I’ve recently been talking with more and more moms just starting to implement diet changes, and I love it! While milk alternatives are certainly not necessary (water is best), they often help with the transition away from dairy/casein. Homemade milk alternatives avoid the MSG-laden additives found in most store-bought milk options. For us, we landed on homemade cashew milk because it was quick, easy, and reduced costs. If you choose to use nuts in your milk alternative, raw (un-roasted) nuts are preferred to keep glutamate risk down. Possible add-ins are strawberries, mango, or cacao nibs for chocolate milk. While this video has been available in the Facebook group for a few years, I just took the time to add it to the website. Heads up, cashews are higher in oxalate. If you’re struggling with oxalates, you may want to read more about this exciting connection.
Ingredients
1 cup raw cashews (soaked overnight or a minimum of 2 hours)
3 cup filtered water
2-3 pitted dates (optional) (2 tbsp. of honey or maple syrup are great alternatives)
1 tsp homemade vanilla extract (optional)
1 pinch Himalayan salt
Instructions
Soak cashews and pitted dates in warm water for three or so hours. Drain and rinse soaked cashews and place in a high-powered blender with remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate up to 5 days. To freeze, consider pouring milk into ½ cup portions in a silicone muffin pan. Once frozen, store in an airtight glass container in the freezer.