Author: Dara Dietz

Dara D Dietz is co-founder with her Husband of H.E.A.L. Marketplace, a private Natural Healing Association. As a teacher and counselor she has been supporting the members of H.E.A.L. with Natural Healing information and herbal supports since 1998. She continues to maintain strong ties to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Since healing her own kidney ailments she has assisted thousands of people in discovering and using natural herbal remedies. Dara has written and compiled numerous articles on a wide variety of natural healing topics. Drawing from her own healing experiences and borrowing from the vast wisdom of natural healers long departed, she continues to provide H.E.A.L.’s international membership with down to earth natural healing wisdom in H.E.A.L.’s bi-weekly newsletters. Dara and her husband currently reside in Rutherfordton, North Carolina.
Herbal Healing, Herbs & How to Use Them

Using Herbal Extracts

Dara Dietz
adding extract to water

Is There a Standard Dose for Herbs?

I don’t know about a standard dose across the board for all herbal extracts but let me try to put them into a couple of categories which might make it a bit easier to determine how to use the different extracts.

In my experience the herbal combinations that create a lot of “die-off” are the ones to be most careful with. “Die-off” explained in a nut shell, what the body must neutralize and dispose of as an infection or disease is being cleared. If the immune system is not able to neutralize (a simple way to put it would be “deal with”) the die-off as the detoxing herbs support the body to clear out an issue then the waste is reabsorbed and the body begins to feel toxic, sore, and sick. When the immune system is able to handle the exiting waste the body will usually feel no ill effects from cleansing.

Immune Boosting

Echinacea is the best immune stimulator available. No healing program should be attempted without regular dosing with Echinacea. There are many immune support herbs in nature but none as powerful as Echinacea.

Detoxing Herbs

Three Categories ought to give us a pretty good rule to go by. First are herbal mixes and herbs intended to detox the body. Never use these without preparing by boosting the immune system & clearing the bowels. When the bowels are open and working well and a good regiment of Echinacea has been established start with a low dose and work up.

A person of 150 pounds might begin with ¼ to ½ tsp every three hours. If this is handled well the dose can be increased if desired. The herbs in this category are powerful detoxing aids and will make the difference between getting well or not, but should always be used with respect.

Pay attention to how you are feeling, if and when you begin to feel toxic it may be necessary to back off for a while allowing the immune system time to catch up and clear out the current load of waste.

Nutritional Healing Combinations

Understanding Herbal Extracts and How To Dose them

The next set of herbs and herbal combination are the ones that target a sick system or injured area with specific nutrition needed to heal the affected area. An example of this would be our BF&C formula. This formula is packed full of herb that knit a body back together. There is a degree of die-off processing out from the injured or sick area but not like the detox formulas which are system wide in their detoxing effect.

When healing an old injury it may be necessary to “Do an Elf” once or twice a month. The liver is clearing waste and could use a bit of support from time to time.

The herbs in this category can be used to clear an issue and then discontinued or may be something used continually as a nutritional support supplement. Dosage of these herbs would again be based on need. When I fell and tore up my knee I took a dose of BF&C every hour that afternoon. The next day I dropped down the 1 tsp every three hours. My knee healed very well. I was walking without support in just a couple of days.

An example of herbal combinations in this second category would be: Pancreas Support, Prostate Formula, Heart Tonic, ect… as can be seen from the names these are specific formulas for supporting very specific areas. Normally they would be used as an addition to the foundational programs with added periodic detoxing programs for Liver and Kidney support.

Herbs for Life

For a good superfood blend, with the herbs, proportions and how to make it, see Superfood: Raw Material for Healing.

The third set of herbs and herbal combinations are the ones you will use every day for the rest of your life. They are food for the body. Different people require different food because of lifestyle and or physical make-up. Cayenne is a highly used general herb for daily use. You can read more about Cayenne at our website. This is one of God’s most misunderstood but all the same special gifts to this world. Changease, our Hormonal Food combination would fit here. Single herbs such as Licorice Root, Hawthorne berries, milk thistle seeds, Dandelion root, Red Clover, to name a few are also gifts for life.

The herbs in this category are used once or twice a day, for many becoming a habit for life. I love to start my day with a glass of Apple Cider Vinegar, a little maple syrup and Cayenne. This is a tonic for my kidneys as well as the rest of me. A lot could be said for Apple Cider Vinegar but for starters it is an excellent digestive aid. Superfood also known as the Green Drink would be an example of Herbal Food for life.

Cleansing & Flushing, Herbal Healing, My Opinion

Understanding Bowel Cleansing

Dara Dietz
Bowel Cleansing

So much can be said for the benefits of bowel cleansing.  One of the biggest reasons I hear for not doing a good cleanse is fear of losing control.  This has never been an issue when using the LBF #1 & the LBF #2.  With a good understanding of how these two formulas work you will be in complete control of your bowels.

The LBF #1 increases the output of waste by stimulating the peristaltic waves in the bowel.  This formula does not work on the content of the bowel but goes to the bowel structure supporting the function of waste removal.  When the chemistry in these herbs comes in contact with the bowel wall they cause the squeezing, kneading motion of the peristaltic waves to work more effectively.

bowel-cleansingDownload

There are those who say a body can become addicted to the herbal laxatives.  I have always understood an addiction to be a negative action causing a debilitation to the area affected.  In the case of these herbal supports they are actually strengthening the bowel over time.  As the herbs affect the muscles to contract with greater strength the muscular tone of the bowel become stronger. Over time the peristaltic action will work effectively without the use of the herbs.  Many who have used these herbal supports have, after several years, strengthened their bowels to the place where they no longer need to use the LBF#1.  Their bowels inability to properly remove waste has been cleared.  This is not the action of an addictive substance.  The need for the LBF #1 will go down over time, not increase.

The LBF #2 is a bowel vacuum.  This formula has the bentonite clay and charcoal, powerful drawing herbs.  It also is binding, which makes it an excellent herbal support for any issues that result in loose bowels.

A rounded teaspoon of the LBF #2 powder shaken in six ounces of water or juice will quickly clear an issue of loose stool.  It will also do wonders when the lower bowel is crampy and uncomfortable.

When the bowels have turned to water a good dose would be one tablespoonful of the powder shaken in twelve to sixteen ounces of water or juice.  This can be done for each watery movement.  Except for the worst cases of food poisoning it will normally solidified the bowel in only one or two doses.

Bowel Cleansing Program

Food Poisoning

The worst instance I ever cleared was a case of food poisoning where the woman passed water from her bowels every hour or so all night long.  We went through nearly a whole eight ounce jar of the LBF #2 that night.  At one point she took two heaping tablespoons of the stuff in twenty ounces of water.  Around five in the morning she finally passed solid waste.  The bowel was back to normal.   There was no after effect from using such large amounts of the LBF #2.  Her bowels just normalized, she did not even need an extra dose of the LBF #1.

Doing the Bowel Cleanse

When using these formulas in a bowel cleanse you are in complete control.  Take one of the LBF #1 capsules with your dinner the first night.  The next morning if you don’t have a, “WOW,” bowel movement, take two capsules with dinner that evening.  Continue to increase by one capsule each day until your bowels are open and working well.

That first evening you might want to do a castor oil pack over your bowel.  This will soften up harden waste clinging to the walls of your bowel, allowing the peristaltic waves to flush the bowels more effectively.

Once the bowels are moving well it is time to take an extra capsule or two of the LBF #1 with your regular dose.  It is time to begin using the LBF #2 or bowel vacuum.  This formula is binding to the bowels so it is necessary to increase the amount of LBF #1 capsules to compensate for this effect.

This is where understanding these two formulas are the control you need to do an effective cleansing without undue stress or discomfort.    Here it is:

The LBF #1 will make the bowels move.  This formula will cause the muscular movement of the bowel wall to work more effectively.

The LBF #2 binds up the bowels.  This formula will slow down the muscular movement and solidify the contents of the bowel.

There you have it.  If the bowels are backed up, not moving well, take an extra LBF #1 Capsules.  If your bowels are over active and crampy take a heaping teaspoon of the LBF #2 to bind up the problem.  The LBF #2 will work in minutes to clear an uncomfortable bowel.

At dinner time each day count out the number of LBF #1 you need to use.  If you bowel were too active that day drop a capsule, if they were a bit sluggish add one.  You are in control.

Cleansing & Flushing, Herbal Healing, My Opinion

Thought on Bowel Cleansing

Dara Dietz
Dara Dietz

As humans most of us have little understanding beyond what we have experienced and feel is normal.   I believed it was normal and healthy to have only one bowel movement each morning.  This is how it had always been for me.  The healing journey I had begun that year was going to teach me many things I did not even know to question.  The Father and I were to take this journey together joined from time to time by other also on this path.  Looking back at the beginning of what is not yet finished, I have been privileged to know so many who have shared freely with me from their own experience.

Bowel-cleansing Information SheetDownload

My First Bowel Cleansing

My introduction to Bowel Cleansing and the LBF #1’s was pretty normal.  My bottle of Capsules arrived with detailed instructions from my friend who had introduced me to all things natural healing.  As I unloaded the box I put all the items away one at a time.  She had sent Superfood, the #2 formula, Echinacea extract and the LBF #1’s.  I quickly started the Superfood and Echinacea but never touched the Bowel Cleansing products.  Two weeks later when it was time to begin the liver cleanse I still had not taken my first #1 capsule.  Why?  I figured my bowels were doing just fine and the bowel cleanse was optional.  Wrong!

I’d been walking around for years with a roll of poop setting right under my bust line.  I looked five months pregnant.  Of course I didn’t know that roll around my middle was a stuffed bowel.

Two weeks after receiving my package I was scheduled to fly to my friend’s clinic for a month’s stay.  When I arrived she wisely started me on the bowel cleanse routine.   Fourteen days into the program and my bowels were still not working well.  The thirteen capsules I swallowed each night had started something moving but it was not enough to clear thirty eight years of constipation.  My friend arrived in my room that evening with a castor oil pack.  She placed it over my colon, covered it with a towel and said good night.

The next morning I could not believe how much poop was still in me after fourteen days of juice fasting and an enema in the morning and evening.   Under my breast I had been carrying a roll for years, now half the roll was gone.  That’s right; half my stomach was flat the other half looked five months pregnant.  Another castor oil pack was placed over my colon again that night with similar results the next morning.  My stomach was now flat.  The roll I had assumed was fat all those years was my colon filled with poop.

Staying open and willing to be taught can be the hardest part of healing.  All the answers do not lie within us, we must be willing to continue to learn and grow.  As long as there is life there is learning to be done.

Emotional Healing, My Opinion

Victory in Compromise

Dara Dietz

How do we stay faithful to our intentions?  Yesterday I nearly lost my will to juice fast.  I developed a case of hunger that nearly took me over.  Michael had gone to the post office leaving me alone with the smell of lunch still lingering in the air.  Kim, our cook, had out done herself at lunch serving up a delicious Tofu manicotti. When this tofu dish is made correctly you cannot tell if from the cheese dish.

When I’m juice fasting I seldom go into the kitchen or join the others at the lunch table.  It is much easier for me to just ignore anything to do with food.  Yesterday I went too long between drinks.  I broke the number one rule of juice fasting, I let myself become hungry.  Not only was I starved but I was alone in a house full of food.  I will admit I went into the kitchen with every intention of finding something to eat.  When I opened the fridge the fresh fruit juice was setting big as day on the shelf.  Ok, I’ll make a glass of Superfood first, I decided.  Then I’ll eat something.

The juice was very satisfying.  I drank it slowly setting in my favorite chair in the living room.  As I got up to put my glass away I realized my appetite was completely satisfied.  What saved me?  I wish I could say, will power, but I’d already decided to eat something.  In my heart I really did not want to break my fast.  The little decisions we can still make are the ones that will save us in a pinch.  I did not tell myself I could not eat; I made the decision to have a glass of Superfood in fresh fruit juice first.

Herbal Healing, Infection, Colds & Flu

Infection Q and A

Dara Dietz
Dara Dietz

1.) Is there a “preferred” way to alternate the Herbal Antibiotic and the Infection Formula tinctures, e.g., alternate every other day or one week with one then one week with the other?

A: When dong your infection work I have found it of great benefit to alternate between the two infection formulas.  When doing the moderate infection program you would take an infection formula every two hours.  Using the two formulas, the Herbal Antibiotic and Infection Formula it is great to switch between the two every other dose, it would look like this: 2 pm take Herbal Antibiotic; 4 pm Infection formula; 6 pm Herbal Antibiotic ect…

When you want to do an extended work with the Infections formulas (meaning both the Herbal Antibiotic & the Infection Formula) there is no problem in continuing to do the infection work for an indefinite period of time.  Continue with this until the system has been cleared of infection.  The Body will not be harmed by the extended use of these healing formulas.  :Infection Information Sheet

For a full write-up on a good blood and lymph infection formula, with the herbs, proportions and how to make it at home, see Getting the Herbs to Where the Infection Lives.

2.) In the infection program Echinacea is taken four days a week, but the time frame on the herbal antibiotic is specified only in doses per day but nothing stated about days per week. Is it the same four days as the Echinacea or daily for the entire regimen??

A: The infection formulas are used six days a week.  Remember to always take the Lord’s Day off from your healing programs.

3.) What suggestions do you have for amounts and frequency of taking fresh garlic in addition to the tinctures?  I have the page of your suggestions for how to take it (ways to eat a lot of garlic) but am unclear as to how to determine when and how much.

A: Depending on the degree of infection you are clearing from your system you can use an additional 5 to 10 cloves a day or for serious cases up to 50 or 60 cloves a day.  The extended use of garlic would depend entirely on the extent and severity of the infection being cleared.

4.) Since I also intend to work liver and kidney flushes, would it be best to do those before starting an infection project in case some of the issues are being caused by liver overload?

A: Doing a good ELF at the onset of the infection work is a good idea.  This will ensure the liver is open and able to clear the die-off from the system as it processes out.  Continuing on with a week of liver flushing followed by the Kidney flush will ensure the body is on top of the work you are doing.   Again the amount of extra programs you work will be determined by the extent of infection you are clearing from the body.

elf-the-amazing-liver-flush-my-wayDownload

5.) I believe my bowel situation is where it needs to be for cleansing as I usually have 2 and sometimes three bowel movements a day as long as I maintain my regular probiotic regimen and normal diet.

A: I have learned from experience never to endorse a liver flush for anyone unless they will do at least one week of complete bowel cleansing with the LBF #1 & #2.  So often we believe our bowels are doing well but because we have never experienced good bowel function we have no idea how poorly they are actually moving the waste out.  Just one week to see how you are REALLY doing is not too much to ask, and will ensure a lot less drama during the liver flush.

It’s a real downer to get everything together, your mind and heart ready to do the hard work and then throw up your flush, or worse, because your bowels are not as open as you had believed.

Cleansing & Flushing, Herbal Healing, My Opinion, Weight Loss

A Summary of My 2012

Dara Dietz

December 31, 2011 I began what I hoped would be a sixty day juice fast. I had been inspired to do this after watching the movie, “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead”.  The juice fast was going very well; I had made it to day 37 and had lost a total of 46 pounds.   My energy was through the roof, I felt emotionally great, everything was looking up, I was sure I could do the whole 60 days.  Day thirty seven was a Sunday, my regular massage day.  Neither Darlene nor I thought to question the wisdom of a massage while doing such an intense juice fast.  The next morning I was feeling quite sick. My kidneys were kicking me hard for way too much abuse.  The weight loss had been all they could handle now with the added toxins needing to be processed from the massage they were over whelmed and I was in a world of hurt.

Monday & Tuesday I drank the kidney flush drinks and supported my kidneys with the herbals they liked the most.  Tuesday afternoon I went to bed and was out for several hours.  I woke up around 9 pm to find my husband working on his computer in the lounge next to our bed.  I struggled to the bathroom and then back to the bed where I slept until 2 am.  I woke needing to make a fast run for the bathroom, it was all good.  My kidneys no longer hurt, I felt all better.

Wednesday and Thursday I felt great.  Friday I woke up with thick green puss coming out my eyes and nose.  My vocal cords were so coated with the stuff I could not make a sound.  My head was full of that sticky green stuff.  It took several weeks and a couple of ELF’s to clear the worst of my symptoms.  Even so I was weak as a kitten.  The day before my crash I had easily done two miles on my treadmill.  Over the next few months I continued to be very weak, I could not go more than a quarter mile on the treadmill without my knees buckling and feeling totally exhausted.

I kept expecting to begin feeling better but as the months slipped by my condition was growing worse.  I regained all the weight I’d lost plus a few pounds.  Motivation for doing a healing program with lacking, the idea of exerting myself in any direction required extreme effort.  Whatever had infected me in February still had a hold in my system.  December arrived and I was determined to do something to help myself feel better so I decided to begin by going on a raw food program.  I lasted for a couple of weeks before modifying to a low carb mostly raw food program.   Simply put I cut out all bread, pasta’s, and processed foods.  I also started doing an ELF once a week.

With only those few minor changes I started feeling a bit better.  My energy was moving up the scale.  Then in January a friend needed help with his incurables program.  We all decided it would be a great idea for him to stay here and do it with me.  I needed the support and he needed someone to show him how it was done.

Last week we did our first week of Liver Flushing and juice fasting.  We were not perfect.  I’m sure we will get a good rhythm to our day as we continue on the program.  This week it is Kidney Flushing and we are eating raw.  Finding time for all our drinks and programs is the real challenge.

The year that began with such promise floundered in the middle but ended on an upswing.  I learned a lot about myself in 2012.  Discouragement need not destroy; The Lord provides the strength I need to rise above whatever life throws my way.

Cleansing & Flushing, Herbal Healing

Liver flushing

Dara Dietz

When you can smack your lips over a glass of apple juice and olive oil with a little garlic and ginger thrown in for good measure, you must be doing a liver flush.  This week a friend and I are flushing our livers together.  All year I’ve been trying to talk myself into a good cleansing season.  Several months would be great.  Just having someone here who is doing the same work is so encouraging.

My tail has been dragging all year.  I thought it would pass but improvement has not come.  Monday morning we began and managed to do one flush and juice all day.  Trying to stay on schedule has been the real challenge.  Today we have done two flushes and juiced all day.  Tomorrow I want to do all three.  The problem is there are not enough hours in the day to do it all.

How do I feel on day number three?  Tired, though my head feels clear, I managed to do some work on our much neglected website today.  I have also updated the liver-flushing E-book with the ELF instructions.  All this is creative work I’ve not been up to for the better part of last year.  Good things always come when you clear out the waste.

Onward and forward, it’s time for my Detox Tea!!! And then Superfood, and then a little more juice…..

Cleansing & Flushing, Herbal Healing

ELF Party

Dara Dietz

liver flush drinkSaturday night we had an ELF Party.  Several of us decided to support a friend having serious gallbladder issues.  Over the past year or more he had mistakenly believed the pains in his upper chest and shoulder areas originated from pulled or over used muscles.  Earlier in the week when he shared his story with me I suggested he try the gallbladder attack remedy.  Within minutes he was completely out of pain.

As a retired nurse he understood the varied symptoms a gallbladder attack can have.  Before coming to the “light” he had spent his nursing career in Chemotherapy, mixing and administering all types of poisons.  Mistaking a gallbladder attack for something else is not uncommon.  Anytime you are dealing with abdominal discomfort or discomfort in the chest that arises after eating, it is not hard, with the use two specific herbal combinations, to rule out or in a gallbladder problem.

Bowels Must Be Moving Well

Clearing the pain was only the beginning; he would need to clear his bowels before he could clear the gallbladder with an ELF. He had already tried using the LBF #1 unsuccessfully.  As he progressed with the bowel cleansing program the pain in his chest and shoulders had become worse.  When he could no longer deal with the pain he had been forced to discontinue work on his bowels.   With the aid of the Gallbladder Attack Remedy he swallowed six LBF #1’s without problem.  For the first time in months he slept deeply thought the night not waking until well after 10:00 AM.

Before retiring for the night he had applied a castor oil pack over his bowels.  The Castor oil pack is used externally over the bowel, liver, heart, lungs, or tumors to break up congestion.  The use of a heating pad for an hour or two before bed had encouraged the castor oil into his bowel.  A pack was applied over his colon each night that week making short work of his backed up bowel.

Doing the “Roto-rooter” ELF

Saturday evening he arrived a bit apprehensive with the idea of drinking large amounts of Olive Oil, but empowered with the ability to quickly stop the painful attacks.  He decided to join our ELF Party.  After a bit of discussion he agreed to do the “roto-rooter” version of the ELF, sixteen ounces olive oil mixed in sixteen ounces of citrus juice.

We were ready to begin.  Gloria served us each an ounce of fresh ginger juice and our glasses of oil and citrus juice mix.  The citrus-oil drink is a great chaser for the hot peppery ginger juice.  We hardly knew we were drinking the oil.  As soon as the drinks were down the kitchen timer was set for 45 minutes and we all laid down on our right sides on the living room carpet.

The floor time went quickly; it was fun lying around with friends.  Now it was time to go downstairs and kick back in the loungers with our castor oil packs over the liver and heating pads over the packs while we watch a movie.  Our detox tea continued to prevent upset tummies.  We each drank a good sized glass while we watched our movie.  During a break in the movie we all got up to stretch our legs and moved around a bit.  We quickly discovered walking around made us sick to our stomachs, so we returned back to our loungers to watch another movie before heading to bed.

Our nurse friend did very well all evening.  He had no more discomfort than anyone else, even though he consumed twice as much olive oil.  The next morning he reported another good night’s sleep and everyone reported passing gallstones by noon.

All in all no one was any worse off for having come to our ELF Party.  A good time was had by all.

My Opinion

Where is Justice?

Dara Dietz

There is nothing better than a hot bowel of soup on a rainy day.  Outside the sky is dripping chilly drops of water onto my driveway.  Inside I feel safe and snug.  Our workers are busy putting out today’s orders.  The sound of tape guns and bubble wrap penetrate the glass divider between my office and the packing area.  All the good stuff being packed up and shipped out.

The normal sounds of life are reassuring as I try to write out the confusion I have been feeling.  Where is my strength that inner something I have learned to rely on.  The Father seems so silent at times.  The fate of four little children has plagued by mind and weighed heavily on my heart.  Sometimes the evil seems overwhelming.  What situation or event in a life creates evil that can find sexual pleasure while causing an innocent child pain?   A man, a father, a husband, destroys the lives of his four children, for what?  His lust demanded satisfaction.  His children were handy, easily accessible.  As a society we should be outraged, instead this man’s trial ended in a hung jury.   Where is justice?  Justice for the children struggling to make sense of hurt and shame they cannot begin to understand. Justice for the community forced to watch their children flounder while the seeds of injustice grow a fresh crop of useless, angry young adults.

My mind is tired; the few words I have written have taken hours to form.  My thoughts on this subject do not flow easily.  There is a wall in my heart, something blocking the flow of light and love.  Am I again the little girl without a voice, reconciled to the evil I must endure?   Or, am I a woman with a voice and heart able to rise above whatever life sends my way.

Food & Nutrition, Herbal Healing, My Opinion

I’m becoming a Raw Foodie!!

Dara Dietz

I’m becoming a Raw Foodie.  Yes, I’ve been holding out on you.  Around the first of December I began a juice fast that evolved into a raw food program.  Many of you will remember the 40 day juice fast I crashed from last February.  The effects of that crash are still plaguing me.  An overall feeling of weakness has settled into my system and a stubborn cough that will not clear.

To recap, last February, on day 37 of what I had planned to be a 60 day juice fast, I received a massage.  Neither Darlene, my massage therapist nor I had any concerns.  A massage on day 37 of a juice fast, I discovered, is a really bad idea.  I had lost 47 pounds which was taxing to my kidneys.  (A weak point in my body). The massage was on Sunday afternoon, by Monday evening the pain in my back was so intense I could hardly walk.  To make a long story short, I used the herbs to support my kidneys enabling them to clear the waste and return to normal function by early Wednesday morning.  The real crash arrived on Friday when I woke up with thick green puss coming out my eyes, nose and mouth.  The stuff coated my vocal cords preventing talk for several days.  The puss seemed to fill my entire body, gumming up my liver, Kidneys and bowel function.

Since February I’ve done several liver flushes and used the herbal tonics in an effort to clear this awful mess from my body.  Some success has been achieved but it has been slow.  Starting in December I decided to do a full out battle to clear this goop from my system once and for all.

Exactly what have I been doing?  The first of December I juice fasted for a week.  After five days of nothing but juices I felt worse.  All the waste was trying to flush out all at once.  I had a headache, felt very weak and could not get enough sleep.   I did an Elf and cleared a lot of the toxic symptoms.  I should have done two or three in a row but didn’t.  Instead I decided to go raw for a while.  My body simply did not want cooked food.

I did nothing but salads for two weeks before I realized I needed a better plan.  Google provided an excellent raw cracker recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups ground flax seeds
  • 2/3 cup whole flax seeds
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons red pepper (chopped very small)
  • 2 tablespoons parsley (chopped very small)
  • 2 teaspoon chili powder (or your favorite savory spice)
  • 2 and 2/3 cups of water
  • 1 and 1/3 cups of sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 cup black sesame seeds (or regular white sesame seeds will do fine)

Directions:

  • Mix everything together in a mixing bowl.
  • Spread batter on parchment paper or a teflex sheet.
  • Remember that the above recipe should make two dehydrator sheets worth of crackers. Spread the batter out evenly. Using the back of a spoon works well.
  • Score the crackers. Use a knife to score the crackers along wherever you want the crackers to separate. This will make them easier to break later on.
  • Start dehydrating the crackers. I generally dehydrate everything at 120 degrees for the first hour, and then reduce the temperature to 105 degrees for the remainder of the cooking time.
  • After 8 hours remove the parchment or teflex sheets and place the crackers directly on the dehydrator tray.
  • Set timer for 12 more hours and finish dehydrating. Some people like their crackers a bit moist. I like them to be very dry. If you plan on keeping them for a few weeks or more in storage, then you must ensure that there is no moisture left.

Hint: A good way to make sure that they are really dry and dehydrated is to pinch them hard. If all of the moisture is gone, you should not be able to feel any movement. If you pinch a cracker and it gives a little, it needs to be dehydrated longer.

 These crackers are great!  You can put nearly anything on them.  Tomato, Avocado, onion, ect… just build up a great cracker.

And so the story continues…. More to come…