Vegan Milk Recipes
Non-dairy milks are becoming more popular than ever. Not only because they are better for your body, but because they are preventing harm to animals as well. Many people think that milk is cruelty free, but they couldn't be further from the truth. The cows are not allowed to roam free as they please all the time as the dairy industry would like us to believe, instead they are kept in small crates, and impregnated over and over again (basically raped, they even call the apparatus that holds them while it happens "rape racks") so that they are always producing milk. But this milk that they produce for the baby that they just gave birth to doesn't go to the baby, it instead is sold for human consumption. If the baby happens to be a female, the cycle starts over. If it is a male, it is killed and sold for veal (pretty sad they don't even get a chance to live, even though it is not much of a life). At around 4 years old, female dairy cows are sent to slaughter. If cows are allowed to live out their natural life and roam free they can live up to 25 years. Pretty sad isn't it? Makes the idea of milk not taste so good anymore. Humans aren't even meant to drink dairy milk, our bodies have a hard time digesting it because it was meant for cows, not us. If you are a milk lover and don't want to support the dairy industry, I have good news for you. There are plenty of wonderful substitutes for it! Now, you can buy it at the store if you wish, but if you do so I recommend reading ingredients. The milk should preferably only have things that you can pronounce, and not a bunch of added refined sugar. Personally though, I like to make my own non-dairy milk. It is really easy, and I think it tastes better than the stuff at the store.
There are many different types of milk you can make, and they each have different purposes or things that they work the best for. I like to use coconut milk for my dessert recipes because it is rich, fairly neutral, and if you buy the full fat canned variety, it whips up beautifully for whipped coconut cream. I also feel that it works the best for using in coffee or matcha lattes (my hot drink of choice over coffee) in place of cream. You can make your own coconut milk if you are going to be using it on cereal by blending 1 cup fresh young coconut meat with 2 cups coconut water until smooth. Another type of milk that I enjoy is nut milks. As a general rule, any nut can be made into milk. As far as proportions for making it go, 1 cup nuts (soaked for 4-8 hours) and 3-4 cups filtered water (depending on how thick you like it). If you don't have time to soak nuts, and are in a hurry a really quick way to make nut milk is to blend 1/4 cup nut butter with 2 cups filtered water until smooth (you can play around with the proportions if you want it thicker or thinner). I have done this with cashew butter, almond butter, and pecan butter with great results!
I know not everyone can tolerate nuts though, and in that case, seeds make delicious milk too! I have two recipes below, one for sunflower seed milk, and one for a Mexican chocolate pumpkin seed milk that are delicious! Making your own milk is so easy and so worth it! The best part is you can flavor the milks however you like. Sometimes I add fruit to them as well for a summery treat reminiscent of that strawberry milk I used to drink in elementary school as a child. That milk was probably artificially flavored though. I have actually always preferred non-dairy milk to the real thing though despite the school lunches. My Mom never kept dairy milk in the house, it was always soymilk because she couldn't tolerate the dairy. I am not a huge fan of soymilk now, but if I were to buy it I would make sure it was organic, non-GMO and no sugar added. I hope this post has been helpful to you if you were on the fence about whether to eliminate dairy from your diet, here are some recipe links, and the recipes I mentioned above in case you would like to make your own vegan milk!
Brazil Nut Milk (by The Full Helping)
Raw Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk
Macadamia Nut Milk (by Plant Over Processed)
Sunflower Seed Mylk
Makes about 4 cups
3 1/2-4 cups filtered water
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
pinch sea salt
4 pitted medjool dates
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Place all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass container and store in the refrigerator.
Mexican Chocolate Pumpkin Seed Mylk
Makes about 4 cups
3 1/2-4 cups filtered water
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
pinch sea salt
1/4 cup pitted medjool dates
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp chipotle powder
Place all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass container and store in the refrigerator.
