The funny thing about negativity is
the ones who usually fluently speak this language
are the ones who don’t even try,
yet still feel as if they are entitled to criticize those who do.
I’m finding that it’s impossible to live a life, striving towards your goals,
without encountering negativity.
At some point, someone’s not going to like the decisions you make:
the job you have,
the person you choose to love,
where you decide to live,
the shoes you wear,
your hairstyle,
the food you cook,
or even the font you use on your blog.
There comes a time when you have to put that negativity behind you,
keep your head down,
and keep walking towards your goal.
The tricky part is to do so without changing yourself in order to please those
who honestly don’t hate you, but themselves really
(to them, there will always be someone whose:
job they hate,
significant other they criticize,
shoes they pick apart,
and blog they bash).
It’s usually never personal.
And knowing that, means you don’t need to worry about changing who you are
in order to please someone who is unplease-able.
They will never be happy.
Therefore, you don’t need to forego your happiness to suit them.
But there is one thing you can do in order to remain happy
and stay along the path of positivity:
Make these crackers that taste just like Wheat Thins.
These bad boys are tasty.
No, they are incredulously incredible crackers of credibility.
They are guaranteed to keep your eyes off of the negativity
and focused on your goals
(probably because you will be too busy eating all of them)…
Homemade Just-like-Wheat Thins Recipe
Gluten-free, vegan
Makes approximately 50 crackers
INGREDIENTS:
- 1/2 c. Sorghum flour (Authentic Foods Brand)
- 1/2 c. Brown Rice flour (Authentic Foods Brand)
- 1/8 c. potato starch
- 1/8 c. arrowroot powder
OR: Omit first 4 ingredients and simply use your favorite gluten-free, all purpose mix or regular flour if you can have it!
- 3 Tbs Flaxseed meal
- 2 tsp brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 Tbs Earth Balance, soft
- 1/4 c. water
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Combine flours, starches, sugar, flaxseed, and salt together. Add butter until small crumb grains form.
- Add water and blend until a smooth dough ball forms.
- Divide into 3 balls. Roll 1 ball between 2 pieces of wax paper; the thinner the dough rolls out, the better (but also note the more delicate the dough becomes).
- Using a pizza cutter, cut squares into dough. Delicately place each square on top of parchment paper-lined baking sheet (or your Silpat) with a metal spatula. Sprinkle tops with salt. **YOU CAN ALSO JUST ROLL OUT BETWEEN TWO PIECES OF PARCHMENT AND TRANSFER THE SHEET WITH THE DOUGH ONTO A BAKING SHEET, CUT WITH A PIZZA CUTTER AND LEAVE AS IS–THIS WILL BE EASIER…I just didn’t have parchment paper.***
- Bake for 12-15 minutes (or until browned along the edges).
You can get an idea how thin I rolled the dough out.
This cracker is for those of you who DO
and who strive to extend kindness to others.
Keep on doing what you are doing
and don’t let those who try to tear you down with their futile words prevail.
Your hardwork is worth more than that.
***Stayed tuned this week. I have a VERY exciting announcement for YOU!***
Hi Cara, I have only recently found your blog and totally love it! 🙂 as well as this recipe, because I used to live in the US and was in love with wheat thins, but I don’t live there anymore (living in Prague, Czech Republic). This recipe is awesome..do you think I could use let’s say buckwheat flour, or amaranth, or oat flour? and what is Earth balance? some spices? is there anything I could use instead? Many thanks! Have a wonderful day!
If you do not have parchment paper and don’t intend on purchasing it would these crackers go on a greased or ungreased cookie sheet?
The parchment paper really prevents it from sticking when you are cutting it up. Having said that, I think you could get away with placing the dough on the greased sheet, cutting it, then baking it. Test it out and see what happens. I would love to know!
Oh em gee! Totally making these today! I made a pesto last night for dinner and made way too much of it. They would be perfect on these crackers. Thanks for the great recipe, Cara 😉
You got it, sister! I think I need to make some more too. And dipped in pesto sounds so good…mmmmmm, food! I need to eat breakfast before I go and make one of everything 😛
I have brown rice flour, but no sorghum flour or potato starch. Can I use all purpose flour, or whole wheat flour, to replace those two? Any suggestions?
I have: brown rice flour, arrowroot powder, whole wheat, all purpose, sweet rice flour.
Thanks! I would love to make these!
Hi Nixie! If you don’t need to eat gluten free, I would say use 1/4 c. whole wheat and the rest all purpose. If you do need to consume only gluten-free flours, I would try just the brown rice flour as is. I cannot guarantee how they will turn out but it is definitely worth a try! I know that brown rice flour by itself should work okay. xo, Good luck! Let me know how it goes…Cara
Bwahaha… I laughed really hard at the idea of someone hating on the font of your blog. Okay, we all have our triggers, the little things that set us off that don’t make 100% sense. But that particular one made me laugh…
Also, I like your solution to the negativity problem: no-wheat thins! Next time someone is mean to me, I am totally going to spite-bake something in their honor.
Also also, those no-wheat thins… those look incredible. Crackers count as baked goods. I may have to try these this month!
Thankfully no one hates my font (or least I haven’t read it), but I will say it is equally as ridiculous.
I love the idea of a spite-bake off to the meanie heads of the worlds. BAHAHA! This is perfect, Nikki. As always, I can count on your genius mind to come up with something clever 🙂 Happy Maternity Leave, p.s.!!
I really like your post, and I think that instead of criticizing, we should be happy that we are all different, with different tastes and lifestyles.
And the wheat-thins look delicious!
Amen to that sister! xo
And the crackers *are* delicious!!! 🙂
Love your work Cara. Love your recipes (obviously), your blog, your thoughts, your font, your enthusiasm, your positivity and the way you remind me to try and be me, for me, more often.
These crackers look great.
Thank you!
Oh Nina, it always makes me so happy to hear from you! Thank you for your kind, thoughtful words. Man, did you touch my heart! xo, Cara
I LOVE Wheat Thins – one of my “Life List” items for 2012 is to finally make crackers from scratch & Miss Cara you have provided me with perfect cracker recipe!
I attended a Conference a few years ago where I had the opportunity to listen to an amazing speaker – she left us with QTIP’s as a reminder to Quit Taking It Personally – sometimes people are just negative Nancy’s (some I don’t think ever owned a pair of Positive Pants in their life!) and we can’t take every remark so personally or as a direct attack on ourselves – that was my goal from last year – not to be so consumed about other peoples comments or opinions – in the end it is only their opinion and we have the choice to have our own as well.
As always, thanks for sharing a little piece of you with us 🙂
Well, it appears as if we are becoming mutually beneficial to one another 🙂
Now I want to hear more about this Conference–sounds interesting to me. Who was the speaker?
whats the announcement,. whats the announcement.. i am one of those cats who get killed by curiosity!:)
love them crackers.. they look so crunchy! i dont much like most of the store bought thins coz they inadvertently have some weird unpronounceable ingredients. I should whip up some of these thins!
i think one of the most negative person in the world that i encountered was one of my bfs.. thank god we broke up and i found hubbs. he finds something good in almost everything, he did an amazing job this year dealing with my dad ans his opinions about what i was doing wrong.. he is my impenetrable negativity shield! and another yay for greg!
I love hearing that, Richa! Thank goodness you found your shield 🙂 Especially when they are people you spend most of your time with, it is so important to make sure they are positive additions to your life. Good riddance to the ex bf. Barf. And yes, yes you *should* make these!
Yes, so true! I guess its just the way things go, not everyone agrees with everyone else’s choices, and those differences make us individuals.
The wheat thins sound marvelous!
Thank you for stopping by Joyti, and such words of wisdom! You are right–we all have different tastes which make us individual. It also means that we all won’t see eye to eye on things. Best to take your toys and play somewhere else and not complain about someone else’s taste, right? 🙂 P.S. Your blog is super beautiful!!
I second Greg’s comment, Yay for supportive people. I have a motto (one of many) walk away from the toxic! (that can apply to food and people)
Here’s to a box of wisdom filled wheatless thins! Wowie! Another delicious Cara Creation!
Can’t wait to hear your announcement!
Wheatless Thins! Argh. You need to come up with all of my post titles–I love that! And you as well 🙂 xo
Awww, xo backatcha! Oh what kind of shoes are you wearing?
Ugly ones that people make fun of me for wearing 🙂 haha. No one has yet to make fun of my shoes. YET.
These crackers look lovely and I definitely plan to give them a try! I used to be a huge wheat thin fan, once upon a gluten moon….so I would love to have an updated version of that iconic cracker back in my life.
Excellent words of wisdom too. I think we all can take a bit of that message into the New Year. 🙂
I think I used to eat entire boxes worth back in the day 🙂 I missed them so, so I *had* to recreate the classic! However, if I made a box full of this version, I think I would still eat the entire thing. hehe
P.S. I just read your Gravatar profile and I must say that your blog sounds so intriguing, not to mention your pictures are gorgeous! Is there any way I can add my name on to the list of people being able to view your blog since it is set on private??? *batting eyelashes*
Thank you for sharing–a recipe AND a dose of wisdom…both, coincidentally, much much much needed. Words can be like nuclear weapons to the heart and soul. I am glad for your example of overcoming silly shots; may I learn from you, and eat yummy crackers in the meantime! I made some crackers over the weekend and they were OK, but definitely lacking in the flavor department. I’m excited about these and suddenly remembering just how good Wheat Thins were!
I cannot wait to chat with you! I have a feeling I know what you are talking about and I wanted to punch that person in the face. But then I remember what pitiful people do things like that and realize that they aren’t even worth the time or energy. Unhappy people ooze with toxic waste and I want to be as far away from them as possible. You are such a remarkable and talented gluten-free person. “Haters just be sippin’ on the Haterade.” xo
I could leave the same comment everyday – how creative and delicious! Just wish I had sorgum and rice flours on hand. Boo me.
Do you have an all purpose flour mix, Veronica? If so, just omit the sorghum, rice flour, arrowroot and potato starch and replace the all purpose with it (1 1/4 c.)
I know that you don’t need my approval, but just the thought that these crackers exist make me like you more than ever <3 Wheat thins used to be my favorite!
Your approval DOES mean a lot 🙂 (Only does for the lovable people in my life) Wheat Thins were my fav as well–but when I recently tried one “just to see” (never do that) I found myself sick and rather repulsed by how sweet they are. These are just the right amount of sweetness but they canot be stopped from being eaten 🙂 xo
Rose Bowl Parade! My absolute fave. BTW your opening statements were beautifully put. I don’t know where these people get off spewing all that hatred at you brave ladies sharing your hearts, your creativity, your recipes in an effort to help. As I recently mentioned to someone else, the internet is the perfect place to hate, there’s no retribution. They, unlike Spock, seem to think the needs of the few, or in their case one, outweigh those of the many. They seem to believe that no one else could possibly experience pain as they do and so they make it their mission to share. Speaking of the one, I rushed out to watch the Parade after spending 3 days in bed and I swear to you there is not one pot, dish or cooking implement in my house which is not dirty and spread throughout everwhere, mostly the kitchen and the living room (in front of the TV)! I fell down twice trying to get it organized enough to make a cup of tea. I was so excited about your recipe because I can EAT it and I’ve been craving crackers but methinks they’ll have to wait for another day. 🙁
Girl, you gotta stop falling like that! Once you feel up to it, make some crackers–they make everything better 🙂
And I love everything you said. Greg and I were talking about it last night and he said, “You know, it’s insane when those who are trying to helps others are getting criticized by those who do nothing.” (Greg experiences this a lot since he is rapidly becoming some-what of a public figure and so it’s nice to have someone next to me, telling me to expect it every step of the way but to brush it off and keep going). People are rather cowardly aren’t they? Especially being behind a computer screen allows them to be mean, yet anonymous. That makes me laugh more than anything. While they are sitting around doing nothing, they feel like they can rip apart the ones who are attempting to do something with their lives. Then you realize the type of people who are doing this and you just pity them more than anything. Unhappy people. Excuse me while I go live my life in happiness 🙂 xoxo
Man, I wish I’d had this recipe last month when I was doing the boy’s pirate party! I tried to make crackers for the gluten free-ers and oi… They were awful! They looked cute, though! (If skull and cross bone shaped can be considered cute…) And has somebody been giving you junk about your blog? Where are they? I’ll poke em’ in the snoot! Or make them eat my gluten free crackers. That might be the worse punishment…
HAHA!! “Make them eat my gluten free crackers…” Oh Brooke, I am laughing right now. And hey, I never saw any pictures of skull and cross bones crackers!! How fun of a mom can you be?? For reals. Love how creative you are. xo
My photography goal this year is to learn how to take decent pictures inside in the dark. It gets dark here so fast that by the time the birthday parties roll around I’m relying on the camera flash, and you know what those pictures look like. Bluh. I’d like to post more pictures on the food blog of the parties I throw. I’ll e-mail you the cracker picture…
WHen you figure that out, let me know! I’m having the same problem…
Waiting by my email for the pictures.
Fantastic recipe, Cara. I haven’t had crackers since the change. Even if I located nut or GF crackers at the store they generally are soyed. Dash it all! This is perfect.
I realized a few things on my own journey about the nay-sayers:
If you bend your will to placate others, you will find you will never satisfy everyone and in the end you’ve bent so far you aren’t even sure what you are doing now is what you wanted to begin with. You are the one it matters to ask yourself at the end of the day “Am I happy with this outcome?” If not you in your life? Who else would it be? You first, always.
Those who matter will be happy with your happiness. I spent a lifetime trying to make my parents proud. I felt it was my duty to never make them regret taking me home (I was optional). So I bent and turned and restrained myself and did “the right thing”. They were proud but I am not happy. Now they sit with me as I talk about the changes I need to make to make myself happy, to live the life that I want to live, and somehow I know that even then they will be proud.
Those who do not matter do not deserve the effort involved in trying to figure out how exactly to please them. It is a futile mission and one best met with a shrug.
I’m very excited to hear your news!!
My problem with store bought GF crackers is that they never taste that good either. Greg kept telling me yesterday that I need to sell these 🙂
LOVED everything you wrote! The part about placate others for their happiness all the while making yourself unhappy describes me completely for a very long time in my life. About 4 years ago is when I started to wake up from this nasty pattern and started to ask myself, “What do *I* want?” <–I never asked myself that before. Thank you for sharing what you wrote–I always love hearing more about you–it's why I write on these topics because everyone has a story about this and I *love* listening.
xoxo, Hoping today is a good day for the detox 🙂
Done
Ok, it’s not often that I feel the need to try making crackers (or anything with special gluten-free ingredients), but these look awesome! Like, I wish I had them right this minute. I’ll definitely try making them! 🙂
I’m right there with you Amy! I snuck a few Wheat Thins the other day (I used to LOVE them) and realized that they were too sugary for me, not to mention they make me sick from the wheat. So it’s been a quest of mine 🙂 I am wishing that I had them too–I ate *all* of them over the course of yesterday. hehe. Let me know how they turn out!
Your words were the perfect thing for me to wake up to this morning! You hit the nail on the head 🙂 you can’t please everyone especially those who are constantly negative! You know they say it takes three positives for every negative to be overcome…so just in case you needed a head start: you are beautiful, loving, extremely talented, creative beyond words, inspiring, I adore your food, and the font on your blog is perfect (it’s legible, san-serif which fits a creative person like you and not busy and distracting…the way it should be!!!!). And for that do-do that is giving you negative feedback, I’d like for them to see how they would do blogging…ha! XO
Those wheat thins look fantastic! I am a sucker for crackers and chips of any kind (well, except BBQ eeew) and just like your cheez-its, I must make these! 🙂
BAHA! Oh Nora, I can always count on you to make me smile and to be a little beakon of light 🙂 Thank you for agreeing about the font–no one has yet to criticize that but when they do I will direct them to you to slap some sense into them! This just made my day. Thank you 🙂
Yes, you HAVE to make these. That is hilarious because I was thinking about you while making these–I thought, I really hope Nora makes these and likes them 🙂 haha. xoxoxoxox (times a million!)
Who the H*E*Double hockey sticks* is criticizing? Don’t they know your mother will not tolerate that?!!! They’re obviously jealous!
There ya go. Somebody is just very jealous of your beauty, creativity, and art!
Hold your head high, Sweetie. Don’t let the duffus get to you.
P.S. I expect to hear your VERY exiting announcement BEFORE it hits your blog!
Dufus is THE perfect word! It’s completely petty and silly and made me laugh as to how rude people are without even knowing it or even caring. I didn’t sweat it really but it got me thinking that there are other people who are reading my blog that are going through the same thing, so I wanted to bring this out into the air and talk about it. Haters just be sippin’ on their Haterade 🙂 hehe (that is from Rose)…
P.S. I’m not getting married yet nor am I pregnant so you can cross off those 2 things from your mind. I will still call you later on 🙂
I love Rose’s *Haters just be sippin on their Haterade*!
I love Rose! Tell her I sent XOXOXs
I’ve got my black-eyed peas on the stove today and watchin the Rose Parade – Looks warm there! 🙂
Oh, the Rose Parade! I forgot they switched the days. Must watch at least 5 minutes to feel like a kid again 🙂 Will call you later today then now that I know you are home!! xo
Can you roll these out between parchement paper so when the doughbecomes “delicate,” you wont need to handle it as much?
YES! Excellent point Sue. You can just roll it out, place it on the baking sheet after you use the pizza cutter to it, and put it in the oven without taking a spatula and separating them. xo
Loved your words about negativity! Very well said. May I quote you on FB? 😀
Hi Emily! Of course you can quote me 🙂 xoxo
Glad today’s post struck a chord with you–they were words that I really needed to hear and say myself!
you are such a strong, amazing, and positive person. people’s negative thoughts aren’t worth a positive person’s time. keep being who you are and you can achieve anything you put your mind to 😉
you know, i used to LOVE me some wheat thins. i’d put them in the freezer and they would taste a-mazing super cold. i havent eaten them in about..10 years. i think i’ll have to try these crackers, and stick some in the freezer for old time sake 😉
You will be amazed when you bite into the first one. Your mind will be blown as to how it’s possible to have actually made something that tastes JUST LIKE Wheat Thins–minus that sugary after taste (confession time, the reason I decided to make these is because I stole a few out of the cupboard thinking it would be okay: A. They were very sugary; and B. My gut hated me. Whoops). hehe.
Thank you for the continual support and encouragement. Were you a cheerleader in high school??? 🙂 xoxo
haha cara! i WAS a cheerleader in highschool! i was actually a cheerleader from age 5-15 if you can believe it 😉 i cheered for the township and was in competitions, “bring it on” style 😉
your poor gut! i don’t remember them being sugary..but it was back in the day where my entire diet was filled with sugar, fat, and crap, so it was probably the least of the sugary stuff i ate. i am FOR SURE making these 😉
I knew it!! BAHA! You really are a great cheerleader in life though, so it makes perfect sense to me.
I didn’t remember them being sugary either–that is until I tried one after I changed my eating habits. I think you would think the same definitely. It’s like movies we once liked as kids–they just aren’t as good as we onced remembered, you know?
i totally know what you mean 😉
Ohhh, Cara, how did you know that I needed to hear exactly these words today? Thank you! And love the crackers! 🙂 Bex.
You know, I am always amazed how any time I need to hear a certain something is usually when most of us do as well. Glad this gave you a little boost today–don’t let the haters bring you down 🙂 Keep walking and doing good! xoxo
Yes it’s very hard not to take on other people’s negativity, after all, most of us crave approval, whether we want to admit it or not. That’s why I strangely love getting older. With every year, I care less about what others think and focus more on what I know will make me, my husband and my best friend’s happy. My closest friends are those that don’t judge me but will offer advice without expecting me to act on it unless I truly want to. Just trust in your instincts and even if they’re wrong from time to time, it’s still better that it was your decision, and yous to fix again if needed. Good luck!
YES! I love this. Getting older is so much about getting wiser and not caring! I have seen huge leaps in myself as well over the years. And you are so right about your instincts. One of my most favorite quotes comes from Dr. Spock: “Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.” I love that so much. Thank you for always coming over here and offering your great wisdom, love, and support! xo