Homemade Almond Milk

So trying to get "clean" when it comes to eating is very difficult...Even things that seem really healthy like unsweetened almond milk have additives in them. It doesn't mean that it isn't healthy or I'm never going to drink it, just that if I can make it myself, I'm gonna try!! My Dad definitely inspired this project, thanks Dad. I went to the store and purchased a 10 oz package of raw organic almonds and a jar of fresh vanilla beans, YUM!! I happen to have lots of water flowing free from my faucet, so that's it...ingredient list finished. I soaked the almonds under water over night. Then the next morning, rinsed them thoroughly and placed 1 cups into the vitamix with 4 cups of water. Then I made my husband do the vanilla bean...he does them more than I. This part is optional by the way. He slit it down the middle and then scrapes the seeds from one side to the other...then adds to the Vitamix. I blended it all together on high for a couple of minutes. Matt took strange pictures of me stirring my coffee with a vanilla bean while we waited...he's so weird. Well, so am I... Then we strained it through a semi fine mesh strainer. If I was drinking it plain, I probably would have used a finer mesh, but since I use almond milk only in protein shakes and cooking, it didn't matter to me how smooth it was. There was a ton of pulp leftover so we took it out of the strainer and spread it on a baking sheet and stuck it in the oven at 170 degrees for 5-6 hours. When it was completely dried out we scraped it off of the pan and put it in a ziplock and pulverized with a wine bottle. We didn't get pix of all of that :( I used both today in some gluten/dairy free pancakes that were light, fluffy and amazing!!! I will post about that tomorrow!! Until then... XO, mrschef