Let me start by saying that NEVER in a million years did I ever think that I would experiment in my kitchen and then be in a position where I was creating yumminess that I was excited to share with the world!
But here I am, former Miss Hair & Nails (my bestie dubbed me this years ago), turned domestic goddess!
Don’t get me wrong, it has been a very slow process to get here that started about 9 years ago when I decided that I wanted to make my own baby food for Brea.
I remember my best friend, Liz, later telling me that she got off the phone with me, after I had called her at her office to ask her a baby food making question, turned to her co-worker and said something along the lines of, “I don’t know what’s going on in the world right now. Miss Hair & Nails is now talking about making her own baby food?!?!”
Flash forward years later, I lost nearly 100lbs., relying heavily on processed foods.
Watching my mother battle cancer, my dad battling severe Crohn’s Disease and knowing that my brother had heart disease frightened me enough to be my wake up call to embark on a journey of true health.
In this process I learned so much about proper nutrition, what really goes into our food and most importantly, my health is not at all defined by a number on a scale!!!
Recently I had some raw flax crackers that I bought at Whole Foods for $5.99. They were delicious, but it felt like I got maybe 10 crackers in the box and I couldn’t justify that as a regular purchase.
I looked at the ingredients and thought, “hmm…there's so very little in these I bet I could easily play around in the kitchen and make my own!”
And voila! My very own recipe for flax crackers and “cheeze” was born!
I have this dear friend who loves to feed me every time I see her and everything she makes is so yummy that I’m constantly asking her for recipes. She never knows measurements because she just does her thing. For so long I thought she was just a crazy person! Now that I’ve fallen in love with cooking I get it!
Start with love and then add a sprinkle of this and a dash of that.
I used measurements with the crackers because I wanted to be able to make them again if I liked how they turned out. Haha!
As for the cheeze, everything was done to taste. So I’ll include what I call my "recipeish" for that.
My Very Own Raw Organic Vegan Flax Crackers with Raw Organic Vegan “Cheeze”
Ingredients for crackers:
1 c. raw golden flax seed
2 tbsp. flaxseed meal
1 tbsp. chia seed
¾ c. water
3 tsp. coconut aminos
¼ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. onion powder
¼ tsp. pink Himalayan sea salt
Directions:
I placed the water, aminos, garlic powder, onion powder and salt in a 16 oz. mason jar and stirred until blended.
Then I added the flax seed, flax meal and chia seed and gave it a good shake until it was completely mixed.
I let the mixture sit for about 8 minutes, stirring it every couple of minutes to keep everything from clumping together as it thickened.
Once the majority of the liquid had been absorbed I spread the mixture out onto a dehydrator sheet.
About ¼ of an inch thick.
I then gently scored it with a spatula.
I dehydrated them at 105 in the dehydrator, checking on them every couple of hours until they were completely dry and reached the desired crispness. It took a total of about 6 hours.
Then I simply broke them along the scored edges and placed them in an airtight container.
This recipe yields about 36-40 crackers!!!
Easy peasy!!!
Vegan Cheeze
Ingredients:
1 c. raw cashews
Filtered water
The juice of half a large lemon
2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast
Sea salt
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Tumeric
Directions:
Place the cashews in a bowl, cover them with water and allow them to soak for at least one hour.
This will soften them allowing for easy blending and creating a creamy texture when blended.
Soaking nuts, seeds, beans and grains also makes it easier for your stomach to digest them.
Mine ended up soaking overnight because I was too tired to play in the kitchen last night.
Drain the cashews and place them in a high powered blender or your food processor, add lemon juice and blend. Once slightly blended it’s a good time to add the nutritional yeast (I used about 2 ½ tbsp.) and your seasonings.
As I continued to blend, scraping the sides occasionally, I added a tablespoon of water at a time to aid in blending and creating a smooth texture. I ended up using about 3 ½ tablespoons of water, however, you really must add a little at a time as you go so that it doesn’t end up watery.
Once you have reached your desired texture and taste you’re done!
This “cheeze” is simply delicious on the flax crackers!!!
ENJOY!!!