Simple Flax Cracker Recipe

Overview:

You will mix together equal portions of sweet onions mash and separately ground flax seeds.  Salt to taste. Spread on baking sheet with parchment paper and dry in over for a couple of hours on very low heat.

You will need:

One or more flat baking sheets to go in the oven

Parchment paper from grocery store for easiest removal and clean up.

Spatula

A blender or food processor to blend onions to a mash

Sweet onions, or your favorite kind of onion

Flax seeds, brown or golden, ground

Recipe:

Turn on oven to lowest setting about 160 degrees F

Grind about 2 cups of onions to a mash in food processor or a Vitamix (or other blender that can handle that).

Use an equal amount of ground flax seed, or grind it fresh in a clean coffee grinder or in the NutriBullet with seed grinder blade attachment.

Optional – Add a little Celtic Sea salt to taste

Mix together well. Liquid of onions will be partially absorbed by the flax seeds to make a smooth spreading mash.

Spread evenly on parchment paper on the baking sheet with a spatula about an eighth of an inch thick, or up to at most a quarter of an inch for best drying.

Place in over on low heat and dry out slowly for about four hours (time will depend on how thickly you spread the mash).  Flip after half the time. You can make some cross cut indentations in the spread for breaking easily into smaller size crackers.

Check on the progress. Mash should dry into crispy crackers that break easily.

Remove from oven and let cool. Enjoy with soup or salad!

Feel Good Summer Smoothie Recipes

Cool off with these nutritious and delicious summertime smoothie recipes. Use our favorite supplements to sneak in to these shakes for an extra shot of energy and wellness!
JUMP TO RECIPES

Smoothies are a delicious and quick-and-easy way to make sure you’re getting the vitamins and minerals you need to keep you going through this season’s long hot days and nights.  We love how easy it is to sneak in a little extra nutrition into a smoothie for an extra energy boost without skimping on taste.

We’ve rounded up some of our favorite smoothie recipes to keep you cool this summer. We think you’ll find they taste great and put some pep in your step too. We also wanted to share some of our favorite supplements that we think are best when blended into these healthy treats.

Vital Nutrition Plus is a super energizing and alkalizing super food mix of Spirulina, Chlorella, Nettle, Alfalfa, Barley Grass, Purple Dulse leaf, Orange Peel, Rose Hips, Spinach Leaf, Wheat Grass, and Beet Root in a base of non-active Nutritional Yeast.

Our absolute favorite thing to add to shakes and smoothies is Vital Nutrition Plus. Energizing and alkalizing, this green powder is chock full of super foods, natural whole food vitamins, minerals, adaptogens, and more. It’s great in a breakfast smoothie for some get- up-and- go, or as a kick start for an afternoon slump.  Since it’s unsweetened, it balances the sweetness of a fruit smoothie or a glass of pineapple or pomegranate juice well. It also complements and blends into a vegetable based smoothie too. Try it in our Tropical Green Smoothie!

Try it in our Tropical Green Smoothie!

This vegan-friendly powder blends easily into shakes and is free of fillers, sweeteners, and caffeine.  Made without any heavy protein powders, it’s easy to digest and won’t gunk up your system.  We also love that it’s made right here in the USA.

Our Organic Acerola Cherry Powder is a great match for this refreshing Strawberry Mint Smoothie.

Another supplement that’s big in our smoothie rotation is our Organic Freeze-Dried Acerola Cherry Powder. The unsweetened, natural cherry flavor makes smoothies taste even more rich and delicious.

Raw, unpasteurized honey is another ingredient we also like to use in shakes, for health, not just taste.

Our exceptional Raw Honey satisfies a sweet tooth and provides energy and a slew of good-for-you ingredients like naturally occurring enzymes, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and naturally occurring probiotic ingredient.

Switch up your smoothie routine with this Chai Smoothie!

Our Raw Honey with Ginger provides a distinctive sweet and spicy flavor combination that we love it in this
Chai Smoothie.

With a stronger than expected content of  ginger,  this honey can help soothe an upset stomach, support the immune and circulatory systems, and help with weight loss by revving up the metabolism.

For a great-tasting energy boost our Royal Jelly Complex provides a sweet shot of raw honey with Royal Jelly, Bee Pollen, Propolis, and American Ginseng.  Loaded with B vitamins and amino acids, Royal Jelly is great for energy uplift and improving mental focus. It’s perfect for a pre or post-workout drink as it helps reduce muscle fatigue. Bee Pollen contains over 250 biological substances, including protein, carbs, fats, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and antioxidants. Propolis can also support immune health and the body’s healing process.

The American Ginseng in Royal Jelly Complex can help increase and sustain energy, improve cognitive function, and helps relieve the effects of stress. It also supports immune health, and promotes the body’s ability to maintain healthy cholesterol levels.

We love adding Royal Jelly Complex to this Peanut Butter and Jelly Post-Workout Smoothie .

For a natural protein boost in our smoothies and bowls we try to steer clear of highly processed protein powders that often contain chemicals, fillers, and/or are sprayed with pesticides. These powders are often made in China to boot.

We prefer wholesome natural protein sources in our smoothies like spirulina and chlorella in Vital Nutrition Plus, organic dairy and plant based yogurts,  and nut and seed butters.

Pumpkin Seed Butter is high in zinc, iron, copper, magnesium, manganese, potassium, Vitamins K and B, amino acids, and more.  Brazil Nut Butter is a rich source in selenium, magnesium, and thiamin.

Pumpkin Seed Butter and Brazil Nut Butter offer a ton of minerals and nutrients not found in more traditional nut butters. Give them a try in this Nutty Pineapple Smoothie!

While we love almond and peanut butter, our Pumpkin Seed Butter and Brazil Nut Butter offer a rich amount of vitamins and minerals not found in more traditionally used butters and they’re a great addition to smoothies like this Nutty Pineapple Smoothie.

When it comes to produce, you should know about the Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guides on pesticides in produce. These guides are helpful to know which foods it is best to purchase organic if possible and which types of conventional produce tend to be lower in pesticides.

The Dirty Dozen list for 2021 from EWG ranked the following foods as highest in containing pesticides:

EWG’s Dirty Dozen for 2021:

  1. Strawberries
  2. Spinach
  3. Kale, collard and mustard greens
  4. Nectarines
  5. Apples
  6. Grapes
  7. Cherries
  8. Peaches
  9. Pears
  10. Bell and hot peppers
  11. Celery
  12. Tomatoes

EWG’s Clean 15 ranked these foods lowest in pesticides:

  1. Avocados
  2. Sweet Corn
  3. Pineapple
  4. Onions
  5. Papayas
  6. Sweet peas (frozen)
  7. Eggplant
  8. Asparagus
  9. Broccoli
  10. Cabbage
  11. Kiwi
  12. Cauliflower
  13. Mushrooms
  14. Honeydew
  15. Melon
  16. Cantaloupes

Farmers markets, community or online co-ops are ways to purchase organic produce at a lower cost.

Still the best produce is whatever kind you can afford! We all need fresh fruits and vegetables in our diets.

We’ll hope you’ll try some of our favorite summer smoothie recipes below and let us know what you think!

Tropical Green Smoothie

  • Handful of fresh Spinach or Kale
  • 1 frozen banana
  • Frozen pineapple – ½ cup
  • Frozen Mango – ½ cup
  • Orange juice, milk to reach desired consistency

Optional Nutrition Boosters:

  •  1 Tablespoon Vital Nutrition Plus
  • Royal Jelly Complex with Raw Honey
  • 1 tsp. Acerola Cherry Powder
  • Shredded or flakes of coconut

Chai Smoothie

  • 1 cup pure water
  • 1-2 Tablespoons Nut Butter
  • 1 Apple
  • Cinnamon
  • Vanilla and/or ground cloves
  • Optional Nutrition Booster:  Stakich Raw Honey with Ginger

Peanut Butter and Jelly Post-Workout Smoothie

  • 1 Cup mixed frozen berries and cherries
  • 2 Tablespoons Peanut Butter
  • ½ cup to 1 cup Yogurt
  • Plant-based or organic dairy milk

Optional Nutrition Boosters:

  • Handful of Greens
  • Royal Jelly Complex with Raw Honey
  • 1 tsp. Acerola Cherry Powder
  • 1 tsp. Chia Seeds

Nutty Pineapple Smoothie

  • One handful of fresh greens (kale or spinach)
  • ¾ cup frozen pineapple
  • 1 frozen banana
  • 2 Tablespoons nut butter or butters  (peanut, almond or try Pumpkin or Brazil Nut or a combination!)
  • Plant-based or organic dairy milk to reach desired consistency.

Strawberry Mint Smoothie

  • 1 cup fresh orange juice OR 1 cup water and a peeled and seeded orange
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
  • ½ cup frozen cherries
  • 1 teaspoon Organic Freeze-Dried Acerola Cherry Powder
  • A bunch of fresh mint leaves
  • 1 squeeze of lemon juice

Berry Delicious Smoothie Bowl

  • 1 heaping cup of frozen mixed berries
  • 1 frozen banana
  • ½ cup yogurt, plant-based or organic dairy
  • ¼ cup nut butter (Peanut, Almond, or Brazil Nut, your choice!)
  • ¼ cup plant-based milk or water to blend

Optional Nutrition Boosters:

  • 1 tsp Acerola Cherry Powder
  • 1 Tablespoon Stakich Royal Jelly Complex with Raw Honey
  • Blend until smooth
  • Top with sliced fresh Fruit, cacao nibs, coconut flakes, chia Seeds, nut butter, and/or more raw honey!

What Next?

Contemplating the world, the horizon alone

The memes about the pandemic are no longer funny. They got us through the early days with a human sense of humor. Now we know there is a lot more to it – and memes now have a bite to them.

People have been suffering. Many believe the medical solutions will be the salvation of their world. Others don’t believe this, but think the the uncertainties are greater than any certainty for physical well-being.

We are questioning how we will survive and how to get along. Our cultures have been torn apart, so many livelihoods ruined, and our lives run by …whom? Do we know? Not ourselves anymore, apparently.

It is time to reevaluate life and recognize it is more than material.

You are more than a body. We are more than a business. We have always been friendly and willing to talk, and supported individuals and families who sought good health naturally.

Now it is imperative that we all communicate with each other and support our humanity itself. So many have been waiting through this time to get through and so be able to grow and contribute to their lives again. Each person has the germ of their best self, their potential waiting to manifest and be recognized. We can support that, we can find out more of who we are and who others really are. let’s have a conversation.

We are really more than physical or material. Our culture, music, and creativity come from beyond merely the physical existence. We breathe life into it, like the divine. You may know this, or you may suspect it.

We breathe life into our world.

How do we restore balance to our world? Those who seek to control this world, and to live forever through stealing the bodies and resources of our world for themselves are busy imbuing their purposes and conflicts in people. We used to have more tolerance and freedom, more give and take with our fellows. There has been an undercurrent of evil for a very long time that seems to have burst out into everyday life.

We used to be comfortable without looking too closely, now we really have to look and see and recognize. We yearn to find personal happiness for ourselves again and our families, our communities, but also we need to look wider and bigger.

There is a game of creating together a better future and our better selves. Where do you find inspiration? Who will you show kindness too? What is our better nature?

These are questions worth answering.

Good Hygiene: How and Why It Works against the Virus

The information offered below was discovered circulating on the internet and noted erroneously as from John Hopkins University. Johns Hopkins has sent out communication saying that some information is being disseminated in their name that is not from them. Further research found also it attributed to an associate professor at John Hopkins who sent it in a letter sent to her mother, but this was not verified, and reportedly not true. Snopes.com designates the information as being “misattributed”, but not false. We have included it here as a summary with actually some good detailed points on how to destroy the virus with good hygiene and why it works. A few corrections were made, such as the proper bleach to water ratio, and high humidity and light vs dark, dry environment..

The virus is not a living organism, but a protein molecule (RNA) covered by a protective layer of lipid (fat), which, when absorbed by the cells of the mucus membranes of the eye, nose or inner cheek (ocular, nasal, buccal mucosa), changes their genetic code (mutation), and converts them into aggressor and multiplier cells.

Since the virus is not a living organism but a protein molecule, it is not killed, but decays on its own. The disintegration time depends on the temperature, humidity and type of material where it lies.

The virus is very fragile; the only thing that protects it is a thin outer layer of fat. That is why any soap or detergent is the best remedy, because the foam CUTS the FAT (that is why you have to rub so much: for 20 seconds or more, to make a lot of foam). By dissolving the fat layer, the protein molecule disperses and breaks down on its own.

HEAT melts fat; this is why it is so good to use water above 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees F) for washing hands, clothes and everything. In addition, hot water makes more foam and that makes it even more useful.

Alcohol or any mixture with alcohol over 65% DISSOLVES ANY FAT, especially the external lipid layer of the virus.

Mix 1 part bleach and 50 parts water to directly dissolve the protein, breaks it down from the inside. [1 teaspoon bleach to a quart of water, or 1/3 cup per gallon]

Hydrogen Peroxide – Oxygenated water helps long after soap, alcohol and chlorine, because peroxide dissolves the virus protein, but you have to use it pure and it hurts your skin.

Vinegar is NOT useful because it does not break down the protective layer of fat.

NO bacteriocide or antibiotic serves. The virus is not a bacteria, nor a living organism like bacteria; antibiotics cannot kill what is not alive.

NEVER shake used or unused clothing, sheets or cloth. While it is stuck to a porous surface, it is very inert, and disintegrates in only:

  • 3 hours (fabric and porous)
  • 4 hours (copper and wood)
  • 24 hours (cardboard)
  • 42 hours (metal)
  • 72 hours (plastic)


But if you shake the cloth or use a feather duster, the virus molecules float in the air for up to 3 hours, and can lodge in your nose.

The more confined the space, the more concentration of the virus there can be. The more open or naturally ventilated, the less.

The virus molecules remain very stable in external cold, or artificial, as air conditioners in houses and cars.

In a dark, dry environment, the virus lasts longer – 18 hours on stainless steel or non-porous material. High humidity brings that down to 6 hours. Exposed to high humidity and sunlight, the half-life dropped to two minutes, according to a done by the government.

UV light on any object that may contain it breaks down the virus protein. For example, to disinfect and reuse a mask is perfect. Be careful, it may also break down collagen (which is protein) in the skin. (You’ll have to research correct strength of UV required to do this.)

The virus CANNOT go through healthy skin.

You have to wash your hands before touching mucosa (in eyes, mouth, nose) or food, and after touching locks, knobs, switches, remote control, cell phone, watches, computers, desks, TV, etc. And when using the bathroom.

You have to humidify (moisturize) hands that are dry from so much washing them, because the molecules can hide in the micro cracks. The thicker the moisturizer, the better.

Also keep your NAILS SHORT so that the virus does not hide there.

Hope this is helpful.

The Sweet Thing about Bitters

Why we need them back in our Diet Bitter flavors tend to deliver the strongest response by the body. Many of us even react  with a shudder when something bitter hits our tongue. Our tongue is loaded with taste receptors designed to analyze the nutrients in food, including those called T2Rs which detect the bitter … Read more

Is Exercise Before Breakfast Best?

What a great question! Growing up we were always told the best way to start a day is with a good breakfast. But when it comes to your morning exercise, is it the first important element of your morning routine?  Jeffrey N. Berube, DC of North Reading Chiropractic, shares some insight with us on this … Read more

Lifestyle is the most important means of maintaining health!

          Healthy Lifestyle Checklist Sunshine and time outdoors in nature (the Japanese call it “forest bathing” for health and balance) Sleep, especially maintaining your Circadian rhythm by sleeping in the dark and waking in the natural light Clean, whole foods unadulterated with chemicals Clean water and adequate hydration, using both water … Read more

Dangers Lurking in Your Medicine Cabinet

How many people do you know complain of back pain, knee pain, aches from old sports injuries or just overdoing it on occasion? It’s common practice for most people to reach for an over-the-counter-pain reliever. It’s equally common for health care providers to prescribe Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, or NSAIDs for short, to be used long-term … Read more

Find Your Purpose…

The two most important days in your life are the day you where born and the day you find out why. Mark Twain

Transcription: The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. ~ Mark Twain

Inspiration to start your work week…

"The miracle isn't that I finished. the miracle is that I had the courage to start." John Bingham

Our staff who work here can attest to this. We believe in miracles! “This week my grandmother celebrated her 93rd birthday! After 5 weeks in a neck brace from cracking a bone in a fall, she is still feisty and independent, and still takes no drugs of any kind. She kept hoping for the best, … Read more