Nuts!!! Dates!!!!! HELP!!!! page

[DeilaMiah]

I live in an an area where there is NO local food sources. There is one *natural* (read: vegetarian) food store where I can buy a few precious things, like slivered almonds, coconut aminos, etc. HOWEVER, I cannot get raw cashews, dates, etc.

I've done a search online for buying raw nuts and fruits in bulk, but does anyone have a personal preference? Like, quick shipping or very low priced?

Thanks in Advance

[magicmerl]

I would go easy on the nuts.

[DeilaMiah]

Thanks Merl, but I'm not looking for 50# sacks.

I grind my own flours and try to make as many things *from scratch* as possible. PLUS I have an extremely picky 3 year old so, if I can get him to eat cashew puddings, I would prefer to buy a 5# bag and store them in the freezer so I have them on hand rather than go hunting for raw cashews when he wants cashew pudding.

[magicmerl]

Fair enough. I've never really understood fake flours. Baking has always been pretty disappointing in our household since we got rid of the flour.

Luckily, we've discovered baked bananas with melted chocolate, served with cream. Nomnom.

[emmie]

I order from Nuts.com--terrific products and great customer service. You can check out their website.

[DeilaMiah]

Fair enough. I've never really understood fake flours. Baking has always been pretty disappointing in our household since we got rid of the flour.

Although I appreciate your sentiment, I was not looking for criticism. I, personally, don't consider almond flour or coconut flour or any kind of nut flour to be a *fake* flour. If I can use it to keep my toddler interested in eating healthy, instead of junk, then I say To Each His Own.

As for the bananas: I usually freeze mine in chunks, then coat each piece with a mixture I make of coconut oil, dark cocoa powder and a bit of honey. It sets up and turns it into a chocolate covered banana!

I order from Nuts.com--terrific products and great customer service. You can check out their website.

THANKS Emmie! I checked out the site and I'm diggin the chia energy bars. The site is a little higher priced than another site I found but it might be worth it.

[Scott F]

since you grind your own nuts, do you have acorns were you live? The tannins in acorns can be leached out and then the flour can be used for baking. We've baked acorn bread. It looks like chocolate cake but it tastes best hot with butter. Here's recipe but it would need to be modified from the wheat flour use. Acorns and Acorn Bread - Jack Mountain Bushcraft School

White oaks (rounded leaves) have less tannins. Black and red oaks (pointed leaves) are higher in tannins. An easy way to leach them is to put them in a silk stocking and put in the toilette tank. Every time you flush it adds new water. Once the bitter taste is gone it good to use. The Paiutes made extensive use of acorns https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEmZtqCCELk

Also,
How to Collect, Process and Store Acorns and Acorn Flour | Hunter Angler Gardener Cook

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28yYMb_RwBo

[DeilaMiah]

what is the Best way to Store Dried Fruit, Figs, Dates, Nuts??

It depends on where I have the most storage space. I usually freeze them whole, OR vacuum seal them in mason jars OR in bags on the shelf. I have a fairly good sized pantry for stocking up on foods since I do a lot of canning.

[DeilaMiah]

since you grind your own nuts, do you have acorns were you live?

I am currently at Ft Bliss in El Paso TX. We don't have much of ANYTHING here (NOT EVEN A FARM!!!) much less acorns. No Whole Foods and the only *natural* store here really only caters to vegans... although they will offer free range eggs (which means *free ranged* in someone's back yard. LOL)

I hope, at hubbys next duty station, we'll be closer to more paleo food sources.

[MattyH]

Deila,

First of all, thank your husband (and you and your toddler!) for serving!

Second, I'm an army brat of long standing. My mom was very early on the nutritional bandwagon, going back to the sixties (now that was a good combo - my dad the army lightcol, my mom the adele davis hippie). She would drag us kids exploring around every base we were dumped at until we found the local Asian market/section - you can find lots of paleo there. My son is in the air force now and discovering the same thing.

Good luck!
Matty