If you’ve been following my blog over the past year, you’ll know that I recently found out that I have an intolerance to cow dairy. What does this mean? It means that apparently my body doesn’t react particularly well to cow’s milk, yogurt, cheese…and the list goes on. I’ve managed to remove the majority of items containing cow dairy from my diet and I can certainly say that my general health has greatly improved. I don’t feel bloated all the time, I have more energy and my stomach is a LOT happier now!
In my quest to find great non-dairy beverages, I’ve found almond milk to be one of the tastiest alternatives to milk (from cows that is). The texture, colour and flavour is fairly close to cow’s milk and it tastes great hot or cold (heat up chocolate almond milk and you’ve got an awesome alternative to hot chocolate…mmm). Some people believe that only cow’s milk has the nutrients you need but in case you didn’t know, a cup of fortified almond milk contains 30% of the calcium needed in a day, along with Vitamins D, B12 and A. All this and my stomach won’t bother me anymore too…woot!
Since I’m the only one in the house who drinks almond milk, it’s difficult to finish a full carton before it gets spoiled, so I was thrilled to find out that I can now get almond milk in tetra packs (the little kid in me is excited too…who doesn’t love drinking boxes?!?!). Earth’s Own now sells Almond On The Go tetra packs of original and chocolate almond milk and they come in a 3 x 250 mL pack.
I now keep a few in the fridge at work as a snack for those afternoon cravings or late nights at the office. Clearly, my favourite of the two is chocolate but the original one is just as good as it has the hint of sweetness needed to kill a sugar craving when it strikes. As mentioned above, if I feel like having a “hot chocolate” I pour the chocolate tetra pack into a cup and microwave it or put heat it up on the stove. It smells amazing too….
The wonderful ladies at the Almond Fresh booth at the ShesConnected conference told me that in a few weeks, they’ll be coming out with a non-dairy holiday beverage, Almond Fresh Noel Nog (image below is from the Almond Fresh website). I can’t wait to try it out. P.S. Earth’s Own is a CANADIAN company, which is why they’re getting a shoutout on my blog : )
On a side note, it’s almost time for the holiday season and if you’re looking for a non-alcoholic beverage to serve, I tried this one at the conference:
Almond Fresh Apple-Tini
Recipe and image above are from the Almond Fresh website – http://www.almond-fresh.com/recipes/smoothies
Makes 1 serving
Ingredients:
2 oz apple juice
1 oz Almond Fresh Unsweetened
splash caramel syrup
dash fresh lemon juice
1. Combine ingredients over ice in a martini shaker.
2. Shake vigorously and serve in martini glass.
3. Garnish with a cherry or apple slice.
Do you drink almond milk? What do you use it for?
milk & eggs 