Homemade Almond Milk and Peach Cobbler Smoothie

We just returned from a 10 day trip to Europe...such a whirlwind!

My body is really hating me right now after I forced as many Italian pizzas, gelato, and French pastry and baguettes as I possibly could into it...oy...my tummy hurts.

I am glad to be home and to be getting back on track with eating healthy and my workouts.

Woke up this morning with a jet lag headache, pushed through a 30 minute workout - I felt like my body was full of lead - so hard to move!  Then I made this nice light smoothie for breakfast - such a nice change after eating straight up bread and pastry for breakfast every morning for the last 10 days. 

 I am craving fruits and vegetables - someone find me a garden!

I usually make my peanut butter banana smoothie with cacao a lot during the warm months, but I am getting a little weary of that recipe - so onto some new ones!  I have also been making my own almond or nut milks recently - so delicious and easy!  I have also done this with pecans and it was delicious!  Then I tried cashew milk, which is essentially the same recipe you just don't have to strain it.  So good!  You can basically make a milk out of any nut or seed!  Hemp seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, peanuts, walnuts, go to town!!! 

Homemade Almond Milk

There are many recipes for homemade almond milk out on the web - play around with the recipe and find out what taste you prefer.  I don't like sweet almond milk, but if you do add a little bit of honey, maple syrup, or a pitted date to your milk and blend.

Soak one cup of almonds in a bowl covered with water for at least 6 hours, overnight, or up to 2 days. 

Drain and rinse the almonds thoroughly after soaking.  

Place almonds back in blender and add 5 cups cold filtered water, a pinch of salt, and a splash of vanilla.  

Blend until frothy and almonds are well ground.  

Pour almond milk through a strainer.  If you have a cheese cloth you can strain this even better - I tried a cheese cloth, but it fell apart, so I am order a nut milk strainer bag - I will let you know how that works out.  Don't throw away the pulp leftover from straining the milk!  You can add it to smoothies, dry it out in the oven to make almond flour, or add it to baked goods.

Voila!  Homemade almond milk!  Most recipes call for 2.5-4 cups of water, but I found the milk to thick, so I upped my water to 5 cups - better consistency for me and gives me more almond milk in the end!

Peach Cobbler Smoothie
makes one large smoothie

1 cup homemade almond milk (or store bought works too!)
1/2 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen peaches (or fresh if you have them)
2 TBSP Old fashioned oats
1 tsp chia seeds (optional - can also use flax seed if you want)
1-2 tsp. honey (depending upon how sweet you want it)
1 tsp almond pulp from making almond milk, or a few whole almonds if you have them

Blend until smooth and combined.  If it is too thick for you add more almond milk, if it is too thin add some ice cubes and blend.