DIY Almond Milk

A friend passed on this recipe to me and after looking at the ingredients in the almond milk I currently buy, I thought it might be worth a shot to make my own. It didn't look too hard and depending on the price of almonds, it would be much cheaper than buying it at the store.

It took a little trial and error - especially because the friend had used a Vitamix that holds much more than my little blender. Plus, I had never used cheesecloth before - I found out it probably isn't re-usable like I thought it was..

So here is how I did it:

Soak one cup of almonds in plenty of water for at

 least 6 hours, but I did it for 24.

 Add almonds and up to 6 cups of water to your blender 

(mine only fit 4 and almost over-flowed!

Blend on high speed for a minute or two and you'll get this:

Pour the blender contents through a fine mesh sieve. 

If you were only able to fit 4 cups of water in your

blender then add the almond "mush" leftovers back

to the blender and add 2 more cups of water. Blend

again and put through sieve again. 

Then you'll have this when you're all done:

It looks good-to-go, but some smaller particles

sneak in there so it's good to use cheesecloth

to catch these before you drink it. 

No one likes chunky milk :) 

Like my use of clips? This is where I realized

I would not be re-using my cheesecloth. 

Next time I'll cut a much smaller piece and 

put it on the opening of the container

I'll store the almond milk in and pour it 

directly in the container. 

I did add a little vanilla to the final product, 

but it tastes pretty darn good without. 

And I feel a bit better knowing it doesn't have:

calcium carbonate

tapioca starch

potassium citrate

carrageenan (what?!)

sunflower lecithin

and other "natural" flavors

(what are those anyway?)