Nutty Winner; Phytic Acid Reduced Nut Mixture

    Nuts are a good, healthy snack and we eat a lot of them.  I used to buy the mixed nuts at Costco, but we quickly grew tired of them.  I examined the ingredients and found a cheap oil; canola oil or some other cheap vegetable oil.    "Industral food" preparation does not remove the natural phytic acid present on all nuts that still have their skins on.  I think it was the phytic acid and canola oil that "put us off" to those Costco nuts.  I also noticed that whatever the cheapest nuts are at the time, are the ones that take dominant percentage of the "mixed nuts" and lately it has been the cashews. Peanuts usually serve as filler but we don't eat peanuts at all.    

I have heard a lot of people say that they can't eat nuts because it makes their mouth pucker or tastes bad or something.  It is the phytic acid that does this.  Remove the phytic acid and many of those sensitive folks would be able to eat nuts again.  

   The book, "Cure Tooth Decay" had some suggestions about how to reduce the phytic acid of grains and nuts and seeds.  I decided to put those suggestions to the test. 

     Soaking is first thing to do to reduce phytic acid from the nuts that still have the skins on. 
  I buy our favorite nuts ( walnuts, pecans, almonds, macadamia and cashew) in bulk and still they are expensive....except cashews right now.    Walnuts, whole almonds and pecans have skins so these are the ones I soak in a large tub with just plain water for 2 days.   I soak all of them together for 2 days then drain (reserve the water for the garden) and lay them out to dry.  I have an electric dehydrator so I fill up the trays and dry overnight.  
      The next phytic acid reducer is roasting.  Heat will reduce the remaining phytic acid.  I found that  nuts spread out on a cookie sheet and roasted at 400 degrees for 7 minutes works perfectly.  Roasting the skinless nuts (macadamia and cashews)  right along with the dried nuts works just fine. Roasting improves the flavor of all the nuts. 
     The hot nuts are dumped into a large container and allowed to cool.  Next I melt some coconut oil, the kind that tastes like coconuts and drizzle over the whole roasted pile and then I sprinkle some Real Salt over the bunch.

     My selection of nuts is based on taste and on the blood type diet lists.  Walnuts and almonds are listed as "highly beneficial" for Os and Bs so they are the ones we use with added neutrals pecans and macs.....cashews are an avoid but they taste good, so I use a few.  No peanuts for Os and Bs. 

     I keep prepared nuts in large, 2 quart glass jars with lids.  These nuts are very satisfying for snacks, travel and lunch bags.  No phytic acid and  real-good-for-you-oil and high mineral salt; a nutty winner!    

Great Class at my House!

     Thanks to everyone for coming Saturday the 31st.  I barely had seats for everyone and I'm sorry there wasn't more room.  But thank you for coming and for your questions and comments. 

 This class really focused on Kombucha and vegetable ferments and thanks to Dustin who brought his new batch of kombucha to try.  We tasted a variety of fermented vegetables and some fermented canned foods like white beans made into a fermented Tuscan bean dip and some tomato paste made with canned tomatoes into fermented "catsup".  I demonstrated how milk kefirs work and had some "kefir cheese" flavored with maple syrup to try.  That was wonderful, but the best was my latest batch of beet Kvass this time made with slices of lemon and ginger.  Wow!  that tasted so good....tip I learned from Steven Hassler.  Another surprise, good one, was my newly fermented radishes.   They mellowed out during the fermenting process and tasted really good.  I don't like fresh radishes so this was a nice surprise. These would be so good in a salad.  
     Real Foods Market called and wanted me to teach one more class before the end of season so  I agreed and will be doing a class next Thursday, June 5 at 6:30;  Real Foods Market in Orem on 400 West north of  800 North. 

     My next class here at home will be in August and will focus on Vegetable Ferments as we slide into harvest season.  Don't have date picked out yet but will post it end of June.   Another class here at home in November will focus on grains...sourdough breads and pulses.   

   

Fermenting Class in Orem in May

     I've had some people asking when I am going to teach another fermenting class and because I am not scheduled at Real Foods Market til next fall, I have decided to do another class here in my home in Orem, on Saturday, May 31 at 11:00.

   There is no class fee here at my house, but you may want to buy some starters or a cloth or lids.   It will be 1  1/2 hours and there will be lots of tasting.  Class will cover;  raw milk kefir and cheese making, vegetable fermenting, kombucha, sourdough bread and cooked grains called pulses.  

     Let me know by email or phone at least 3 days before the 31st.   joannesmithseal@gmail.com
801-765-4645

I will inform you of my address when you contact me.  

Pickled Eggs with Fermented Pickle Brine

      I save my fermented vegetable pickle brine and use it as salad dressing, but I accidentally discovered a new use for it;  preserving boiled eggs.  
     Last August, I had some ugly ( fresh eggs don't peel very nicely)  peeled eggs that I couldn't immediately use and in desperation, I dropped them into a quart jar of reserved pickle juice or brine.  This jar got pushed to the back of the fridge and out-of-sight, means out-of-mind so I forgot them until a couple days before Easter, (eight months later) when I was cleaning out the fridge.  
     It was a little scary trying to decide what to do with them.  I was of a mind to just throw them out but.....out of curiosity, I took an egg out of the brine and it felt ok, I smelled it and it smelled ok, so I took a bite and was surprised.  It tasted good, really good.  I had successfully pickled eggs!
     I quick took pictures and then added them to other peeled, hard boiled eggs after Easter for a most delightful egg salad that my husband loved for lunch for several days....served with sourdough bread.
     I chop some onion, some celery, some green bell pepper and mixed in some mayonnaise, powdered mustard, Real Salt and pepper.  The pickled flavor of some of the eggs was really nice.  Oh, I used a little of the fermented pickle juice too.   

Sourdough Multi-grain Bread: Update

          I've made some improvements to my original sourdough bread recipe.  I grind my wheat and spelt flours in my Junior Wondermill , hand grinder that is now attached to my kitchen counter. I shifting my ground flour with a stainless steel strainer to get out some of the rougher parts of bran and germ out.  I am learning that I really don't want all that bran.  First, bran has phytic acid (non-nutrient plant defense) and second, my bowels do just fine without all that bran, in fact too much bran may hurt bowel function. 
      I also use some store bought unbleached, un-enriched wheat flour.  Never thought I'd be using this as it was my enemy for so many years, but the sourdough process makes it usable again without the damage. 
     I also have added some "dough enhancers".  Dough enhancer is usually more gluten but I don't want more gluten.  The enhancers I found do a nice job without adding more gluten.  
     This recipe makes a very nice, unsour, high rising bread that is digestible and tasty, even for those who don't like sour taste.  But, I still am very careful not to overuse bread.  One slice a day is all I consume....anymore than that, and I will put on weight.  I consume other, soaked, cooked grains and pulses and I am careful with those as well.   

Recipe:
1 day before mixing dough....FEED STARTER

Mixing dough next day:
1 cup sourdough start
1 cup water
3.5  to 4 cups  flour; whole spelt, whole wheat and unbleached wheat flour  usually half whole grain and half white.
1.5  tsp. Real Salt
1 TBS  fat   soft butter is good or olive oil  (not coconut oil as it can kill the yeasts)

Enhancers;   1 egg or just the white of 1 egg, 1 TBS ac vinegar or kombucha, 1 tsp. bovine gelatin, 1/4 tsp powdered ginger, 1 tsp. dark molasses.  
I use all of these enhancers. But you can try one or two.

I will also add 2 TBS cracked wheat or spelt, 1 tsp. chia seeds and 1 tsp. flax seeds sometimes.  

Mix all ingredients and form into a soft ball and cover.  Allow to ferment for at least 18-24 hours. 

Baking Day;  4-5 hours before baking, flour the counter, roll out the dough and knead the dough for a few minutes.  It should feel "alive" and elastic.  During  kneading process if you want to reduce the sour taste, sprinkle 1 tsp. baking soda with the flour on the counter and knead it into the dough.  The dough will puff up a bit, but it will return to normal quickly.  Continue kneading for total of 8-10 minuets.  If dough is too "plastic" then it may need a dish or bread pan to form it, but if dough is kinda stiff then you can form it into bowles or balls and bake without pans.  Grease pans if you use them.  Form dough for either and allow dough to rise double in bulk....maybe 4-5 hours.  Because it is so dry in Utah, I put my loaves in the oven with a bowl of hot water on the bottom shelf.  Do not leave oven on "warm" while rising dough. "Warm" is too warm for most ovens and will prematurely kill the yeasts before they finish the loaves.  I've ruined a few batches that way.  

Bake at 400-425 for 20-25 minutes.  I usually have a pan with a cup of hot water in the oven when baking.  

My favorite way to eat a slice of sourdough bread: spread with honey first, maybe that "white" honey, then spread coconut oil over the honey and top it off with a couple slices of raw milk cheddar cheese!  Yum!

"Cure Tooth Decay"

     That's the title of a book that caught my attention several weeks ago when our dentist diagnosed both me and my husband with a problem tooth each.  He wanted us to schedule appointments right then and there to either pull the infected teeth or have root canals done.  
     I convinced my husband that it would be worth our while to try  Ramel Nagel's protocol for a few weeks first and see if we could "re-mineralize" our decayed teeth. 
     I read the book, purchased the recommended supplements of  Factor X Butter Oil and Fermented Cod Liver Oil ( by Green Pastures) and started us both on the protocol to heal our teeth.  That was back in February.  There is a lot more the protocol besides these two supplements. 
     Mr. Nagel, bases his book on his own experiences and research by Dr. Weston A. Price, an early 20th Century Dentist who studied the health and teeth of indigenous peoples in Switzerland, Australia and other out-of-the-way places where the people hadn't been "westernized" yet and still ate their traditional diets.  What he found is that when the people stuck to their traditional diets, their teeth were close to perfect and had no tooth decay.  When they started eating westernized food high in starches and sugar and lacking in natural minerals and vitamins, then they too suffered severe tooth decay. 
     "Cure Tooth Decay" is a strict diet protocol that uses principles of nutrition compatible with the "GAPS" diet and the Weston A. Price Foundation.  You have to eliminate sugar in all it's forms and unfermented, grains as well.  You have to add into your diet, bone broth, raw milk, good fats, organ meats like liver, meats, seafoods, vegetables and some fruit.  This means preparing most of your own meals from scratch/raw ingredients.  It's work.  
     The work part didn't scare me off, I all ready do that....but leaving alone all sweets was harder.  My husband found he could do it, but it was harder for him.  Doing the work of reducing the phytic acid from our grains was difficult too....not impossible but just some more work for me.  All ready making my own sourdough bread, muffins and pancakes was a good start.   

      Remembering to take the oil vitamin (D and A) supplements (Factor X Butter oil and Fermented Cod Liver oil)  before every meal got to be an habit and still is.  The fermented Cod Liver Oil is not as bad tasting as it may sound.  They flavor it up with orange and cinnamon, but really not needed.....wait, maybe for husbands and children. 
     So, how did it work?  Well, I lost my back molar.  Xray picture in February, compared to picture a week ago looked the same, maybe a tad worse.  Decay was still there and my pain and discomfort with the tooth got worse.  I didn't want a root canal (don't have any others) so I elected to have it pulled.  It had a 3 yr old cap on it with large filling under the cap, so there wasn't much of the tooth left...not much tooth to re-mineralize.  The decay had gotten into one of the roots and it was very painful.  It had been traumatized a lot over the years.  
     The pulling of it by an ortho surgeon, was difficult.  It took longer than he predicted and he had to drill and chip it out.  But.....he said later that he didn't expect my jaw bone to be so hard (for a woman my age...68)!  He didn't say that but that was the "jist" of his comment.  So I am thinking that the protocol "worked" for my bones and perhaps my other teeth. He said that if the rest of my bones were as hard as my jaw, then I must be in pretty good shape.  

     My husband, just got his tooth, root "canaled".  Same thing, I believe;  a tooth traumatized over the years, not much left, filling and a cap.  But....he feels like his teeth are stronger.  He has complained for years about his "weak teeth" and now finally he thinks they are really stronger. 

     I wish I had known about this process years ago.  I think I could have avoided a lot of dental work.  If I had children now I would have them on this protocol.  I would recommend it for anyone interested in saving some dental chair time and expense.  We will keep using these supplements and will continue the diet but modified a bit.   
        

Spontaneous Fermenting Class Tomorrow April 19 at NOON

No Fee, just come if you can.  12 noon Sat. Apr. 19 my house....727 N. 450 East  in Orem.  

Kombucha, Kefir, fermenting Vegetables, Pulses, Bone Broth (no demo, just talk about how good it is to make), sourdough bread and anything else. 

I will schedule another class at my home in May and will announce plenty of time ahead.  I have no more scheduled classes at Real Foods Market this season....maybe in Fall so I will schedule a couple more this summer.