Crazy vegan woman here.  With another crazy vegan recipe.  I know, I know.  I’m over the top.  But I can’t help myself.  We’ll get back to quilts in the next post.  I have lots of quilt pics to share.  And a quilt show coming up too!  Stay tuned.

In the meantime, humor me.  Act interested in my healthy diet.  And try some almond milk.  You might actually like it.

When it comes to Almond Milk, you can buy it in a box like this.  Or a carton.  If you do buy it, I highly recommend Almond Breeze and not Almond Silk.  Unless you actually like milk that is more like cream.  In other words, thick.  I prefer Almond Breeze on my cereal.

OR…….

You can make your own.  Really.  It’s super simple.  You just need a blender.

You start with almonds.  Big surprise, eh?  You can buy them already blanched or you can blanch your own.  Since I’m going for the Totally Back to Nature Vegan Gal of the Century Award, I blanched my own.  Just pour some boiling water over 1/2 cup of almonds and let them sit a minute.  Then rinse and cover them with cold water.  The skins just fall right off.

See?  Well, they don’t actually fall off.  You kind of have to peel them.  But they peel easily.  Promise.  I just used my fingernail to get it started.

I sat in front of the TV and peeled these.  Oh, come on.  You can do it.  It’s only 1/2 cup of almonds.  Really.  It’ll take about 5 minutes.  Be a crazy vegan woman with me and peel your own almonds.  I need support with this new healthy me.

Put the blanched almonds in the blender with a cup of water.  Add a tsp of vanilla.

I also add a dash of almond extract.  Just to bump up the flavor a bit. 

And because I like it a little sweet……

…. I drizzle in a little agave nectar.  Or you could use a little honey.   And a pinch of salt.

Then just turn the blender on and let ‘er rip for about 2 minutes.  You want to really pulverize those almonds.

Then stop the blender and pour in 4 more cups of water.  Blend again for about 2 minutes.

See how nice and frothy it is?  It really is quite yummy.  I actually like Almond Milk much better than regular cow’s milk.  It’s especially good on oatmeal and cereal.

I usually then pour it through about 3 layers of cheesecloth.  But on this particular picture-taking day, I just used a small strainer and poured it right into my milk bottle.

That’s all there is to it.  Simple.  And really delicious.  And healthy.

This week I also found a recipe for Cashew Milk.  Apparently you can make milk out of lots of things.  The recipe was even more simple.  Just 1/2 cup raw cashews and 2 cups of water.  A little sweetener if you wish.  And a dash of salt.  You can add more water if you like it a little thinner.  This recipe said to soak the cashews in water for about an hour, then drain, rinse and add to the blender with fresh water.  Apparently cashews pulverize easier than almonds.  A softer nut, perhaps?  I didn’t even strain the cashew milk at all.  And it was very tasty on my morning cereal.

In fact, this looks so good I think I’ll have a bowl before I head to bed tonight!

Almond Milk.  Cashew Milk.  If you’ve never tried it before, I challenge you to give it a try.  Very yummy.  And you might just break out in health.

Hugs,
Barb