Eco-Logical Eating, almond milk recipe

So I have a little catching up to do. But first I want to share the recipe for almond milk. I talked about this milk in my first eco-eating post. If you are interested in more recipes from what we eat in class, message me and I'll get them to you.

Almond milk is a healthier option than cow's milk and it is super delicious. It contains more calcium and other nutrients than cow's milk and it is easier for your body to digest. It is also more sustainable compared to cow's milk obtained by contemporary industrial dairy farm practices. You can use almond milk almost any time you would use cow's milk.

Almond Milk, serves 4 {Nina says that one cup of almonds will make 4 cups of almond milk, therefore, 4 cups of almonds will give you a gallon of almond milk}

1 cup raw almonds
1 T agave nectar (or sweetener of your choice)
3 cups water
1 cup ice

Soak almonds in water 8 hours or overnight. Strain and rinse.
Dip the soaked almonds in boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes, then peel off the skins. (This is an optional step. Skinned almonds make a whiter, less grainy milk, but the flavor is the same.)
Place the almonds in a blender with one cup of the milk. Blend on high
for about one minute until creamy. Add the remaining water, ice and
sweetener.
Pour mixture, half at a time, through a nut-milk bag that has been
placed over the mouth of jug, cup or bowl. (Bags are available for
purchase online, google : “nut milk bag”. I purchased mine from Omar’s
Living Cuisine on Highland for $3.50, but I am not sure if he still stocks
them.) {That note is from Nina. I am thinking a cheese cloth would also work or coffee strainer, but I haven't tried it so I'm not sure}
Squeeze and press the bag gently to release the liquid into the cup
or bowl.
When the liquid is out, turn the bag inside out and place the pulp in a sealable
container for another recipe. (Freeze it if you will not be using it immediately.) Rinse out the bag and repeat or dry and store the bag for the next use.
Serve almond milk immediately or chill until ready to use.

You can buy 25 lb bulk bags of almonds for around $6/lb, so total $150. Buying in bulk like that is probably the best way to get raw, organic almonds as well. That's pretty much the only way to make it cost around the same as buying cow's milk. Unfortunately, that is a bit expensive, but I suggest making some with just a few lbs of almonds from a supermarket to try it if you don't have the money to make that investment in almonds. That way you can try it first to see if you like it anyways.


I was very interested in the cost comparision so I did a little research. Some online sources say that approximately 3 1/2 cups of shelled almonds are in a pound. So, if you bought a 25 lb bag of almonds, you would have approximately 87 1/2 cups of almonds. This amount of almonds will yeild 350 cups of milk. There are 16 cups in a gallon so you'd have almost 23 gallons (22.88 to be sort of exact) of milk. So that means each gallon of almond milk (using the cost of just the almonds to calculate) costs approximately $6.86. So, obviously quite a bit more expensive than cow's milk.


It is unfortunate that eating healthy for the environment and ourselves is so expensive at times but that's where personal choice comes in. And I feel like I should add that whatever choices we make are valid. I don't want anyone to think that I look down on them for drinking cow's milk instead of almond milk or anything else I talk about in relation to this class. I still drink cows milk and won't make all the changes in my diet that I talk about here. I just want to share what I am learning with you, so we can grow and continue on our dietary journeys. lol, so cheesy but just had to say that. We are all in different places in life and that will influence our dietary decisions. Your and my decisions are equally valid, even if they are completely different.