Affordable Eats: Homemade Oat Milk

Have you looked at prices in the grocery store lately?  I don't know about where you live, but here the price of everything is going up. 

I'm on a fixed income so when prices rise the only option I have is to change my spending habits. More and more things are being struck from my grocery list because I simply can't afford them.  Dairy prices are rising so yogurt is no longer on my shopping list and cheese is appearing on my table far less often. Milk prices are going up and nut milks, soy milk, rice milk, and oat milk have always been more expensive than cow's milk. Even so their prices are rising too.

Recently, I tried oat milk and found that it agrees better with my digestion than cow's milk or other non-dairy options so that's what I've been buying for the past couple of months. In addition to being kind to my tummy, oat milk contains fibre, iron, calcium, potassium, and B vitamins. That's some good nutritional value. Still, the cost...

While browsing Pinterest just before Christmas, I came across this post from Alpha Foodie. It looked easy to make and it would cost me pennies on the dollar in comparison to the stuff in the dairy case. I gave it a try and it worked so well I'm sharing it with you. Seriously, you need to make this. It tastes good and it'll save you money too.

Here are some notes based on my own batches:

I go for the "handful of soaked cashews" option because it gives the oatmilk a creamier consistency. Even with the cashews it's a lot less expensive than store bought.

I use unsweetened oat milk when cooking. If I'm drinking it as a hot beverage, I either sweeten it with maple syrup and add a little vanilla extract, or I use a Torani coffee syrup. Jenni Field's Pastry Chef Online's butterscotch coffee syrup is mighty fine too. 😊

If you choose to add the ingredients for any of the flavour variations listed in the post, you'll still save money over store bought.  

If you prefer the mejool date option to using maple syrup, you can use (less expensive) regular dates from the baking aisle instead, by soaking them in warm water then letting them cool to room temperature before you add them to the oat milk.

I hope you'll give this a try. It's a good budget stretcher.