Soy/Rice/Almond Milk

Hi pangit,

I have never made any of my own milk! LOL We buy raw milk from a local farmer and have noticed much of our dairy sensitivity has been resolved. I made raw milk yogurt a couple of weeks ago for the first time, and I’ve got some milk clabbering on my counter right now. I plan to make raw cream cheese and liquid whey when it clabbers. It’s chilly here today, so it’s taking longer.

Since I don’t use our raw milk for cooking, I buy rice milk or almond milk to use in recipes, whichever is cheaper. We don’t use soy products because of the high plant estrogen. I have done some extensive research on soy, and it’s just not a food I want my family eating/drinking. That said, I saw this video the other day on making your own coconut milk. It’s the only help I can offer you, as I have not made soy/rice/almond milk myself. I do occasionally buy coconut milk, for cooking not drinking, but now I really want to try making my own! Sorry I can’t be of more help to you!

Here’s the video link: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/02/video-how-to-make-coconut-milk/

I look forward to others’ responses about this very interesting topic! 

Blessings,

Lindsey

I don’t have any recipes and also avoid soy for the estrogen reasons, the phytic acid and thyroid problems it can cause.

Almond is a great alternative, as long as the nuts are soaked before hand. Here is an article about it and a recipe for Vanilla Almond milk. Here’s another one with less ingredients.

HTH,

Rachel

Questa7,

All the beneficial things that are found raw cow’s milk are killed in the heating process (ie. pasteurization or cooking). As you know raw milk is so full of good bacteria, enzymes, minerals, and vitamins. When you heat any nutrient-dense food, you kill those wonderful things. Cooking or baking the milk essentially does the same thing as pasteurization, thus the reason (I’m assuming) you wanted RAW milk in the first place. 

Does that answer your question?

Blessings,

Lindsey

Questa7,

Yes, you are right that raw milk is a higher quality product that the organic milk found in the store. And, no, we don’t have intolerances to cooked dairy.

We do not have significant dairy issues, although dd was intolerant for a while. I really believe the raw milk and high doses of probiotics we take helped tremendously with what could have been a milk allergy. My reasons for choosing to use rice or almond milks in cooking is two-fold. First, because raw milk is expensive and a precious commodity in our home, I wanted to get the most out of my money. If I’m going to pay for the benefits of raw milk, then I don’t want to kill the benefits by cooking them, you know? Secondly, we are trying to eliminate ALL non-raw dairy. I recently made my own yogurt, and just bought an extra gallon of milk from the farm to make more yogurt. As mentioned earlier, I am making some raw cream cheese for the first time this week (still waiting on milk to clabber). And we recently began purchasing raw milk cheese from our co-op (Azure Standard). I just found out today that our local dairy will supply me with raw sour cream, buttermilk, raw butter!! and mozzarella cheese, if I choose to order it. So, we are getting close to being completely raw in our dairy consumption.

I, too, am intrigued and interested in talking with people about raw dairy. It is fascinating, isn’t it!

I use a capsule probiotic. The kids take the same probiotic as dh and I do. I open the capsule, sprinkle it into a cold food item such as yogurt or applesauce, and stir it in. They know I do this and have never complained about taste. I have also blended it in their smoothies.

Our probiotic is called Florajen. It has 15 billion live organisms per capsule. I take 2 daily; the kids each take 1. But when my ds had an outbreak of candidiasis in his GI tract, he took 3 daily for about a month, as recommended by our compound pharmacist. These are the strains in this probiotic: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis, and Bifidobacterium longum. It must be kept refrigerated. Also, it does not contain yeast, sugar, soy, eggs, corn, wheat, gluten, coloring, or preservatives. I buy it at our local compound pharmacy. For $19.99, I get 60 capsules.

FYI, if your ds isn’t used to a high potency probiotic, such as Florajen, you might start him out with 1/2 a capsule daily and work up to a full capsule. I’m not a medical professional, so talk to your dr. or a naturopath or compound pharmacist if you’re not sure. Introducing too much beneficial bacteria at once can cause diarrhea or die-off effects, especially if there is an overgrowth of too much harmful bacteria or yeast already in the gut. The probiotic won’t make him sick, but if you’re not prepared for the potential side effects of a die-off, you might think he’s sick.

Glad you found the G-free links on my blog helpful! That’s why they’re there! I am a passionate baker as well, so PM me if you want our favorite bread and quickbread recipes.

Blessings!

Lindsey

Lindsey–sorry it took me so long to respond to this!  Thanks for the probiotic recommendation…and again for the GF blogs; they were very helpful.  About to PM you.