pumpkin seed cracker recipe? or any other nut-free, low-flax cracker recipes?

[kaybee]

Im looking for some sort of palatable :p cracker recipe....the only ones i have really liked have been nut-based, and nuts are outrageously expensive here to the point of being basically unaffordable (and way poor quality as well)... Im not a fan at all of flax-crackers; i dont like the texture that seems sort of "slimy" to me.... so what i have at my disposal are sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and veggies/herbs/spices. Ive tried some sprouted sunflower seed ones in the past, a recipe i made up, and they were ok, but not fabulous. i tried ani phyo's sesame sunflower pumpkinseed ones and they were ok, but still too flaxy tasting and and textured for me. i guess you probably need a small amount of flax to keep them together though huh?.... i have a small amount of chia, i wonder if some of that would work instead. chia is hard to get, has to be brought by friends from the states,so i could i only use it in small amounts.

suggestions? i searched several raw food forums, including this one, and didnt find a recipe for pumpkinseed crackers, though i saw posts where people talked about having made them... so... help anyone?

thanks

kaybee

[circle]

why don't you use a flax recipe, and sub the flax for another seed?

[spicyfull]

Crackers are easy to make, just get a Recipe and substitute with whatever you like. If it calls for one Seed, just omit it and use the seed of your choosing. All Recipes are Flexable..........

[RawKnitster]

I don't care for flax either. Whole flax seeds are not digestable, and I certainly don't need more fiber in my diet. :p But flax seeds ground into a fine powder along with other seed powders hides that flax flavor. Experiment with small batches.

I've been experimenting with the following. Turns out pretty good.

1-2 cups pulp leftover from juicing carrots and kale
1/2 - 2/3 cup sunflower seeds, ground to a powder
1/4 - 1/2 cup flax seeds, ground to a powder
1-2 T. lemon juice
squirt of agave
1/2 - 1 t. onion powder
1/2 - 1 t. garlic powder
1/2 - 1 t. sea salt
1 T. dulse flakes
1 T. olive oil
1 t. seasoning (curry, basil, dill, or whatever you like)
enough carrot juice or water to bind together

Other options:
pulp leftover from making sesame seed milk (or nut milks)
whole sesame seeds and/or sunflower seeds

Haven't tried pumpkin seeds in a cracker yet. I like to put pumpkin seed butter on top of the cracker. :)

[kaybee]

ugh. maybe i just dont "like" dehydrated foods... i tried making one that was pumpkin and sunflower and a little flax to hold it together.... it was ok but def not great. i still stuffed myself on them though (ick)...and the dehydrated stuff seems to "fill the gap" of me feeling hungry all the time. i always feel like something is missing in my diet, like enough carbs or protein or something...i felt more "well-fed" after eating them, as if id given my body something it needed, but i didnt really feel so great in other respects...i know that sounds contradictory but i dont know how to explain. anyway..they seemed to fill the gap in that respect, but i dunno...everything i make in my dehydrator seems to have a similar unattractive undertaste... i keep wondering if its fermenting or something cuz it tastes really ick until its dried all the way, but i am using the 145 degrees for a few hours then down to 115, and it was pretty warm in there so im pretty sure the temp gauge isnt malfunctioning (excalibur) so im doing it properly.... the ones i made with pumpkin seeds sunflower (both soaked overnight and rinsed) and flax and a bit of olive oil and salt were "ok" but still not something i would choose over a cooked cracker if im werent trying to stay raw.... Im going to try the carrot-based ones and see--cept the shop was all sold out of carrots this morning, lol. maybe i will like a veggie based one better and maybe i need to try messing with the oil/adding less or not adding it and see... i started using a bit of oil in my crackers last year (the whole like 3 (still bad) batches i made) because it seemed to improve the texture. but argh. i just dont know. fruit and salads alone dont "fill the gap" (and smoothies dont make me feel good), but ive yet to have many "good" things come out of my dehydrator.... ack. frustrating

[RawKnitster]

Are you using spices and any flavoring? Garlic and onion powder are essential for me, but still not enough. I have to add flavor. The last batch I made had tomato, fennel, caraway, and sesame seeds, and green olives. The color was a weird pink so I added Vitamineral Green. They taste pretty good, but I won't be in a big hurry to make them again.

Have you tried corn chips?

Fruit and salads alone don't do it for me either. I probably couldn't stay raw if it wasn't for sweet smoothies make with almond milk or white coconuts. If you can't do almond milk, how about sesame milk? Soak, blend, and strain, then add some frozen bananas and maybe some dates or another sweetener. Very satisfying!

[kaybee]

yeah, ive tried them with flavor and without. i usually use lemon, ive tried them with and without garlic, with and without red onion, sundried tomatoes, dulse, herbs like rosemary, curry. dunno. have to keep experimenting or maybe i just dont like them. i know i def dont like the flax, even when theres just a little bit ground in there to help keep them together. i have a half of bag of chia, im going to try that instead of the flax with the pumpkin seeds or something and see if that helps...

havent tried the corn chips--wish i could. but... there are so many things that its not possible to get here--corn being one of them. only kind you can get is pre-cooked, vaccuum packed corn on the cob--its not even refrigerated, it just sits in its bag on the shelf--ICK!! its also hard to get sweeteners here for cookies--cant get raw agave, organic dates cost about 12 bucks a pound (mom and dad are bringing me 10 lb from the date people when they come :) but they have to LAST)...cant get un-rancid walnuts or pecans or pinenuts. so...im limited by ingredients too. one thing we can get alot of, fairly cheap, is hempseed, but its still in the shell....shell is kind of um...crunchy and fibrous to really use for anything other than strained hempmilk...

i made some hazelnut crackers once that were decent...but hazelnuts are pretty pricey here too. other thing i made was the spinach tortillas--but my spinach isnt growing yet and its about $6.50 for a bag of organic spinach here :eek: i made some almond-lemon-date-poppyseed cookies once that were tasty, but again, almonds and dates are in short supply here. tried subbing currants and sunflower seeds but just not the same...

mmmm. olives sound good..but again, raw olives not avail. and even organic (cooked) ones super-pricey. thats what i get for living in a land that has no natural resources except cows and sheep ;p oh yeah and seaweed--but even THAT is expensive if you buy it in the shop--go figure! my soul loves living here though...

i have buckwheat, but generally anything i have made with that goes in the trash too... granola, ick.
i dont know what my problem is right now...raw just doesnt seem to be "working" for me. i feel like i cant get what i need here to stay close to 100%...so then i eat cooked, (brown rice or whatever) and that doesnt make me feel good either... ive tried hemp milk, almond milk, sesame, sunflower, melon seed and pumpkin seed milk. the only one that really made me feel good was the almond--figures, thats the one out of all of these thats hard to get the raw materials for... sesame, sunflower, pumpkinseed all didnt make me feel great. dont know. cant seem to fill the gap. amaranth and steamed cabbage/carrots seem to be ok and digestible for me, as does some kinds of BREAD (eek), but everything else cooked= not so good. sprouted grains= no either... i know alot of people keep saying "dont worry about protein" but i keep wondering if im protein deficient. i hate buying processed stuff, but my parents are bringing me a kg of sun warrior protein that i ordered and im going to see if that makes a difference...my digestion has been not functioning optimally due to stress for years, so i wonder if im just not absorbing from some of the raw stuff. ah, i just dont know. anyway, if i have luck with the chia tasting decent or anything tasting decent, ill post it here :)

argh.

kaybee

[RawKnitster]

Geez, that is rough. Must be a nice place to live in other ways. :)

Maybe your parents could bring you a few pounds of almonds and hazelnuts, too. How about sunflower seeds and pistachios? They are good choices if your concerned about protein, with 6 grams a serving, compared to walnuts at 4g, and pecans at 2.6g.

At least you've got a garden! Spring is coming. The spinach will be growing soon. :)
How about kale? That does good here. It continues to grow into Autumn, well past any other greens in the garden.

I second the hazelnut crackers. I made some once with the leftover pulp from hazelnut milk and sesame milk, and carrots. I will definitely make those again.

[kaybee]

RawKnitster--it IS amazingly beautiful here. like balm for the soul. the natural elements that is... (im not to keen on all the plastic trash my landlord burns frequently...plastic glass metal you name it... the pollution makes me sick the days he is burning).. i live in a trailer 4 fields from a long beach and i can hear the waves from my house, even with the windows closed :) i also live on the side of a hillside facing west, and can see the atlantic and the islands in the distance. i get the maximum length of daylight possible in europe, living on the far west coast, and the caravan is all windows...

yes, trying to get the garden in order. things to forage at the moment; all kale has gone to seed, parsley going to seed, but sorrel, nettles, dandelion, some chickweed (wish there was more...there will be as i transplanted all the chickweed the guy wanted weeded out of the greenhouse to outside, lol). greens grow well here, and zucchini, and brassicas, but not alot of fruit. berries will grow well here but they take several years to get estabilished adn its not worth investing in if im going to plant them on someone elses land where the garden in not guaranteed mine longterm....
sunflower seeds are readily avail in the shops but i dont seem to be doing well with them... dates are my lifesaver and ive been out for months; they are my "gap filler" food. if i have dates i dont crave other stuff. so at least mom and dad are bringing those... also briniging a bunch of herbs and seeds from mtn rose herbs, brazil nuts, carob powder, dried coconut; not going to ask them for anything else or they wont have room for their own clothes in their luggage, lol. if i had land i would plant hazel bushes as they will grow here but there arent any around... BTW..i heard hazelnuts were treated in some way anyway and not really raw? but yeah the hazelnut crackers were decent.

dunno, ill keep experimenting. dehydrating is just not for me though ;p even tried the onion bread everyone raved about on here and...no go. didnt like it. hmmmm.... maybe im just going through a rough spot... i could eat things like zucchini pasta every day, but zucchini is out of season at the moment too...so i guess im feeling a little bit deprived in terms of whats available right now otherwise, in addition to my dehydrator hating me :rolleyes: