How To Milk An Almond

Almond milk!
One of my favorite cow's milk alternatives. Ok that's not even entirely true, it's one of my favorite liquids.
Something that bugs me is how, often times, we find ourselves trying to make one food as similar as possible to another food that we want to replace.

Meatless burgers for instance. If you want something that tastes as much like a burger as possible, but isn't a burger, what exactly are you trying to accomplish? To me, it defeats the purpose of cutting certain foods out of your diet. It's a dietary denial! Let go of the burger and you shall be free!

yes, let it go, clear your mind of milk as you know it ... now breathe... Lets embrace the true identity of Almond milk!

Ok, so I take all of that back .. a little. The desire for milk alternatives isn't always out of pure choice. Dairy allergies or lactose intolerance are big players in the cow's-milk-stand-in industry.
However, it's not a good idea to drink almond milk if you suffer from a tree-nut allergy.

However! If you're looking to cut dairy our of your diet by choice, try to put cow's milk out of your mind as a comparison to all things labeled milk... no more comparing! From here on out, anything with milk in the name that does not come from a cow will be appreciated for it's individuality and no comparisons shall be made! Especially when such comparisons are made just to try and help you like it more. That's silly, stop it...

Nutritionally speaking almond milk is a good source of Vitamin D and Calcium! Just like cow... er... just like almonds are! Because it's made of almonds of course.
 (ok on a side note, cow's milk only has vitamin D in it because people put it there)

Almond milk also has protein and good fats and a bunch of vitamin E.

Almond milk is great in baking, goes well over cereal, tastes nice in coffee, is refreshing on it's own and is fairly inexpensive! Especially when you make it yourself.

My personal recipe is a bit dilute compared to how thick and rich you can potentially make your own almond milk.
I start the night before. The ratio I prefer is 1/2 cup raw (preferably organic) almonds in my measuring cup.
Then I fill the cup up to the 2 cup mark with fresh, clean water.
I let this soak over night

And it looks like this in the morning!
This is not scientific, if I sleep more or less than you, there's not going to be a huge difference if our almonds. Sure, I could leave this for the rest of the day and probably have almonds that are soggier tonight, which would probably make a richer milk. Especially since my almond to water ratio is that of a budget conscious almond hoarder. 

Next step is to throw this into the blender and whirrrrr the ever-lovin' daylights out of it! I'm talkin' full on blend-o-rama. Especially when dealing with a smaller amount of almonds you're going to want to get as much bang for your buck as possible so blend for as long as you can stand the sound.
I blended this for about 3-4 minutes on high which resulted in...

This!
 Ok now here's where thing get complicated and scientific... the next step is tricky and requires special tools only found in your most high-end kitchen stores stores and the price is a little outrageous...

Just kidding!
Grab yourself a cup, a dish for spillage if you choose and a nylon stocking. I chose a knee high, in white. Put the stocking in the cup and pour your slurry into the stocking.

This is the part where you get to actually milk something! For effect you can replace the cup with a metal bucket, get yourself a short stool and sit low to the ground while you Squeeze that stocking!
Squeeze it until you've gotten every last drop of goodness out of it.

And that is IT! You're done.
now don't toss out your almond pulp!! That's good stuff right there! Save it, put it in a sealed container and store it in the fridge for future recipes. It will last a couple of days so don't stress about it, waste not!

As for the Almond milk, you can use it as is or add a couple drops of vanilla extract to it for a flavor boost. You can throw it back in the blender and add a banana for a quick and very nutritious smoothie ( which is my plan for this batch) or you can store it in a glass jar in the fridge to use later.

How easy is that? This is a super valuable raw food choice. You get two raw foods out of one, both are great for recipes and the nutritional content and flavor are awesome!