Eco Peaceful
Were ethics meets lifestyle!
BOOST NUTRITION WITH HEMP SEEDS - Almonds are very nutritious, and a good source of vitamin E, but they are low in omega 3, while hemp seeds have a perfect ratio of omega 3 to 6. So, by combining them you can make a very nutritious nut milk. Most nuts and seeds are better to combine to get the best nutrients profile. I highly recommend using CRON-O-Meter to keep track of both micro and macro nutrients.
NUTS... FOR WEIGHT LOSS? - Contrary to a popular, yet unscientific, belief that only low-fat diets help you to lose weight, scientific studies show that adding nuts and seeds (high in fat) into your diet can actually help you to lose weight, and even live longer! The satiating element of fatty foods can also entice people to reduce cravings, and reduce and eliminate animal foods, and/or help stay on a vegan/plant based diet!
HOW TO REDUCE THE HEMP SEED TASTE - Hemp seeds do not require soaking, but if you do not like the strong hemp taste, soaking and rinsing can reduce the hempy taste. To completely eliminate the hempy taste you can also roast them, but it is not the healthiest way since it damages the fats (fatty acids).
COST - WOW! STORE BOUGHT ALMOND MILK, COSTS UP TO $70/LB FOR THE ALMONDS!! - Some people think that store-bought milk costs less than homemade nut milk, but store bought almond milk are mostly made of water, non-nutritious fillers/thickeners, and possibly extracted oils/fat(s) and sugar(s). On average store bought almond milk has ONLY 4 almonds per cup! Buying packaged almond milk is similar to buying bottled vitamin water or soda, since in both you pay a lot for not getting much nutrients and most of the calories come from processed sugar(s).
BE A BETTER VEGAN BY REDUCING PLASTIC POLLUTION - Most plant milks are packaged in cartons (74% paper, 22% polyethylene and 4% aluminum) which makes them very difficult to recycle, so they end up in landfills toxify our ground waters. If this toxic plastic enters back into our environment it can end up harming and killing animals. Plus, the lids are unrecyclable and can end up in animals (mostly birds) stomach. Buying almonds in bulk using a reusable or compostable bag reduces plastic pollution.
EQUIPMENT
Blender - Good news! You do not need a high-speed blender (such as Vitamix or Blendtec) for making any nut milk. NOTE: According to independent studies, BPA-free blenders are not truly BPA free. To avoid toxic chemicals from plastic leaching into your food, we recommend using a glass jar blender without plastic on the bottom (Dynablend Clean DB-950 or Oster Pro 1200 both have stainless steel on the bottom). Click here to watch our videos for more details.
Nut Milk Bag - To avoid eating synthetic fibers (hmmm eating plastic?) and leaching toxic chemicals into your food, from synthetic (nylon) nut milk bags (often just relabeled paint strainers), I recommend using a 100% organic or natural nut milk bag.
NOTE: On Amazon.com there are many fake Organic nut milk bags and not even fully "natural". We tested several nut milk bags, and all of them had synthetic threads that is fraying and even glue on the end of the threads despite their claims of "organic cotton threads" and "no glue'! Read our article EXPOSED! Fake Organic Hemp Nut milk Bags sold on Amazon!
For 1 Batch(es)
USES FOR NUT MILK PULP:
Nut/seed pulp is very nutritious, probably even more nutritious than nut milk. Most of the minerals are in the pulp. Nut/seed pulp can be used in various recipes such as crackers, bread, pancakes, veggie burgers, desserts, bars... My favorite is raw cheezy onion crackers (recipe coming soon).
STORAGE:
Nut Milk - Best to store in the glass wide mouth jars, (Mason jars work great, especially considering that you can now buy stainless steel lids for them) in the refrigerator for about a few days. Click here to learn how to increase shelf life of your milk.
Pulp - Store the pulp in glass for a few days in the fridge or freeze (also can use glass jar) it until you are ready for some recipes.
SUGGESTIONS FOR RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
DATES - Why choose dates over other sweeteners? - Dates and/or date sugar are the most nutritious sweetener. Here is Dr. Michael Greger video The Healthiest Sweetener. I usually buy whole dates from a local farm, but if local dates are not an option for you, here is a great website for different varieties and good price value for boxed organic dates and they are shipped in cardboard boxes (Yay, no plastic boxes/shells!). Date palms grow very well in a desert environment, so no need to cut down tropical rainforest forest. I live in Las Vegas, and we even have date palm trees growing in parking, unfortunately just for decoration. I was inspired to plant date palms in my own yard.
VANILLA - Why vanilla bean is different from vanilla extract? - I used to use organic vanilla extract (alcohol based), but according to this Dr. Michael Greger video Breast Cancer and Alcohol: How Much is Safe? there is no safe alcohol level. So I switched to using vanilla powder or whole vanilla beans. Since I could find vanilla beans or vanilla powder only in plastic packaging, I buy at least a pound, this way it will last me for several years and less plastic packaging is used.
ALMONDS - Pasteurized almonds vs raw almonds - Most USA-grown almonds are pasteurized (even if labeled raw, raw almonds treated via Steam or PPO methods can be labeled RAW under FDA guidelines). Most raw almonds are most are imported from Italy and it seems that many raw food purist do not realize or consider the environmental impact of shipping their "raw almonds" from overseas. I consider overseas purchase practice to not be very eco-friendly, especially when there are many USA grown almonds available. Food shipping from overseas creates a lot of pollution.
Some people even claim that they are able to sprout pasteurized almonds, i did not try it, so I can not confirm that.
ALMONDS - Organic vs Conventional - Besides the important concern of pesticides, there is other another concern, like almonds that require being pasteurized by the USDA. Organic almonds are pasteurized by steam, but non-organic almonds are pasteurized by using chemical propylene oxide (PPO), which is considered a possible carcinogen.
HEMP SEEDS - Unfortunately hemp is currently (November of 2016) still illegal to grow in almost all of the USA. So, most hemp seeds that are sold in the USA are imported from Canada. They are first sterilized (roasted or shelled) so that people will not be abe to sprout/grow them. Organic hemp seeds can be expensive, compared to other seeds. An alternative to organic can be to buy conventionally grown hemp seeds. I think, but am not 100% sure, that you can be safe buying conventional hemp seeds since growing hemp seeds are known to not require or use of many pesticides. Also keep in mind that Canada also allows the use of biosolids (treated toxic sewage sludge) on conventional crops.
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