Wow, I made cashew milk for the first time the other day and let me tell you, it tastes so pure and fresh! There are so few ingredients in it which I love, I feel so much better about drinking homemade nut milks versus those bought at the store which have perservatives. There are certainly times that I do buy my nut milks from the store but when I can, I prefer to make my own.
Contrary to what you may think, homemade nut milks are super easy to make! And you can Scrounge by using whatever raw nuts you have on hand (cashews, almonds, macadamia)
Ingredients:
1 c. raw cashews - make sure they are raw and not salted or roasted, this is very imporant!
3 c. filtered water
1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract (optional)
1 nut bag or cheese cloth
The Scrounge: add cocoa powder to make it chocolate cashew milk!
Preparation:
Soak cashews in a jar of water overnight - fill jar with enough water to cover the cashews
Strain and rinse cashews
Add cashews to high powered blender with 3 cups water
Add cinnamon and vanilla
Using a high powered blender (I use a VitaMix), blend until smooth
Pour milk mixture through nut bag or cheesecloth and squeeze to strain pulp. Continue doing this in small sections until milk is completely strained of pulp. I strain the milk twice to make sure all the pulp is gone.
Pour milk into glass jar and store for 7-10 days
The Scrounge:
If you don't have these exact ingredients, Scrounge with the things you have at home! For example, if you don't 'have cashews – use almonds or macadamia nuts. If you don't have vanilla – use maple syrup or dates. You may create something even better!