Nuts! Quinoa and Dried Fruit
NUTS for Food Storage.
Nuts store
longest in the freezer (about 8 months to a year), but they can be stored in
the refrigerator for about 4 months. Store nuts in an airtight, moisture proof
container in a dark, cold (less than 70 degrees), dry place. Glass jars or
ziplock bags with the air removed work well.
NUTS for Nutrition
Nuts are
packed with protein, vitamins (B1 and B6), and many trace minerals (potassium,
magnesium, phosphorous, etc.). Nuts,
seeds, and peanuts are high in protein, and many are either a complete protein,
or nearly complete. Nuts, seeds, and peanuts are also high in fat and calories
(this is a good thing), and so are a good source of stored food energy. They
can be a valuable source of nutrients in your food supply.
Soaking Nuts
Nuts contain an enzyme inhibitor which serves to keep the
seed from germinating until conditions are right for germination. This enzyme
inhibitor also prevents the release of many of the nutrients found in nuts and
can make the nut hard to digest for some of us. Soaking the nuts in a light
salt solution overnight (some just use water, no salt), and then dehydrating
for about 24 hours (or drying in the oven) will remove the enzyme inhibitor. If
you are using the nuts to make nut milk, you need not dehydrate them after
soaking...just drain the water off before use. As an alternative to overnight
soaking when making nut milk, you can also place them in a pan and bring them
just to boiling. As soon as they start to boil, drain the water off and rinse
in cold water.
NUTS: Suggestions for use
Nuts are perfect and nutritious way to add texture and
variety to breakfast cereals, salads, stir fry, granolas (of course), etc. They
are a perfect portable snack, especially when combined with dried fruit. Nut
milk is another wonderful and tasty way to use your nuts.
NUT Milk
Making nut milk is so simple and easy. Just toss your
pre-soaked nuts into a blender with water. You do this to your personal taste.
I use about a cup (and another handful) to 32 ounces of water. You can use more
if you want or less if you are trying to stretch it. I also like to add a
couple of dates for sweetness and a handful of unsweetened coconut flakes. Some
people also add vanilla extract. Maybe even a bit of maple extract. Be creative
and see what you like. Then simply blend and strain through a nut milk bag.
Alternately to a nut milk bag, you can use the mesh bags that are designed for
straining paints. These are much cheaper and last much longer. When you are
finished, simply rinse the nut milk bag and hang to dry.
Using the NUT Pulp left over from
making your nut milk
You can either dehydrate and then grind your nut milk pulp
into nut flour...great for using in baked goods, or you can make a healthy
snack with the pulp. Just add honey, some unsweetened coconut flakes, and just
a few chopped nuts. In order to help them hold together better, I often add a
bit of melted coconut oil. This gives it a creamy texture and helps it hold
together once it it’s cooled. Sorry, I have no measurements for this...but
don’t worry, you can’t really mess it up. Just do it to taste. Sometimes I melt
a few chocolate chips to put on top of some of them. Refrigerate (if the kids
don’t eat them all first.)
Quinoa (pronounced “keen-wa”)
Quinoa is an excellent ancient grain which has recently
become popular. It’s a wonderful grain because it contains all of the essential
amino acids and is a complete protein. It is so easy to prepare...only 15
minutes. An added bonus for some is that it is gluten free.
I have no specific recipes, but I use this in everything.
Most often, I use it as a breakfast cereal adding nuts, dates, coconut flakes,
and whatever fresh or frozen fruit I have available. It’s wonderful as a
breakfast parfait with some plain (or flavored if you prefer) yogurt. I like to
top mine with almond milk. It’s great cold. I make up a small batch of quinoa
which I keep in the refrigerator and use each morning. It will last about five days in the
fridge...no longer than a week.
Another way that I like quinoa for breakfast is warmed with
a poached egg over the top.
Quinoa is also a wonderful addition to salads (either green
or pasta), stir fry, or mixed with rice dishes. It’s also a great addition to
soups. You can actually “sneak” this protein powerhouse into almost any dish.
Dried Fruits
Dried fruits are a perfect way to have that “something sweet”
available in your food storage. Most often they are a perfect portable snack,
but can also be added to foods or dishes. Some can be reconstituted and used
that way as well. (I’ve not tried this yet.)
Storage life for
dried fruits. (Dependent on temperature, moisture
content, and container.)
Hermetically
sealed in the absence of oxygen, plan on a storage life of 5 years at a stable
temperature of 70 degrees F. They should keep proportionately longer if stored
at cooler temperatures.
This webpage at USA Emergency Supply
contains information about the shelf life of dried foods:
My Whole Foods Maxims to live by:
·
You can’t get enough of that which does not
satisfy.
·
Whole foods are ‘designed by God’ to satisfy.
·
Real foods have curves (not corners).
·
Eat real food, Not too much, Mostly plants.
·
If it needs a label telling you how nutritious
it is...it probably isn’t.
·
Beware of foods which contain ingredients that
your ancestors would not recognize.
