Rice Milk (The Lazy Way)

Welcome to the world of alternative, homemade milks.  We wasted 2 precious months of food trials because Alafair seemed to reacting to everything we gave her.  I FINALLY figured out it was the store bought rice milk we had been giving her--it was made with brown rice, which she can't tolerate right now.  Milks from the store also contain a lot of additives which could cause reactions.  Cool--more things we get to make at home from scratch!  Next up, growing the actual rice?

The internet is full of blog posts about how "easy", "delicious", and "healthy" this is.  My first attempt at this had me squeezing cooked rice through a fabric bag into a jar.  About half of it (maybe?) went into the jar.  The rest squirted out in all directions and ended up all over me, the counter, the walls, the floor.  My forearms were sore for daaaaaaays.  And then we were left with what seemed to basically be rice-ish water.  Yum.

My sister in law and I tried about 4 other variations and landed on this sort of weird amalgamation of recipes.  It results in a much thicker, almost pulpy milk. You can thin as desired.  It does separate quickly, so needs to be shaken well before pouring.  My kids like to eat the pulpy part with a spoon.  It works well in our baked goods when it's on the slightly thicker side.

While this is indeed much easier than the other methods we tried, it's still a process in my opinion and not my favorite thing to spend time on.  I prefer to make it in large batches, separate into jars and freeze.  Full disclosure, my absolute preference is to just have my sister in law make this for me.  If you don't have a Mandy angel in your life, you can still manage--just sacrifice a bit of time for larger batches and then don't think about it for a month.

To save space, I fill a jar halfway with un-thinned milk and then freeze.  To defrost, place in the fridge overnight.  (When you inevitably forget to do that, microwave slowly on half power until you can get it out of the jar.  Heating it too quickly can break the jar.  Ask me how I know that.)  You will be left with a bizarre gelatinous blob.  Toss it into a blender and add the rest of the water to thin (about half a jar).  Blend until smooth, return to jar, and store in the refrigerator for up to a week. 

Rice Milk (The Lazy Way)

Rice (we use basmati)
Pinch of salt
White Sugar or Monk Fruit Sweetener (up to 1 Tbs sugar depending on how much rice you make)
Water

Boil rice as directed.  You can add extra water in this step--doesn't really matter.

Once the rice is fully cooked, pour it all into a blender (sometimes multiple batches depending on how much you're making).

Add a pinch of salt now and up to 1 Tbs sugar per blender batch.

If it's super thick, add some water.  If you are going to use immediately, add enough water for desired consistency now.  If you are going to freeze, leave it thick.

Now the fun part...pour blended milk through a strainer into a bowl.  Use a bowl larger than your strainer to contain the mess.  Help it along by pressing the pulp through with a rubber spatula.  Dump the leftover pulp into the sink between batches to keep your strainer from clogging.

Divide into jars and chill.  Follow instructions above if freezing.