Home made non-blanced almond flour

[juvee]

Hi Umpa and Doug,

I'm from Australia and am new to the forum here.  I just purchased your cooking ebooks and am excited about cooking some new things.   

Unfortunately, the variety of low carb products here in Australia is quite small compared to the USA (postage from USA to here would be expensive for heavy items).

Is there a thread anywhere on making our own products, substitutes, etc., rather than purchasing them readymade? 

I have a Vitamix blender that has a regular jug and a second "dry" jug.  The dry jug can be used to make flour from almonds.

I think you mention the NOW brand of non-blanched almond flour being one of the best with just 4 net carbs per cup.

If I grind my own almonds (skin left on) with the Vitamix and don't add anything else, do you think that would be equal to the carbs in the NOW brand?

I wonder if you have a moment you might be able to weigh a cup of the NOW brand non-blanched almond flour so I could use that as a guide. 

I've been low carbing since the beginning of 2014.  Your books and website will really help me to shake things up and keep it interesting.

Thanks for any help you can offer about the almond flour.

[morgan]

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

Hi juvee, I'm in Australia too and I have pretty much sourced everything.  If you have a Safeway/Woolworths  they have Macro brand almond meal (usually near their health food stuff).  Its 1.2c/30g (approx 1/4 cup).  If you need anything in particular just ask me. There are a few online stores in Australia I use and one in the States that charges from $4 international postage (weight depending).

Hope I can help. 

[mouseissue]

Welcome to the FTS family, juvee!!!

I have found that using a food processor works MUCH better than a blender to make nut flours.
Just need to be careful to do it in bursts and not overdo it.
If you over-process, the flour can easily turn into butter.

I have a commercial grade KitchenAid blender.
But it does not work as well as my department store food processor for making flours.

Tony

[Stephanie]

Welcome aboard Morgan is going to be a priceless gem to you !! ❤️

[juvee]

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

Hi juvee, I'm in Australia too and I have pretty much sourced everything.  If you have a Safeway/Woolworths  they have Macro brand almond meal (usually near their health food stuff).  Its 1.2c/30g (approx 1/4 cup).  If you need anything in particular just ask me. There are a few online stores in Australia I use and one in the States that charges from $4 international postage (weight depending).

Hope I can help. 

Hi there Morgan,

Woohoo!  Happy to see a fellow Aussie here.  This really feels like a family!  I actually saw another of your posts somewhere and the wording made me wonder if you might be an Aussie.  I find Aussies and Canadians quite similar so thought you might be one or the other.  Thanks so much about the Safeway Macro brand - I have a Safeway not too far from here (live in rural Victoria).  I'm still going to try grinding my own almond flour though as it's more economical.  I can't see any reason why the carb count would be any different if I use raw almonds with skins on.  Nothing added, so should be same as Macro and the NOW brands Umpa mentions.

Hopefully Umpa (or anyone else who uses the NOW brand) might have a moment to weigh a cup so I can use that as a guide.

I have scales that measures in both ounces and grams which will come in handy when making Doug and Umpa's recipes.  I just need to remember that USA tablespoon is equal to 3 tsps (the Aussie tbs equals 4 tsps).

I will have a look at your other posts Morgan as you may have asked similar questions to me in the past.

Again, thanks for your help today.

[juvee]

Hi Tony,

Thank you for the heads up on using a food processor.

I will give that a try if my Vitamix "dry" jug does not do the trick.

I have a pretty good food processor so should be good to go.  Thanks also for the tip about doing it in bursts.

[juvee]

Hi Stephanie,

Thank you for your warm welcome.

Lovely to be here and, yes, having Morgan paving the way for me will be a huge help. 

[morgan]

Where in rural Victoria juvee?  I live in lismore Victoria (surrounding areas are camperdown, colac, derrinallum.

[juvee]

Hi Morgan,

I'm about the same distance from Geelong as you - just in the opposite direction (Gisborne, Vic).

[morgan]

Gisborne. Know it well. Have friends there and used to live in Sunbury.  Talk about small world 

[juvee]

Hi Morgan,

Yes, a very small world!  Was in Sunbury just today trying to find golden flaxseeds.  Apparently there is a shortage.

Think I will have to order some online.

I also need to find a good sugar free vanilla extract - any tips?

[morgan]

Safeway has golden flaxseed meal. $5.95. Vanilla extract is usually .5/tspn. Most health food shops have flax, xylitol, etc

[morgan]

These are the sites I usually buy from online - iherb.com (USA) delivery starts $4.  I get my flax, glucommanan (thickening agent), jams, peanut butter cups, vital wheat gluten and NOW almond meal. They also have Walden Farm sugarfree products.  Pancake syrup is fantastic.  Lowcarbcentral.com and lowcarbzone.com are Australian. Empower.com (also Australian) has 3carb wraps that are great for pizza bases and wraps.  Check them out. Amazon.com postage usually costs more for delivery than the items if they are permitted into the country.  A lot of the American /English sites either don't do international or postage is exhorbitant.

Go browse.

[juvee]

Hi Morgan,

Thank you for sharing the sites you order from!

I tried a health food shop in Sunbury yesterday for golden flaxseed (apparently there is a shortage at present - might be some available mid week).
Also went to Safeway in Sunbury - unfortunately no luck there either - checked all the macro sections. 
Think I will just order online.

I will have a look at the other sites you mention as well.

Again, many thanks for sharing!

[juvee]

Hi Morgan,

Sorry for all the questions - which flax do you get from iherb?  

Also, lowcarbcentral.com.au is still running in Australia but lowcarbzone.com.au has closed down.

Will check out iherb today.