Indy Eats- diy almond milk

A few months ago we bought a new Hurom slow juicer. The recipe book had a recipe for home made almond milk. Being me, a mom that worries a lot about why my child eats, I thought I would give it a go. Indy drinks a lot of milk, we have always used organic cows milk and then also supplemented with almond or coconut. After doing this a few times I have decided to put him on homemade almond milk and supplement with a little organic cows milk. It's pretty easy and the only part that take some time is peeling the almonds but I think that would be a great job for older toddlers and preschoolers.
Here's how to do it.
Your going to need raw almonds, and water. I used bottled water but you could use filtered or tap water. You can also sweeten and flavor to your taste, I used agave as a sweetener but have sense learned its not as healthy as I thought at will use honey next time, I also added a tiny bit of vanilla.

The most cost effective way to do this is to buy your RAW (that's important) almonds in bulk. I use this bag which is 3 cups of nuts before soaking.

Your going to soak your almonds in a glass bowl enough water to cover the nuts plus a little extra because they will swell. I normally soak for 24 hours.

Your going to strain the almonds but keep the water they were soaking in.

Pour boiling water over the almonds, this will blanch the nuts and also help loosen the skin. Drain the nuts and toss that water.

Here some the time involved part, you need to peel off the skins. It is really easy to do but takes a little time. These little guys can be really slippery so be careful you don't shoot them across the room, although my dogs love to eat them.

and done.... I put the skins in my compost bin but you can also put them in with your yard waste. .

This is the fun part. If you have a slow juicer you can use that or you can use a blender that has a strong motor. For each cup of nuts BEFORE you soaked them your also going to add 3 cups of water. I find it easiest to pour water into the juicer as I add nuts. If your doing it in a blender add the nuts and water and blend until its liquefied. Your going to use the water that you soaked the nuts in to start with. So when I make milk I use 3 cups of nuts and 9 cups of water.

So if your using a blender or juicer your going to want to run your milk thru a nut milk bag or cheese cloth. I was able to find this bag at the hardware store.

Your going to strain all your liquid then ring the bag to get all the extra milk out. I use the mesh colander to just hold up the milk bag.

TADA! Almond milk. This is the point you want to add any sweetener or flavoring. I make a pretty big batch that lasts us about 2 1/2 days, you want to try and use your milk with in 3 days. Make sure to store your milk in glass to avoid having any thing leaching into your milk. I found this one at Target for 5 bucks but you could also use mason jars.

He loves it.

This is the left over almond paste. I use some as a body scrub mixed with my body wash or put it in the compost bin.

So, quick recap- 1 cup or dry nuts to 3 cups of water. Soak your almonds for at least 8 hours. Drink your milk in 3 days.
Now go make some milk!!!

update- I was just informed you can make this in the nutribullet, good to know. I also want to point out that once you let this sit for awhile in the fridge it will separate, that's normal, just shake before use.