Cashew Milk with Turmeric, Cinnamon + Honey
A few years ago I started getting really fascinated by the writings of Weston A. Price. Many of us have heard of this magical man through his foundation, which promotes the consumption of raw milk products and traditional foods. Through him I discovered the Goddess Sally Fallon. Sally created the Book Nourishing Traditions which “challenges politically correct nutrition and the diet dictocrats”. And needless to say, we adore her book. Sally’s book has sections devoted to cultured dairy products, soaking, sprouting, broths, organ meats, and other traditional preparations of food. Inspired by Sally, and my inability to understand what strange ingredients are in these store bought nut milks, I decide it would be best if I just made my own.
To receive the full nutrient potential from our foods, it is important to sprout and soak our grains, nuts, and seeds- just as our ancestors did. This process has been done for centuries, and has only gone out of practice in recent history. Most notably this process was done by the Chinese who brought sprouted mung beans with them across the high seas. This process broke down the enzyme inhibitors (like phytic acid) and provided the voyagers with vitamin C on their long journeys.
Soaking nuts in salted filtered water overnight helps to neutralize enzyme inhibitors. These inhibitors protect the seed from sprouting before they are ready to meet the world, but also block our absorption of all their classy nutrients. To receive the full potential from our foods, we must unlock these seeds’ storage banks that are just waiting to sprout life into the world- and sprouting and soaking is the key!
In this recipe I used cashews, but I often make nut milks from almonds as well. They are equally delicious! And as usual, we had to incorporate some healing into our foods by using…
***Turmeric, which is an excellent anti-inflammatory spice that also aids in digestion, circulation, and has also been used as an herbal anti-biotic. In Ayurvedic medicine it is known to give the energy of the Divine Mother, and to grant prosperity. So, I try to use it daily!
***Cinnamon, is also wonderful for circulation and digestion. it does a great job of warming the body, and helping those of us with weak constitutions.
MATERIALS & INGREDIENTS.
(for soaking)
cheese cloth and rubber band
a quart sized mason jar (or another larger glass container)
1 cup of cashew nuts (or another preferred variety)
3 cups of filtered water
and a pinch of sea salt.
METHOD.
(for soaking)
Put the cup of nuts into a quart sized mason jar and pour the filtered water over it. Put in a pinch of sea salt and cover the container with cheese cloth and a rubber band or a screen insert. Sometimes I just put the lid of the mason jar right back on it!
Let the nuts soak in the water overnight, or at minimum a few hours. Then pour off the water and wash the nuts off some with fresh water. Now you have highly nutritious nuts to make fresh milk with!
MATERIALS & INGREDIENTS.
(for milk)
a blender or food processor
cheese cloth
quart sized mason jar
the 1 cup of soaked nuts you created
3 1/2 cups of filtered water
1/8 tsp of tumeric
1/8 tsp of cinnamon
and a 1/2 tbspn of honey, or more to taste ;)
METHOD.
(for milk)
Blend the soaked nuts, spices, and honey in the 3 1/2 cups of filtered water. Hold the cheese cloth over your mason jar (or place a rubber band around it at the mouth of the jar) and slowly pour your milk back into the jar. You will have strained out the chunky pieces of cashews out of the mixture, but feel free to use left over on other dishes- like baking! The milk should last about 4 days when kept sealed in the fridge. This delicious, creamy, and medicinal cashew milk is perfect in smoothies, chai teas, sprouted cereals, or even just by itself.
*** Information on sprouting is sourced from Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions, and Ayurvedic information from Dr. David Frawley and Dr. Vasant Lad’s The Yoga of Herbs.