Dairy free

My energy levels are ridiculously low lately! All I want to do is sleep! I can sleep at any given time no matter how many hours of sleep I've already banked. If I have a 4 hour nap at noon I can go back to sleep as soon as I wake up or stay up and go to sleep at a normal hour. I'm always tired! Which lead me to start thinking more into my diet. As much as I think I'm eating healthy... am I really?! What vitamin or nutrient could I be low in? Could I be anemic? Could I have low iron levels again? 

When I got to the iron question in my head is when I started realizing I really don't eat a lot of red meat (main source of iron) at all anymore. Besides my burger at Harvey's on Thursday I haven't eaten any in a very long time. I have an appointment to get blood tests done on Wednesday so we will see for sure what is going on then. Last time I had my blood work done I did have an iron deficiency along with a vitamin D deficiency. I thought that I took care of my iron deficiency because I was eating more red meat after I found out but as I mentioned there hasn't been much in my diet lately. 

Cutting dairy out of my diet is something I've been trying to do for a very long time. Lately it's been easier than any other time I've tried. Mainly because when I drink milk I break out like crazy and I'm on a mission for looking great along with feeling great so dairy has to go. ALSO, dairy restricts the absorption of iron. I used to make my own almond milk for my smoothies and I really miss doing that. So, last night when I did my grocery shopping and found a bag of organic almonds at the superstore for $3.99 I couldn't resist! So I bought them and today I'm going to make my almond milk :) It's a very simple process and super easy to make!

Vanilla Almond Milk (yields 2-3 cups or so)
1 cup almonds, soaked 8-12 hours beforehand if it’s possible
4 cups water
6 dates or 1/4 cup agave
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (or the contents of a vanilla bean)

So first thing is to soak your 1 cup of almonds in water over night. Then rinse them off and put them in your blender with 4 cups of water. Once they're blended well you need to strain the almond pulp from the milk. The best thing to use for straining is cheese cloth but I just use a tea towel. It takes a long time to strain it completely but when it's done it will look like this...

When you've strained the pulp from the milk you can add the rest of your ingredients. The coolest part about this process is the pulp ;) which you can use as an exfoliant for your face and body! I love this stuff! I keep it refrigerated and bring it to the shower with me when I go and use it all over. It also moisturizes as it exfoliates so you come out smelling, feeling and looking yummy ;)

Then you have your milk! Which you can put in your cereal, smoothies or even just enjoy a glass of it whenever you'd like! Here's some other fun things you can do with almond milk...

Chocolate nut milk: To the recipe for vanilla almond milk, add 2 tbsp raw cacao nibs or unsweetened cocoa powder
Cinnamon milk: To the recipe for vanilla almond milk, add 1 tsp cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg
Chai milk: To the recipe for vanilla almond milk, add 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon garam masala, and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
Sugar-free vanilla milk: In place of the dates, add stevia to taste
Source

I'm off to soak my almonds (why does that sound dirty?) and make a Green Monster! Have a great day everyone! 

Love, Happiness and Inspiration always,