I didn't know of any other alternatives to milk when I first started living a dairy free lifestyle. I think I lived on dry toast and Vegemite for a few months until I started discovering dairy free alternatives. I was SO excited when I discovered rice milk and then nuttelex to use in the place of butter. Since then I have discovered other things to replace the dairy in my life! I have only recently started drinking almond milk since it popped up in our local supermarket. I really really love the taste of it compared to rice milk in cereal or in a smoothie.

I decided of having a go at making it myself to see if I could make it any cheaper than buying it from the supermarket. I bought a packet of pesticide free almonds. I would really recommend using this type of almond when making the milk.

 For the almond milk recipe I researched a few recipes online and read the reviews they received. I decided to go with this recipe I found online. I didn't realise how simple making almond milk really was until I researched it.

I decided to times the recipe by one and half to make a little bit more milk. The first step is to soak your almonds in a bowl overnight. I covered the almonds in water and let them sit in it for about 10 -12 hours. I'm sure closer to 8 hours would have been sufficient but it took me a little longer to get around to making it! (Thanks to our cute little man)

After leaving the almonds sit overnight they seem to soak up a fair portion of the liquid and get all plump and juicy looking. I then drained the almonds - keeping the soaking liquid aside. I placed the almonds into the blender and then measured out the amount of water needed. I used the soaking liquid in this measurement as it contained a good amount of "almond flavour" in it.

You wonder how on earth you are going to get something drinkable out of this concoction but trust me you do! Before I blended it I added the vanilla essence and a tablespoon of agave syrup to sweeten it slightly. The recipe below calls for two dates as another option to sweeten the milk or if you're really good don't add any sweetener at all.

However I didn't have any cheese cloth to strain it through so I left the milk with a bit of sediment in it, which still tasted great. * Don't throw the almond pulp out I tell you what to do with it below*. I think I made about 1.25L of milk in total from about 1 1/2 cups of Almonds. The milk tasted really good. The only down side I would have to give making it yourself is you really have to drink it within 3-4 days of making it. Any time after that it gets a bit fermented and not so nice to drink.... as I found out.

• 1 1/2 cup raw almonds
• water for soaking nuts
• 4 cups water

1. Place the almond in a large bowl and cover with water. Leave to soak for a minimum of 6 hours or over night preferably. Drain the almonds in the morning and discard the soaking liquid.
2. Place the soaked almonds into a blender along with 4 cups of water.
3. Blend on high for 2- 3 minutes until smooth.
4. Strain the blended almond mixture using a strainer lined with cheesecloth or muslin. Remember to squeeze out the muslin with the leftover pulp in it to get all the liquid out.

Cooks Notes