By: Sarah Christine Bolton

My 13-month-old recently sprouted her first tooth, which is awesome! Except that my still-breastfeeding baby now thinks it is hilarious to bite me halfway through a nursing.

Before that started happening, she had already started to wean herself. Recent research advocates baby-led weaning  as the healthiest way to wean, because the baby learns how to tune in with his or her hunger cues, and naturally transitions from breast milk to solid foods.

When she started biting, I decided it was time to take a more active role in weaning her. I started feeding her more solids when she was hungry, and offering her water to satiate her thirst. And she still nurses a lot at night. But during the day, I wanted to find a milk substitute I could give her a couple times a day.

I decided against cow’s milk. I’ve had allergies to it, and I know it can cause a lot of problems, especially on tiny tummies. Goat’s milk was my next best option. It’s the closest to human milk, and usually doesn’t cause allergy issues.

But she hated it! (I don’t blame her… it tastes like a goat).

She loves soy, but I don’t want to feed her a ton of soy. Soy is great, in moderation, but too much can cause problems.

Finally, I tried giving her some almond milk and she loved it. Hooray!

Until I looked at the ingredients list. Even the organic, no-sugar almond milk had so many preservatives and thickeners. I wanted to do better.

So, I researched recipes on making almond milk. After some trial and error, and lots of baby feedback (she makes “the face” when she doesn’t like the taste of something), I figured out how to make it, store it, and get baby M. to drink it.

Here’s my recipe:

1 cup of raw almonds (I like to use organic almonds… you can make so much milk from one cup, that it is really cost-effective).

Soak the almonds in a glass container of water for 24 hours. Store the container in the fridge while you are soaking them, and change out the water at least twice during the 24-hour-period. (I didn’t do this the first time, and ended up with fermented almond milk).

Drain the water. Put the soaked almonds and 6-8 fresh cups of water into a blender. Blend on high for 1-2 minutes (or until the almonds seem finely ground).

Pour the mixture through cheesecloth or a reusable coffee filter. Let it drip until the leftover almond pulp in the strainer is relatively dry.

I like to add 1/2 cup of agave to the milk. It sweetens it slightly, and makes it less bland. I’ve also added a touch of cinnamon or vanilla. You can really experiment with how you flavor it.

The milk will keep in the fridge for 1-2 days, max. If you plan to drink it all quickly, you can make it fresh and consume it that day. But, if you plan on storing it for longer periods of time, I recommend freezing it. Since it was for baby M., I used the same bottles I use to freeze breast milk. When she’s ready for some, I pull it out, pop it in a cup of lukewarm water, and it defrosts in about 10-15 minutes.

Note: Amy asked me how my cost/ounce, and I had no idea. So, I did a little math (fingers crossed it’s correct), to figure it out.

Here’s what I found:

1 pound of almonds = 3 cups

1 cup of almonds = 7-8 cups of milk

I bought my almonds at Whole Foods for $5/pound.

3 cups x 7 = 21 cups (or 168 ounces)

$5/168 = .02 cents/ounce

That’s a pretty good deal if you ask me!!

Sarah Christine Bolton is a journalist, PR consultant, dancer, and mom to baby M. She loves dance parties in the living room, cooking vegetarian meals, and long walks. She blogs about life/work balance on the Balance and Innovate blog.

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