Nuts question

[e&tsmom]

I eat a lot of nuts everyday. Peanuts (I know, not a real nut), almonds, pecans, cashews, and walnuts, and raisins (also not a nut). They are all organic, raw, no preservatives (for the raisins). But, I dont soak them because I dont have a dehydrator and the last few times i tried to dehydrate in my oven it did not.go.well. But, now I seem to be having headaches daily. I wonder if it is the nuts. I googled it an dit seems there are a whole host of foods that are headache triggers. i used ot get migraines, but dont anymore, but now I seems to be getting dull, achy headaches everyday. I am wondering if it is because they are raw. If I soaked and dehdrated them would it reduce the tannins or whatever it is and help with headaches. There is very little info on the web regarding soaking nuts and headaches (big surprise). I hate to give up a favorite snack (But, admittedly, I eat probably a cup - cup and a half a day of nuts combined with raisins so I could cut back), plus I need stuff I can take with me easily. Any ideas on the headache thing? And, if you can give more suggestions of protein/fat0rich snacks I;d appreciet it too.

[FairyRae]

I think the best way to figure these things out is to just cut them out of your diet for a bit, and observe what happens. Soaking/dehydrating could totally make them easier to digest, and just easier on your whole system...

High protein snacks I can think of atm:

hardboiled eggs, deviled eggs
jerky
green smoothies w/ an egg or 2 in them
canned tuna or salmon--pop open, add a little salt and pepper and eat (if you like it that way)

ETA: hummus or bean dip of some kind? cold bean salad? chicken salad (I think it's pretty fast if you have leftover chicken and pre-made mayo) or egg salad?

That's all I've got for now...hth!!!

[e&tsmom]

Yeah, I think I'll take your advice and cut them out for a bit and see how it goes. I sort of thought about that already, but didnt really want to give them up!!

Thanks for the snack suggestions. I always forget about hardboiled eggs!

[Koalamom]

You don't have to dehydrate the nuts. I soak mine overnight and then eat them soft. I love it that way. I just soak what I am going to eat for the day the night before and can snack all day. Whatever I don't eat can go in a smoothie or in the fridge.

[e&tsmom]

REEEEEALLY? You dont have to dehydrate them?? So, do they get moldy if you dont use them all? I have just been reading a lot on how to soak and dry them, but skipping the drying process would be fine by me, I just want to make sure they dont get moldy. How do you store them?

[CookAMH]

I'm just curious, what happened when you put them in your oven?

[e&tsmom]

When I tried them in the oven it seemed that they never fully dried. The tops did, so I stirred them around several times, but they never really complately dried so they were a little gummy. I guess I could crisp them, but I read that heating them at high temps makes them go rancid faster. Augh! I have my soaked nuts on the ocunter right now drying. Hopefully in the morning, if they are not completely dry i can put them in the oven for a bit. I leave the oven door cracked because it only goes down to 175 instead of the recommended 150.

[Koalamom]

The only reason I would dry nuts is 2 reasons:
1 My 2 yr old doesn't like some nuts soft
2 I am making a whole batch of soaked nuts and then would dry them.

If I am just soaking enough for the day, I will eat it up before it has time to go bad. And I love nuts that are soft from soaking. It just feels so healthy, especially soaked almonds.

[e&tsmom]

Okay, so DH and the kiddos are pretty quick to jump on the bandwagon with all the new cooking/fermentin/soaking things I try. However, no one is a big fan of the soaked nuts this morning. I took them out of the water yesterday at 6 PM. This morning they wre edry, but soft and no one liked them. Kinda how it was when they were inthe oven, actually, though, then they were hald dry half soft. So, I have them in the oven right now, hopeing to dry them out a bit more. They dont taste quite right. Am I missing something. The kids LOVE all kinds of nuts and I'd love to make them healthier for them (and lessen my headaches if possible through the soaking method - which is why I am trying the whole soaking things again anyway), but I am not sure they will be able to go for them at this point they way they are. Any advice? I actually like the walnuts' flavor, but that is because they seem to be more mild flavored after soaking than normally. This time I soaked walnuts, pecans, cashews, and almonds. 4 cups total with 1 TBS sea salt and enough water just to cover them for 6 hours. Did I do it right?

[CookAMH]

Do you have the book Nourishing Traditions? I followed her recipe for pecans, worked gret, but almonds needed longer in the oven.

She recommends soaking overnight or 12 hours or 24 hours in the salt water mixture. Drain, spread on pan and bake at 150 tops (so having your oven door open probably works fine at 175). If they are dry on part but soft elsewhere, they need more time. I insisted to my mom last week that I did them for 12 hours (almonds) and they were soft and gross so she told me to put them back in at 150 for another night. Next day, they were perfect. She said she did mixed nuts and the almonds took the longest so I think she ended up separating them out and letting them dry longer in the oven heat.

So, keep them in longer. I'd stir every few hours (but don't wake up to do it lol) since the front of the oven may be cooler with the door ajar.