Daniela Exley
- Jun 2, 2023
- 4 min read

Almond Milk & Granola

Almond Milk

Home-made Almond Milk is just so delicious; if you haven’t yet tried it, you’ll love it!

It’s super easy too. I soak my almonds overnight, then peel the skins off the next morning {oh, what a satisfying little job that is} and blend them with filtered water. Easy as that!

You can make nut milk with a number of nuts and seeds such as cashews, macadamias, hemp or sunflower seeds, and they are much kinder on your digestive system, taste great, are more environmentally sustainable, are totally easy to make and affordable.

I know the effect dairy has on me, and I’ve worked that out the hard way, so as a rule, I don’t eat dairy, but there are rare odd occasions when I do. On these rare occasions {once or twice a year}, it might be sheep or goat yoghurt or cheese as they are easier on the digestive system. For example, I really enjoyed having a Greek Salad when I was in Greece earlier this year, but at the same time, I know I won’t go crazy and eat a whole block of cheese or start eating it every day.

I’m not vegan and don’t pretend to be, but choose a mainly plant-based diet as for me personally, things like dairy and gluten have an accumulative effect on my body, and it’s the continued consumption of those foods which eventually saw me suffer with severe inflammation which manifested itself as Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Humans were never meant to consume milk apart from our mother’s milk up to the age of approximately 1-2 years old, and in general, over 80% of us have an intolerance to dairy. This can present in several symptoms, from mild to more severe, and can include: headaches, runny nose, cramps, bloating, itchy eyes, hive or rashes, IBS symptoms and joint inflammation.

A little more about the calcium + dairy myth…

The Dairy industry has done a fantastic job over the past few decades in marketing and drumming into our heads that dairy products are the only reliable source of calcium and vitamin D {vitamin D helps get calcium into our bones}. In actual fact, we can easily get our calcium from plants, in particular things like broccoli {approx 100mg per 100g}, rhubarb {approx 300mg per cup of cooked rhubarb} and almonds {380mg per 100g}.

While cow dairy contains high amounts of calcium, it also has an inflammatory effect on our body; it produces mucous. What about the antibiotics they feed the animals to sustain maximum profits??

Vitamin D is also important, and the best source is 10 minutes of sun daily for fair-skinned people and up to 30min for darker skin. Supplementation in winter when the sun is not around much is fine.

So give homemade nut milk a try; you’ll love it!

RECIPE

Simple Almond Milk

80g Almonds {soaked and skin removed} 3 cups filtered water

Optional extras:

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 tbsp maple syrup

Add all the ingredients into the blender and blitz.

Place a muslin cloth or nut milk bag over a jug or bowl and strain. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Tip: You can use the remaining pulp to make cookies, nut cheese, or almond flour.

Granola

Ok, so now we’ve got our delicious almond milk; let’s talk about my gluten-free Granola recipe with oats, coconut chips, flaked almonds, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, pine nuts and hemp seeds.

Oats are such an amazing food, the rockstar of breakfast cereals. They are rich in fibre, which helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels and may prevent heart disease as well as delayed absorption prolonging the feeling of fullness. They are also a great source of B vitamins necessary for many bodily functions such as energy production {so excellent in the morning} and minerals like magnesium, manganese and copper.

I go on about Coconuts all the time because their benefits are so extensive – may lower cholesterol, improve digestion, stabilize glucose levels, regulate hormones, increase thyroid production, ward off wrinkles, and many more…

The nuts and seeds provide a number of important minerals, such as zinc, iron and calcium, to mention a few.

RECIPE

Gluten Free Granola

50g gluten free oats 50g coconut flakes 50g almond flakes 25g pumpkin/sunflower seeds/pine nuts mix 25g hemp seeds 1 large tbsp unmelted virgin coconut oil 2tbsp maple syrup

Scatter the oats, nuts and seeds onto a baking tray, add the coconut oil and maple syrup and mix with your hands, rubbing the oil and syrup into the ingredients.

Bake in a preheated oven at 150 degrees Celcius {gas mark 2} for approx 10 minutes until golden.

Do keep a close eye as it can easily burn!!

You can enjoy a bowl of Granola and Almond Milk or make a blueberry, banana, acai berry & Almond Milk smoothie bowl as below topped with the gluten-free Granola and anything else that takes your fancy, such as bee pollen, sliced fruit or chia seeds.