I have been making oat milk lately, as buying almonds and hazelnuts for making nut butter, and then making nut milk, can become quite expensive.
In minutes, you can produce plant-based milk that is fresh and delicious, rich in nutrients and enzymes. The soy, almond, rice, oats or hemp ‘milk’ sold in boxes contain synthetic vitamins to “enrich” (such as Vitamin A Palmitate, calcium carbonate, Vitamin D2, etc.). These have shown to actually deplete your body of the vitamins it needs and actually keeps your body from ingesting the naturally-occurring vitamins in the almonds/oats/coconut in the milk. These kinds of milk are very nutritious by themselves without the added isolated vitamins. Also, the extremely high heat processing in making these store-bought milk renders the contents ‘dead’ and quite hard to be utilized by the body.
Oat milk is high in fibre and iron. It also provides many important vitamins and minerals including manganese, potassium, phosphorus, many B Vitamins, Vitamin E, and Vitamin A.
Oats have long been known for their warming thermal nature, sweet, soothing and restoring. Oats also have skin clearing properties and drinking oat milk has been known to clear acne and improve the overall health of the skin, as well as strengthen and repair the hair.
I use the left-over oat pulp mixed with a little warm water for a face and body scrub in my morning shower, as it rejuvenates and relieves dry and itching skin (a pitta imbalance); leaving my skin feeling soft and silky.
fresh oat milk
Oat milk has a very soothing oat flavour which I like, but it does have a pasty texture, unlike regular nut milk. Because of this, I am less likely to drink it straight, but it’s perfect for a green smoothie or using in baking or pouring over porridge. If you would like the milk creamier, you can experiment with adding less water. This ratio below was my favourite.
ingredients
1 cup organic whole oat groats
4 cups filtered water
You will also need
1 piece of nut bag/muslin for a fine sieve
1 large glass container
pre-soak
1. Place the oat groats in a bowl, cover with twice the amount of water and leave to soak for 6 -8 hours or overnight.
preparation
2. Rinse well and place in a blender with 4 cups filtered water – blend on high for 1 minute.
3. Place the nut bag or cloth over a wide-mouth jug and pour the blended mixture into it, strain the milk until only the pulp is left. Use your hand to squeeze out the last of the milk.
4. Pour into a sterilised glass jar.
Homemade milk does separate, so be sure to give your milk a very good shake before using. The milk keeps for about 3 days in an air-tight container in the fridge.
References:
‘Earthly and Divine’ by Eva Cabaca
‘Healing with Whole Foods’ by Paul Pitchford
https://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-benefits-of-oat-milk-and-how-to-make-it-yourself.html
Goodness shared from Stacey
