Almond Milk {recipe}

So, if you've been to my house at all in the last six months, you'd probably notice that I buy almond milk. And since it only comes in half-gallon cartons, I tend to buy in bulk. We're talking 5 or 6 half-gallon cartons every 2 weeks.

At almost $4 a carton, it gets pretty expensive.

So in order to save money, I decided to look for recipes to make my own. I found so many online via Pinterest, so I chose one and gave it a go.

I bought 2 one-pound bags of organic raw almonds at the store for about $6 total. Water is, of course, free.

You'll need to make sure to soak your almonds in water with a little bit of salt before using them to release and break down the phytic acid, making them easier to digest. I soaked 2 cups of almonds in 6 cups of water for 12 hours, drained them, and rinsed them well before using them.

I placed one cup of almonds in my Ninja blender with 6 cups of water and blended until they were a creamy, milky texture. However, I would definitely do this in smaller batches. It made a bit of a mess for me. I've also seen that a lot of people use up to 9 cups of water for 1 cup of nuts, but I like my milk a lot thicker, so that's up to you.

I didn't take a picture of this because it was very hands-on, but once your almonds and water are blended, you're going to want to strain them with some sort of cloth. (Nut cloth, flour sack, etc.) I didn't have any of these handy, so I used my spaghetti strainer and a coffee filter. It took a while, but worked just as good. Whatever you use, be sure to squeeze any excess milk from the almond pulp. You can either save the pulp to make almond flour or throw it away.

I only used half of the almonds I soaked, and I got about 3/4 of a liter out of it.

This was the next morning, after chocolate milk and breakfast was made. It separated a bit overnight, but it wasn't anything terrible. A quick stir fixed that right up.

The almond flavor is a bit stronger than in store-bought milk, but I love it. I've used the homemade almond milk in mashed potatoes, oatmeal, coffee, and iced lattes. I prefer it unsweetened, but you could add honey or organic sugar to it (just pour the filtered milk back into the blender with the flavor/sweetener of your choice and give it a whirl).

This is definitely something that is going to be part of my weekly process. I love healthy food and drinks, and if I can make them in my own home, even better.

-lindsey