“Milk Alternative Does a Body Good Too!”

Question: I have a child who is allergic to milk and dairy products. Do you have a recipe for a good substitute?

 Answer: The following recipe is a healthy alternative to dairy milk – you can use it in recipes calling for milk or drink it by the glass. You can also add spices and flavorings to it if you like.

           Your child is not alone with their intolerance; many animals, including some humans, don’t tolerate milk after weaning. In fact, humans are the only species that purposely drinks another animal’s milk. Milk is a hormonal fluid produced to nourish a baby animal of a particular species until weaning. So it’s not really that unusual that a child cannot utilize a fluid produced to grow cows! Fortunately, there are other foods rich in calcium. I hope your youngster enjoys the recipe below. If you let them take part in making it and experimenting with flavors, it will help encourage a desire to drink it.

 Ami’s Almond “Milk”

 1 cup raw shelled almonds (organically-grown is best)

5 cups water

1 teaspoon vanilla

 Soak almonds overnight in 2 cups of water; afterward, drain the water from the nuts, rinse, and pat dry. Put the almonds in a food processor or blender and process until smooth, adding enough water to reach the desired consistency. Strain through a cheesecloth if you wish (you’ll loose some nutrients, but the texture will be much smoother). Makes about 4 cups.