We enjoyed a strawberry pie for Easter dinner. Not a traditional pie. One with frozen strawberries and an almond crust. We broke tradition another way. Our oldest daughter was able to have a piece.
Erin developed a mild nut allergy in her preschool days. Her allergy became severe shortly after moving into our Colorado home. Soon she carried an EpiPen and Benadryl. On her 19th birthday she wound up in the ER after eating ice cream sprinkled with nut pieces. (She thought she scraped them all off.) She was so shocked and terrified by her reaction, she overdid the Benadryl.
We have gradually eliminated nuts from our diet in the last year. Peanuts are commonly contaminated with aflatoxins. Nuts in general are prone to rancidity.
We have not given up on almonds, however. They offer tremendous health benefits if they are raw and organic.
They offer even greater benefit if they are soaked and dehydrated. The enzyme inhibitors are released during the soaking process. The good enzymes are then more readily absorbed into the system.
As I ventured into the world of dehydrating and learned more about the benefits of soaking all grains, beans, and nuts, I wondered about Erin's nut allergy. I wondered if the release of the enzyme inhibitors would allow her to handle an almond or two.
She wondered the same thing. Armed with Benadryl, she tried a soaked and dehydrated almond. No reaction.
She tried a regular almond and immediately had to take Benadryl.
She now eats almonds whenever she wants. As long as they're soaked.
Soaking almonds is a simple process. Place them in a bowl. Cover them with water. Add a bit of salt if desired. Wait 7 hours or allow to soak overnight. At this point you can keep the skins or remove them. The almonds will have begun the sprouting process and are ready to be dehydrated.
I'm not sure what this means for other nut allergy sufferers. I haven't studied the medical implications.
I do know our Easter Pie tasted extra special.
Recipe for Strawberry Pie2 tbls. coconut oil
1 c. pitted dates
1 c. shredded coconut
1 c. almonds
Mix dry ingredients in high-powered blender or food processor. Blend in dates and coconut oil. Press dough into pie plate.
2 c. coconut
2 tbls. coconut oil
1/8 c. honey or sweetener of choice. More if desired.
2 c. frozen or fresh strawberries
Blend in high-powered blender. Spoon into pie crust. Refrigerate.
About Andrea Fabry
I am a former journalist and the mother of nine children ranging in age from 28 to 12. My husband Chris, myself, and our children find ourselves in the desert of Arizona attempting to rebuild our health and our lives following a massive toxic mold exposure. The organization momsAWARE comes out of this crisis as a means to help educate and empower others on the subject of environmental health. Our family has also launched a natural line of personal care products called Just So, available at our Online Store.
Just So Natural Products
Our Work Together
Thanks for Stopping By!
Visitor Count:
Number of Visitors:
After you soak the almonds how do you dehydrate them? I want to try this pie! Thanks for the recipe :)
ReplyDeleteI use a dehydrator (Excalibur). It took me awhile to invest but I'm glad I did. You can slice apples, sprinkle them with cinammon, dehydrate them and you have an easy snack.
ReplyDeleteYou can soak pumpkin seeds, make granola, and dry vegetables. Everything you make is easier on the digestion.
If you don't have a dehydrator, you can dry them in the sun. I tried this. They were OK, but not as crisp.
You can also put them in your oven at its lowest temperature. If the internal temperature of the almond goes above 118 degrees (going on memory here, you might want to double check :), then the enzymes are lost but they're still fine to eat.
Hope this helps, Tonya.
Thanks for sharing the recipe and how to dehydrate. I am very interested and will look into this more.
ReplyDeleteWe continue to enjoy your blog site and Chris's broadcast. Thank you again.
ReplyDeleteWe changed to an alkaline diet, but the outdoor allergen hypersensitivity, I think, overwhelms these diet changes. Do you have a favorite pH reducer? Do you believe the pH water drops are helpful?
I am studying this whole matter of PH and structured water. I am intrigued by the work of Dr. Patrick Flanagan and Phi Sciences. Keep me posted on your findings and I'll do the same. So nice to hear from you guys.
ReplyDeleteAndrea
Please share your Andy Bar recipe! I have a very active 5 yr old and am thinking of changing from so many processed snacks.
ReplyDeleteLeigh,
ReplyDeleteI will post it this week hopefully on the blog. It's a great option for kids. It requires a food processor. A dehydrator is not necessary. Good for you for making the changes. I wish I would have done it sooner for my kids.
Andrea
Wow, I'm so glad I found this site. We had a house that was highly contaminated with aspergillus and stachy. We have been going through our mold nightmare since we moved into the house in Sept. 2007. We finally moved out in June 2009 because my oldest son had the mylar flush and a high fever. The house has actually been remediated via the soda blasting method by an IICRC certified company and will be tested Tuesday by a Certified Industrial Hygienist. We have pulled out the HVAC system as well. What do you think of this remediation approach? Do you think this is an effective way to clean?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, now to the main point. My youngest developed a peanut allergy which I am convinced was related to living in a contaminated house since birth. I have run this theory by several other people and they thought I was crazy. But I truly see the link between aspergillus in the home and peanut allergies. Have you ever found any other research on this? My daughter is due to be retested for her nut allergies (she is allergic to all tree nuts and sesame) in July of this year, so I am curious to see if her allergies have improved. The interesting thing is that when I took her and my oldest son to the allergist,they weren't allergic to mold at all. Of course, allergists don't test for sensitivities to mycotoxins, which is what our entire family had problems with. Really makes you think...
So nice to hear from you! I don't know enough about the soda blasting to offer an opinion. I'd love to hear how the testing comes out! Pulling out the HVAC system certainly makes sense. As for the allergies, you're so right to connect the peanut allergy with the exposure to aspergillus. Peanuts are commonly contaminated with aflatoxins. The same mycotoxin produced by aspergillus. You're right. An immune response to poison is not an allergy and will not show up as an allergy.
ReplyDeleteMy email is andrea@chrisfabry.com if you'd like to talk more. Sounds like you're on the right road. So nice to hear from you!