My Week on Almond Milk
Like fashion, there are always trending ingredients and current food fads. Among the “Popular Crowd” right now would be chia seeds, Nutella, Greek Yogurt, Pumpkin (as with every fall), and Almond Milk. I know it has been around for a while, but it seems like more and more people are making the milk-swap, vegan or not!
What’s the fuss about?
I was intrigued, and decided to forego my skim dairy milk for a carton of Silk Unsweetened Original Almond Milk. Since then, I have been told that Vanilla flavor is the way to go. Anyways, I poured myself a glass with dinner that night, a little apprehensive about the gray-ish color…(No one thinks it’s weird that it sits on the shelf in the cupboard until opening?!)
I gave it an honest try but I couldn’t get past the ‘bitter water’ flavor. It may be 1/3 the calories of skim, but I think I’ll stick with the Cow’s milk.
I still had a carton of almond milk left, and I wasn’t going to waste it! I made a cup of hot chocolate with the almond milk next:
Pure deliciousness in a mug! The almond milk was definitely a hit with hot chocolate (6 oz. Almond Milk, 2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 Tbs sugar, 140 calories). Also a fan of almond milk over cereal and in fruit smoothies. When it was combined with other flavors, the wateriness wasn’t as obvious. I think it’s worth it to go for this low-calorie, high-calcium substitute in baking and other dishes. Next I’m excited to try Coconut Milk.
Now, I would never consider becoming a vegan or vegetarian; however meat is not a big part of my diet. I probably have meat 3 times a week, predominantly chicken or fish. I get most of my protein from milk, yogurt, garbanzo beans, peanut butter, peanut butter, peanut butter, protein bars and peanut butter ;)
My favorite Vegan in my life is quite a character. You may recognize her from some previous posts…
It’s Missy! Missy loves her carrots, and practically any veggies. She’s got some food allergies and is sensitive to a lot of dog food. No she’s not really Vegan (I think her food is lamb-flavored?) but she does LOVE her dinnner-time vegetables. This dog eats canned carrots like nobodies business, my little bunny dog. When we were all out of carrots, we discovered she is equally as excited about beets, peas, green beans, potatoes, and ALMONDS. She will literally scarf down a bowl of steamed, sliced carrots in 3.6 seconds – if only we ALL were as excited about a bowl of veggies :D
Thoughts on dairy-substitute products?
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Posted on September 13, 2012, in Breakfast, Healthy Habits and tagged almond milk, carrots, dairy, Dog, Food, food fads, hot chocolate, ingredients, Vegan. Bookmark the permalink. 18 Comments.
Strong Like My Coffee 
i am addicted to almond milk! unsweetened !
Must be an aquired taste, I know plenty of people who insist almond milk is better than “real” milk but I am just not too sure yet :)
You will be hooked soon it took me awhile to get addicted..
I don’t think I could get past the gray-ish color. As I have gotton older I have given
up so many things that I used to eat. I drink the 1% milk and I’m not about to
give that up. My milk or my morning coffee. That Missy is so cute !!!
I really like almond milk! I like the creaminess and the flavor. I’m not as big of a fan of soy or coconut milk though.
I LOVE almond milk!! I recently started making my own.. and it doesn’t have that grayish color or sit on a shelf… no preservatives and a TON less sugar! Check it out: http://thealmostvegan.com/homemade-almond-milk-and-cookies
Oooh those cookies that you made along with it looked so good too! I am currently on an almond-butter kick, yum :)
The cookies were yum! I did have a slight issue keeping them together but they would be fantastic as frozen balls as well! I love me some almond butter too!
I loveee almond milk. I’m lactose intolerant, and I like the consistency much better than soy or rice milk. The gray-ish color was a little weird at first, but it doesn’t bug me anymore. I rarely drink it straight unless I have heartburn since it gets rid of it. Plus, it doesn’t ever really go bad. I can’t say enough good things about it!
There are definitely great benefits, I liked that it had so much calcium and 0 grams of sugar. I’m just so used to regular milk, but I also added it to oatmeal and I liked that alot!
Definitely! The benefits are great, but it does take some getting used to.
I didn’t like it by itself but loved it with coffee like I did in this blog. http://nicolemichellesblog.wordpress.com/2012/06/11/perfection-in-a-cup/ It was seriously good!!!
I don’t think it is a fad at all. It is an option for me because I am lactose intolerant. I also have an adverse reaction to Soy. I have had the Almond, Rice and Cocunut and I like them both. It does not anything to do with the fact that I do not eat most meats. It does take some getting use to the odd color, but it is not bad at all. :) I also cook with them all. :)
I definitely agree that almond milk (and soy, and coconut, and rice) are all necessary for people who are lactose intolerant (like my roommate!). I have just noticed that a lot of my non-vegan, non-lactose intolerant friends are choosing Almond milk over dairy milk just for the taste-preference, and was curious why! Personally, I do prefer dairy, but totally understand its growing popularity considering its so light in calories and high in calcium! :)
I totally agree with you. :)
You need to find a place that makes fresh homemade almond milk and you will be in love with enjoying it by itself! I was the same.. I would only drink my almond milk with cereal, oatmeal, baking, lattes,etc.. Great post! And your dog is super cute
You have to get use to the flavor, I use to hate it, but I drink it now.
As a vegetarian (and an athlete), I pick soy or almond milk because they’re fortified with vitamin B12. B12 is the only vitamin that you can’t get on a meat-free diet. 1/2 cup of most soy or almond milks will get you 50% of your daily intake of B12.
Also, between soy and almond milk I typically pick soy because it has some protein content, while almond milk has none.