Homemade Almond Milk

Last week's Pool Workout with "The League"

I have had two especially great highlights this week at work that truly made me smile. On Wednesday morning during Aqua Fitness Class, I had about nine ladies gettin' their fitness on in the shallow end of the pool. As I'm talking them through the moves, cueing form and keeping them posted on how much time they have left in each move, one of our ladies broke out in song. Within seconds, the ENTIRE group was singing. It was one of the most genuinely happy moments I have had while "on the clock." They were having so much fun and it's moments like those that make long hours and hectic work days so worth it. It made me so happy to see them enjoying themselves and making fitness fun. I'm lucky to have such a great group of ladies!

Yesterday, was a one of those long days I speak of. I went straight through, 10am-8pm. The highlight of my day came in the form of about five little cuties and none other than Porters Neck Country Club's own Zumba Instructor, Jackie. 

TRX with "The League"

Along with the Juniors Director, Kendrick, I am running a program called, "The League" for children ages 9 and up in which they come once a week to do a fitness activity with me for one hour. We started out on the TRX and those kids were impressive! After 30 minutes of that, Jackie was sweet enough to come in and get the kids movin' on the dance floor with some Zumbatomic. We all had an absolute blast thanks to her great instruction and crazy awesome personality. I told the kids beforehand, "She's fun, she's like a grown up kid," and she definitely showed them a great time. 

Zumba with "The League" group

Such a fun group of kids to work with. I love my job! :)

Homemade Almond Milk (Raw)

This morning, after my almonds had been soaking for about 30 hours, I finally blended them up and whipped up my first batch of homemade almond milk! It was a success and so much easier than I anticipated.

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw almonds
• water for soaking
• 2-2.5 cups of water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Soak almonds anywhere from 6-48 hours. The longer they soak, the creamier your final product will be. Just place your cup of almonds in a bowl, fill with water just until almonds are completely submerged. Cover. 

2. After soaking, the almonds will be soft and plump. Drain the water from the almonds and discard.

3. Rinse well.

4. Blend together 2 cups of water, almonds and vanilla until well blended.

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5. Strain the blended mixture using a cheesecloth or strainer.

You'll be left with wet almond meal which can be used for baking if you have a dehydrator.

Final product!

The recipe I used called for 3 cups of water and it was definitely too much. However, the almond taste was distinct and so delicious. Store bought almond milk doesn't compare to the fresh taste homemade almond milk has. From all of the recipes I looked through, homemade almond milk has about 90 calories. It is also often made with dates to sweeten so I am going to try that next time. All in all, it was really delicious and I will definitely be making it again. I mixed my first watery batch with some raw protein powder for breakfast. Mmm :)

More good news! When my Grandma on my dad's side was moved into an assisted living facility a couple years ago, my mom actually brought home a basically new Vitamix blender that my Grandma was no longer using. I had no clue she had it and has been trying to figure out a way to get it to me from Omaha safely. After my post yesterday, she's going to send it to me! I'm SO EXCITED!

So much nut milk and hummus and raw foods to be created! 

Oh! and I'm going on my first kayaking trip tomorrow. YAY!

Have a great day! IT'S FRIDAY!