Happy Winter Solstice, the darkest day of the year here in the northern hemisphere.

My mother-in-law was visiting earlier this month and she likes to make fruit bowls every morning along with a green smoothie right after her her morning "blissipline" routine. She's almost 70 and is in much better shape than me! Our children love to watch her do the splits and headstands.

I know I predominantly share recipes here, but I have decided to begin sharing more than just recipes, because our health and the health of the planet is all connected in this intricate web we call life.

I have received quite a few comments and requests about nut-free recipes. Indeed, we do eat a lot of nuts, but we enjoy seeds quite often as well.

My children have so much fun cutting out and decorating these lovely gluten-free Christmas cookies! This time of year takes me back to baking gingerbread and sugar cookies with my mother. My brothers and I would decorate dozens of cookies with beautiful colored sprinkles and bright white icing. I wanted to share that experience with my own children, only with a healthier, gluten-free version. This recipe uses coconut sugar as the main sweetener, along with a powdered coconut sugar icing.

When I’m making a special treat for our family or friends, I love using coconut sugar. Its rich, caramel-like flavor adds depth without being overly sweet, and best of all—it doesn’t come with the jittery, heart-palpitating effect that cane sugar can bring. This simple method for making powdered coconut sugar is perfect for icing cookies and cakes or replacing powdered sugar in any recipe. All you need is a good high-powered blender to transform granulated coconut sugar into a fine, fluffy powder that works beautifully in baking, glazes, and frostings.

For many of you Thanksgiving revolved around a turkey, right? You can make good use of the leftover bones and skin and create a nourishing bone broth. Stock made from leftover vegetable scraps and the bones of animals is extremely economical. Think of how much that box of organic chicken broth costs at your local grocery store?

This is my healthier take on the traditional Thanksgiving yam casserole recipe. It has a delicious grain-free crumble topping made from ground pecans, a little arrowroot, coconut sugar, cinnamon, and real butter. I think the topping would also work on an apple or pear crisp/crumble. It could also be the streusel topping to an apple pie.

This year's cranberry sauce recipe uses ripe pears to sweeten up the tart and tangy cranberries. I've added a smidgen of coconut sugar to help balance the flavors. Coconut sugar is a low glycemic sweetener. This recipe can be made days ahead of Thanksgiving day and served cold or warm.

Ever tried black quinoa? It is delicious, and very nutty-flavored. A bit fibrous. Great for salads. It cooks up quickly like its white counterpart. This quinoa salad embodies the flavors of autumn. Roasted sugar pie pumpkin with a hint of cinnamon combined with dried cranberries, roasted pecans, shallots, and a zesty dressing.