Making Almond Yogurt

This week for my health and nutrition class we will be having almond yogurt. I've been spending the last couple of days preparing it so it will be ready. I'll post some pictures here.  It is a 2-3 day process. I soaked the raw almonds over night, blanched them for a few seconds, then blended them with filtered water to make almond milk. 

After you make the almond milk, you place the almond milk into the jars that you will be placing in the yogurt maker.  I'm using the Tribest Yogurt Maker. It works really well, and is easy to use.  Yogurt makers are fairly cost effective compared to other appliances. You can purchase cheaper ones, but I like this one because of the glass jars, and larger lid option.

It comes with two lids, one is large and one is small, and 7 small glass jars with lids.  If you want to make more you can use the large lid, and use any glass jars like ball canning jars that are quart size. That is what I did this time. It's awesome making your own yogurt at home because you control what goes in it. 

You need to mix the almond milk, or any milk you use for that matter with a culture starter. I am using the Body Ecology brand by Donna Gates.  I tried using a store bought yogurt for a starter before, but it didn't work very well.  To make yogurt you need a starter, which is basically some bacteria to start off the culturing of the milk.

After you mix the milk with the starter you then place it into the yogurt maker for 8 hours or so.  Next you remove the jars from the yogurt maker, and place them into the fridge for 5 hours. After the five hours is over you must strain the yogurt and liquid through some cheesecloth.  What you are left with is yummy, creamy yogurt.

I personally like the taste of the yogurt plain, I think the almond yogurt has sweetness to it already.  I am going to allow my student to add things like fruit or honey if they like. I really hope that they like it.

Fermented and cultured foods are so good for your microflora. The microflora are the colonies of bacteria or plantlife inside your intestines. We have billions upon billions of bacteria inside of us. The key is keeping the right kinds of bacteria. A healthy diet of raw fruits and veggies, gluten free grains, and cultured foods  help to ensure that balance.

We need healthy guts to maintain overall health.  Questions, comments?