More Cooking Adventures: Tigernut Flour and Thrive Market

Turkey Tracks: November 5, 2020

More Cooking Adventures: Tigernut Flour and Thrive Market

Dr. Becky Campbell, in the new book I got, The 4-Phase Histamine Reset Plan, recommends the online store Thrive Market.

I joined, and here is my FIRST box. For those of you who live in cities, something like Thrive may not be necessary. But I live in a mostly rural town in Maine, and while we have some great local co-ops and other stores that specialize in local clean foods and healthy products, these stores do not necessarily carry speciality food products, like Tigernut flour. And, the Belfast co-op, which does carry a lot of what I need, is 45 minutes north of me.

Here’s my first box. Thrive does not carry anything GMO and does carry Fair Trade, organic, sustainably created, and so forth. Many of their products are also cheaper than our local ones. And, shipping is free if the order is over something like $50.

Below, there’s my tigernut “flour” and my tapioca flour. Tigernuts are a tuber, not a nut or a legume. Tigernuts have been, apparently, used in Africa forever and are known to be really healthy for gut health. The recipes I’ve made so far have a delicious, mellow nutty taste. And it turns out that Tapioca flour, which derives from cassava, has some important nutritional features. Who knew? I thought it was just a useless starch.

And, there too, is SPROUTED brown rice. (Thrive carries other sprouted grains as well, including rolled oats, which are now in my second box.) Sprouted grains make the nutrients in grains way easier for the body to absorb.

I have not had a muffin or baked anything like a muffin in over 10 years. Maybe longer. These apple/carrot/tigernut muffins are DELICIOUS and filling. The “nut butter” I made with the flour is also delicious.

Here’s a “pudding” made from almond milk (I found a brand at the Belfast Coop that is just nuts and water—no preservatives—Elmhurst), coconut milk (I make my own from dried organic coconut, but will buy some canned from Thrive on the next order), chia seeds, vanilla, and maple syrup. A pinch of salt is not a bad idea. I top it with organic blueberries I got last summer that have been defrosted and steeped in a bit of Maple syrup. It is SO GOOD. The chia seeds are the magic ingredient (and are so good for you) as they form a kind of gelatin when put into water.

The soup I made from the Instant Pot chicken broth is delicious and very filling. The broth has so much gelatin in it that when cooled, it practically stands up on its own. That’s an added benefit to the Instant Pot.

I am feeling very spoiled and happy.