A brain food that’s good-tasting, portable and good for you, almonds have become a serious staple in the straighten up and stay healthy game. A great source of Vitamin E, magnesium, iron and zinc, as well as being alkalizing for the blood, almonds portable, verstile and are the perfect pre-workout fix to take the edge of your hunger. You can throw raw almonds into hot breakfast cereals, top your yogurt with roasted ones, or make your own energizing trail mix with dried fruit.
But beyond the obvious, there’s creamy almond milk to be made from raw, soaked almonds, which is a great alternative to dairy and soy. When you make it yourself, it’s even healthier, fresher and better tasting than the brands on store shelves.
It’s not as daunting as it might seem, and the pay offs are worth the little bit of extra time and task.
Brigitte Mars, a leader in natural medicine and a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild, is a nutritional consultant, shares her recipe for homemade almond milk (which can also be used for cashew, hazelnut, pine nut, sesame, sunflower, walnut, or pumpkin seed milk), with Care2.com.
Get some almond joy here:
1 cup almonds, soaked overnight
1 quart water
1 tablespoon raw honey or 2 dates, soaked 20 minutes
Rinse the nuts in a colander to remove enzyme inhibitors
Combine all ingredients in a blender and liquefy. Then strain through a sprout bag or a paint strainer bag (available at paint or hardware stores). Pulp can be saved to add to casseroles, cookies or other dishes.
Photo courtesy TiffanyWashko@Flickr
