Rice Milk Recipe

Why use a homemade rice milk recipe, when you can easily buy rice milk at the grocery store?

Well, many brands are too sweet and sugary. They also have added polyunsaturated vegetable oils, like sunflower, corn, or soybean oil, the omega 6 oils. Too many omega 6 oils can lead to inflammation, even heart disease. And corn and soy oil may be genetically engineered.

Carrageenan, a problem additive

The main problem with store bought rice milk may be an additive called carrageenan, which is added to most rice, soy and almond milks.

Carrageenen is a thickener derived from red seaweed, so it starts out natural. But it is processed with strong alkali to make a gel. This gel can coat your intestines and cause all sorts of intestinal distress, like severe stomach pain, migraines, cramps, bloating, and diarrhea.

Carrageenen is also used in processed cheeses, sauces, ice cream and puddings. If you get stomach cramps from dairy foods, it may not be lactose intolerance, it may be a reaction to carragenen!

The Environmental Working Group and Dr. Andrew Weil, two source I trust, advise us to avoid carrageenen. It can even hurt the nerves, brain and blood! Just bad stuff.

Make your own!

When you make your own rice milk, you can control the ingredients. You can add whatever sweetener suits you, like stevia, honey, brown rice syrup or maple syrup. And spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamon are nice.

Homemade rice milk is creamy and bland, like a canvas waiting for added color and flavors.

Here's a rice milk recipe that makes a little over two quarts

1 cup soaked brown rice

8 cups pure water

1/2 tsp cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick

Bring all to boil in a big pot, then simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until rice is soupy and soft. Then in a blender or food processor, add in equal amounts of rice and fresh water. Blend in batches. Then strain with a strainer, or line a colander with cheese cloth and strain into a big bowl. Let cool a bit and pour into quart mason quart jars. I filled 2 jars and had an extra cup left over which I drank for the cook's reward.

Store in the refrigerator. You could sweeten it now or leave it plain. I leave my rice milk plain so I can use it in soups.

If you want more creaminess, add in a bit of almond butter to the basic rice milk recipe. Also, try adding chia seeds. These little seeds are super healthy and will add fiber.

This rice milk recipe is easy, but it's kind of messy, since you are pouring the rice slurry from pot to blender to mixing bowl to mason jars. I plan to perfect my technique with more experience.

I have also made the recipe in half this amount and it works well.

I have used my homemade rice milk in soups, smoothies, puddings, anywhere I want creaminess. I shake it up before using it; it tends to get thick at the bottom.

Try it with cinnamon.

I love cinnamon. New research shows that cinnamon helps to lower cholesterol levels and stabilize blood sugar. So I add cinnamon to all my sweet dishes. You can add it to smoothies, cereal, puddings, anythings warm and creamy likes cinnamon. Yum. It's warming and grounding.

Also nutmeg has been shown to inhibit platelet aggregation and blood clotting. Spices are powerful!