DIY Almond Milk: Success in Failures

It's no secret that we try to be quite a bit frugal, and a tad bit organic here at MMC. Today's post is something that is both: homemade almond milk.

Yup - you can make almond milk, at home by yourself, aaaannndddd it's super easy. You can most definitely make it for less than you can buy almond milk and depending on how you like it, you may be able to make it for less than regular dairy milk. You can also use this same process for cashews and other types of nuts.

The basics of making almond milk milk are as follows --> soak nuts over night, rinse, pulse in blender with water, strain through a nut bag (affiliate link), and you're done. Yes - you are done. That easy.

I did a lot of research in an effort to find the best recipe, and they all follow the same process. The biggest differences are in the nut-to-milk ratio, the addition any flavors or sweeteners, or adding any thickening agent.

Ultimately I went with a combo of this delicious recipe from oh she glows and the thrifty ideas found in this recipe from slightly steady. I thought the milk was delicious and creamy. I loved it. I barely tolerate the store bought milk and I could drink this all day. Unfortunately, my children did not feel the same way. While I would consider this wildly successful, it's not a recipe we will repeat since I am the only one drinking it. I do encourage you to give it a try though!

First you soak a cup of raw almonds for 8 hours or longer, or even overnight. Some Google-ing suggests you can soak for less time, and still have delicious milk. Soaking the almonds makes them more easily digestible.  Rinse the almonds when done, and put in the blender with water. I used 8 cups of water. The original recipe calls for 3-4 cups of water, but some recipes call for as little as 2 cups of water.  While 8 cups sounds like a high water to almond ratio, several almond milk makers use an even higher ratio, and have even been sued over it (here). 

Add your chosen flavor combo to the blender and blend for a minute on the highest speed. I used a combination of dates, vanilla and sea salt. I ran mine for only a minute, but depending on the power of your blender you may need to run for 3 or 4 minutes.When done, put the nut bag (affiliate link) over a bowl (or pitcher) and pour the milk through. At first the milk will filter through easily, but then you'll have to squeeze the remainder of it.

 The second recipe listed above recommends using the remaining pulp and blending an additional 8 cups of milk. I did not find this batch very tasty....even mixed together. This leaves you a cup of almond pulp which you can collect and use for for other things including smoothies, cookies, muffins, and crackers. If you dehydrate it, you can blend it into almond meal. I dehydrated mine and then placed it in the freezer, for a future project. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw almonds, previously soaked
• 8 cups water
• 4 pitted Medjool dates
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt

Directions

1. Soak almonds in water over night. Rinse and drain.
2. Place almonds in blender with water, dates and vanilla.
3. Blend for 1 minute on the highest speed.
4. Strain the milk through the *nut bag. Gently squeeze the bag to remove all the milk.
5. Whisk the cinnamon and sea salt into the milk.
6. Milk can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. Shake/stir well before serving. 

*You can also use a fine-mesh strainer and/or cheesecloth to strain instead of the nut bag.

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Why I Coupon

About five years ago, I was sitting in the atrium of my school working on homework between classes. At the table next to me, a girl in another class was talking to her friends about how she started couponing. She explained that she had purchased about $40 worth of items at CVS, and then had used coupons and sales, in addition to previously earned "extra care bucks" to continue to make weekly purchases for little to no money. Until this moment in my life, I knew very little about coupons. Coupons were found in the paper, or sometimes on items, or those little machines in the aisle. Well that changed rather quickly....

When I went home I spent some time googling, found out this girl was pretty spot on in her description, and a crazy coupon lady was born. In the beginning I went a little nuts... We are still living off the razors, hair care, toothpaste and deodorant I purchased back then. When I was really into couponing, I even had a few $0.00 receipts.

So how do you get started couponing? I could write a book, but honestly, Southern Savers, has one of the best coupon tutorials. It's what got me started. When starting, I suggest only tackling one or two grocery stores and a drug store. Driving to multiple stores to get the very best deal, just makes me resent couponing. If you weren't already couponing, than saving anything (even if it's not the most) is already better for your budget!

Not ready to coupon, but still want to save? You can make decent changes in your grocery budget by just following some of the couponing principles. First, grocery store prices follow a sale cycle, usually six weeks. By purchasing an item when its at the lowest price, and buying enough to last until it bottoms out again, you can save yourself quite a bit of money. Southern Savers gives the following scenario: you can buy a box of cereal each week for $4, costing you a total of $24 OR you could buy six boxes of cereal on sale (with coupons) for only $6 and SAVE $18. Additionally, you won't have to make as many grocery trips, saving yourself time and gas!

Gone are the days that you had to pick up a newspaper, and scour the weekly adds and match up your coupons with the current sales. Many coupons are printable, and sites like Southern Savers do the matching up for you! You can select items, print from a link, and print out your shopping list. They also have a coupon database, and an option to search for an item.

One of the biggest changes that we made to our grocery shopping habits, regardless of whether I am in the mood to coupon or not, is paying attention to "buy it now" prices. Southern Savers offers a suggested list. This is a list of items and what prices are appropriate to stock up on. These items are available regularly at this low a price with a coupon (sometimes even lower). Being aware of this has really prevented me from making impulse buys. I just cannot bring myself to pay double for something we really don't need!

Here's a recent shopping scenario:
My son drinks almond milk. The best (non coupon) price for Silk Almond Milk is at Costco. You can purchase a 3-pack for $7. That's $2.33/container. As almond milk lasts longer than regular milk, purchasing three cartons at a time is fine. Grocery store prices are generally >$3.00 each. So Costco's price isn't bad, but I can do better!.

Recently, Kroger offered Silk (on sale) at $2.99/container, and when you buy three, you receive a dozen organic eggs for free! I was able to print 3 coupons for $1 off each container of silk milk. This makes the milk $1.99 each, a savings (from the Costco price) of $1.02 on three containers. However, when you add the "cost" of the eggs, the savings are much greater. There was also a coupon for a FREE silk container, when you share with friends, but I had used this in the past. If you were able to use that coupon, you would pay $3.98 for three milks ($1.32 each) AND a dozen eggs.

At the time there was no coupon available for eggs, BUT I have seen a similar scenario where there was. Usually you can use a coupon on this type of "free" item also, bringing your total down more.

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