When I first cut dairy products out of my diet, 13 years ago, finding non-dairy alternatives was difficult, so eventually I learned to make my own nut milk, but I used to hide the fact that it was homemade from people at work for fear of being the office geek (how silly)! So when baby no.2 was diagnosed with a cow’s milk & soya protein allergy I thought I’d be fully prepared to deal with it, yet somehow I find myself craving all things dairy (funny that)! Having to worry about what I eat as well as what my baby can eat can be really time-consuming and involves a lot of planning ahead.
Nowadays, thankfully, dairy alternatives can be found anywhere and everywhere, but learning to make it at home is such a simple – satisfying – skill, which comes in very useful when we have run out of milk at home: there’s usually something knocking about in the pantry that we can use for making milk! Plus, store bought milks can be very watered down! (If you do buy any supermarket versions however try to get the ones that have added calcium and speak to your GP about taking calcium supplements yourself).
I sometimes add a bit of flavouring to my milks, like vanilla, salt, dates, maple or agave syrup.
All of the milks can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days (nut milk doesn’t seem to last as long as oat milk in my experience).The following recipes should yield 1 litre of milk…
OAT MILK
Making oat milk is super quick and easy and will have more calories than nut milks. Bit more cost effective too – nuts can be expensive to buy in bulk.
4 x cups water
2 x cups oats
- Soak the oats in the water for at least half an hour.
- Add everything to a blender or processor and whizz until smooth (taste to check if it needs straining)!
ALMOND / HAZELNUT / CASHEW MILK
A cloth or nylon jam straining bag is the best thing to use for straining nut milks (I find the nylon ones more durable; I just stick them in the dishwasher or washing machine to clean!).
4-5 x cups of water
1 x cup nuts
- Soak the nuts in some water for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
- Drain the nuts then add to a blender or processor with 4-5 cups of water and whizz for a few minutes.
- Strain through a straining bag or muslin…done!
xx Selma xx