Gaynor Stickels Therapist

21/10/2025

I have become addicted to this alternative bread since we regularly have it as part of our lunch at my herbalism training course!

I've finally got round to making it at home, and it is so easy to make and very versatile. Its a lovely alternative if you are trying to reduce your wheat/gluten intake, or reduce the amount of ultra-processed foods, and it's a great way to add extra healthy foods into your diet

It has a healthy mix of protiens, fibre, and carbohydrates, phytosterols, antioxidants, phytonutrients, polyphenols, healthy fats, Omega 3/6/9's, Vitamins A, Bs, D, E, & K, and antioxidants like lignans and lutein.

It also contains essential minerals such as manganese, phosherous, magnesium, selenium, zinc, iron, folate, calcium, copper.

I've included the basic recipe below, but you can add extra herbs and spices if you want to zhuzh it up a bit.

Oats, Nuts & Seed Bread Recipe:

1½ Cups gluten-free oats
1½ cups of water
1 cup of sunflower seeds
½ cup ground almonds
½ cup ground linseeds
4 tbsp psyllium husks
3 tbsp oil (I used Avocado)
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp mushroom powder blend (optional)
1 tsp sea salt or himalayan pink salt

Topped with Pumpkin and Sesame seeds.

Method:

🍞 Mix all ingredients together, press into a parchment-lined/non-stick loaf tin.

🍞 Bake for 1 hour, at 175⁰C. Turn halfway through.

🍞 Leave to cool before slicing

11/10/2025

As the colder months arrive, many of us turn to traditional herbal remedies to strengthen immunity and ward off seasonal infections.

One of the most popular is Fire Cider — a warming tonic that blends apple cider vinegar with immune-boosting herbs like garlic, onion, horseradish, ginger, and chilli. Garlic and onion offer antimicrobial support, while ginger and horseradish stimulate circulation and help clear congestion.

Fire Cider works by stimulating the body’s natural vitality, boosting the body's own immunity, rather than suppressing symptoms. It warms the system, supports digestion and lymphatic flow, and encourages healthy circulation — all vital for winter resilience.

Taken daily or at the first sign of a cold, this simple remedy helps reduce the severity of ailments and keeps the body strong through the winter.

Once strained, you can take up to a tablespoon a day, as a shot with water, as a preventative, (build this amount up slowly to your stomach's tolerance to the vinegar), or up to 3 times a day if you're poorly.

It can be mixed on a 50:50 ratio with honey if you prefer a sweeter, softer version. This is especially beneficial if you have a sore throat.

It also makes an amazing dressing if mixed with your favourite oils, and lovely over veggies and salads!

I add different things every year, according to what calls to me, but I've listed the essential recipe of what you definitely need in it, and all the rest can be extras according to what's in your cupboard or seasonal herbs.

Fresh ingredients can be switched out to dried, and you can use powdered herbs too.

I've used raw organic apple cider vinegar with the mother.

Recipe: For a 3 litre Jar

🧄 MY MUST HAVES:

* 1 large Horseradish root
* 2 x Onions (red have more antioxidants)
* Large piece Fresh Ginger 250g
* 5 x Red & Green Chilli's
* Garlic cloves x 10
* Rosemary (Fresh large handful)
* Thyme (Fresh large handful)
* Sage (Fresh large handful)
* 2 x Bay Leaves
* 2 Tbsp x Black Peppercorns
* 2 Tbsp x Coriander
* 2 Tbsp Tumeric
* 3 x Star Anise pieces

🌶 EXTRAS in this batch

* Borage flowers and leaves
* Nasturtium flowers and leaves
* Hedge Berries: Sloes, Rosehip, Hawthorn - (Fresh large handful)
* 1 Tbsp Mustard Seeds
* 1 Tbsp Caraway Seeds
* 1 Tbsp Cayenne Powder

🍎 Cover to the top of your chosen jar with Raw Organic Apple Cider Vinegar with the Mother.

🌿 METHOD

* Choose quantities according to the size jar you have, until about ⅓ to ½ half full.
* Chop or grate all ingredients to a similar size.
* Layer into a clean, sterilised jar. If using a screw top you may need to use a plastic lid or add a layer of cling film under your metal lid to stop the vinegar rusting the lid.
* Stir well, and then shake it every day for 4-6 weeks.
* Store in a dark place.
* Strain and put into sterilised bottles.
* It will keep at least 12 months.
* Don’t make 5 litres like I have! 😉🔥🌶

10/10/2025

🙌💗🙌

Today we recognise the importance of caring for our mental and emotional wellbeing. At the UK Reiki Federation, we believe that nurturing inner balance is at the heart of true wellness.

Reiki can be a powerful complement to your mental health journey - offering a calm space to breathe, release tension, and reconnect with a sense of peace. While Reiki is not a substitute for medical or psychological treatment, many people find it helps them manage stress, restore balance, and support emotional resilience.

As we mark this important day, take a moment to check in with yourself - rest, reflect, and honour the connection between mind, body, and spirit.

💚 Small steps toward stillness can create big shifts in wellbeing.

www.reikifed.co.uk

06/02/2025

It is ok.

Sometimes life just has other plans for you.

Rest and recuperation is sometimes exactly what is needed to find your peace and build your resilience.

💗🫂💗

01/02/2025

Imbolc Blessings to you all! 🌱🥰🌿

20/12/2024

Winter Solstice/ Alban Arthan Blessings to you all!

We will be spending the next few days, spending time with family and friends, as we celebrate the rebirth of the Sun and the return of the light! 🌞

Have a lovely weekend everyone 😘 🌿💗❄️🎄

12/12/2024

Thankfully, herbal tonic wines and therapeutic herbal cacao chocolate is a thing! 😉🍷🍫🫕

Remember Kids, everything in moderation! 😉😋

11/12/2024

11/12/2024

As Paul is now in his second week, post op, and hospital appointments and travel have been just ridiculous, my study time is practically non-existant!

Waiting around in hospital carparks is the only spare time I seem to be getting to catch up on some reading, and watch some of my seminars and workshops.

Today I will be mostly watching CBD Oil in Practice, Materia Medica for Managing Cancer, and delving deeper into our digestive system for my nutrition case studies!

07/12/2024

Storm Darragh has made sure we are having chilled out Saturday.

It's giving me a good opportunity to catch up on my reading, and also enjoy a herbal coffee, to give you that warming 'hug in a mug'.

Coffee, in moderation, can be a fantastic helper to the body. It will support the liver, nervous, circulatory, respiratory and digestive systems, whilst boosting your mood on a dull and miserable day!

☕️ If you'd like to try it, I made enough filter coffee for two people in a cafetiere.

🌹 I then added ½ tsp of ground Allspice, 2 crushed Cardamon Pods, and a teaspoon of dried Rose petals, and give it a stir.

⏳️ Leave to brew for 5-10 minutes. Drink black, or advice a splosh of cream, or milk of choice.

🧘‍♀️ Sit, sip, and relax and enjoy, preferably snuggled in a blanket, watch you're favourite Saturday morning tv.

We are currently watching Mary Berry making something fabulous, then I'm catching up on my Gardeners World, and may yet settle down with a cheesy Christmas movie later!

Enjoy!

😉🤶🎅🎄

30/11/2024

I've spent a chilled out couple of hours draining and straining my Lavender Flower infused olive oil, fresh Rosehip, and fresh Dandelion Root in Brandy tinctures.

The lavender oil, has been sat on a sunny windowsill for 10 weeks, slowly infusing its properties, and will be used to make a test skin balm and cream.

The milky substance you can see in the Dandelion root tincture, is Inulin, which can act as a powerful prebiotic to help with digestive issues.

It is also a powerful immune booster and anti-inflammatory, and helps the body to rid itself of excess fluid.

I made a Dandelion flower and leaf tincture in the late spring, so I will blend a little of the two tinctures together, to make a complete plant blend, to maximise their benefits.

The Rosehip tincture tastes amazing in the brandy, and it was very hard not to treat it as liqueur!

It has other work to do in my medicine cabinet though, it will be used to help to boost the immune system, and help the body with its anti-oxidant, antinflammatory and pain relieving properties.

🥰🌿💗