I've sat down at the computer numerous times this past week, each time starting a new post. I have wonderful recipes with lovely photos to share but somehow I just wasn't inspired enough to follow through with them. Writing a blog post, or anything in my life for that matter, comes from some sort of deep seated inspiration. It's about sharing what's alive in me to light a spark in you.

You'll love this nutritious "cheese" sauce recipe! It is very quick to prepare and can be made into a meal when topped with black beans or shredded chicken, chopped cabbage, and sautéed vegetables. The tortilla chips in these photos are homemade. I use sprouted corn tortillas and slice them into quarters using a pizza cutter then toss them in avocado oil, garlic powder, smoked paprika, and Herbamare.

This recipe can be prepared in just minutes once you have your beans cooked. I use cannelini beans but great northern or navy beans also work. My children love to dip carrots and celery into this dip, or spread it onto homemade gluten-free bread.

Serve this scrumptious salad over mixed organic greens for a balanced meal. This salad is best served at room temperature. This lets the olive oil in the dressing soften. Use leftover chicken from a whole roasted chicken in this salad or use my Poached Chicken Breast recipe to quickly cook up the chicken you need for this salad.

Serve these gluten-free, yeast-free, vegan cinnamon rolls for an Easter brunch or on Mother's Day morning. After following the basic recipe for the dough you can get creative for the filling. Pictured here is just the basic cinnamon and sugar filling but you could do more. You can process dates and walnuts in the food processor to spread over the rolled dough. Another favorite is a fig puree made from dried mission figs, boiling water, and orange zest. I would still add a little cinnamon and coconut sugar to some of these variations.

This is a perfect, easy weeknight meal that uses up leftover cooked chicken! Serve it with cooked black rice, white rice, or brown rice if suitable for your diet. For low-carb or keto diets, just serve it as is!

This herb-roasted leg of lamb makes a stunning centerpiece for a Spring celebration or Easter brunch—deeply flavorful, tender, and infused with aromatic herbs. For the most robust flavor, marinate the lamb overnight in the herb mixture to allow the seasonings to fully penetrate the meat. If you’re short on time, even a one-hour marinade will still yield a delicious result.

You are about to bear witness to our first ever cooking video. We decided to bring our digital camcorder with us to Hawaii in hopes of producing a few cooking videos with all of the "free time" we would have. Instead, the camcorder was filled with laughing children boogie boarding down sand hills, toddlers chasing the crashing waves, and relaxing in the sun. We shot one cooking video, one take, that's it.

Meal prep a batch of this salad on the weekend so you have ready-to-go lunches for several days during the week! The chickpeas can be replaced with leftover cooked chicken if desired! You'll need four wide-mouth quart jars for this recipe.

This dairy-free pesto recipe uses a combination of blanched fresh nettles and fresh parsley. It is absolutely delicious! Fresh nettles can be found in early Spring in very moist, rich soil in sunny locations. Learn more about harvesting fresh nettles with this photo tutorial. If you choose to add grated parmesan cheese to this recipe, then reduce the salt by half! 

Serve this tomato-free salsa over mixed greens, beans and rice, or grilled fish. If you don't live in a tropical area, you can find fresh papaya at some health food stores or Hispanic markets. When we were in Hawaii, I made this salsa with halved local cherry tomatoes and it was just as tasty! Remember to score your unripe papayas gently with a knife (shallow, lengthwise slits) to help let out some of the sap as they ripen.

Nettles are one of the first wild foods to emerge in the spring, and, undoubtedly, one of the most nutrient-dense wild plants! They thrive in rich, moist soil, and in sunny locations. You may find them blanketing a deciduous forest floor in early spring before the tree canopy emerges, or in an open, mowed field. The fallen leaves from autumn create a fertile environment for nettles to emerge from in early spring. After the dense, cold winter months, nettles arrive and remind us to lighten our loads, to cleanse, and to restore.

Meal prep a batch of these detox salads on the weekend using leftover roasted chicken! Then take them to school or work for lunches throughout the week. You can also lightly toast sunflower seeds and pack them in a separate container to sprinkle on your salad when ready to serve.

Brussels sprouts cooked in a pressure cooker are equally delicious as roasted brussels sprouts! You'll want to make sure to use smaller-sized brussels sprouts. If using larger sized, then cut them into halves before cooking. Be sure to use the quick release as soon as the timer goes off, otherwise they will quickly overcook!

Here is a recipe to make your own refined sugar-free chocolate. The options are endless. Replace the macadamia nuts with chopped raw almonds or sunflower seeds. Use chopped dried fruit in place of the shredded coconut. Add raw vanilla powder. If you would like to make this recipe without needing to purchase raw cacao butter, simply melt approximately 2 cups of organic dark chocolate chips over very low heat, and then add the remaining ingredients (except cocoa butter and cocoa powder).

The beets, pears, and almonds marry perfectly with the peppery, minty dressing in this salad. Serve for brunch or with a family dinner. I like to keep the beets, almonds, and lettuce in separate containers and serve over a few days. I cut the pears up when I am ready to serve and dress individual salads then. Serve with your favorite salad dressing or the Pepper Mint Dressing.

These cookies are true to their name. The flavor of the peanuts shines through and isn't masked by other ingredients. They are crispy on the outside, and chewy in the center. I tested them with both sucanat and coconut sugar. The batch with coconut sugar is slightly less sweet. My bet is that any granulated sweetener will work here, such as maple sugar or turbinado sugar. My preference is to always use coconut sugar which is a low-glycemic sweetener. Sunflower butter is another option for those of you who need to eat nut-free.

This lemony, peppery, garlicky, minty salad dressing is fantastic (or shall I say addicting) over crisp romaine lettuce topped with toasted pine nuts, green onions, and shredded carrots. Use it during Phase 3 of the Elimination Diet to marinate cubed chicken. Marinate for a few hours in the refrigerator and then grill.

This dairy-free soup will warm you up on a chilly winter or spring day! Serve with roasted chicken or fish, and cultured vegetables to maximize digestion. If nettle season has come your way, toss a handful of nettle leaves (use gloves!) into the simmering soup for added minerals. Also feel free to add in different fresh or dried herbs such as tarragon or marjoram. This soup can be frozen or made into a half batch for those with smaller families.

Nettles you say? You mean those pesky weeds that grow like wildfire and sting me if I get too close? Yep. These little plants are a powerhouse of nutrients! Once cooked, blended, or dehydrated they lose their "sting." Nettle season varies each year but since this winter has been particularly warm and sunny here in the Pacific Northwest, so it is already here!

I created this recipe without xanthan gum and it worked beautifully. The binding action comes from the arrowroot and the oats. I think there are many possibilities to modify this recipe. For example, adding one tablespoon of ground cinnamon to the dough would be delicious! Or dust each heart with cinnamon before baking. For the chocolate lovers out there, the cookies can be dipped in a chocolate glaze after baking. I like them better plain, but you decide.

Cottage cheese is an easy-to-digest, high-quality protein source (if you tolerate dairy products). A half cup of cottage cheese contains 14 grams of protein! You can add your favorite protein powder or branch chain amino acids for added protein if desired. 

Rockfish are native to the west coast, and have a very mild flavor. Pan frying is a quick and easy way to prepare this type of white fish! It is best to use a very high-quality 12-inch or 14-inch stainless steel skillet when pan frying fish. Serve rockfish with a simple green salad for a light lunch or dinner!

Serve this delicious dairy-free and vegan pudding recipe as a special treat for your family; my children love this recipe! You can use either fresh or frozen mangos in this recipe. You'll need about 5 large fresh mangos or two 10-ounce frozen bags, plus another fresh mango for the topping. 

These gluten-free and egg-free donuts make a perfect holiday or birthday treat! They can be made the night before and glazed after baking. The glaze holds the moisture and the donuts become even better the next day!

If you are following our Elimination Diet then you may already have a container of cooked mung beans in your fridge. Mung beans take about 45 minutes to cook on the stovetop and about 2 minutes to cook in an Instant Pot. Make sure you drain them very well before using in this recipe. The burgers won't work if there is too much liquid added. When cooking your quinoa cook 1 cup of dry quinoa with 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups of water so it is on the drier side.

This recipe makes about ten 6- to 7-inch pancakes, enough to feed five hungry children in the morning! You can easily cut this recipe in half for smaller families. If you want to make these egg-free then follow the recipe for Teff Banana Pancakes and replace the banana with applesauce, remembering to add the cinnamon. I made a simple apple-cinnamon topping for these by simmering two peeled and thinly sliced Granny Smith apples in a little water with a few dashes of maple syrup and ground cinnamon for about 10 minutes.

I like to use creamy Yukon gold potatoes in this recipe though any variety will do. If you use Russets you may want to peel them. For all other varieties it is fine to leave the peel on. Use this recipe to test for a nightshade sensitivity in Phase 3 of the Elimination Diet. Serve this delicious dairy-free soup with a gluten-free flatbread and a green salad.

This delicious, nourishing Phase 3 Elimination Diet recipe is very easy to make. The wraps can be prepared and then stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Go ahead and get creative by using whatever ingredients you would like. I like to add my Raw Super Green Salad to the filling of these wraps, but you could use fresh leaf lettuce or baby arugula!

The salad packed full of nutrition, being particularly high in vitamins K and C, beta carotene, folic acid, manganese, and calcium. The dark leafy greens in this salad combined with the raw garlic provide a plate of cancer prevention. Did you know that we have attacks against our cells everyday which can cause mutations? It is up to us to provide an environment where these cells do not become cancerous.

There are countless variations of vegetables, grains, and beans you can use to created stuffed squash. A corn, cooked quinoa, black bean combo would be quite delicious! If you happen to eat cheese, I would consider topping each stuffed, halved squash with shredded raw, organic jack cheese! If you have extra filling, heat it in a small covered pot over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

Making your own pumpkin puree is really very simple. But there are a few important steps to ensure a thick puree. The water content of fresh pumpkin puree and canned puree can vary widely. Cooking pumpkin with water creates a thin puree, which will then cause your breads, muffins, cookies, and pies to be overly moist. Roasting pumpkin without any added water creates a thick puree that will most likely match the consistency of canned pumpkin. Plus, freshly made pumpkin puree tastes so much better than canned. It is sweeter, smoother, and just down-right delicious!

Serve this delicious raw caramel dip with crisp autumn apples for a nutritious snack or dessert! This dip is very easy to make; you just need a few hours for the dates and cashews to soak. You can also use this recipe a sauce to drizzle over your favorite dessert by thinning it out with extra water!

Serve this classic spring risotto with baked salmon or halibut and a fresh green salad for a balanced meal! Risotto can take some patience, but you are rewarded with an ultra creamy rice dish that everyone will enjoy. Other vegetables can be used in place of the peas; try chopped asparagus, zucchini, or diced red bell peppers.

This salad is a nutritious combination of thinly sliced dark leafy greens, crunchy almonds, carrots, and chicken. You could use sliced almonds in place of the slivered. Try adding daikon radish, chopped cilantro, and sliced green onions too!

Any variety of garden vegetables will work in this flavorful Thai curry. Try sweet onions, cauliflower, cabbage, green beans, and mushrooms. Kaffir lime leaves can be found at your local Asian market. They are very inexpensive and can be frozen. I keep a few small bags in the freezer and then take them out to use as I need them. Kaffir lime leaves look somewhat similar to bay leaves and will give your curry an authentic Thai flavor. Fish only takes about 3 minutes to cook, so be sure to add it last!