So GMO non-organic soy is out. What to pour over your oats now? Well, the answer is simple—and so much more delicious and nutritious than any supermarket packaged non-dairy milks that are often laden with preservatives and goodness knows what else.
Making your own almond milk at home takes a small amount of preparation, and not only leaves you with great tasting milk, but also the peace of mind knowing exactly where it came from.
As with any recipe, you can change this around to suit your specific taste. Even add some raw cacao for a chocolate drink like no other. Here is the basic recipe I use to make my very own fresh almond milk. Enjoy!
Raw Almond Milk
1 cup of soaked raw almonds
Spring water for soaking
3 cups of spring water (for actual milk)
3 to 6 pitted dates
• Almonds are best soaked overnight in a refrigerator, but if you’re in a rush, soak for a couple of hours and you’ll still be on your way to making a fabulous milk. Be sure to rinse them before using.
• I usually soak the dates in spring water for half an hour or so, but this isn’t always necessary if you’re using soft dates.
Blend the soaked almonds with the spring water until smooth. Then strain that mix through a strainer or cheesecloth (I find a strainer much easier to use). You can also save the left over pulp to sprinkle over cereal or use in baking recipes. Waste not, want not!
Place the almond milk back into your blender, throw in the dates and blend until smooth.
And, voila, there you have it, fresh almond milk. If you prefer a thinner or thicker milk, simply add or take away water as desired. Your milk will last in the refrigerator for about three days. Be sure to shake before using.
To make vanilla almond milk
Add the seeds from 1 vanilla bean or a natural sweetener such as stevia.
One last tip: You can also add your almond milk to a green smoothie recipe to make it that much more delicious.
Pics courtesy of www.thehealthyeatingsite.com
Remember the food pyramid we were taught to memorise to ensure we got the right amounts of the right foods for good health? Well, as you may or may not know, that popular pin-up was influenced heavily by the dairy and meat industries. The goal of the chart was to generate big business, not optimal health.
But it’s not all bad news. Health Ranger Mike Adams has developed a guide that’s free from food industry corruption. It lists all the foods that will do a body good, and all those that will cause disease. It’s simple to navigate and it’s free to download.
One point worth mentioning is that the chart does list soy as a “good food”, which it’s not unless it’s fermented. You heard it right, tofu isn’t good for you, nor is soy milk. Most soy is genetically modified and, according to Dr Mercola, it stops the body from digesting protein. It also impairs thyroid function. Find out more about the evils of soy in the video below:
Okay, so my three day cleanse turned into one. Still, it was the kick start I needed after travelling for the last few weeks.
So today, I find myself at Starbucks, peppermint tea in one hand, Whittaker’s dark chocolate bar in the other. The soya lecithin and flavour additives might not make it the healthiest treat around, but since my diet is usually raw wholefoods, once is okay. Girl’s gotta live a little, right? A nice surprise to find a choccie bar with no dairy!
The not-so-good news about soy? Here’s an excerpt from a Natural News story:
The soy myth
Finally the soy myth needs to be exposed. This is another persistent one among alternative circles. An often-used argument is that soy has been used in Asia for thousands of years. Another half truth. While it is true that soy products were consumed as far back as the Ming Dynasty, only fermented soy was used. Raw soy products such as tofu, soy milk, soy lecithin and soy oil are only 200 to 300 years old. Once again they have been popularized by a powerful industry which has been pulling the wool over our eyes by emphasizing a healthy tradition in fermented soy use and confusing it with unfermented soy. Health food stores sell this as a health food!
What’s so bad about soy? Well, it contains lots of phytic acid, an acid which can also be found in yeast bread but not in sourdough bread. Sourdough bread is a fermented bread which contains lactic acid bacteria and so does fermented soy. Besides eating the sugars in the starch these bacteria also eat the phytic acid. If left intact, phytic acid acts as a mineral blocker. It blocks the absorption of important minerals like iron, zinc, magnesium and calcium. Feeding babies with a so-called lactose allergy soy milk is an absolute disaster. Kids and adults would also do wise to avoid taking unfermented soy.
Fermented soy products are soy sauce (watch out for other harmful ingredients such as sugar, MSG, preservatives and colorants), miso and tempeh. Particularly, Japanese cuisine is very good with fermented soy. Bad news for vegetarians and vegans who often turn to tofu and associated soy products. They too fall victim to the propaganda of a very profitable industry.
Hmmm… should have reminded self of facts above before consuming said chocolate…
