Every morning, I get up at the crack of dawn, do an hour of yoga, run for 30 minutes, garden for 30 minutes, make myself a homemade breakfast, feed the goos, fish and squirrels, and whip up a batch of fresh almond milk and make some vegan cheese. And of course, I'm at work by 8am! Ha! If only...
My expectations of myself in the morning are admittedly way out of whack but I do manage to accomplish some of these although not all. Animal care is always a priority and I enjoy it. I do feel that we have a little "farm" or "animal sanctuary" going here now with the six goos, two tanks of goldfish (all born here..three generations down from the originals we were "gifted with in '98), and our bevy of bushy-tailed fuzzies outside aka Squirrelly's family. And a good healthy breakfast is always a priority. Yoga I did manage for 20 minutes today but running..HA! Been years since I've run on a weekday morning sadly. Here's a shot of today's breakfast--a quinoa + cinnamon, slivered almonds, raisins and peach medley. I am a big fan of quinoa for breakfast lately. And to the right..a fresh glass of almond milk sprinkled with cinnamon!
Keebler enjoying his breakfast of oats, flax and sunflower seeds.
Almond milk is super easy..soak 1/2 cup of whole nuts in some filtered water overnight or for 4 hours. I remove the skins but I don't think this is necessary. Put soaked nuts in your blender (you don't need a fancy one..my Oster blender does just fine) w/3 cups filtered water and put on a medium speed for about 3 minutes. I can't go to a higher speed on my blender because it surges the liquid up to the top of the blender container..if yours will do it, go for it!
The milk will turn a beautiful white color.
Place a filter bag on a bowl (I use paint strainer bags, available at your local hardware store..you can also buy a new pair of hose and cut the legs off for use or you can order on of those fancy "milk" straining bags online but the first two work just as well in my opinion). The "curd" of ground almond bits can then be used to make vegan cheese which I'll post about later this week.
The milk lasts several days..it may separate but just shake it up and you're ready to go! Cost per cost, it's not a gigantic cost saver compared to buying Almond Breeze..however, I am using organic almonds here whereas Almond Breeze doesn't come organic. My cost breaks down like this:
Almond Breeze: $2.49 for 4 cups..so 12 cups is $7.47
Homemade: A bag of organic almonds..which makes 12 cups of milk + cheese is $6.99
But the taste comparison makes it worth it..I mean, I love Almond Breeze but it just can't compare to freshly made almond milk. No wonder why the cow on my bottle is smiling!
Another cheaper quick way to make almond milk with I haven't tried is to simply use a tbsp. of almond butter per three cups of filtered water. I saw this on The Raw Pirate Gourmet..a vegan cooking show. I have yet to try it but hope to soon!
9 comments:
Oh wow! Thanks for the awesome recipe. How long does the milk keep? Would LOVE to start making our own :-)
I too have delusions of grandeur when it comes to what I want to get done in the morning. You seem to do a lot in your non-exagerated version. Almond milk looks great!
I think it's from Wuthering Heights where someone says if you don't have half your work done by 10am you risk leaving the other half undone. I excel at leaving the other hald undone...
Woah, you really had me going with your morning routine! I've never had quinoa for breakfast (except in a leftover format), but now I have to try it with fruit and cinnamon to curb my sugar addiction.
Keebler is so cute!
Thanks for the instructions for almond milk-so easy and so tasty!
Your almond milk must be the best early-morning pick-me-up. That and the oh so cute goos' faces!!!
Personalized Vegan Brunch is yours. Send me your address and I'll ship it out. jennlynskey at gmail dot com.
I'm such a schmuck I totally believed your first paragraph and was thinking, damn, she does yoga and runs and gardens, and I am not doing all that...
I used to make my own almond milk like that (I used hose - which did work just fine!), but almonds are so expensive right now I've not made any in a year...am looking forward to your upcoming cheese post!!!
You really had me going with your first paragraph ;c) You still get a lot accomplished before heading to work though, I'm impressed! Motivation to make breakfast alone often illudes me. Great thinking with the paint straining bags, that is genius! :c)
Haha... am I a bad person because when I read that first paragraph I was like... hmm... Amanda this may be it for us I can't deal with that kind of perfection! :)
Did you ever post about the almond cheese? I sometimes make my own almond milk and I love it! But what to do with the leftovers?
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