Making Almond Milk (Vegan Day 29)

I meant to post more vegan recipes in the past couple of weeks....the whole challenge has been surprisingly easy.  I don't even crave meat (okay maybe once or twice I craved a burger).  It's more of a social burden having others feel obligated to cater to my needs, although I fully appreciate the curtesies.  Tomorrow is supposed to be the last day of my 30 day vegan challenge.  I'm debating whether or not to continue the whole vegan thing but I don't have much reason to...

I should have eaten more vegetables this month.  Instead, I have to admit that for a week or so, peanut butter and dairy-free chocolate were a not-so-healthy staple to my diet.  However, this had a direct relationship to lack of exercise, and these go hand-in-hand, whether I'm vegan or not.  On the bright side, my skin looked a bit fresher and I never lacked energy.

As a result, I am influenced into cooking/baking more dairy-free and meat-free meals.  And unless there's loads of sugar in the food, this generally means healthier meals.

So without further ado, I present how to make one of the most important vegan staples I've had in my diet...the ever-versatile and helpful almond milk!

Soak a cup of raw almonds overnight in water.

Add soaked almonds + 2 dates (for sweetness!) + 1tsp vanilla to a blender.

Add 4-6 cups of water.  Add another cup or so if you prefer more watery almond milk or are poor and need to stretch out the most bang for your buck.  I used 5 cups.

Place a cheesecloth or muslin cloth over a strainer over a bowl and pour the milk into the cloth.
Wring that milk out.

Pour the milk from the bowl into a pretty pitcher. This is only 1/3 of the amount I made.

Yay I made almond milk!

This is called "almond meal".  It's the leftover almond that didn't get strained with the water. 

This is a little time-consuming, but I believe it is less expensive than constantly buying almond milk.
I'll soon be posting a recipe that uses the almond meal because I can't have that go to waste!