Something I have decided to do is to start eating healthier and to eat a strictly vegetarian diet (with a vegan diet being the final goal). However, what I am discovering is that eating healthy is, for me, a lot like relationships, in that the more I attempt to do better and learn about it, the more confused, frustrated, and discouraged I become .

Here’s an example…

All of my life I have consumed considerable amounts of milk products, and I mean a considerable amount, like upwards of 2 or more liters a day of milk and chocolate milk, although, to the surprise of others, I never gained much weight. But since learning the negative health effects of milk consumption, I made the switch to drinking vanilla flavored soy milk, under the impression that soy milk is healthier. (I have tried rice, almond, soy, and coconut milks, but I haven’t like them as much as the soy milk I have bought.)

Unfortunately, as I am discovering is the case with most health food alternatives, soy milk is ridiculously expensive . Since I make what I believe would quality as a poverty-level income , affording soy milk is a challenge for me, and right now I really can’t afford it. Also I have read on the Internet that the additives in commercial soy milk make it unhealthy for me, such as corn starch and loads of sugar.

I thought it would be worth trying to make soy milk at home, and the recipes online I have read seem simple enough even for my cooking-challenged self to do and they all say the outcome is healthy and delicious!

Wrong!

All the soy milk I have made has tasted horrible despite the huge amounts of sugar and flavoring I have added to it, and I haven’t found any recipe to make it taste good, although some of the extra steps I have found have made it taste less bad but still bad.

So milk is bad for me and I have learned does horrible things to me (I’ve noticed my body has thanked me in its own way for drinking soy milk), commercial soy milk is bad and too expensive for me, all the other milk alternatives don’t taste too good and are as expensive or more expensive, and homemade soy milk tastes unbearably bad.

See it’s like relationships – confused, frustrated, and discouraged .

It is difficult to explain to folks on PC my relationship with beverages. For as long as I can remember I have consumed huge quantities of liquids, and I find that it helps me focus on my intellectual pursuits. What I do is maybe 2 hours of intense studying followed by a routine beverage break, which usually consisted of some kind of milk, or until recently soy milk. Water is not off the table either – a few months ago I took down around 2-3 liters of water in like 2 hours. I will not and do not drink sodas (ex. Coca-Cola, Pepsi), alcohol, and coffee, but most other things I will, as long as it is cold.

It is stressful for me right now to have temporarily broken from my routine in not drinking milk or soy milk as during my beverage breaks, and water is a terrible substitute for those. When I am stressed like this I eat a lot of unhealthy foods I otherwise wouldn’t consider eating, feel bad and fat for eating it, and then throw it up, and I was contemplating doing that last night because I ate too much chocolate. (I never eat chocolate.)

I haven’t talked to the dietician that works at the health centre I visit because she has been booked, and with the price of gas right now, I might have to hold off on that 125 KM drive.

Anyone else have some advice for me, like how to make homemade soy milk taste better? .

This sucks Mr.V,
I'm so sorry your soy milk experience has been brutal. I personally opt for almond milk but hey to each one's own (it's still damn expensive).

What about homemade Iced Tea, you can buy a box of teabags (green, chai, black) and brew it double strength.
Get some glass bottles and add a bit of raw cane sugar or lemon, keep them in the fridge till they're nice and cold?

[NWgirl2013]

Boy, are you brave! I am actually all over the healthy eating, but I have had to accept my limitations in some things.
So that is what I do, do my best to be Almost Vegan. I limit portions in general. I was unable to remove dairy all together, being a milk drinker too. Nothing came close cuz, milk is from animals, not veggies or fruit. I couldn't make that switch. Good for you in your quest to do it though.

I also tried making my own soymilk, being an excellent, sensitive/sensible cook. I was persistent but the results were like yours; the trade off of the Huge amounts of sweeteners, I tried everything, it was not worth it. Water is my best friend. I drink tons.

Wish I had the magic recipe for you. Are you sure you can't drink organic or raw milk? NOT Chocolate, just a good quality milk. I know it's animal so forget that. Sorry.
If not, you may have to resort to your favorite brand of soymilk, but buy less. Sorry. Just wanted to confirm your findings so far.

I know Silk soy milk is the most expensive, that is always in the refrigerated section...in the healthier food section I have found cheaper soy milk along with the rice and almond milk in the "boxier" containers. I doubt that helps you much, tho. I prefer the texture of almond milk over soy as I found soy milk too thick (and rice milk too watery).

Have you tried watering the soy milk down a bit, or does that just gross you out? You can also buy unsweetened soy milk, which hardly has any sugar...I did that for a long time. Not sure any of this helped, but I am impressed by your dedication, and I wish you luck.

Strato:

It is really unfortunate too since I bought a soy milk maker – I thought it would save me money and time making soy milk, and it was on sale. What a waste that has turned out to be .

Vanilla flavored almond milk is fine, but I found the vanilla flavored soy milk to be more creamy, closer to dairy milk, and almond milk is more expensive than soy milk. Making almond milk is done with many of the same methods as soy, however I am under the impression that it will not be cheap to buy almonds in bulk.

I suppose I wouldn’t mind attempting a kind of tea. I’ve never had tea before.

NWGirl:

Milk is difficult to eliminate from one’s diet; it’s in cheese, baking goods, and it is so wonderful with a variety of foods. Believe it or not, though, I absolutely love the commercial soy milk under the brand So Good. The vanilla flavored one is delicious and tastes so much like real milk!

All the websites said that it is so “easy” to make soy milk at home and that it tastes “delicious,” or better than the commercial variety, so I thought it would be useful and cost effective for me to make it . But even with all the sugar, vanilla extract, etc., it always comes out this bitter taste, and while I can reduce the bitterness, I can’t seem to eliminate it.

No, I can’t drink milk, organic or otherwise I imagine. The reason is because for the last decade I have suffered from a horrible skin condition that ravaged my skin and is painful. None of the dermatologists could help me, and they the medications I was on were so strong I had to do regular tests to make sure I didn’t experience internal organ damage/failure. Nothing worked for me, but in like 2 weeks of drinking soy milk, it was all healed!

It is frustrating to want to do better, to make important changes, and to live a life I can be proud of but always being limited by money or some other reason, and never being able to move past that limitation .

Traction:

Here all the soy milks cost the same or around the same, and none of the stores I have visited have a ‘healthier’ food section, as all the milks are in with the dairy. Rice milk is too watery for me too, and I like the thickness of soy milk, it is like the thickness of milk. Watering down the soy milk? What does that mean?

[NWgirl2013]

Bleh! Sorry about the dairy reaction, but so glad you found out and have some relief for the skin problems. That is fantastic! Hope you find a happy medium to quench your thirst
I also drink tea, my current fave is through VitaCost. Many to choose from. They sell bulk so it is cost effective and delish.

Ah, where I am soy milk varies in cost greatly.
By watering it down, I simply meant taking the commercial version and adding some water and blending away in the blender to create a thinner product with more bulk. But if you like the consistency, then you wouldn't want to do that.

As far as the homemade tasting less bitter, have you tried adding fruit, maybe even just a banana, if you like them? I always used them in my smoothies with unsweetened soy milk and they made quite a difference. Frozen fruits could also be an option as you could buy organic year round.
I am very sorry about your skin condition, that sounds frustrating and scary, but glad you have found away around it! I too hope you can find a medium that works for both you and your wallet.

[Maven]

I keep planning on eating healthier, but it keeps getting put off. I'd like to be on a vegan diet (because of my love for animals), but I don't think there's much reality in that I'd stick to that. Even vegetarian is questionable.

I love milk products (but not plain milk itself). I've never tried soy milk, mostly because of the negative things I've heard about it. I did try vanilla-flavored almond milk, but I don't buy it because I still prefer regular milk (I get the 2%), but I should switch to it. Problem is, I really only use milk to go with cereal, which is highly sugary (at least the ones I like). I love milkshakes, hot chocolate, strawberry milk, steamers (steamed milk, without coffee/espresso) and other milky drinks, plus I love just about anything made with milk, like ice cream, cake, pudding, cheese, and more. Sweet stuff is my demon, although I do like eating a lot of savory dishes as well.

I understand what you mean about feeling confused, the more you try to get into vegetarianism/veganism. I find it stressful, because everything I like is pretty much not a vegetable. I like a few veggies, maybe a little on the side, or as toppings (depending on what veggies we're talking about, on what), but I am a slave to processed foods. I need to change.

Good luck with your diet (or "lifestyle change" if you prefer). I wish I could tell you how to make good soy milk, but that's out of my range, sorry.

[LovelaceF]

Have you tried going to an Asian market?

[Maven]

I've gone to an Asian market (although I assume your question, LovelaceF, was to Mr. Venomous), and didn't care much for it. For one thing, I'm not big on Asian food. I love some Japanese (though not sushi and sashimi), but not so much Chinese, and limited Thai and Vietnamese dishes. The Asian market I went to had lots of raw fish and smelled quite strongly of it. No surprise there, but I didn't see much in the aisles that interested me, either. Lots of rice. I'm not a big fan of rice. And it depends what kind and how it's cooked.

[hamster-bamster]

I do not believe that dairy milk is bad for you. Cultured dairy has even been shown to assist in weight loss efforts. I drink whole milk, eat plain zero fat greek yogurt (Greek yogurt in the States means strained yogurt with most of the fat removed) all the time, occasionally eat full fat "cream on top" maple yogurt (non-Greek) which is the most delicious treat on Earth, in my opinion, and regularly drink non-fat plain kefir.

I also eat cheese daily - primarily, cow milk cheese and goat cheese, and very occasionally, as an expensive treat, sheep's milk cheese, which is utterly delicious.

Finally, I eat farmer's cheese, which is delicious and WAY better than cottage cheese (I do not know whether cottage cheese is in the US only, though).

I never get sick with respiratory infections or stomach flu and never ever get digestive problems, and, in part, I credit my consumption of immunity-building cultured dairy.

Mr. Venomous, if you PERSONALLY have found that going off dairy has improved your PERSONAL health, then it makes sense for you to switch to alternatives. If, however, you are trying to make his change, which ends up costing you a lot of money, because you have read something somewhere, I would suggest that you read more from a variety of sources before you implement the change.

I personally find the taste of soy milk horrifying, even in small amounts when added to coffee, so I would not consume soy milk even if it were beneficial to health, and for that reason, I am not read up on soy milk, but occasionally, without trying, I come across information that suggests that soy milk might not be beneficial to health.

Originally Posted by Mr. Venomous

Strato:

It is really unfortunate too since I bought a soy milk maker – I thought it would save me money and time making soy milk, and it was on sale. What a waste that has turned out to be .

Vanilla flavored almond milk is fine, but I found the vanilla flavored soy milk to be more creamy, closer to dairy milk, and almond milk is more expensive than soy milk. Making almond milk is done with many of the same methods as soy, however I am under the impression that it will not be cheap to buy almonds in bulk.

I suppose I wouldn’t mind attempting a kind of tea. I’ve never had tea before.

Yeah Mr. V, spending money on something you think will be awesome and realizing later that it wasn't as awesome as anticipated SUCKS man. I hear you. Yes, almonds in bulk are super expensive...I wouldn't go that route.

Perhaps if you supplement your soy milk with another cheap beverage, (ie. homemade iced tea, water) it could work out. I also use those fizzy vitamin supplement drinks (ie. Emergen-C) but I don't use the Emergen-C brand, it has too much sugar, instead I opt for a store brand (just read the label). Or I will just buy a buttload of lemons and add lemon to water (SO good for you) and a fast easy way to detox your body.

Throwing some hugs your way Hope you're not too down about it.

Dairy milk essentially is NOT bad for you. HOWEVER, the crap that is ADDED to the dairy has loads of health problems. Added to (mainstream) milk are antibiotics, growth hormones, and a concoction of other drugs. The dairy industry is perhaps the cruelest on the planet. If you are doing it for health then drink non-hormone, grass-fed LOCAL milk. If you are doing it for ethical reasons then drink non- hormone, grass-fed LOCAL milk. The vitamins in dairy milk do not outweigh the JUNK that is added to it, you can easily get the vitamins in soy or almond milk. Soy however is not the healthiest thing either but I would say it's better than dairy.

[Perna]

Mankind has been eating a huge variety of diets for several thousand years? People have been touting vegetarian diets as better for hundreds of years but there is no absolute proof that one diet is better than another since mankind seems to thrive on so many different ones.

I would go back and see what your grandparents ate and try to match that better, rather than read what other people unrelated, who don't know you are doing or saying to do. Remember, books are written to make money for the author, not to help an individual such as ourselves. If people are interestes in vegetarianism, there will be a lot of books on vegetarianism and they aren't going to say it's no good, they're going to say how wonderful and "perfect" it is for you.

My grandparents lived into their 80's and that's fine for me right now. I'm pretty sure I'm genetically okayed to live at least that long (have had my DNA tested for longevity) and just after the War was about when things were pretty good, not too much processed food (other than Wonder Bread :-) no fast food, etc. I keep the fruits and vegetables simple; eat at least 5 a day (I normally get around 8-9 when I'm working on it) and try to stay away from too much packaged stuff. I occasionally have a soda but I don't have enough to be addicted to them; I get my caffeine I want (have been DNA tested for caffeine metabolism too; I should not drink more than about a cup of coffee a day, it could hurt my heart) in coffee or tea.

How about drinking flavored or herbal teas? Making your own flavored waters? I drink sparkling water because it comes in a can and reminds me of soda without having calories or sugar, etc.

I believe that just as you cannot learn to do "relationships" (there's no such thing; it's me relating to you and you to me, there can be no guide) one cannot learn to do "diet" and just follow some book because the book and its author does not know you. If drinking milk did not appear to bother you and you enjoyed it, I would keep drinking milk. People have been drinking cow's, sheep's, horse's, etc. milk for thousands of years too, far longer than they have been drinking soy milk, which was, relatively speaking, just invented recently.

Work toward making your own balanced diet; you need protein, cholesterol, fat, vitamins and minerals. No, you don't need the majority of your fat from eating fast food, you never did! Change things you want to change slowly. You've seen how changing all your milk over did not work, might drinking some less milk and another beverage work better? Have you ever tried powdered milk? It's extremely cheap and would be your milk but without all the milk fat, if that is what you are objecting to.

Look into "whole" foods or nearly whole foods like eggs and potatoes. Did you know a potato is a complete food, with the exception of not having any Vitamin A? You add a little butter and you have the food that kept the Irish alive for a couple hundred years! You have to eat the potato skin, too (I always eat my baked potato skin) as that has your Vitamin C you need. Explore foods instead of diets? Find something you like and build on it.

[eggsinfinitum]

Kudos to you that you keep trying! The only hopefully helpful things I can tell you are:

1. We as humans can get used to anything- we have a remarkable capacity to adjust- I used to absolutely hate drinking water, but over time I now really enjoy it & even crave it sometimes
2. Generally we adjust better to smaller changes over time instead of bigger ones all at once- I have used this concept to eat healthier, more veges and much less if any sugar, which I was hooked on for most of my life. Now when I eat something sweet, I don't even like it.

Sorry the milk you like is so expensive- that sucks!

Well I found this week that if I strain the soy milk I have made when it comes out of the machine it is more tolerable to drink. Still not as tasty as the commercial brands, but doable nonetheless, and maybe I will tweak it more this week. Each time I make soy milk it tastes better so that’s a start .

But I must say that it is definitely frustrating that that I can’t find out what is and isn’t healthy for me to consume. Each individual and source tells me something different about health, and I am left confused and discouraged.

I didn’t say this in the original post, because I don’t like to talk about my personal life on the forums, but one of the reasons I have decided to undertake this journey is because I am a political and environmental activist, and I want to live what I preach, so to speak. I don’t want to be writing about the evils of the world to the 10, 000 visitors to my blog or to the people that read my articles in the paper while simultaneously supporting said evils with what I purchase and consume. Such changes like consuming no animal products and reducing (ideally but unlikely eliminating) my consumption of GMOs. Users reading this might find it stupid and might have the urge to debate the importance of these changes with me, but making these changes is important to me, and that’s that.

I started to drink soy milk because I was looking for healthier alternatives to milk, and after having tried almond milk, which I didn’t think was too bad, I was looking around at the other alternatives. So Good vanilla soy milk is wonderful and my favourite milk alternative so far, but it’s expensive, so I am still working on tweaking my homemade soy milk. With the extra straining in the cheesecloth, it’s not too bad, not wonderful but definitely drinkable right now. Wonder if I can find some stronger vanilla flavoring?

I am thinking something I might do is not drink as much commercial soy milk (because it’s expensive) but drink it during meals, i.e., about 3 glasses a day of it, and drink my homemade stuff the rest of the day if I want to. I bought 10 lbs of soy beans for $7 and can make an endlessly supply of it now, therefore I can inhale that all I want to. Best of both world’s for now? Maybe. Perhaps it will encourage me to drink more water.

Anyway, as I said, it is frustrating to be unable to find some concrete information on healthy foods. Some say soy milk is good, other’s say it is bad; some say milk is good, others say it is bad; and the confusion is endless about all foods.

Perna, I don’t know my grandparents well or at all, and I don’t think they would be the best individuals to learn from; all their teeth have rotted out, they smoke or drink like crazy, and most are either dead from cancer or suicide or near death as it is.

Soy milk wasn’t invented ‘recently’ – I believe I have read that soy milk is known to have been consumed in China since around AD 50, almost 2, 000 years. Only recently has it become popular in the West is more accurate.

Eliminating dairy milk from my diet is one of the best health decisions I have ever made . My skin is thanking me for it now that I don’t need all those medications to control my condition. I’m not objecting to the fat, I am objecting to it being from an animal and what it does to my body.

I am thinking I will stick to tweaking my homemade soy milk for now and see if I can make it taste better .

And we have are own massive garden on an acre of land to grow hundreds and hundreds of veggies like potatoes .

[NWgirl2013]

Hey! Glad to hear you are figuring out the soy milk. Shoot me some tips & I'll try it again. You sound good today!

I am jealous of your garden though...

[LovelaceF]

Originally Posted by Maven

I've gone to an Asian market (although I assume your question, LovelaceF, was to Mr. Venomous), and didn't care much for it. For one thing, I'm not big on Asian food. I love some Japanese (though not sushi and sashimi), but not so much Chinese, and limited Thai and Vietnamese dishes. The Asian market I went to had lots of raw fish and smelled quite strongly of it. No surprise there, but I didn't see much in the aisles that interested me, either. Lots of rice. I'm not a big fan of rice. And it depends what kind and how it's cooked.

Maven, yes my comment was in response to Mr. Venomous's question. The Asian market that I go to has very inexpensive soy milk compared to other grocery stores, so I was just curious if he'd looked there.

[FooZe]

Originally Posted by Mr. Venomous

Well I found this week that if I strain the soy milk I have made when it comes out of the machine it is more tolerable to drink. Still not as tasty as the commercial brands, but doable nonetheless, and maybe I will tweak it more this week. Each time I make soy milk it tastes better so that’s a start .

I was wondering -- have you tried different kinds/sources of ingredients? I don't know much about how soy milk can be made but besides starting with whole soybeans, I picture possibly using soy powder/meal, or even working backwards from tofu. If you're using whole soybeans, does the brand/variety of beans make much difference?

The soybeans... are they GM as well? I know that Monsanto is making it almost impossible to get anything but GM soybeans.

[unaluna]

I've never tried making soymilk, but you got me curious and I googled it. Did you try getting rid of the bean skins? They said that makes it less beany tasting. As for the Asian grocery store soymilks, I have found them extremely sweet and watery. My Chinese groceress loves it but I don't care for it. And of course she is thin and I am fat!

[henrydavidtherobot]

I was a vegan for 3 years. The trick is to establish new dietary habits, not replace what you use to love with vegan counterparts all of the time. I would suggest limiting glasses of soy milk to one a day (please be careful, anyway, soy is high in estrogen), eating lots of beans and rice, and hit up places like Sav a Lot for some cheap staples

Good luck!

NWGirl – We have 4 gardens and our vegetable garden is about 50-100 feet long by like 35 feet wide .

I bought a soy milk maker for like $39 (regular price of $200) at a health store in the city . It does everything except the skinning and the soaking, which I have to do myself, and it makes soy milk in 20 minutes .

Love – I am not aware of Asian markers anywhere near where I live. I live in a sparsely populated, mostly rural province. I wonder if Asian stores would sell them?

Fooze – I use whole soy beans. I can add whatever I want to though. The commercial stuff has canola oil and corn starch in it. Mine is strictly water, soy bean, sugar, and vanilla extract. The type of bean definitely makes a difference from what I have read, although it was SUCH a challenge to find soy beans at all, therefore I don’t think I have many options there .

George – Yes, Monsanto does make GM soy beans, as many of them as GM corn :O. Monsanto is making it difficult to get anything but GM food in general.

Hankster – Yeah, I didn’t know that the first time, but I researched it on the Internet and learned how to skin them. It definitely helps! I skinned them real good last time.

[AAAAA]

Well I think I can solve your "more vanilla" flavor issue. Use vanilla beans instead of extract. If you do not want random black seeds floating around in your milk, steep it in a simple sugar mixture (which I believe you're already adding to your milk) first and allow to cool.

[viryan23]

You can try making smoothies.^^ It is done by mixing fresh fruit and milk in a blender. You can have recipes in this link Smoothie Recipes - Allrecipes.com.

I wish you the best!