Today is Chapter Two of our Becoming Dairy Free series. Bill makes Almond Milk and uses it to make Chia Pudding and Rice Pudding.
Last week in our first Becoming Dairy Free post, we made Cashew Cheese and next week in Dairy Free 3, we'll make Caesar Dressing with cashews so you can enjoy dairy free, oil free dressings for salads or cooked greens.
When we let go of dairy, we lower the inflammatory load on our body, which can reduce pain, lower cholesterol and blood pressure. When we replace dairy with WFPB alternatives, we feed our microbiome in ways that can improve our immune response and we can lose weight naturally.
Join us to explore the wonders of almond milk and how easily you can make it. You can use the same recipe to make cashew as well.
Wasn't that simple? And the puddings are so delicious. Both recipes are below. Give them a try and see how your body appreciates shifting to whole food plant based eating.
To Your Amazing Health,
Connie and Bill
Chia Pudding
- ½ cup Almonds
- 1 ½ cups water
- 16 drops (1 dropper full) Stevia
- 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup or Honey
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- pinch of sea salt
- ¼ cup chia seeds
Add all the ingredients except the chia seeds in a blender and blend on high until smooth. 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on your blender.
Add the chia and pulse a few times to mix the seeds in. Let it rest for 30 seconds and pulse again. Let it rest another 30 seconds and pulse again. Do that one more time after 30 seconds more. By now, the chia should be getting gelatinous and evenly distributed.
Pour this into a container and refrigerate or pour it into several smaller containers and add some of the optional additions below for variety.
Optional additions:
Fresh or frozen berries, chopped almonds, banana, cacao nibs, mint, etc.
Rice or Oat Groat Pudding (Serves 4)
- 3 cups cooked brown rice, or ½ rice and ½ oat groats, or all oat groats
- 2 cup almond milk (see recipe below to make your own.)
- ½ cup raisins
- 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- ¼ tsp Vanilla Stevia
- ½ tsp Cinnamon
Add all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat on medium until it begins to boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes.
You can eat it warm, or let it cool down and refrigerate it. It thickens up like traditional rice pudding when it cools.
This is delicious topped with fresh or frozen fruit, too.
NOTE: You can replace the raisins with dried cranberries or dates for a change of pace.
Almond Milk
- ½ cup almonds
- 1 ½ cups water
Add ingredients to a blender and blend on high until smooth, 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on your blender.