Recipe: almond milk & agave granola bars

For my birthday, my mom gave me the recipe and ingredients to make almond milk.

It was, surprisingly, very easy to make.

Thanks mom :)

Almond Milk

1/2 cup almonds

4 cups water

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp coconut oil (optional)

3 dates, or 1 Tb agave/honey

fine mesh bag or cheese cloth

Let almonds soak in water overnight.  When done soaking, put all ingredients in blender and blend away.  When completely blended through, pour everything in the bag (or cheese cloth) over a bowl and squeeze all the milk out.  You can throw away the leftover almond pulp , or use it in cookies.

I've looked at different almond milk recipes online, and they are all different with the amount of almonds they add and the amount of flavoring.  So all of that can be changed to your liking.  

I looked up optional add-ins you could add in as desired:

2 Tb unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg

This makes 2 full jars of almond milk.  

Try to drink within 3 days of making.

I then made homemade granola bars to go with my almond milk.

I got the recipe off of the cutest new blog Pretty Providence.  It is all about living frugally.  I know the two cute girls that started it and I have really loved all their posts.

I adapted the recipe a little and they turned out AWESOME.  They were incredibly easy as well.

Agave Granola Bars

4 Tb butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup agave

1 1/2 cup quick cooking oats

1 1/2 cup granola 

(I tried to make my own, which burnt, so I bought the Bear Naked vanilla/almond Fit granola.  It worked out perfect.  Be careful about sugar content when you buy granola.  This only had 4 grams sugar per serving)

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

In small bowl, mix all dry ingredients except chocolate chips.

Add butter, agave and brown sugar to a saucepan on medium high heat.  Continue to mix until boiling. Once mixture is boiling, reduce heat to medium low and continue to stir for two minutes.  

Add mixture to dry ingredients and coat completely.  Let cool for a minute and then add chocolate chips.  

Press mixture into a greased pan to your desired thickness, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set.