Berry and Brazil Nut Milk Smoothie

When I removed cow’s milk from my diet I did notice that my skin cleared in the forehead area.

Forehead breakouts are typically indicative of digestive upset and/or irritation.

What I also didn’t know is that I am genetically sensitive to milk.

My husband and I were trying out a genetics test that we were considering offering to our clients and mine came back that I am lactose intolerant! I never knew.

All those years of eating cereal and drinking milk and I had no clue (it just shows how out of touch I was with my body).

After doing a bit of research, I realized that it’s pretty common for African-Americans and Asians to have issues with lactose.

Though I still enjoy cheese (on an occasional basis) I have removed cow’s milk and cow’s milk products (like sour cream and yogurt) from my diet entirely.  I still eat butter for the health benefits and because my body tolerates it very well.

If you’re new to the idea of removing milk from your diet you may be wondering what I drink instead: Nut milks.

In fact, I like nut milks even better than cow’s milk.

I use nut milk in my oatmeal, I drank it by the glass when I was nursing or pumping breast milk to increase my milk supply (that tip is for all you moms of infants and moms to be!) and I especially love to use nut milks in my smoothies.

You can purchase nut milks at virtually any grocery store these days. Almond milk, hemp milk, hazelnut milk and coconut milk are just a few examples. Just be sure to get the kind that’s unsweetened and without a bunch of filler ingredients.

The purest brand that I’ve found is MALK. It’s organic, comes in a variety of nut milks and the ingredients are simple with none of the yucky stuff.

If you’ve been buying nut milks for a while, you may not realize how easy it is to make them yourself at home.

All you need is a high powered blender like the Vitamix and you’re good to go!

In this recipe, I’m featuring Brazil Nut Milk. Brazil Nuts are some of my favorite nuts and I love the fresh taste of nut milks made at home and served straight from the blender.

It’s so good. Check out my Coconut Berry Smoothie recipe as well (see below). It’s super easy and it’s one of my favorite ways to start the day.

Fresh and Easy Brazil Nut Milk

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• Author: Erica Jones, MHS
• Yield: 4 cups 1x

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Description

Special Equipment:
High Powered Blender
Nut Milk Bag

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 cup of brazil nuts (soaked)
• 4 cups of filtered water
• Stevia to taste (optional)

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Instructions

1. Soak the Brazil Nuts in a bowl of water (make sure there’s enough water to completely cover the nuts) for 24 hours or overnight. Nuts contain phytic acids, which can leach nutrients from the body unless the acids are broken down through soaking. Soaking nuts is also gentler on the digestive system.
2. Drain the nuts and rinse. Add the nuts to your blender along with 4 cups of fresh filtered water. Don’t use the water that you used to soak the nuts. It has all the phytic acid!
3. Blend the nuts and water together until well combined and there are no large chunks of nuts. You will see small pieces of fiber, but you shouldn’t see any big pieces.
4. Take out a large bowl and slowly pour the milk through the nut milk bag, straining into a large bowl. Squeeze the bag to remove the rest of the milk and discard the pulp.
5. If you would like to sweeten the milk, slowly pour it back into the blender. Add stevia and blend to mix. Or you can just stir it in if you’re feeling lazy. If you don’t want to sweeten the milk simply transfer to glass jars and refrigerate.

Coconut Berry Smoothie

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• Author: Erica Jones, MHS
• Yield: 1 1x

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Ingredients

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• 1 to 1 1/2 cups frozen mixed berries
• 1 cup brazil nut milk (or other milk of choice)
• 1 heaping tablespoon coconut butter
• 1 heaping tablespoon coconut kefir
• Protein Powder (of choice)
• Stevia (optional)

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Instructions

1. Add the milk to the blender first. Then add the berries, coconut butter, kefir and protein powder. Blend until smooth. Do a taste test and add a couple of drops of Stevia if needed. Serve.