Almond Milk and Smoothie

Yum! The only thing I did wrong with both of these recipes was that I didn’t make enough.

I have long believed that I’m somewhat dairy intolerant. This hasn’t been proven in skin or blood tests, but I am very aware of a reaction I get when I eat cheese, cream or butter. Fortunately for me, it’s a very selective problem as I can have milk in the form of cappuccinos and small amounts of ice cream without too much of a reaction, but I’ve never tried to push this by drinking smoothies.

I have recently found a couple of organic food stores with an attached café that offer cappuccinos made from alternative milks. Rice milk cappuccinos are on the menu at Fundamental Food Store in Paddington, while Wray Organic in Newmarket offers rice, oat or almond milk cappuccinos. I really enjoy a guilt-free cappuccino while stocking up on organic food. I realize cappuccinos are not raw drinks, but fortunately they can be included in the 25% non-raw allowance.

Now that I own a Thermomix, I can also make my own milk and have made cashew milk cappuccinos occasionally. Working through the Rawlicious recipe book has encouraged me to trial almond milk (on the left) and an almond milk smoothie with papaw and pineapple added. I’ve been bowled over by both and I want more.

I strained the almond milk through muslin, another first for me and the reason that I didn’t get enough milk. I could have drunk the almond milk without straining it, but I’m really pleased I made the extra effort as it tasted lovely. Squeezing out the extra milk wrapped up in the muslin was an interesting feeling. Since I’m not likely to take on milking cows, this is the next best thing.

I haven’t yet worked out how I can use the almond pulp that is caught in the muslin, so the first batch went into the worm farm. I have some raw recipes that include the almond pulp in biscuits that are then dehydrated, so that’s an option once I work out how I’ll dehydrate foods.