Yay! The first part in my Living from Scratch Series! Almond Milk.
*The pictures from this day are horrible... and crazy, I really need a camera person lol. Alas lets start with where I started:
The Almond Milk:
I started with this because it needs to sit over night or for at least 12 hrs. I have been drinking almond milk for a long time and I love it, but then I got to looking at the ingredients... I have no idea what some of that stuff is. All it takes to make almond milk is almonds and water. You can add sweetener, or in my case a touch of salt, but it's not necessary. I will say though, that you should blend your almond milk with an immersion blender if you can. It separates pretty seriously as it sits. This isn't really a problem, it just needs to be shaken, but blending a second time helps.
I used:
1c Raw Almonds
8c Water (total)
1/2tsp Kosher Salt (I suggest 1/4tsp in the future)
Add the Almonds and 2 cups of water, with the salt, to a container that can sit over night or for at least 12 hrs. Cover and leave it alone.
It looks gross, but this is what's called *Milking*. It's what you want... when this happens, swirl it around.
That's a little better right? So let it sit and keep swirling until its a thickness you like. I actually didn't let mine sit quite long enough, but it's just a lesson for next time.
Put the soaked almonds and water in the blender, with the rest of the water, I did mine in two equal parts to accommodate my blender. Blend until its a thick, creamy consistency.
I retrospect, I would not use cheesecloth again, or at least not this one, And maybe I just used it incorrectly, but It didn't work out so great for me. Whatever kind of straining you use, set it up so you can pour in your almond milk.
It'll be frothy, just keep pushing the pulp to the side. DO NOT THROW AWAY THE PULP!
Wrap it up and squeeze. Get as much liquid out as you can. When you're through, this is when I recommend, restraining and re-blending, for the smoothest outcome.
Yummy! Okay so now what to do with the almond pulp?
Make almond flour! This doesn't produce much almond flour, maybe about 1c - 1 1/2c. But if you get into the habit of making your own almond milk once a week (that's about how long it'll last) you'll have a nice amount of flour in no time, and it'll last for a pretty good while.
To Make the almond flour, simply spread the almond pulp onto a lined cookie sheet and put in a 200f oven for around 6 hours, mixing up every hour or so. I did this at the same time I dehydrated my fruit, so I will post the pictures for that in the next post with the fruit.
Important Note: I did not make the almond milk first and then move on to the next thing, I started the almond milk and did other things in between the steps. That's how I did everything.
