I’ve been vegan for a long time, from way before it was cool.

Lightyears before major awards shows and events like Coachella served fancy multi-course all vegan meals to celebrities to display their “woke-ness” (and I’m really happy that’s happening!)

Back in the day, I’d have to drive 45 minutes to a hippy health food store to buy powdered soy milk powder and stir it in some water at home to make plant-based milk.

Well, just look at the “dairy” case now!

You may have noticed that I’m writing a little email series on FAQs I receive. Last week I wrote about non-toxic skin care and supplements and today the subject is plant-based milk.

Let me start this off with one statement: I don’t drink plant-based milk (PBM) as a source of nutrition.

I drink PBM because I’ve been conditioned to like a creamy white liquid in some things, such as what I soak my chia seeds in. Also my smoothies and sometimes coffee.

I don’t drink it from a glass or count it in any nutritional tallies (which I don’t even do, but if I did, I wouldn’t include milk as something I ate that day because I maybe have ¼ cup a day).

I do make my own though, and it’s very easy.

I don’t buy PBM because what you get in that carton from the refrigerator case in the store includes sugar, oils, stabilizers, emulsifiers and fillers.

When I make my own, I know exactly what I’m getting and I’m also not creating waste with cartons that I buy and throw away.

The most common milk to make homemade is from nuts, seeds, soybeans, rice and coconut. Or a combination of them.

If you do want to buy PBM, go to the shelf stable milk part of the grocery store. You can buy some milks there that are good. On the label, look for two ingredients:

1. Whatever the nut, bean, rice or seed is that you want
2. Water

That’s all you want!

I make soy because I like it, it’s simple and it costs me about forty cents a pitcher that lasts me several days.

You may have noticed that I didn’t put oats in my list above. I eat oatmeal every single day. You know that liquid that appears in your pot with your oats and it’s kind of slimy? That’s oat milk.

I like that liquid in my oatmeal but not anywhere else and I don’t need more oat milk in my oatmeal so I’m not pouring it on top.

The white, creamy liquid that you buy at the grocery store called “oat milk” is filled with other stuff that’s not healthy.

However, I’ve made a PBM of 50% soy and 50% oats that is good so feel free to mix oats in with something else.

The most common way to make PBM (you can google a bazillion recipes) is to:

1. Soak your nuts/seeds/soybeans/rice/oat
2. Blend with water (preferably in a high speed blender)
3. Strain

However, a problem that can occur with that method is when your PBM sits in the fridge, it can separate and that’s not too appetizing.

I use a machine called a Soyajoy (there are other brands too that do similar things). It makes all kinds of milk (not only soy).

I’ve had it and used it weekly since 2016. It’s basically a pitcher with a blender inside that can heat up.

Instead of blending your milk for the couple of minutes that you would with your countertop blender, you walk away from this and it goes through a process that’s around 20 minutes long.

The milk that my appliance produces is creamy and delicious and never separates. I love it so much. It’s an investment that has paid for itself many times over.