You may already know that I used to be a vegan chef. If you didn't know, then I’d love for you to check out my journey here. 🥰
Even to this day, I still carry my vegan practices with me into every aspect of my life. One of the things I love to do is find vegan alternatives to conventional food choices. And today, I want to talk about one of my personal fav superfoods.
Oats!
Oats are incredibly healthy thanks to their impressive nutritional profile. They're a great source of fibre, making them super beneficial to our digestive system. They're also high in protein, important vitamins and minerals and are loaded with antioxidant phytochemicals.
As such, oats have been a staple source of food for humans and animals for a very, very long time.
One of my favourite ways to have oats is in the form of oat milk. It's easy and inexpensive to make, not to mention delicious! It's also a sustainable alternative to boxed supermarket oat milk, which usually contains additives, including lots of sugar.
Oat milk is also a much better alternative for your skin than dairy milk, which is known to be associated with acne, inflammation and congestion.
As you can imagine, I'm mildly obsessed (okay, maybe really, really obsessed) with oat milk. So much so that I make oat milk in my own kitchen!
If you’re interested, here’s the easy peasy lemon squeezy 6-step recipe to make your own oat milk:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup gluten-free oats
- 6 cups filtered water
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp sea salt
Instructions:
- Add the oats and three cups of water to a large bowl.
- Soak the oats for 20 minutes (any longer will cause your oat milk to become slimy).
- Rinse and drain.
- Add the soaked oats, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon, salt and three cups of water to a blender and blend for 20 seconds.
- Pour the mixture into a large bowl and strain for several minutes.
- Repeat the blending and straining process 2-3 times until you have the consistency you like.
The best part?
It only takes about 20 minutes to make this from scratch! 🤯 I know!! It’s shockingly simple.
I like to drink this alternative milk every day on its own or use it in my morning coffee. Sometimes, I even mix it up with matcha powder, which is another one of my fav superfoods.
And on the days where I'm feeling extra, I like to make this oatmeal with hemp hearts recipe. But instead of coconut milk, I use ¾ of a cup of my homemade oat milk. That’s how much I love it!
