**Update as of 8/31/2022: I no longer recommend drinking nut milks, and instead fully endorse raw milk. I believe animal milks are highly nutritious and have been part of our diets forever. If you insist on drinking nut milks for whatever reason, at the very least, make it yourself!

Why is it that we would rather get in our car, drive to the store, and buy pre-packaged and pre-made foods instead of making them at home? Since when have we decided time and convenience is more important than our health? Because let’s face it, we don’t make things at home because it takes too much time, and we just don’t feel like it. We have become lazy. We have lost the connection of cooking, and don’t get me wrong, we are all guilty of this. Well my goal is to bring that back. Bring back the joy of homemade foods. Switch out convenience for quality.

By taking the time to make something such as simple as almond milk by hand, we are re-connecting to nature. We are re-connecting to our ancestors which in turn allows us to live by our soul purpose. Hold on lady, aren’t we just talking about almond milk here? Yes, but this applies to every day life. Once we choose authenticity over accessibility, then we can begin to understand each other and appreciate what life has to offer.

I held off making my own milks at home for so long. I have no excuse but shear laziness. It was easy to buy it because I was already at the store. It was done for me. I didn’t have to think about it. The catch is, it was probably made in a factory. And it definitely had all sorts of additives to make it “healthier”. Talk about lack of authenticity, and lack of love. There is something you get when you make things yourself, that you will never be able to taste, even from the best store-bought, local options. The reason is because it was not you who made it. You did not get to roll up your sleeves and get dirty. You did not get the feeling of fulfillment and success. The taste of that is irreplaceable.

The funny thing is that making something like almond (or any nut) milk at home, is extremely easy. As long as you have the nut, water, a strainer of some sort, and a blender, then you can make it yourself. You don’t need to add sugar (in fact I strongly suggest not). You don’t need to add flavorings or anything else, unless you want to. The beauty is that no matter what, it is completely up to you! Imagine holding up a pre-packaged box of almond milk, and holding up your glass jar filled with homemade milk. Compare the long list of ingredients of cane sugar, vitamin D, vitamin B, guar gum, etc. to your two ingredient list of organic almonds and spring water. Which would you rather invest it? For me, there really is no comparison.

So, I’d say the most difficult thing about this is having to wait for your almonds to soak (which really isn’t that difficult when you think about what that actually entails). You can make this without soaking almonds, by using almond butter instead, but part of the process is waiting. The act of soaking your nuts is really important in removing the phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors so you can digest them better. It also increases vitamins, especially b vitamins, which is crucial for vegetarians and vegans out there who don’t get it through animal products. Needless to say, soaking is easy to do. Simply pour almonds into a bowl and cover with at least 1 inch more of spring water. Do this at night, and come morning you are ready to make the milk. Easy peasy almond milk squeezy. Let’s get to it.

You Will Need

1 cup raw, organic almonds (or other nut of choice)

2 cups spring water

1 tsp sea salt

more spring water for soaking

What to Do

I. Add almonds to bowl with salt and cover completely with room-temperature spring water. Allow to sit out uncovered for at least 7 hours, or overnight.

II. Drain the soaking liquid and rinse the almonds to remove anything that was pulled out during the soaking process.

III. Combine soaked almonds and 2 cups of spring water in a blender or food processor. If using a blender, blend for 2 minutes. If using a food processor, blend for 4 minutes. Be careful, the food processor may leak if it cannot hold that much liquid.

IV. Pour your almond milk through a cheese cloth or other fine mesh strainer into bowl or glass measuring cup. Squeeze the contents ensuring you are getting all the milk out. You should get 2 cups of almond milk from this process.

V. Save the almond meal left over for baking. Here is a great recipe.

VI. Enjoy the almond milk within a week.

Makes 2 cups of almond milk