A smoothie with almond milk has been something I have enjoyed making for myself and my family mainly because my kids have approved of it. Any healthy food that my kids approve of is something I jump on just cause who knows when their taste buds will change again and things will need to change again in the kitchen. While I totally love the taste of homemade almond milk which is easy and quick to make, I struggle the most with the leftover pulp. One cup of almonds when turned into almond milk always left me with at least 1 cup of pulp. With a busy schedule to deal with, I have been unsuccessful in converting the pulp into something that can be loved by everyone at home. If you are like me you know how bad/guilty it feels to throw out good healthy food.
Sometimes these same not so good feelings help us find some really good alternatives and that is exactly what came about from the guilt of throwing out pulp! All I had to do was to make the smoothies with the almond milk without doubling the effort of making the milk and then adding it to smoothies. I also didn’t want to be throwing out any pulp but at the same time make sure my children continue to enjoy drinking smoothies.
So after a few trials and approval from my kids here I am sharing a tried, tested and a fool proof recipe of my Very Berry smoothie. And yes there will be no PULP left over and once again approved by kids.
VERY BERRY SMOOTHIE
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
Soak ½ Cup Almonds overnight
Soak 3 spoons of chia seeds overnight
8-10 Strawberries
8-10 Raspberries
10-12 Blue Berries
3- Pitted Dates
2- Bananas
Handful of Spinach
2 cups of water
Recipe
Rinse and drain the soaked almonds.
Clean the fresh produce under water
Mix all of the ingredients listed above and blend them in a high speed blender 2-3 minutes.
Serve yourself a wonderful guilt free smoothie and ENJOY! YUM!
Great idea! I, too, am frustrated with what to do with the pulp when I make almond milk. I have found cashew milk does not need to be strained like almond milk, so I make that more often. But a recipe that eliminates the messy draining and squeezing step that making almond milk requires is genius! BTW, I’ve heard some people dry their almond pulp on a cookie sheet and/or bake it to dry it out, then sprinkle it on things, but this has never worked for me, as I forget about it, or it goes bad, or I don’t dry it enough, or I burn it. Next time I make almond milk, I may just give some of the leftover pulp to my dog. I bet she’d love it and then I wouldn’t feel so guilty!
Am glad you like the idea! I have used cashew milk in smoothies and yes I totally agree that cashew milk does not require to be strained like almond milk. Although my kids have favored almond milk over cashew milk. Hence, I was pushed to find an alternative. I have tried making cookies out of the almond milk pulp but so far I have not found success with it. Am going to try a few other items to see if works. But until then NO pulp NO trash and definitely no GUILT!!