Non Dairy Milk: Recipes, Tips & Tricks

[babymakers]

I don't know about rice milk but I have made almond milk before. It is a little expensive but if you put water over almonds and blend them in a powerful blender with a few dates and strain it you will have almond milk.

keysearchterms = " rice milk " " soy milk " " almond milk " " nut  milk "

[dara]

Here's how I've done it. I cook brown rice (sorry, I don't measure), fill the blender 3/4 full of rice, add water to cover and puree. I then put the whole blender jar in the fridge over night to "steep". In the morning I strain it, and add a little vanilla to taste. Some people add a tiny pinch of sea salt, and/or liquid minerals, esp. calcium magnesium to simulate the nutrients in real milk.

[Pastorswife2B]

I don't know about rice milk but I have made almond milk before. It is a little expensive but if you put water over almonds and blend them in a powerful blender with a few dates and strain it you will have almond milk.

I know this is old, but I'm trying to make my own Almond milk and I was wondering if you've ever used a different sweetner than dates (like perhaps honey) and how much water you add to your almonds. Thanks!

-Heather

[Kati*did]

Be careful about buying rice or nutmilks -- a lot of them have SOY in them!!!   Ironic, huh? 

You can use raw cashews or almonds.  Just take a quart of water and 1/2 cup of raw nuts.  Blend the nuts with about 1/2 cup of the water until it's really smooth then put the rest of the water into the blender with it until it's all really smooth.  You can strain it if you want, but I don't.  If you want it sweet you can add some dates, honey, or molasses, and some vanilla. Sweeten to taste.  Some people like it with maple flavor.  I don't.   

Katie

[ShabbyChic]

Are you kidding?!  Is that all there is to it!?  My husband is allergic to milk (at least the organic pastuerized kind; we're on a waiting list for raw milk) and I've been buying the rice dream at the store.  I can't believe I never thought of making it.  I am trying this tomorrow! 

[Kati*did]

Yeah, that's it!!    If you want the almond milk to look "good", you can blanch the almonds first.  I don't do that, though.    Also, you can adjust the consistancy by adding more/less water (or nuts). 

[Pastorswife2B]

Thank you for the recipe Katie!  I'm so excited I found almonds at sam's club and I figured out using the 1/2c to 1 quart ratio makes the almond milk the same price as what I was buying!  Yeah! 

[jaemom]

Here's how I've done it. I cook brown rice (sorry, I don't measure), fill the blender 3/4 full of rice, add water to cover and puree. I then put the whole blender jar in the fridge over night to "steep". In the morning I strain it, and add a little vanilla to taste. Some people add a tiny pinch of sea salt, and/or liquid minerals, esp. calcium magnesium to simulate the nutrients in real milk.

Dara, is there a specific kind of brown rice you use?  Or can I use the kind in the grocery store?  TIA

[jaemom]

Has anyone made coconut milk before?  Would it be a good milk substitute health-wise?

[homeschooling madre]

Do any of you have any tried and true recipes for making homemade rice milk from brown rice?  If this is a repeat, please feel free to direct me to the right place - I did do a search but came up with nothing!  Thanks!

[Linguist77]

Are you into fermented drinks at all? I've got a good one from Nourishing Traditions that tastes pretty good and is a good probiotic as well. My boys love it!

If you don't want to do the fermentation part, I would recommend just following the first part and adding some water to the final product and blending to get the right consistency.

***********

1/2 cup brown rice
8 cups filtered water
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup homemade whey (or kombucha or apple cider vinegar)
1/4 cup raw honey
1 tsp cinnamon

Cook rice in water, covered, for several hours until rice becomes mushy. Pass rice and liquid through a food mill. Place in a 2-quart jug with salt and whey. Cover tightly and leave at room temperature for 2 or 3 days. Transfer to refrigerator. (A certain amount of separation is normal.)

To serve, blend with honey and cinnamon and enough water to achieve desired consistency.

Variation: Use other grains, such as oats, rye, or barley.

Nursing Mother's Tonic: Use 1/2 cup quinoa, soaked 12 hours in warm water, rinsed, and drained (before starting above recipe -- quinoa has a lot of antinutrients).

***************

I don't have a food mill, so I improvise by using a stainless steel mesh strainer and a large spoon. Just pour the mixture through and press/scrape the spoon on the mush left in the strainer until most of the goop goes through (the idea is to keep out the bran of the grain).

You can add a bit of fruit along with the cinnamon and honey. We used strawberries!

[Leat]

My MIL gave me a recipe for Creamy Banana Milk. I made a batch this morning. Definitely an acquired taste, but kind of fun. If we do it again I will change the amounts around a bit.  Turns into a purple drink.

Creamy Banana Milk
From Recipes For Life (Hallelujah Diet)

1 quart distilled water
1/2 ripe banana (needs more)
1/2-1 cup sunflower seed kernals (needs less)
3 tablespoons raisins OR 4-5 dates,pitted (I used dates)
Soak the sunflower seeds overnight;drain
Place all ingredients in a blender;blend for 2 minutes.  For thicker milk,add more banana.

I made almond milk with MIL on Sunday. I think my family will like it better. Will try it out later this week.

Leat

[HOMEFree]

Did you make the almond milk?

How did you make it?

Thanks!

[mommyjen]

Anyone tried the rice/almond milk recipe in the Adrenal Fatigue 21st Century?  It's supposed to be a complete protein.  4:1, rice to almonds.  The recipe sounds like it could be simplified quite a bit though. 

[milmuth]

I make almond milk regularly with my vitamix.  their recipe is a bit stronger:
1c. raw almonds
3c. water (I use 4 cups)
sea salt to taste (optional)
honey to taste (or dates or whatever sweetener is desired, optional)

blend on high for 2 min.

strain if desired.

best if served chilled. (but my family doesn't usually give me the time do that step!)

[milmuth]

QUESTION:
what do you do with the almond "pulp" after straining?

many I know through it away saying the nutrients are in the milk. understood, but this is the fiber (and has some strong flavor still too) 

in an effort to not be so wasteful, any ideas on uses for it? 

I've considered adding it to chocolate chip cookies for an almond flavor/extra fiber but not a staple food in our house, so looking for healthier items/other options.

ideas welcomed (and needed  )
TIA

[Jade]

If I understand correctly, your pulp is almond flour (just not dry yet). I made a raw "cake" once, and that was how the cookbook explained for me to make my own almond flour. There are tons of recipes that use almond flour, and since almond flour is NOT cheap, it's pretty cool that you get milk AND flour out of the deal, yes? 

[herbalmom]

Normally almond flour is very finely ground almonds. The pulp left over from straining the almond milk won't have as much calories, fat, protein or vits/minerals as reg almond flour would but it could still be a great addition to foods.

Here's some ideas off the top of my head:

Use the wet pulp & mix in the Vita Mix with oil (almond, flax or coconut would be good) to make a almond spread. May not have enough protein to be used alone on bread for a sandwich for lunch but could be good on toast w/breakfast, etc instead of butter. You could also add honey, maple syrup, etc to make a sweet spread or maybe use honey, etc instead of the oil. Since the almond pulp is somewhat wet to start with it will probably have to be stored in the fridge.

You could make a candy out of it. Something like this recipe. Same thing about storage- Since the almond pulp is somewhat wet to start with it will probably have to be stored in the fridge. 

Dry it, powder it to a flour like consistency & use it to replace part of the flour in quick breads, cookies, etc. Basically any recipe where you're using baking powder or soda instead of yeast to leaven it. 

Dry it, powder it & sprinkle it into cooked oatmeal, etc. Might even be able to mix it into meatloaf, chilli, etc w/out tasting it.

Dry it, powder, mix with cinnamon & sweetening of choice for almond/ cinnamon toast.

Blend again with more water (use less water than the org recipe) & use the resulting 'milk' w/out straining in baking, smoothies, etc. This won't have the nutrition of reg almond milk so use it where you want the almond flavor & need liquid more than where you want the protein content.

HTH Blessings ~herbalmom