Making Milk Alternatives

When you are switching to plant based milks because of digestive problems, allergies to animal dairy, or personal choice not to have animal products, you can make your own plant based milk.

If you have allergies you can work within them with whatever grains and seeds you can safely enjoy. I have not added sweeteners or things like cinnamon or vanilla. That is the cool thing about homemade food. You can enjoy it your way!

This year I started to make my own cashew milk. Others in my family have non-dairy milk too. One of them makes oat milk. 

To make any of the beverages you will need:

• A good blender.
• A bowl 
• A colander or something to strain with
• A clean jar or container
• Water
• Nuts, seeds
• A mesh like cheese cloth, a cotton straining bag or a metal mesh strainer.

Oat milk for sauce or smoothies or just to enjoy!

2 to 1 ratio. How to make oat milk not slimy.

Takes about a min to three in the blender. It tends to be a bit gritty so put it through the cheese cloth. Use it in two days. In about three days the consistency can get a bit jello like. If you put it through the cheesecloth it is less. You can use the fiber left behind in the cheesecloth in baking. Muffins tends to be our go to baked goods Nutritional information on oat milk

In my trials of making cashew milk I used raw cashews from Costco. For a 1kg bag it was $16.99. When we bought the milk premade it was $6.99 plus a 10 cent deposit on the container and a 2 cent environmental fee. For 6 containers in would cost $42.66. Making at home saves you $25.67 you could factor in time energy used, I’m thankful I’m saving and it is fresh.

On with how I made it! I followed a recipe from a blog. 1 cup of cashews to 4 cups of water. I soaked the cashews overnight. Video on how to make cashew milk. Thank you Jerry James Stone!

In the morning I dumped them in the strainer, rinse then toss them in my Ninja tall blender with 2 cups of filtered water.  Blend it for about 2 to 3 mins then pour in the other 2 cups of filtered water. The first time I tried it it was too gritty for us so I pulled out the small Ninja mixer and blended it in smaller batches that made it very creamy (amazing in hot cocoa or hot chocolate)

I always put my glass jar in the dishwasher and pull it out of there to make sure it is very clean. Years of canning and food preservation has had me in the practice of cleaning everything sterilized. If you don’t have a dishwasher, wash your container with good warm water and soap. Rinse it well and pour boiling water in and on the lid. 

Our milk lasts about a week. By day 3 it becomes a bit thicker so you might want to add more filtered water. We shake it every time. 

 Cashew Milk Nutrition Facts based on 1 cup of cashews to 4 cups of water my batch makes about 5 cups of liquid.

• Calories: 156.
• Fat: 11g.
• Sodium: 100mg.
• Carbohydrates: 10.5g.
• Fiber: 2g.
• Sugar: 3g.
• Protein: 4.5g.
• Calcium: 18.9mg.

I’m looking forward to making a white sauce with it. I have used it in creamy broccoli soup. It was so yummy.

You can buy straining bags on amazon many local stores sell them too or sew straining bags

You can use many other seeds and nuts to make your milk substitute. I have not done it yet. If I do, I might do a new blog on the topic. 

Have a great week. If you have any great alternative milks you enjoy, It would be cool to read about it and your favorite way to make or use your beverage.