Almond and Pecan Flour Healthy Alternative to Wheat Flour and Tastes Better Too!

I have often said that grains and flour are “the booby prize” of the food world. Why?? Because humans did not eat grains (the seeds of grasses) until agriculture began. Having never eaten them before, we never evolved to process their high starch carbohydrate fibers.

When we did begin to eat grains, they were only eaten sprouted, so that they were basically fresh green vegetables, not dried seeds, or flour. Or, they were fermented for days or even weeks, changing their nutrition and digestibility.

Grass seed from wild wheat, rice, rye, corn, barley and oats are normally consumed by deer, bison, birds, and so on. It was only with the advent of agriculture that we began to gather the seeds to plant, and then, probably by accident, discovered that they were edible by humans if we let the seeds/grains soak in water and then sprout.

The sprouts were probably chopped up, patted loosely into “cakes” and dried in the sun. This is the original version of what we get with Sprouted, or Essene Breads, sold in the freezers at Whole Foods. These are the only reasonably healthy breads I know.

Grains are highly genetically altered now, having been tinkered with over thousands of years. And we usually eat them now as dried, ground flour baked into “bread” or cookies.

Think for a moment about what flour really is. Did you ever make paper mache sculptures or pinatas as a child? Paper mache is just flour and water, mixed, applied to a wire frame with newspaper, and covered with the flour and water glue. So what is flour and water? Not bread, but GLUE!

Consider instead the lovely almond. Almonds are high in protein and good fat, both of which are sorely lacking in grains. Nuts are basically a perfect food, being about 30% each protein, fat and carbohydrate. Almond flour or pecan flour can be used to make high protein pancakes and muffins that won’t make you or your kids’ blood sugar go crazy.

We have fresh-ground refrigerated almond flour for sale, as well as several recipe books. There are many free recipes on the web. Given the price of almonds, it is not surprising that our almond flour is $10 a pound, but the almond MEAL – sold as almond FLOUR at Whole Foods – is $13 a pound, and is in clear plastic bags stored on the shelves without refrigeration, under those big glowing fluorescent lights! It is more like corn meal and will give unsatisfactory results, even if it weren’t rancid..

Simple pan-cakes can be cooked up, frozen, and popped into the toaster when “bread” is desired, mostly as a good excuse to have some nice Organic Butter, Coconut Butter or Nut Butter slathered on. The flour can be used to coat foods before baking, and it makes a good crust for quiches and such. It won’t rise like wheat flour, but it makes excellent muffins and small loaves leavened with baking powder. Please keep refrigerated, as with all flour, nuts, cereals, etc.

Almonds are much easier to digest than grains, and can be a real gift to those of us with sensitive intestines and grain allergies. Lower in carbohydrates, higher in protein and good fats – what more could you want? Oh yes – it’s delicious too….

Almond Flour My favorite San Antonio health food store sent this article out in their latest newsletter, which I thought was profoundly useful information!

Almond or Pecan Flour – A Much Better Alternative to Standard Wheat Flour

Grains are highly genetically altered now, having been tinkered with over thousands of years. And we usually eat them now as dried, ground flour baked into “bread” or cookies.

There are many free recipes on the web. Simple pan-cakes can be cooked up, frozen, and popped into the toaster when “bread” is desired, mostly as a good excuse to have some nice Organic Butter, Coconut Butter or Nut Butter slathered on. The flour can be used to coat foods before baking, and it makes a good crust for quiches and such. It won’t rise like wheat flour, but it makes excellent muffins and small loaves leavened with baking powder. Please keep refrigerated, as with all flour, nuts, cereals, etc.