Homemade Almond Milk

Suzette will be flying home from college tomorrow, and I am busy getting ready for her return.  She frequently tells me she's looking forward to getting home so she can eat "real" food again.  I know the college is feeding her three meals a day, and it must be real food (I sure hope so!), but what Suzette means is she's looking forward to eating food that is more nutritious and that makes her feel good.

When I eat granola, I prefer mine with a good quality yogurt.  My absolute favorite is Brown Cow Maple, but I can only find it at health food stores.  If you can find it -- get it -- it's worth every penny!!  Stoneyfield Farm makes organic yogurt that is pretty good, and is available at almost any grocery store.  Suzette's not crazy about yogurt, so she likes her granola with milk.  If she's going to have milk, I prefer it be homemade almond milk rather than cow's milk.  We do use cow's milk, but almond milk tastes better and is way healthier.  I know some of the recipe ingredients are ones you probably don't have, but I encourage you to find them and give it a try!  I even think you could make a very good almond milk with just the almonds, water, vanilla, and sweetener.  I'm heading into the kitchen to start mine now!  Here's the recipe:

1 cup almonds, soaked 4-6 hours
4 cups water
2 T. extra virgin coconut oil
1 t. lecithin
1/8-1/4 cup agave (or honey), to taste (1/4 cup is very sweet)
1 t. vanilla extract
1 pinch sea salt

Blend all in high-speed blender for at least 1 minute.  Strain through a nut milk bag or layers of cheesecloth. (Got my reusable nut milk bag at Good Foods Grocery.)  Store in fridge 3-4 days.  If it starts to separate, just give it a shake.  Makes a little over a quart.  (Adapted from Everyday Raw by Matthew Kenney)