Home made almond milk and what to do with the pulp!

We are family of almond milk drinkers. We go through it so fast it is pretty ridiculous. Lol through out this weight loss and health journey I have been seeking out new ways to improve the foods we normally use. Almond milk as a whole, blows cows milk out of the water. It has more calcium and lower calories naturally than cows milk has. On top of that, almond milk is missing the steroids and any antibiotics from the cows milk. So, the choice to go with almond milk is an easy one! However, store bought almond milk is no exception to typical commercialized ingredients. So, I went searching for ways to improve the already healthier choice of drinking almond milk to make it even healthier.

Which is how I was turned on to home made almond. Here's how

What you'll need:

1 cup of almonds

3 cups of water 

1 tsp pure vanilla extract 

1 tsp raw honey 

Juicer 

How you do it:

First you need to take 1 cup of almonds and place them in a bowl of 3 cups of water. Soak over night (8-12 hours). Rinse almonds until water runs clear. Then add back to a bowl of 3 cups of fresh water. Set aside 

Set up your juicer. Start to use a ladle to ladle in the almonds and water into the juicer. 

You can take the almond pulp and mix it with 1:3 water ratio and run it through the juicer again to get more milk. I did not because I had other plans for the pulp.

Once finished juicing it if you don't want to sweeten it or add flavor, then you're done! Add to a mason jar and put in the fridge. If you want to add flavors or sweetner this is when. I am a huge sucker for vanilla almond milk so, I wanted to sweeten mine with some honey and pure vanilla extract. You can use stevia instead of honey if you prefer.

Add in your sweetener, mix up. Put in a mason with lid and VIOLA! Home made almond milk! Easy right?! 

Now you're probably looking into your juicer and thinking "wow, look at all that wasted almond". False! This momma does not like to waste! I took the pulp and put it in my food processor.  

Ran it until it took a very thick but smooth texture. I jarred it in a mason jar. The pulp is too dehydrated to make almond butter. However, you can use that thick texture almond pulp as a spread. Spread it on a piece of Ezekiel toast and smooth a little honey over it. Gah! Delicious and filling snack! Protein and fiber rich snack that will keep you full! 

There are so many other things you can make with almond pulp like making almond pulp crackers. Or use it instead of almond flour for baking needs. Make raw healthy truffles with it. The possibilities are endless! 

There you have it. Healthy natural almond milk and healthy natural almond spread for snacking or other uses. It's not so hard being the "natural chick" is it?! 

Which by the way, I totally dig the label. It's a such a compliment, truly!