A lot of my recipes call for "plant milk." By this I mean any milk made from nuts, seeds, grains or soybeans. Soymilk is the most popular and widely available plant milk, but milks based on oats, rice, hazelnuts, almonds, hemp seed and other nuts, grains and seeds are becoming more common. Luckily, most of these other milks are very easy to make, and in most cases you will save money by making them yourself.
Soymilk is a great choice for baking or any time you need a creamy milk with more fat. It doesn't contain as much fat as animal milk, but it is substantial enough to hold up under intense heat. It's also a favorite overall replacement for many people transitioning from animal milk. I've never enjoyed drinking soymilk because of its chalky aftertaste, though many people do like it. Some experimention is required to find a variety that works for most people, because all of the brands vary widely in flavor and texture.
Isaiah drank soymilk a lot after he turned 1, but we haven't followed the same route with Willow. By the time we had Willow, we were sort of "over" the idea that a child needs to drink white stuff of any sort to be healthy.
Soymilk is often condemned as a replacement for cow's milk for small children, because the government has done an excellent job of convincing parents that cow's milk is essential to a child's health. Since cow's milk contains so much fat and is good source of calcium, it's assumed that children who drink plant milk instead, or no milk at all, will definitely be deficient in these nutrients (though most plant milks contain a similar amount of calcium).
Unfortunately, promoting cow's milk as the best source of calcium and fat in a child's diet simultaneously promotes lazy feeding practices, by presenting a presumed safety net for children who subsist on processed food. Children who have a diverse diet of whole foods will take in more than enough
healthy fat - that is,
plant-based fat - and calcium.
So we rarely drink any kind of white stuff in our family. Willow isn't accustomed to drinking milks, so she mostly sticks to water. Most children probably
are deficient in this most important nutrient, since juices, milks and sodas are much more common childhood fare. When I think of my own childhood, I almost never drank water. To my parents' credit, I also rarely drank soda or juice, so I mostly drank cow's milk. I didn't realize what a problem this was until I eliminated dairy from my diet.
I use various plant milks primarily for food preparation. I use them for baking and thinning out certain cooked foods, or for creaming a soup or making a smoothie. I try to make my own milks as much as possible, though I do sometimes get lazy and just buy soymilk.
We have made soymilk a few times, with mixed results. It's a laborious, time-intensive process, and the final product just doesn't taste as good as the packaged stuff (which probably says something bad about the packaged stuff). I wonder if a soymilk maker would speed up this process and cut out some of the labor, but I haven't felt inclined to try it since developing a master recipe for nut and seed milks.
This recipe is very simple and takes about ten minutes to make. It will store for about two days in the refrigerator, though you may need to whiz it through a blender on the second day if it separates. I make this milk in small batches since it's so perishable, and I store it in a quart-size mason jar. It can be used in equivalent amounts for cow's milk in almost all recipes.
Nut and seed milks vary in flavor and consistency, so feel free to experiment to find the ones you like best for various recipes. Our favorites are almond milk and sesame milk, both of which are good sources of healthy fats and calcium.
Some people add a teaspoon of lecithin to their homemade milk to achieve a creamier consistency, but I've never bothered; they seem creamy enough to me. Speaking of cream, you can reduce the water to 2 c. to make a heavier cream, suitable for coffee, tea, soup, smoothies or any other recipe that calls for cream. Adding various extracts, especially hazelnut, almond or vanilla, makes a great cream for coffee.
ingredients 1 c. nuts or seeds (some examples are almonds, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, sesame seeds, hemp seeds)
4 c. water
2 T. coconut or flaxseed oil (optional)
2 T. sweetener (I primarily use maple syrup and agave nectar - omit for savory use)
1 t. vanilla (omit for savory use)
pinch of salt
instructions 1. Soak the nuts overnight if you can. (I usually forget, and it always works out fine, but it's better if you soak them.) Place the nuts or seeds in 2 c. of water and leave on the counter overnight. This deactivates enzyme inhibitors to ease digestion and makes the nuts or seeds easier to break down in the blender. Only soak macadamias and other very high-fat nuts for a couple of hours, not overnight.
2. Combine the nuts or seeds with the water in a blender and process for 3-5 minutes.
3. Strain the nutmilk into a large container. I use a muslin bag, or you can use 3 layers of cheesecloth. Squeeze hard to release every ounce of milk.
4. Rinse out the blender and return the milk to the blender. Add the oil, sweetener, vanilla and salt and process for about a minute. Store in the refrigerator for two days.
1 Comment
A lot of my recipes call for "plant milk." By this I mean any milk made from nuts, seeds, grains or soybeans. Soymilk is the most popular and widely available plant milk, but milks based on oats, rice, hazelnuts, almonds, hemp seed and other nuts, grains and seeds are becoming more common. Luckily, most of these other milks are very easy to make, and in most cases you will save money by making them yourself.
Soymilk is a great choice for baking or any time you need a creamy milk with more fat. It doesn't contain as much fat as animal milk, but it is substantial enough to hold up under intense heat. It's also a favorite overall replacement for many people transitioning from animal milk. I've never enjoyed drinking soymilk because of its chalky aftertaste, though many people do like it. Some experimention is required to find a variety that works for most people, because all of the brands vary widely in flavor and texture.
Isaiah drank soymilk a lot after he turned 1, but we haven't followed the same route with Willow. By the time we had Willow, we were sort of "over" the idea that a child needs to drink white stuff of any sort to be healthy.
Soymilk is often condemned as a replacement for cow's milk for small children, because the government has done an excellent job of convincing parents that cow's milk is essential to a child's health. Since cow's milk contains so much fat and is good source of calcium, it's assumed that children who drink plant milk instead, or no milk at all, will definitely be deficient in these nutrients (though most plant milks contain a similar amount of calcium).
Unfortunately, promoting cow's milk as the best source of calcium and fat in a child's diet simultaneously promotes lazy feeding practices, by presenting a presumed safety net for children who subsist on processed food. Children who have a diverse diet of whole foods will take in more than enough healthy fat - that is, plant-based fat - and calcium.
So we rarely drink any kind of white stuff in our family. Willow isn't accustomed to drinking milks, so she mostly sticks to water. Most children probably are deficient in this most important nutrient, since juices, milks and sodas are much more common childhood fare. When I think of my own childhood, I almost never drank water. To my parents' credit, I also rarely drank soda or juice, so I mostly drank cow's milk. I didn't realize what a problem this was until I eliminated dairy from my diet.
I use various plant milks primarily for food preparation. I use them for baking and thinning out certain cooked foods, or for creaming a soup or making a smoothie. I try to make my own milks as much as possible, though I do sometimes get lazy and just buy soymilk.
We have made soymilk a few times, with mixed results. It's a laborious, time-intensive process, and the final product just doesn't taste as good as the packaged stuff (which probably says something bad about the packaged stuff). I wonder if a soymilk maker would speed up this process and cut out some of the labor, but I haven't felt inclined to try it since developing a master recipe for nut and seed milks.
This recipe is very simple and takes about ten minutes to make. It will store for about two days in the refrigerator, though you may need to whiz it through a blender on the second day if it separates. I make this milk in small batches since it's so perishable, and I store it in a quart-size mason jar. It can be used in equivalent amounts for cow's milk in almost all recipes.
Nut and seed milks vary in flavor and consistency, so feel free to experiment to find the ones you like best for various recipes. Our favorites are almond milk and sesame milk, both of which are good sources of healthy fats and calcium.
Some people add a teaspoon of lecithin to their homemade milk to achieve a creamier consistency, but I've never bothered; they seem creamy enough to me. Speaking of cream, you can reduce the water to 2 c. to make a heavier cream, suitable for coffee, tea, soup, smoothies or any other recipe that calls for cream. Adding various extracts, especially hazelnut, almond or vanilla, makes a great cream for coffee.
ingredients
1 c. nuts or seeds (some examples are almonds, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, sesame seeds, hemp seeds)
4 c. water
2 T. coconut or flaxseed oil (optional)
2 T. sweetener (I primarily use maple syrup and agave nectar - omit for savory use)
1 t. vanilla (omit for savory use)
pinch of salt
instructions
1. Soak the nuts overnight if you can. (I usually forget, and it always works out fine, but it's better if you soak them.) Place the nuts or seeds in 2 c. of water and leave on the counter overnight. This deactivates enzyme inhibitors to ease digestion and makes the nuts or seeds easier to break down in the blender. Only soak macadamias and other very high-fat nuts for a couple of hours, not overnight.
2. Combine the nuts or seeds with the water in a blender and process for 3-5 minutes.
3. Strain the nutmilk into a large container. I use a muslin bag, or you can use 3 layers of cheesecloth. Squeeze hard to release every ounce of milk.
4. Rinse out the blender and return the milk to the blender. Add the oil, sweetener, vanilla and salt and process for about a minute. Store in the refrigerator for two days.