Almond Milk

I have to say that I am a little late to the almond milk bandwagon. I have never been a fan of soy milk and while not completely grossed out by almond milk I would choose regular milk hands down to almond milk. This all changed when I went to a juice bar in Anchorage. Homemade almond milk is a complete game-changer.  It is never going to be as rich or fatty as regular milk, but it is a wonderful option if you are trying to limit your dairy intake and as I have gotten older I have noticed I am having a harder time digesting dairy.  Almond Milk is also lower in calories and if you are trying to live a keto or paleo lifestyle than almond milk is totally an option for you. Thanks to the owner of the juice bar I walked away with her delicious recipe.  What you need is a Vitamix or blender,  4 cups of raw almonds, a pinch of salt, 4 dates, 4 cups of water and an almond nut bag. Soak the almonds overnight in the 4 cups of water.  Then drain the almonds and replace the water with  4 cups of cold water. Place almonds and water in the mixer and blend, blend, blend.  The owner of the juice bar says to blend way longer than you would think.  This is going to assure you that you have gotten the most out of your almonds.  Then add your 4 dates and pinch of salt and blend again.  Pour the mixture into the nut bag over a bowl and drain. Once all the milk has gone through the bag give it a squeeze to get the remaining liquid out of the bag. You can discard the almond meal or you can use it in another recipe as this is now almond flour.  I discard mine.  Place in a glass container such as a mason jar or pitcher.  The milk is good for up to 5 days, but I drank mine on day 6 and did not get sick.  You can also add a teaspoon of vanilla you like. Enjoy!