Primal Crackers: Too much fat?

AmyMoenae

Made Primal Nut Crackers yesterday. You know, almond flour, Parmesan Cheese, baking soda, olive oil and water... and the fat content was so high. Wanting to document all I eat I took the time to figure everything in them: Calories per mini square, carbs, fat, fiber... Should I be concerned? Eating 4 daily with aged cheddar and Welch's 100% grape juice. My favorite snack! Being on Primal, I try to keep my Carb grams between 50-100. Should I be watching the fat too.

Thanks for any advice.
~Amy

LeidaPrimal

No, on Primal, your carbs are limited (and calories if you are trying to lose weight), but your fats are supposed to be high (60-70%) and from the good source. Your crackers are a problem because it is fake baking and because the fats are PUFA.... You are probably better of just baking that cheese till it crisp. Or getting a dehydrator and dehydrating veggie chips or kale. Or roasting some seaweed.

twinmom01

I would totally cut out the grape juice - doesn't a glass have 40 carbs...so much sugar and carbs and not a whole lot of bang for your buck.

I wouldn't worry at all about the amount of fat as long as it is coming from good sources.

Since you are already using cheese for the crackers i would probably not have them with more cheese, but rather maybe some guacamole.

AmyMoenae

LeidaPrimal, thanks for responding. Thanks for the suggestions as options for the crackers.

When you went Primal/Paleo, did you completely do away with all baking? Being gluten sensitive leaves me the option of baking with nut flours and some others.

I discovered Primal after recently getting diagnosed with Crohn's disease. I found that eating Primal removes most all my symptoms and without the use of any steroids. I got the recipe out of Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint Cookbook. Why do you call it fake baking? I have tried making crisps out of freshly shredded Parmesan. I like them on my salad, too.

AmyMoenae

Twinmom01, Thanks for responding. It seriously didn't occur to me to not eat it with cheese... Cheese and crackers were my favorite snack before discovering it was making me terribly ill. Primal lifestyle changed everything and I can now live without the meds that so many use to live with Crohn's disease.

I use this type of juice because I read in Breaking the Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall that it is the only kind of juice that actually has been proven to have no sugar added. I know there is sugar in the fruit itself.

I appreciate your advice and will try eating these crackers with something else. But my question was answered. Carbs need to be restricted, but concern for fat should not be a huge factor in food. Mark Sisson recommends nuts and aged cheeses and olive oil. Everything in these yummy crackers.

caribougal

These are more expensive than home-made, but this is what I use when I want a cracker fix to eat tuna salad or something. I use them pretty rarely, so they're kind of like a treat. I'm too lazy to bake.

http://www.wildmountainfoods.com/crackers.html

Some of the flavors do have tamari, so wheat free but not all are soy free.

Akimajuktuq

I watch my fat intake only to be sure that I get LOTS OF FAT. Lots. I eat about 65% of my calories from fat, and I'm happy if I go over. The reason that I show no concern about fat is because the more I eat, the healthier I am and the more satisfied with my food. Of course, quality is paramount.

hpsnickers1

Made Primal Nut Crackers yesterday. You know, almond flour, Parmesan Cheese, baking soda, olive oil and water... and the fat content was so high. Wanting to document all I eat I took the time to figure everything in them: Calories per mini square, carbs, fat, fiber... Should I be concerned? Eating 4 daily with aged cheddar and Welch's 100% grape juice. My favorite snack! Being on Primal, I try to keep my Carb grams between 50-100. Should I be watching the fat too.

Thanks for any advice.
~Amy

I didn't read this entire thread so I might be repeating:

Don't worry about the crackers unless you think it's affecting weight loss.

And nuts and olive oil are mainly MUFAs (not PUFAs). The body likes MUFAs.

AND - if you tolerate dairy well there is nothing wrong with parmesan cheese. Whole block cheeses are low to no carb (the lactose is digested during the "cheese making"). It's got amazing amounts of calcium in it - I think it's the highest per serving of the block cheeses. Just make sure you are grating from a fresh block and not the container with "anti-caking" agents.
(Put small piles of parmesan on a cookie sheet under the broiler for a few minutes (or in a non-stick frying pan) and you have a "cheese AND cracker"!

Dairy comes and goes for me. ONLY cheeses, Fage greek yogurt (can't seem to find it anymore), heavy whipping cream from local creameries and the occasional half/half in my cafe breve (steamed half & half is amazing)

Don't worry too much about the fat.

Remember this: sugar is sugar. The body isn't saying "this is fruit sugar so I will treat it differently than refined sugar" (the body does handle the sugar in WHOLE fruit a bit differently and that is because it is whole fruit). In fact, fruit sugar is fructose and large amounts of fructose are toxic to the liver (NAFLD). Grapes are actually the highest when it comes to sugar (and fructose) content in fruit.
Stay far away from the fruit juices (regardless of no sugar added). IMHO, fruit juice is already refined sugar. just not the white table kind.

LeidaPrimal

When you went Primal/Paleo, did you completely do away with all baking? Being gluten sensitive leaves me the option of baking with nut flours and some others.

Normally I dehydrate veggies or jerky instead of baking. Dehydrator is my husband's favorite kitchen appliance!

I bake for my family or for events. When I am doing huge carb-loads I bake once a week with the mix of rice flour, potato starch and tapioca starch. I bake pop-overs, syrnics or galushki, etc.

I also bake grated root vegetable + egg-white souffle type of dishes.

But, unless I am on the crazy carb-load (i.e. I am doing 600-700 g carbs) I do not eat baked goods.

I use oven every day though for baking brie, roasting meats or veggies.

It has been my experience that meats and veggies is the best diet for me when i try to maintain.

miracle4me

Made Primal Nut Crackers yesterday. You know, almond flour, Parmesan Cheese, baking soda, olive oil and water... and the fat content was so high. Wanting to document all I eat I took the time to figure everything in them: Calories per mini square, carbs, fat, fiber... Should I be concerned? Eating 4 daily with aged cheddar and Welch's 100% grape juice. My favorite snack! Being on Primal, I try to keep my Carb grams between 50-100. Should I be watching the fat too.

Thanks for any advice.
~Amy

These crackers sound delicious and I need more good fat in my menu.

AmyMoenae

miracle4me, here is the recipe (taken from Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint Cookbook).

Nut Crackers

2 cups fine almond flour meal
1 tsp. baking soda
1-2 Tbsp. dried oregano or Ital. seasoning
1 cup finely grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. water

Servings: A dozen or so crackers. I guess I cut mine really small.

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and stir to form a moist, sticky dough. Add more water or oil if needed. Using wet hands, place the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Using fingers, flatten the dough out into a thin rectangle measuring about 10x8.

Sprinkle a little sea salt on top if desired. Bake for 15 minutes or until dough becomes dry and golden in appearance. Remove and cool on a wire baking rack. Once the dough is cooled (and this is important, because it becomes brittle right out of the oven) use a pizza cutter to create crackers. If not consuming immediately, be sure to store in an air tight container.

miracle4me

miracle4me, here is the recipe (taken from Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint Cookbook).

Nut Crackers

2 cups fine almond flour meal
1 tsp. baking soda
1-2 Tbsp. dried oregano or Ital. seasoning
1 cup finely grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. water

Servings: A dozen or so crackers. I guess I cut mine really small.

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and stir to form a moist, sticky dough. Add more water or oil if needed. Using wet hands, place the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Using fingers, flatten the dough out into a thin rectangle measuring about 10x8.

Sprinkle a little sea salt on top if desired. Bake for 15 minutes or until dough becomes dry and golden in appearance. Remove and cool on a wire baking rack. Once the dough is cooled (and this is important, because it becomes brittle right out of the oven) use a pizza cutter to create crackers. If not consuming immediately, be sure to store in an air tight container.

Thanks Amy! :flowerforyou: I had not had a chance to Yahoo it yet and now because of your kindess we all have the recipe.
Amy I am editing because I forgot to ask, what is the Carb,Calorie, Fat Count on this recipe?

monkeydharma

When you went Primal/Paleo, did you completely do away with all baking? Being gluten sensitive leaves me the option of baking with nut flours and some others.
...
Why do you call it fake baking?

Baking is a post-agricultural cooking method - until you had grains, if you used an oven, you were roasting. A lot of us hunter/gatherer types prefer to just avoid it entirely - sticking with simple boiling, frying, grilling and roasting.

Most 'fake baking' (recipes designed to replace a bad baked food with something a little closer to healthy) almost always is higher in calories, fat - and cost. And it doesn't really replace the original. So why torture yourself?