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Almond flour and other ingredients
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Here is some info about commonly used ingredients in our recipes. Honey should specify "pure," otherwise unlisted sweeteners may be added. Vanilla should not have sugar listed as an ingredient if you are keeping sugars and starches out of your diet. You may have to go to a health food store for this. Coconut oil should be virgin or raw, NOT refined. We use Nutiva brand, and we get it off Amazon through their Vitamin Shop store. I order about 8 jars at a time, since we use it for baking, as butter on veggies (with lime and salt), and for frying some items. Beans should be dried beans (canned beans often have unlisted gluten and starches added). Soak overnight or for more than 7 hours, drain, rinse, simmer 2-3 hours until soft. Nuts should be raw - pre-roasted nuts typically have an unlisted gluten or starch to keep them from sticking together. Spices should not be pre- mixed (ie chili powder, lemon pepper, curry powder). These usually have gluten based starches to keep them from settling out. One question you may have: What is almond flour? Almond flour is crushed blanched almonds (almond with no skin). You can make it yourself or buy it - the kind you buy is generally much finer than you can make in a food processor. You can get it at most grocery stores now (Krogers or Harris Teeter) or at health food stores. It is very expensive at both places - $11/$16 per pound. It is worth that when you are trying the diet. If you do decide to change how you eat in a more permanent manner, then you should consider ordering it in bulk. You can get it at $4-$6 per pound this way. We order 25 pounds and freeze it. Here are some sources: We've used the Hughson Nut site - the flour is great, and ends up at about $5/pound including shipping. You can also substitute other nut flours in many recipes, i.e. pecan, cashew and walnut flour. Keep in mind that different flours have different tastes. We've found cashews to be a bit harsh on our tummies, although cashew butter seems fine. What kind of tomato sauce should I use in recipes? You need make tomato sauce from tomato juice made from fresh tomatoes, not from concentrate, if you are staying away from starches and sugars. Things are changed and added in anything that states "from concentrate." There are often problems with other canned tomato products (unlisted starches used as thickeners), so we make tomato sauce, paste and catsup from not from concentrate tomato juice. We found a great kind at Krogers in a big yellow can. We just boil it down to the consistancy that we want (tomato sauce is usually 20-30 minutes at simmer). |