spiced almond milk and a thought process

I've been making regular nut milk for awhile now. I was making a standard batch when I thought to myself, I should really mix this up a bit. So, I started pulling spices and ingredients, and, as I'm doing this, I started thinking about how this would make a great gift. Of course, then I began to think that maybe a nut milk gift is kind of weird, and maybe I'm the only person out there who would like to receive it. However, this made me then think of my friend, Dina. Dina would also appreciate homemade nut milk! She is fun and unique and likes homemade goods. I mean, she was totally on board with putting bacon in caramel, so she would definitely be into spiced milk. Thinking about Dina made me think of her 29 days of soup project and how she gave Anders and I the most delicious tomato basil soup. Then, I started thinking about how even though I did thank her, I always meant to return the kindness. And then I thought...I know just the thing to give her!

And that, my friends, is how Dina got some almond milk.

Spiced chocolate almond milk

Ingredients:

2 cups of raw almonds, soaked in water overnight

5 soft dates (if your dates aren't soft, just soak them in warm water for 5 minutes)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon vanilla powder 

2 tablespoons cacao powder

Directions:

Drain and rinse the soaked almonds very well. Add them to a blender with 4 cups of water and all the other ingredients. Blend on high until well mixed. Strain milk through a milk nut bag into a pitcher and squeeze the pulp to make sure you get out all the milk. If you don't have a nut bag, you can strain it through a regular strainer and use your fist to squeeze the excess out of the pulp. Pour milk from pitcher into a clean jar. It will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

It tastes great by itself, in granola or as a smoothie base!