What are plant-based drinks?
These are juices or shakes made from plant-based products (cereals, legumes, nuts and seeds).
There is a great variety of plant-based drinks that can be made from soy, almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds, quinoa, rice, sunflower seeds, oats, hazelnuts, chufa… Plant-based drinks are much sweeter and more liquid than dairy milk, and are lighter on your digestive system.
How to make home made nut milks?
You can find machines called nutmilk makers which are quite easy to use, but in our opinion the best, cheapest and healthier way to make your own nut and almond milk is to use an organic cotton nut milk bag.
Nut milk bags are natural fibers bags designed to make nut milk. The fabric is specially chosen to filter the milk conserving the nutrients of the drink.
Find here two recipes to make almond and oat milk with a nut milk bag.
Recipe of almond milk with a nut milk bag:
-
To make 1 litre: 100g almonds (to vary the consistency; simply add more or less almonds) and 1 litre of water
-
Put the almonds in the blender, add enough of the water to just cover the almonds and include a sweetener if desired (dates, sultanas, coconut, bananas, figs, agave syrup, rice syrup, stevia…). Blend well, making sure the almonds have been well chopped up and combined.
-
Finally add the remaining water and blend again. Leave for 2 minutes for the mixture to settle. Strain it through the nut milk bag. Once filtered, squeeze the bag well to make the most of every last little drop.
-
Do not throw out the almond meal that remains in the bag, you can use it to add fibre to your meals and to add a unique touch to your recipes. You can add it to falafels, oat or rice pancakes, vegan cheeses, mayonnaises, biscuits, hamburgers, pizzas, cakes…
Recipe of oat milk with a nut milk bag:
-
To make 1 litre: 150 gr. of oat grains + 1 liter of water + a sweetener if desired.
-
Soak the grains about 8 hours. Then strain it and put it in the blender jar.
-
Add enough of the water to just cover the almonds and include a sweetener if desired (dates, sultanas, coconut, bananas, figs, agave syrup, rice syrup, stevia…). But oat is naturally sweet, try it with sweetener, you will love it!
-
Blend well, making sure the oat grains have been well chopped up and combined. Finally add the remaining water. Strain it through the nut milk bag. Once filtered, squeeze the bag well to make the most of every last little drop.
- Do not throw out the oat meal that remains in the bag, you can use it to add fibre to your meals and to add a unique touch to your recipe.
Recommendations:
-
We would advise soaking the main ingredient for about 8 hours beforehand and then drain the water. Soaking activates and increases the content of certain minerals, including calcium.
-
When serving, it is a good idea to give plant-based milks a shake as they contain some sediment that tends to settle at the bottom, this way they last longer and you make the most of the nutritional content.
-
As plant-drinks are 100% natural and preservative-free, their shelf-life is limited and depends on the freshness of the ingredients used, the purity of the water and how they are stored. The average shelf-life is around 2-3days (if ingredient quality is high they may last a few days longer) when well-sealed in a glass bottle in the fridge.
