Milk in one way, shape or form is difficult to completely eliminate from our diet.
If you think about it just about everything you bake will call for varying amounts of the creamy white stuff. More people prefer a Double-Double to a Double-Naught (I prefer the latter if you are pouring…) and Corn Flakes tend to stick in the back of my throat without something to soften them up a bit and aid in their passage down my gullet.
All of us here at Casa Shillington have varying degrees of lactose intolerance, making it even more critical that we find alternatives to Bossies Best! We have tried the acidophilus drops – major pain, lactose-free milk – I find the taste funky, and even created lunch snacks and cookies without milk at all – usually boring and with the consistency of shoe leather.
Along the way we began researching a low oxalate diet for the Junior General, primarily to reduce his tummy upsets after eating and actually put some meat on his bones. For those a bit hazy on oxalates they are partially digested food components that form into spiky little crystals in your stomach and produce upsets. Sam is prone to these crystals, mealtime was a pain – literally. The higher the oxalate value in a food the more crystals. Some of the healthier foods are high in oxalates – whole wheat bread, broccoli etc. – and especially cows milk.
In one of the suggested low oxalate menu planners I found on the net, homemade rice milk was mentioned several times as an alternative to cows milk.
My ears perked up – HOMEMADE rice milk? I thought it was made by some mysterious process and then packaged in those cool Rice Dream tetra-bricks. Curious, I set off to find a recipe for rice milk. Surprisingly there are quite a few on the net and they are VERY easy.
Now before you toss the carton of 2% Bossie’s Best in the waste bin, there are a few differences between cows and rice milk. Compared to cow’s milk, rice milk contains more carbohydrates, but does not contain significant amounts of calcium or protein, and no cholesterol or lactose. So while rice milk will fill the oxalate and lactose intolerance bill, diabetics might want to tread with caution.
The good news is that making rice milk will take only you about a half hour – mostly waiting for the rice to cook. So even if you run out in the middle of some evening or early morning baking you can quickly whip up another batch! When first made the warm rice milk will be a bit thinner than 2% but as it cools in the fridge it will thicken to somewhere between 2% and 10% (table cream). You will need to stir refrigerated rice milk as it will seperate over time.
Here then is my recipe for Rice Milk…
Milk Without The Moo
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked rice (I used white actually)
- 2 cups water (for cooking rice)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups cold water (filtered preferably)
- 1 tablespoon sweetener (sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey)
Instructions
- Cook the cup of rice and two cups of water as per normal, adding the vanilla to the water (more on that later).
- When done set aside to cool for a few minutes.
- Haul out the blender and scoop the rice into the bottom.
- Add your sweetener.
- Add the four cups of cold water.
- Blend on HIGH for 4 minutes until the rice has disintegrated and developed a bit of froth on the top.
- Pour into a sealable container and refrigerate til cool.
- Enjoy just like cows milk (just remember to stir first)!
Notes
The first time I made rice milk I added the vanilla to the cooked rice in the blender. The result was a bitter aftertaste from the alcohol used to preserve the vanilla. The second time round I added the vanilla to the water in the pot and the alcohol evaporated with the water as the rice cooked. Result was no more bitter aftertaste! I am told using a vanilla bean is even better.
Although the rice milk doesn’t last very long around here the consensus is that the milk will last for about 3 or 4 days in a covered container in the fridge .
You can add flavourings like cocoa to the milk and it should substitute 1:1 for cows milk in your baking though you might want to go a bit easy on your sugars as the milk is quite sweet.
Some people eliminate the sweetener alltogether.