-harmless-carrageenan

Truly, good people, it’s a good thing to start making your own almond milk, and perhaps then other nut milks like Brazil, cashew, etc., and seed milks like sunflower, hemp, sesame, etc.  To start, enjoy the recipe below.  Once you do it once or twice, you won’t even notice the 5-10 minutes it takes to make it, and you’ll love the fact that you are providing yourself and your family the superior beverage.

EASY ALMOND MILK---REALLY, THERE’S NO EXCUSE!

Almonds are the only nuts that are known to alkalize the blood, while all others acidify blood.  Almonds are also highest of all nuts in arginine, an amino acid that boosts the immune system and inhibits tumor growth.

1 cup almonds –as raw as you can get them—soaked about 12 hours.

3 cups water

1 TBS raw honey or raw agave nectar

1.   In a blender or Vita-Mix, blend the almonds and water and sweetener until smooth.

2.   Strain through a cheese cloth, nut milk bag, or fine strainer, or use as is. 

Note : You can use other nuts such as Brazils, hazelnuts (filberts), cashews, or seeds, such as sunflower or hemp.

 

EASIER ALMOND MILK –(AND SLIGHTLY MORE EXPENSIVE) 

2 Tbs. raw almond butter

2 cups water

Pinch  of sea salt  

Place almond butter, water, and sea salt in a blender and pure`e until smooth. (Sweeten to taste with your favorite sweetener).

 

Enjoy!!

 

For more easy-to-prepare, delicious, nutritious recipes, go to

www.janesmith-healthcoaching.com

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More on Travelling Raw

A week of yoga

I’m leaving for a trip to Mexico in a few days.  I’m going on a yoga trip with our oldest daughter, Lisa, and her recently-graduated-from-college-daughter, Melissa. At the same time, several folks have been asking me about maintaining a high raw diet while travelling. I have addressed the issue in other blogs (search in  the archives for "travelling raw").  This trip, however, has given rise to some questions that I’ve not had to deal with before, so I’m in the process of tweaking my “usual” food provision ( as if every trip doesn’t require some creative thinking about food) routine.  Some of these works in progress may be helpful to you the next time you travel.  If not, do feel free to work out your own solutions ….anything to keep you out of a lot of food on the road that you really don’t want to be eating. Let us know your ideas.  We can all learn!

1.  Making green smoothies.  I got lucky here.  We’ll be staying in a bungalow for 4 which has a kitchen.  I checked with the leader of the group and found out that there, is, in fact, a blender there.  Thus, I can make green smoothies every day, which, for me, settles lots of angst right there.

2.  Fresh produce.  We’ll be fed a sizable brunch buffet each day we are there, which I assume will have lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.  If I’m lucky, there may be some nuts and seeds at them as well.  I may pack a small container of sunflower seeds to use on salads or as a snack.

Puerto Morelos, Mexico

3.  Other meals.  It’s a ten minute walk to the town of Puerto Morelos, where there are restaurants, (for evening meals), and grocery stores, (for fruits and dark leafy greens for the smoothies I’ll make in my kitchen).  The exercise will be good in itself, and I shouldn’t want for plenty of good fresh food.  I wonder about how well I will be able to eat in the restaurants, staying as raw as I can.  The good news is, though, that if I can buy grocery produce and take it home, I won’t need to worry much about evening meals in restaurants.   I can just make another smoothie or a salad in our room.  (Note to self: take a shopping bag or two, and don’t forget  to pack a small knife in the suitcase that will be checked for the flight.

4.  Extras.  Mexico doesn’t allow fresh produce to be brought into the country, and suggest that any other food that’s imported be still in its factory wrapper.  I’m bringing an assortment of raw bars that I get in the Health Food Store.  I also made a large bowl of trail mix, which I divided into ½ cup servings, packed in snack bags.   I think that if they’re deep in my checked suitcase, they won’t be bothered.  If I’m questioned, I’ll say that the trail mix is necessary for my diet.  True enough.  I am printing the guidelines below for my trail mix, but this time, just to be safe, I cut way back on the dried fruit, lest it make the TSA folks nervous.

If any of you have other good ideas for me, leave them in the comments section below.  I hope that the trail mix guidelines will be helpful for you at some point.  For me, the little baggies full make a perfect after-biking snack, and I usually pack some along to conferences, as well, where the salads have a tendency to get boring.  The little protein/fat boost provided by the nuts and seeds gives me a good boost, physically and mentally.

5. Water.  I don’t usually drink tap water in Mexico, so I hope that the place we’re staying will supply us with good, safe water.  Stay tuned.

Jane’s Trail Mix Guidelines

Easy to make and pack

Homemade trail mix has many advantages over varieties that are already packaged for you. It is cheaper, allows you to add as much or as little of whatever you want, and, if you pick raw ingredients, provides you with the maximum nutrition value. It’s hard to go wrong!

There are no rules here.  Trail mix is a good way to give you lots of nice crunchy things in your diet, all of which are nutrient laden.  You can add in as many dried fruits as you like, keeping in mind that dried fruits have a higher sugar content than regular fruit.

When I make trail mix, I make a lot of it in a big bowl—a really big bowl.  Then I measure out ½ cup portions, (which may not look like much, but is plenty satisfying), into snack- sized baggies.  I carry a couple of those in my purse just on general principles, as it does me good to know that I have good, nourishing food available, and I will not starve, even if I’m caught in bad weather, traffic, etc.

So, begin in the bulk foods department .  I buy one of those medium sized bags of each of the following:

-Raw Nuts and Seeds—almonds, Brazils, pecans, cashews, walnuts, filberts (hazel nuts), sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds. (Macadamias and pine nuts don’t keep quite as well, and they are very expensive, so I skip them for trail mix.)

-Dried fruits from the bulk bins or the packaged bulk shelves in Clover’s : raisins, currants, goji berries,  etc. Others, which I then cut up, include papaya spears, mango slices, date rolls, pineapple, etc.   Take care to buy the ones that have no sulphur, sulphites or sugar included. 

-There are other bagged, raw berries that I like and are labeled “raw”, like golden berries and mulberry berries. 

-Raw cacao nibs add a really nice surprise chocolate treat in trail mix, and are high in magnesium and anti-oxidants.

When I put these all together one cup of each thing, perhaps adding an extra half cup of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.  Suit yourself. This mixture will keep very well and travels very well.  Enjoy!!

Note—buying all these nuts and seeds is a big financial proposition.  However, they keep well, and making trail mix with a cup full of each ingredient will last for weeks—a bargain in disguise.