Dairy be gone...

I think one of the hardest things for me to give up when I start my first Whole30 is definitely going to be dairy. I love my coffee, and I always start the day with a Nespresso latte style coffee. So I decided I need an alternative, and wanted to have a go at making my own almond milk. The ones in the shops have so much added to them, when really all it needs is raw almonds and water and a good blender. I have a Ninja blender, so I thought this could do the job, and decided to give it a go.

I started by soaking 1 cup of almonds in enough water to cover them, allowing a bit extra for the almonds to plump up as they soaked up some of the liquid. I had read that you can leave them soaking for up to 2 days, and the longer you leave them the creamier the milk. So I put them in water on Saturday morning, and waited overnight before I attempted the rest of the method.

The soaked almonds after almost 24 hours

I got rid of the soaking water and gave the almonds a good rinse. I put them into the Ninja blender and added 4 cups of water. The amount of water you add will give differing amounts of creaminess. If you want really creamy milk, just add double the amount of liquid to the nuts. 

My Ninja blender isn't designed for non-stop blending like a regular blender, it has to be pulsed, so this did take a little bit of patience, but it got there in the end. Once the liquid was nice and frothy it was done. I strained it through a tea-towel (I didn't have any cheesecloth or a nut bag), then gathered up the towel and squeezed out as much of the almond milk as i could.

I didn't add anything to this batch of almond milk, I really wanted to see what it was like as is, and then decide for next time what to add. It is quite plain, so I think in future I might try adding a date and maybe a drop of vanilla essence. I have also read that a tiny pinch of salt helps with the sweetness.

Strained almond milk

I also think perhaps it was a little watered down, so next time i will try doing a ratio of 1:2 and see how that goes. It does seem like a lot of effort to go to to only get a couple of cups of milk, but I only use it in my coffee so it should last me 3 days, which is how long it can be kept for. It can be frozen for later use once made up, so if I do a larger batch it won't go to waste. 

Once the almond milk has been squeezed out, you are left with the almond meal. I spread it out on a lined tray and put it in the oven at 130°c for about 2 hours to dry out. I have also stored that in the freezer and will be able to use for cooking/baking.

Dried almond meal