Some of the recipes I have posted here already require almond milk, such as my gluten-free bread recipe, and my dairy-free sorbet. You can easily buy almond milk in a major supermarket, but it is hard to find an almond milk that has a minimal amount of additives. Particularly, people who want to go on an entirely, or mostly, salt-free diet are limited in almond milk options. In addition, if you are on a clean-eating diet it is important to avoid processed foods as much as possible, and really anything that has to have a certain shelf life will be processed to a certain degree and have additives. Almond milk is, although really not a ‘bad’ processed food, still affected by this to a certain degree. Today I realized it shouldn’t be too complicated to make your own almond milk at home. Here is the recipe I used, and the end result was fantastic!

Ingredients

• 1 cup of raw almonds
• 4 cups of water
• Agave nectar (optional)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract (optional)

Preparation

• Cover almonds in water and soak overnight.
• Put the soaked almonds in a blender, and add 4 cups of water.
• Blend on a high setting.
• Add 1 tbsp of vanilla extract, and/or some agave nectar to sweeten it to taste.
• Blend a few minutes on highest setting until completely smooth.
• Strain the mixture through a fine sieve or cheesecloth.
• Squeeze as much milk as you can from the almonds. To do this, using a cheese cloth is probably better than a sieve, but whatever you have available or prefer working with will work fine to extract the almond milk from the mixture.
• Pour the fresh almond milk in a glass container and refrigerate. The almond milk can be kept in the fridge for up to 5-6 days.

Tip: the left over almond pulp can be used to make cookies, cake, bread, or added to sauces!

Yesterday I went to a salsa club that offers a wednesday night special on mojitos. Given my new commitment to a (refined) sugar-free lifestyle I wasn’t sure I’d be able to enjoy my usual mojito. I wasn’t really in the mood to pay double for a glass of wine, and at the last minute I came up with an interesting alternative solution to the usual sugar added to mojitos. I asked the waiter to make me a mojito without any sugar, and instead sweetened with maple syrup. I’m not kidding when I say my Canuckito (Canadian mojito) was even tastier than the usual sugary version.

Here’s how you can make your very own Canadian Mojito!

Ingredients:

• Mint leaves
• 1 lime
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 2 ounces white rum
• 2 ounces club soda
• 1 sprig of mint (garnish)
• crushed ice

Preparation:

Put the mint leaves in a glass and squeeze the lime over them. Add the maple syrup, then muddle the mint, lime juice, and maple syrup together. Add the crushed ice. Now, stir in the rum and top off with club soda. Garnish your Canadian-style mojito with a mint sprig. Enjoy!

Refined sugar in any foods causes it’s glycemic index to shoot right up. Skip the white stuff, and you’re on your way to a lower GI food or drink. Classically, our favorite summertime drink can contain tons of sugar, I have a just-as-sweet alternative without so much as a sprinkle of refined sugar.

Here’s what you do to serve four people with refreshing delicious sugar free lemonade:

Ingredients:

• 5 Lemons
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup
• 1 quart sparkling water
• 1 handful of mint sprigs

How it’s made:

Juice 4 of the lemons; slice the other lemon and set aside. Blend juice with applesauce and maple syrup. Stir in sparkling water. Pour mixture into large pitcher over ice. Garnish with lemon slices and mint sprigs and serve.

The details:

80 calories per serving, 0 g fat, 22 g carbs, 0.6 g fiber, 0.3 g protein