So let me ask you all a question – Do you know someone who is gluten intolerant? I’m betting you know at least several! How about someone who is allergic to eggs? That would be a hard one to swallow (or not to swallow in this case) in our family! What about someone who can’t have dairy? UGG! Someone (not a doctor) once suggested taking one of my children off dairy and see how they do. I just couldn’t mentally wrap my mind around no milk and NO CHEESE! NO ICECREAM!! At that thought, I melted, and I’m not the only one in my family who would have a conniption fit if we were told that we could never eat ice cream again.
So take a mental tally of people you know with food allergy/sensitivity issues. Add ’em up. How many people do you know? I would exceed my fingers and toes if I counted how many people I know who have gluten, dairy, or egg allergies. And that’s just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
Milk That Isn’t Milk
BUT this article isn’t just for people with food allergies. A couple of facts – powdered milk’s suggested shelf life (if stored properly) is 20 years. That is a LONG time, but you know what has a longer shelf life? Lots of things do, but the one that I’m currently thinking of is oats. Oats will oatlast (yes, that was on purpose) powdered milk by 10 years.
So why is that so important? Yep. I totally understand where you’re going with that question. Have you heard of almond milk? I think most people would have seen it at the store by now. It’s definitely gone mainstream. Well, almonds don’t produce milk if you squeeze them, so HOW does one create almond milk? You put the right ratio of almonds to water into a blender and blend the snot out of them. Then you strain them. The liquid you get is almond “milk.” The solid you get is just pulp. Now there are things you can do with the almond pulp. You can dehydrate it and blend it again to make almost flour. You can add seasonings and fat, roll it out thinly and bake it to make crackers. And a bunch of other things.
But Almonds have an even shorter shelf life than dry milk powder. As I said earlier though, oats will last even longer than powdered milk.
Oat milk
The awesome thing about keeping oats stored around the house is you can easily make oat milk! And unlike almond pulp which takes an effort to make into a different useable form, heated oat pulp can be eaten the exactly the same way as oatmeal! So all of those recipes that you make that call for milk? Yep! This works for them! Just like storebought almond milk would. Just like storebought cow milk would. Now I need to put a disclaimer in here. This is more the consistency of heavy whipping cream than of milk. You can water it down more if you’d like, but you’ll get the best taste if you don’t water it down TOO much.
What is even better is that this also takes care of people with dairy allergies! So while it’s great for preparedness in general, it’s even better for people who have dairy allergies!**
Recipe for Oat Milk
1 Cup Oats
5 C hot water
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp stevia
pinch salt
1 C cool water
Directions:
1.) Put your hot water and oats into a blender.
2.) Blend them for 1-2 minutes.
3.) Then run the mixture through a sieve or strainer and catch the liquid. I used a strainer on top of a batter bowl. This is going to be your “milk.”
4.) Rinse out your blender and put your milk back into it with the 1 C of cool water, vanilla, salt, and stevia. Blend it again.
5.) This is a creamy milk alternative. I have you add another cup of water because the mixture is much creamier than milk. Once you do that though, it’s more of the thickness of regular milk. This is your “oat milk” that you can use in your recipes or use on granola, or even to drink.
Directions for the leftovers
1.) Once the milk is strained, the leftovers have a cream of wheat consistency. It’s already been cooked with the hot water and oats in the blender. It doesn’t need to be cooked more.
2.) Add 1 T brown sugar and 2 T raisins. You have about 3/4 C of a warm breakfast cereal which my husband gave two thumbs up.
Where to Buy Bulk Oats to Make Oat Milk
Emergency Essentials has a 5-gallon bucket of oats for about $40. If you purchase 4 buckets, you’ll get it even cheaper for about $31 before shipping.
Azure Standard has a 50-pound bag of rolled oats (which will fill between 2-3 5-gallon buckets) for about $29 before shipping! That’s why I use Azure Standard. The prices are so much better.
Costco – Doesn’t even have oats in bulk.
LDS Store – They carry oats in #10 cans. 6 #10 cans run about $29. This would be just over ONE 5-gallon bucket, so Azure is still your best optional financially.
I’m going to be doing an article on Azure Standard, what the company is, what they do, and how you order from them coming soon. I’ll also be doing an article on how to seal your own purchased food for long-term food storage soon, so keep your eyes open for them!
What about you?
Have you ever made almond milk? Oat milk? Did you even know they were a “thing?” Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you!
Remember, knowledge isn’t just knowing something. It’s living it!
There are links in this post. Some of the links may be affiliate links. Some of the links may not be. My promise to you is that I will only recommend the most economical version of the best quality of items to serve you. These are the items that I buy for my own family. You can feel free to use my affiliate links, of which I will get a small amount in compensation, or you can choose to search out your products on your own.
** For those of you who have gluten allergies on top of dairy allergies and can’t have oats because they are processed in a factory that also processes wheat – if you are gluten sensitive or intolerant or allergic to gluten, I’m sure you’re aware of the cross-contamination issues between oats and wheat being processed in the same facility. Azure Standard has gluten-free oats in bulk at the best prices I’ve seen around.
Pingback: 5 Food Storage Myths Debunked - A Year Without the Grocery Store