Knowing that cow’s milk is to make baby calves grow fast and gain weight, and it causes digestive issues for 65% of people and is NOT good for our bone health, more people are choosing a healthier substitute with plant milk. It can be just as creamy and delicious and can be made from coconut, oats, nuts & seeds, tiger nuts (which are nutritious tubers that are the base for Horchata), bananas, even legumes! However, as with most store bought processed foods, there are additives people would rather avoid such as gums, emulsifiers, seed oils, preservatives, gluten, GMO’s and the like. There are appliances that makes it easy to make your own, some taking just minutes, and may be an excellent gift idea!
The benefits of making your own is you can use your favorite ingredients, sweeten with mineral-dense dates which add fiber. Additives can include: extracts (almond, vanilla, peppermint….), spices (cinnamon, nutmeg…), cacao powder…. Here is a resource of basic plant milk recipes for a reference.
Some of the top recommended plant milk makers are:
Almond Cow all stainless steel appliance that will make 6 cups of creamy, unheated milk in 15-60 seconds. Con: recommends soaked nuts to soften them, it does have a lot of leftover pulp they suggest repurposing* Needs to be cleaned by hand.
Chefwave Milkmade: extracts more from the ingredients, so less main ingredient is needed, less goes to waste, is self-cleaning. It has a lot of preset buttons. The downside is it steams the ingredients to 180 degrees so more is utilized, killing the enzymes, taking a while to cool, and takes 16 minutes.
Tribest Soyabella is similar to the Almond Cow, but has a heat option (for soy) and lower cost. The nut milk is more grainy.
Nutr is compact and makes only 1- 1.5 cups at a time, good for an individual serving in 6 minutes.
NutraMilk Nut Processor makes 5 cup batches and nut butters, hummus and bean dips with little to no waste. Cons: It is a multi-stage process requiring action to proceed to the next step, and is most expensive.
If you already have a high powered blender such as a VitaMix, you can grind the nuts, seeds, or oats in the blender at a ratio of 1 part presoaked nut/seed/grain to 4 parts water, and use the Chef’n Nut Milk Maker, which is a simple straining device that can be used to make horchata as well. It is much better than a straining bag. Makes 4.2 cups in 30 minutes
The milk should last 5-7 days refrigerated.
*You can add the pulp to the batter of muffins, pancakes, cookies, as well as to oatmeal or smoothie bowl, or make them as macaroon cookies (maple syrup or honey is healthier than agave).
If you would like to increase the protein, fiber and nutrition, Complete* is a certified clean shake mix that has natural fortification, like mushrooms for Vitamin D, pumpkin for beta carotene, seaweed for iodine and minerals, sprouts for dense nutrition….
If you would rather buy store bought plant milks, here are some recommended brands.
Behold…I bring you good tidings of great joy.” Luke 2:10
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