What’s the problem with salted peanuts?


#21

I’ve never been a big peanut fat, but I LOVE macadamia nuts and pecans. I build them into my food every day. Each day I eat at least 1 ounce of macadamias and 1 ounce of pecans. Sometimes I splurge and eat an ounce of walnuts, too. For me, it is a great, natural way to get fat in. And because I eat this every day, I never binge on them. Nuts are such a treat. I’ve been dieting, one way or another, for over 40 years and nuts have always been a no-no. Now they are a yes-yes and I LOVE it! Just, like they said, read the bag. You just want nuts and salt. ENJOY!!!


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #22

@EquiPro I like macs as well. Macadamias have a pretty decent fatty acid profile, some SFAs (12%), lots of MUFAs (60%) and low PUFAs (1.5%). Pecans on the other hand are 21% and walnuts nearly 50% PUFAs, and neither has significant SFAs. All have approx 13-14% carbs. I stopped eating both pecans and walnuts when I learned their fatty acid profiles. Macs are expensive so I only eat them on occasion.

Macadamia Nuts
Pecans
Walnuts


(Bob M) #23

@amwassil The only place we get macadamias is Costco (don’t know about Walmart - oddly, we’re far away from Walmarts, closer to Costco), as that’s the only place that has them at a reasonable price.

@Shinita Like you, I only like roasted nuts. I’m sure that’s not good for the PUFAs, but most unroasted nuts don’t taste great to me.

@PaulL I wonder if this is a local thing? We always had a bag of nuts and a nutcracker (the crappy, U-shaped variety, aka the hand killer if you accidentally move a portion of your hand near the thing) for the holidays. While I liked trying different nuts (we always had a variety pack), it was a tough slog.

Makes you realize how easy it is now to eat nuts, since most are shelled.


#24

Ooooh. I might have to cut down on the pecans. I just added them in for variety, since the all have about the same fat/ carb/ protein profile. I bought walnuts to make some pesto with the last of my summer basil. Not a HUGE fan of eating walnuts plain. But nuts are a good one for me on Keto. They still feel like a “treat” because of all the years of avoiding them, and they fill in the need for “chips”, especially if I can’t get the barrel of Utz Pork Rinds at Costco. Oh, and I buy my Macadamias at Costco. Quite affordable.


(Tracy) #25

Good to know about macadamia nuts. I hide them so my husband won’t mindlessly eat them. I put a big container of peanuts in the cabinet and told him they are baby macadamia nuts. So far no complaints.


(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #26

Dunno. Mom grew up in western New York, but we moved to Trumbull when I was quite young. Dad is from New Hampshire. So it could be a New England thing or a New York thing, or even an English/Scottish thing, who knows? And Mom’s not around to ask anymore.

And yeah, I hear you on the nutcracker business. The Brazilnuts were the worst, because the meat really stuck to the shell. (And chewing on nut shells is almost worse than fish bones.)


#27

Having something every day sometimes help… NOT when it’s roasted salted peanuts and me :slight_smile: I had some every day and on some evenings or nights… Suddenly 150-200g…? I was seriously addicted. I am so, so good with moderation regarding so many items… But it didn’t work with peanuts in the last years, on most days it was fine but I regularly went crazy with it.

I didn’t mention last time but I collect walnuts from different trees and it’s very frequent that you just can’t get out the nut meat… A big part of the nut goes to the chickadees and to get out more meat, I use a knife too, not only a hammer. I never used a nutcracker, maybe that’s cleaner if one cracks the nuts inside… I do it outside now, I have a perfect place for it.
And still, with having more work, I easily crack way more than what I eat.
And my nuts have black diseased outer shells now… It’s a disease we had last year too, this year too… Almost all nuts are black (the outer shell). It’s a dirty work, to collect nuts especially in this rainy weather… But nothing can stop me. The inside is usually fine but I need to crack them quickly, I doubt they won’t rot quickly with this condition.

Cracking clean, perfect walnuts, getting out all the meat easily and only in a few pieces? That would be a BLISS. But I appreciate what I have.


(Bob M) #28

Man, I’m getting old. I searched for the type of nut cracker we used…and can’t find it. This is about the closest:

image

Except ours were cheaper, with flatter handles. You had to hold the nut in there with one hand and operate the levers with the other.


(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #29

That’s a shinier version of what my grandma had, similar shape as I recall, but lots of scoring on the handles to keep it from slipping. You did have to hold the nut steady with your other hand, but I don’t remember hurting myself with it. And I was not a graceful child so I can only imagine the texture in the handle helped immensely.

My eternal quest was to crack a walnut perfectly, both halves ready for practical use by fairies. Ever the practical child, was I. And helpful to those without the handspan to craft their own boats and beds. I don’t recall ever succeeding to my own standards, but I got close a couple times.

A secondary quest was to extract a perfectly brain shaped walnut out of the shell. Since this could be accomplished on one side only, I do remember the feeling of accomplishment on that score. Not frequently, but more than once.


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #30

This was the nutcracker of my childhood and youth. After a few months of use the pins and pinholes got so loose the lever arms would flop around like drunken sailors. Because of the distance between the pins it was often difficult to crack smaller nuts. It’s frequent replacement was a hammer.

DWL_LC-04


(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #31

That’s the one!


(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #32

Gotta do what you gotta do!


(Bob M) #33

@amwassil and @Ruina That’s it!

It depends on what nuts you’re trying to crack. The big ones aren’t too bad, the jaws tend to hold them, but the small ones can cause some pinches if you’re not careful.


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #34

I should also mention that the above finger masher always came with a set of finger and palm punches like these. @PaulL Brazil nuts always required these things.


(Laurie) #35

When I was a child, we had that kind too. I don’t enjoy eating food with bones, seeds, shells.

When I lived in Mexico I visited a family and noticed the host off to the side, smashing something with a stone. I thought it was odd, so I went to have a look. He was shelling nuts for us to eat!

I know macadamia nuts are supposed to be wonderful, but no matter where I buy them, they always taste stale to me.


(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #36

It is possible I avoided the smaller ones. I don’t remember. I do know walnuts and Brazil nuts were my favorite. Maybe that was at least partially based on ease of cracking. I do remember hazel nuts being slippery little blokes.


(Hyperbole- best thing in the universe!) #37

Yeah they can go bad pretty fast. But the good ones are so good.


(Bob M) #38

@amwassil I forgot about those. I used those too. And, like Paul, I ate some parts of shells at times.


(Bob M) #39

This is similar to what we got (though I’m sure, not kosher):

https://www.ohnuts.com/buy.cfm/bulk-nuts-seeds/mixed-nuts/in-shell?pre=33480&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Bing%20Shopping%20All%20Products&utm_term=1101012479338&utm_content=All%20Products%20Bing%20Bulk%20Nuts%20%26%20Seeds

image

I remember the yellow, pock-marked looking one being particularly tricky.

Hmm…maybe I should get this for the holidays this year. Nothing like making my kids do what I had to do…back when we had to walk uphill both ways in the snow to get the bus.


#40

I don’t remember what I cracked walnuts as a kid… We had no walnut trees (and it’s so odd, almost everyone with a garden have walnut trees in this country, they are so common)…

Hazelnuts can be very very hard, thick shelled almonds too. Walnuts are way easier to crack, even big ones with a thick shell. One neighbor has very beautiful big walnuts with very thin shell… With some difficulty, they can be cracked with hand. I would love such a tree.
This garden had no walnut trees and when some tiny ones appeared, they develop super slowly. My favorite had no branches for many years, it was a stick, now it has some. It’s still about 60cm tall :smiley: My Granny Smith apple tree may be the same age, maybe a tad older but that is my tallest fruit tree, the 20(?) years old big cherry tree is a close second. Why some walnut trees choose to stay a tiny thing for so long, I have no idea. My other trees seem to be okay.

But no matter which family member and how cracks walnuts, the result always have tiny shell pieces somehow… Only a tiny bit for a bigger amount but still. It’s inevitable. I would think sometimes it doesn’t happen but it usually does with a single tiny piece or two.