By Makena Behnke

since milk has been a hot topic on the blog (and in blog class), i thought i would share my preferred form of milk beverage. almond milk has become very popular recently, and for a good reason. if you have some sort of dairy allergy or you just don’t like to drink it for whatever reason, “ta-da,” almond milk. i prefer to drink almond milk, but i personally don’t like store-bought almond milk. so, i make my own, and i think it’s a lot better.

things you’ll need:

• almonds, 1 cup
• water, 4 cups
• blender
• nut bags or cheese cloths
• a medium bowl
• a container (i use a glass milk bottle) for your fresh almond milk

1. first, you have your 1 cup of almonds, and you soak them for about 4-6 hours in the medium bowl. the water should cover the almonds (i use about 4 cups).

2. after soaking the almonds, you pour out the stale almond water and rinse the almonds to get the residue off. the almonds should be kind of tender right now, or at least not as hard as the dry ones were.

3. put them in a blender with another 4 cups of water, and blend them until there are no big almond pieces. i’m not sure how long it takes to blend, i just play it by ear.

4. pour the mixture into a cheese cloth/nut bag covering another bowl with a pour spout thingy (so it’s easier to pour into the bottle). once you’re done pouring it into the bowl, you squeeze the leftover pulp in the cheese cloth to get the most out of the almonds.

5. bam. you’re done. this makes about 3 cups. the almond milk keeps for about 2-3 days.

i like to use my almond milk in baking recipes, coffee, cereal, or you can just drink it straight because it has a natural sweetness to it. you could also add flavored syrups to the blender, but i prefer it plain. if you don’t strain it enough or if the bag breaks, there may be some almond pulp left in the bottom. it’s not going to kill you. enjoy.

my original recipe came from detoxinista.com. i didn’t make it up on my own.

Editor: Luke Langlois