Almond Milk.
Posted by nubbyknowhow on Jun 18, 2006 · Member since Mar 2005 · 62 posts
dark side of soy meets sunshine in a carton(?)
For all vegheads akin, I ask those of you daring enough to present me with an opinion here to come forth and shine now. When confronted with a healthy, lactose-free creamy craving to pour over you whole grain kashi cereal, substitute in dairy-free baking needs, or to just reach for an ice cold glass of something white to coat your throat... would you:
a.) run to the fridge and open a carton of silk vanilla soymilk
b.) run to the fridge and chug a quart of rice dream rice milk
c.) hop skip and jump to the fridge and measure out 1 c. of almond milk
d.) all of the above.
I desperately need some healthy insight here on what's best and most widely used by my peers.
My personal favourite is the soymilk. I use the plain for cereal and baking, vanilla for baking and drinking, and chocolate for drinking.
I love almond milk :D... it is sooo good! Rice dream is another favourite of mine. I do enjoy a cup of vanilla silk every so often. Home made is way creamier than store bought.I recently got a soy milk maker, which is also a rice, almond, cashew (mmmm), sesame and ;) pretty much whatever kind of milk you want maker. Awesome! I put in it what I want and they are all delicious warm, with cinnamon and maple syrup. I'm going to go right now make some rice/almond milk, the best of both worlds.
I don't like Rice Milk all that much.
I prefer unsweetened soy milk in my cereal. However, you might inspire me to try almond milk. Almonds are good for the heart.
I usually use plain soymilk for my cereal and baking although I don't like to drink it by itself. I don't like the taste of vanilla soymilk (too sweet for me) or any kind of rice milk. I haven't tried almond milk yet.
Alternative "Milks" vary greatly due to tastes. Personally I love Soy Dream Original Enriched, Silk Plain and Silk Chocolate. While I do have a box of Almond milk in the pantry, I have yet to try it.
Try out several and see what YOU like best! Be sure to let us know!
Of the abovementioned milk alternatives my personal favorite is soymilk, most traditional of all non-traditional milks. As far as brands go I tend to buy Silk most commonly due to promise of ethics, nutritional value, and of course availabilty. Unsweetened or plain varieties I use for cereals and cooking, while vanilla and chocolate flavors I add to smoothies and treat myself to on occasion. Aside from Silk I quite like Trader Joe's' brand original & enriched soymilk, and 8th Continent's chocolate soy is decent if somewhat overly sweetened. Overall, soymilk staple/preference in my household, but rice and other milks are equally good in their own respects.
I personally love enriched original rice dream. But if we don't have any of it at home, I like unsweetened Almond Breeze.
I have never really cooked with either though, so I don't know how well they bake, whenever a recipe calls for half and half (as some cookie recipes do) I buy a small carton of silk creamer and use it to substitute. I don't know if that helped at all though...
being a vegan for only a couple of days now, i have to say im in love with vanilla flavored almond breeze. it is delcious on cereal or just in a cup!
I like soy milk very much! Other milky drinks are okay with me, but if I start thinking about almond milk too much it tastes like Play-Doh smells to me. :P
I absolutely love Almond milk
We consume soy and rice milk by the litre at our house. (I buy rice milk by the case)
Hubby is deathly allergic to tree nuts, so almond milk is a no go :(
K^2
I use Silk plain soy milk for baking and I used to use it (or the Vanilla version) for cereal but for a few months now I havent been able to stomach it in a drink or over cereal. The chocolate silk is great though (ice-cold is the way to go :)) and I think rice milk is good with cereal because it has less of an aftertaste compared to soy milk.. But then again I havent tried many brands and I've yet to try almond milk..
I would hit up a few good health food stores and by the single-serve drinks, I know silk has those as well as some rice milks, and see which general flavor you like better.
Not a big fan of rice milk, so I rarely ever drink it.
I love Almond Milk but it's not the best nutrition-wise. It doesn't have as much protein and tends not to be fortified (the only brand I've encountered is Almond Breeze, so there could be other almond milks out there that are available fortified). I often rely on fortified soy products for my B12, so when I need something to float my cereal in, I use a fortified and unsweetened soymilk to do so. I only drink almond milk for a treat.
Another note on soy as a source of protein: it is really the only plant food which can provide you with a complete protein--it contains all the essential amino acids that your body cannot itself synthesize (ie. you need to get all of these in your diet to be healthy--almonds must be paired with something else to be complete--like a grain or legume). Soy is also believed to lower cholesterol and prevent some cancer.