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Trader Joes raw almonds SPROUTED!

vegan2rawvegan2raw Raw Newbie

Hi to everyone who might need to save a buck or two

Trader Joes has raw organic valencia almonds (imported from spain it says on back bottom left of package) they were like 6 bucks a pound and they sprouted so they are raw and let me say when I ate them unsoaked straight from the pack they have an amazing almond extract flavor that I have yet to find from any others. I am drying them now after soaking and sprouting hope they are just as good. I was impressed as I have heard bad things about their raw nuts being rancid or not raw.

Hope someone finds this helpful I know I did.

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Comments

  • blueyzblueyz Raw Newbie

    That is great to know, I just bought a package of the snack size bags of raw almonds from TJ but hadn’t eaten any of them yet.

  • MeditatingMeditating Raw Newbie

    Not that I trust eating US almonds anymore but the organic ones sprout despite being steam pasteurization. I have a raw foodie friend here who says she sprouted some a few months ago.

    But $6 a lb, that is a great deal.

  • beanybeeganbeanybeegan Raw Newbie

    Are we being to strict on almonds? If they sprout, even tho steamed, then it seems they would really be raw… Have I missed something about the steam?

  • hannahmariehannahmarie Raw Newbie

    mt trader joe’s carries california almonds..

  • randommararandommara Raw Newbie

    Maybe the pasteurization only harms the surface of the almond leaving the inside raw? Besides how do we know that the almonds from Spain are pasteurized anyway? I’ve seen plenty of people saying that all CA almonds are now pasteurized or soon to be so it seems wise to me to buy from Spain. That is unless the law also covers almonds sold in CA (I’m in SoCal).

  • vegan2rawvegan2raw Raw Newbie

    Hannah whereabouts in mt my hubby is from sunburst and his sis lives in missoula? His family has an organic farm there they grow wheat and barley and peas so non for me gluten free

    the thing I love about these almonds is they taste like almond extract they are soooo yummo!

  • randommararandommara Raw Newbie

    Oh I forgot to mention that the packages of Valencia Almonds (the ones from Spain) are 12 oz not 16 so not quite as good a deal but still nice.

    Vegan2raw: Do you mean they have that awesome cherry flavor? I got some almonds once from the bulk bin at Henry’s that tasted that way. Sooooo awesome!

  • vegan2rawvegan2raw Raw Newbie

    yeah that cherry flavor mmmmm….

  • I actually had some standard Whole Foods Almonds sprout for me a couple times. I’m still trying to logic that one out… lol

  • vegan2rawvegan2raw Raw Newbie

    hey silent advocate were they labeled raw?

  • Only domestic almonds are required to be pasteurized by California law. Imported almonds from Spain, Italy, etc. are probably raw. This is what I was told by my Organic Almond farmer friend in Fresno. Also, even if almonds are pasteurized, its possible that they will still sprout. If the pasteurization used is steaming, the process blast steams the almonds for 3 seconds, which is not long enough to heat the core of the almond. If the core of the almond is not heated it will still sprout and probably still has most of its nutrition in tact.

    You also have to consider though that if you’re buying almonds from Spain… they’re being shipped here from Spain! Lots of wasted fuel and carbon emissions. I would personally rather buy California grown almonds even if they’re heated for 3 seconds.

  • MeditatingMeditating Raw Newbie

    Remember if you buy US almonds that are NOT organic, they have been fumigated with PPO, which the almond board calls pasteurization. That practice is not pasteurization.

    PPO is recognized world-wide as one of the most carcinogenic substances in the world. PPO is used in rocket fuel. It used to be used in racing fuel in the US but I believe it has already been outlawed as the fumes are too dangerous to human health. I know there was talk of outlawing it as a racing fuel. I suppose it depends on how badly NASCAR wantedt o keep using it.

  • blueyzblueyz Raw Newbie

    For the amount of nuts I eat, the closest to raw I can get is Ok with me. I am not a big nut fan, more than a handful makes me sick on any kind. Seeds are Ok, nuts hit me very fast due to high fat content/oils in most.

  • nasty stuff that PPO and even nastier is the California law against raw almonds.

    But that’s interesting about them sprouting, I guess I won’t feel as guilty about using the steamed ones.

    I am taking a trip out to California in Dec and was told by an organic Almond Farmer that I can buy raw organic Almonds from him but I have to come in person and I can only buy 100lbs per person per day. So I figure I’ll drag my kid along and one of his friends and that will give me 300lbs of almonds.

    LOL I know it’s a lot but I figure here in Dallas my Raw Food friend will take some off my hands. Hope he has some left by then.

  • vegan2rawvegan2raw Raw Newbie

    Good thing I am obsessive about organic, have two toddlers and being a nursing mamma I have felt organic is like my religion. I cleansed before getting pregnant and took tons of chlorella. Once you self educate on all pesticides used and their original creation etc its not hard to spend the extra dough (seeing tons of sick relatives with cancer lupus ms etc also helped) No toxins here!

  • RawKidChefRawKidChef Raw Newbie

    Steamed almonds are supposed to sprout. At my local health food store the almond pasteurization law on the almond bins writes that these pasteurized almonds can still sprout. So, it doesn’t have to be raw to sprout. But the fact that these from TJ’s come from Spain means they probably are raw. Nice find.

  • ungratefulungrateful Raw Newbie

    If they still sprout then they are alive.

    Sigh. Too many questionable factors, means no storebought nuts for me.

  • RawKidChefRawKidChef Raw Newbie

    Yea, that’s what I’m thinking too. Real Raw Food sells pretty cheap nuts at around 10$ a pound (usually online they’re like 15) and the nuts are really good quality.

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    I just bought some italian almonds, and they taste like no almond I have ever had before. I had quit nuts, but these almonds are too amazing to not use. There is a real extract of almond taste to them, and I feel great eating them. They are really, truly raw thought. Anyone in the north UK get down to The Unicorn in Manchester, that’s where they are from.

  • RawKidChefRawKidChef Raw Newbie

    Zoe, that sounds great! I need to look for some Italian almonds. Sounds like the Spanish almonds I got! They are unbelievable!

  • QTLaylaQTLayla Raw Newbie

    To vegantoraw…

    Hi… not all TJs carry the same things… what TJs are you finding these at… I am in Massachusetts and I did notice the ones in MA stopped carrying the frozen marionberries which I learned to love so much from when I lived in Oregon.

    Let Me Know!

    QTwho thanks you in advance

  • RawKidChefRawKidChef Raw Newbie

    Good point QT, in another forum someone bought cashews from TJ’s which sprouted and someone else also bought cashews from TJ’s which didn’t sprout. I bet difference TJs have different sources of nuts.

  • QTLaylaQTLayla Raw Newbie

    To RawKidChef

    Also I am sure that they could easily sell out and not be restocked due to availability.

    QT

  • springleafspringleaf Raw Newbie

    For pastuisation of almonds do they take off the shell and then pasturise, or pasturise with shell on? If the shell is on it would seem logical that the inside would be at least partly protected from heat, even if the temperature of the almond has got quite high. I was reading about pasturisation somewhere the other day and it does not last long, therefore not so much chance of inside of nut heating up. As long as it can sprout it is still alive, and should therefore be classed as raw?

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    Remember if you buy US almonds that are NOT organic, they have been fumigated with PPO, which the almond board calls pasteurization. That practice is not pasteurization. PPO is recognized world-wide as one of the most carcinogenic substances in the world. PPO is used in rocket fuel. It used to be used in racing fuel in the US but I believe it has already been outlawed as the fumes are too dangerous to human health. I know there was talk of outlawing it as a racing fuel. I suppose it depends on how badly NASCAR wantedt o keep using it.

    Really meditating???? I had no idea!!

    I found proof online: http://www.coopfoodstore.com/content/almonds-ge…

    http://www.almondboard.com/files/Inshell%20PPO%...

  • Just to clarify something here… I will have to go an read up/educate myself on PPO, for I am not familiar with it, only learned about it just now, HERE.

    That said, just because something is used for rocket fuel doesn’t really have much significance, in and of itself. It is an interesting fact, but otherwise ? After all, rockets have been fueled with liguid nitrogen, liquid oxygen, and Hydrogen Peroxide (which is H3O rather than ‘normal’ H2O water).

    I am not sure, but assume that can be verified on the internet. Just for the record, I may qualify as a proverbial ‘Rocket Scientist’ having worked at the Jet Propulsion Lab. in Pasadena, for NASA, for a dozen years. Look at the newly repaired Hubble Space Telescope for wondrous views of our universe, and you will see that even if PPO IS dangerous, there MAY BE good reason for using it - but, again, I am not aware of that, nor just what, exactly, PPO IS. That said, I had to work with Hydrazine which is used in Spacecraft Thruster Engines and THAT is rather ‘nasty’ stuff !

  • Winona, I left to try those ‘links’- neither of them ‘worked’ when I pasted them into a search box. Apparently those elipses (. . > ) DO represent ‘left out data’ ?

    Would you mind giving the full address info ?

    Or, of course, I can always try and search this out on my own - but since you ALREADY DID, just seems like the easier way to do this…

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    That’s right, those links represent left out info. http://www.coopfoodstore.com /content/almonds-get-raw-deal

    Remove the spaces between.com and /content.

    http://www.almondboard.com/ files/Inshell%20PPO%20Pasteurization%20Validation%20Guidelines%20Final.pdf

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    I bought some raw, organic almonds that were imported from Spain, and they still didn’t sprout. So unless I’m doing something wrong (soaked 12 hours, then rinsed twice a day for a couple of days & they just got moldy), “raw” almonds from Spain aren’t always really raw, either. :( The good news is that someone from this area is going to California & is taking orders to buy almonds for all of us here who want really raw almonds! :) I’m super excited – I really miss almonds. I used them like crazy in the past!

  • RawKidChefRawKidChef Raw Newbie

    Hey Angie, I was just curious where you got those almonds? TJ’s? When you sprout almonds, they don’t develop long tails like seeds do. You have to split the almond in half and look at the tip inside, and you should see a little sprout shoot. It’s hard to see it as it’s not obvious. Unless yours really didn’t sprout.

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