Why I Love Homemade Almond Milk

I have learned a lot after being on the Whole30 for 26 days- one critical skill I have honed is really looking at labels and understanding exactly what you are putting in your body. As part of the Whole30 you do not eat any sugar  (or grains, legumes, dairy & alcohol) and my favorite store bought coffee creamer and Almond Milk both contained sugar. This is what started me on my quest to make my own, Homemade Almond Milk.

Finding a recipe was easy- I adore Oh She Glows and hit up her site to see what recipes she had and discovered this one: My Favorite Homemade Almond Milk. The recipe had very easy to follow steps, few ingredients and stellar reviews.

It shocked me how simple it was to make. Here is what you need: Almonds, Dates, Cinnamon, Vanilla Bean, Sea Salt and Water. So easy, right?

A critical part of the process is soaking the Almonds. Soaking the nuts makes them easier to digest and the brown peel of Almonds inhibits nutrient absorption. When they are soaked and blended up the peel is removed- and you get the maximum health benefits that Almonds offer.

Once they are soaked they double in size! The picture below was taken after soaking for 2 days- pretty amazing to see.

Almonds are an excellent sources of protein, calcium, iron, Vitamin E and monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats which are great for your heart health.

The only labor intensive part of making the milk is straining it through the cheesecloth- I actually ended up ordering this Nut Milk Bag from Amazon to make the job a bit easier! This part takes me about 5 minutes- but the better you strain it- the smoother it is. So it is well worth the time!I am not kidding when I tell you that if you make this one time you will never buy store bought Almond Milk, again. I use this homemade milk in my coffee & tea, in the kids pancake batter to add extra protein and flavor, over granola and my favorite way is as a standalone drink.

It is heavenly! The vanilla bean makes a tremendous difference in flavor- the end product is pure, sweet and creamy tasting. We just love it!

This milk lasts in an air tight container for about 3-5 days. Mine usually only lasts about 2- we can’t keep up with overwhelming demand!

It has been hard to nail down nutritional information for Homemade Almond Milk- it can vary so much depending on how well it was strained, how much water you used, etc. I reviewed numerous articles and here is what I found most consistently: 8 ounces of Homemade Almond Milk has roughly 70 calories with 22-23 being from fat (sweetening with the dates adds additional calories to this, as well.) I am a fan of adding healthy fats into your daily diet and find this to be a great ratio- and one that I am happy to recommend to family, friends and clients.

As a Health Coach I am constantly striving to find ways to live as healthy and clean as I can. I will try anything and share with my clients what works so that they can learn from our successes and flops 😉

This is a huge win- no chemicals, additives or ingredients I can’t pronounce. I will be making this milk long after my Whole30 journey is over. If you haven’t tried this yet, please do- your taste buds will thank you!

Have a great weekend!