After roasting your holiday turkey, save the bones and skin to make a rich and nourishing stock! If your turkey carcass is still whole, you will need a large pot in order to make this. I use a 14-quart stockpot. The trick to making a good stock is to have a good balance of water to veggies and bones. You can salt it or leave it unsalted. I like to add a moderate amount of sea salt to my stocks. Some people prefer to omit the salt because it is easier to cook with this way, otherwise you might end up adding too much salt to the recipe that the stock is used in.

Serve this healthier refined sugar-free and grain-free version of a traditional favorite at your next holiday gathering! It can easily be doubled and baked in a 9x13-inch pan for larger crowds.

This flavorful cranberry sauce can be served over turkey, roasted salmon, and even on top of oatmeal for breakfast! I always use ¼ cup of coconut sugar which is just enough to sweeten it and still keep it tart. You could add more if you like.

These delicious and easy black beans can be cooked at the beginning of the week and then added to egg and vegetable scrambles, tacos, chili, or used to top brown rice for nourishing meals throughout the week! The cooked black beans can also be frozen with some of their bean cooking liquid for future use.

This salad is wonderful to make as a meal prep recipe; simply keep the dressing in a separate jar and take out portions as needed throughout the week. Other vegetables can be added to the salad depending on your diet and preferences—try adding sliced bell peppers, avocados, shredded carrots, or broccoli sprouts! Kale and cabbage are part of the cruciferous vegetable family. They ramp up the production of detoxification and antioxidant compounds at the genetic level! The fresh ginger in the dressing turns down inflammatory pathways in the body.

Use as many beets as will fit in your baking dish. Once they are cooked you can store them in your refrigerator for up to a week. Try to incorporate this superfood into your diet a few times a month!

These grain-free, almond flour chocolate muffins are excellent to make when you have garden zucchini that needs to be used up! Add about a half of a cup of dark chocolate chips to the batter for added chocolate richness! They can also be topped with a Chocolate Avocado Frosting and served as a healthy grain-free cupcake if desired.

This time of year the fruit is falling off the trees and many people wonder how they can preserve it. A lot of fresh fruit ends up rotting. Maybe this is part of nature's grand design to add compost to the soil surrounding the roots? I don't know, but this time of year is very busy for most folks who have fruit trees and berry bushes. There are a few simple methods you can utilize to quickly preserve fruit.

When I make meals like this I like to place everything out on the counter and let the children make their own plates with the ingredients they prefer most. They never add fresh tomatoes but love cucumber salsa! If you want the dressing less spicy then remove the seeds from the pepper before blending. If you want it really spicy, leave the seeds intact and just cut the stem off before blending.

This gluten-free apple-pear crisp is full of warming spices and it's sweetened with a mix of coconut sugar and maple syrup. The crispy walnut-oat topping pairs perfectly with the juicy pears and apples. Serve as a nourishing dessert with an autumn or winter meal.

Serve this refreshing sugar-free lemonade on a hot summer afternoon! My favorite combination is lemon-rosemary-ginger. I also like lime-ginger. Everyone here really likes the strawberry-lime and blueberry-lemon combinations too! You'll need five 12-ounce jam jars for this recipe. You will fill each with two tablespoons of lemon or lime juice, 5 drops stevia, and any fruit or herb additions, then fill each jar with filtered water. 

My children actually prefer cucumber salsa over fresh tomato salsa so this is what I usually make for them, though I use a small amount of diced spicy pepper instead of the radish. However, when I first made this version, they said they liked it better with the radish! Radishes and cucumbers are some of their favorite vegetables you see. I've used both daikon radish and a small bunch of red radishes so use whatever you have on hand. The spicier the radish, the better!

This quick and easy dairy- and gluten-free stovetop chicken casserole is perfect to make on nights when there isn't a lot of time to prepare a meal. I use my 3.5-Quart Cast Iron Braiser for recipes like this. The heavy-duty lid holds the steam in, allowing the rice to cook properly. Serve casserole with a simple green salad for a balanced meal.

This quick and easy one pot noodle dish is gluten- and lactose-free! It can be made in the morning before school and used as part of a healthy lunch for your child, or made as part of a simple evening meal when you don't have a lot of time to cook dinner!

This cake can be made with just about any fruit. Try sliced peaches, blueberries, cranberries with orange zest, or Italian Plums. If you make it with fruit that contains less liquid, like apples or bananas, then you will only need 1 tablespoon of arrowroot powder in the fruit part instead of two.

Make a batch of these overnight chia-oats before bed to have ready to go in the morning for a quick breakfast! Use fresh or frozen raspberries, or try other berries, such as blackberries or marionberries.

This crunchy, zesty, nutrient-dense kale salad comes together quickly and can be served as a light lunch or as part of a nourishing dinner. Other vegetables can be added, such as chopped red bell pepper, broccoli sprouts, or thinly sliced red onion. Sprinkle the salad with toasted sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds if desired!

This fresh and flavorful corn salsa lasts for days in the refrigerator and even tastes better the next day! Serve with organic corn tortilla chips, or with your favorite Southwestern or Mexican-style meal.

I recently bought a box of the most amazing organic peaches from Smallwood Farms so I have been using them in everything. If you don't have peaches use plums, apples, pears or a mixture of frozen blueberries and cherries instead. If you want to make this more refreshing on a hot summer afternoon, add a few handfuls of ice cubes to the blender and blend again. I like to use this smoothie as a late afternoon pick-me-up. Add a squeeze of lime to each serving if desired.

This salad is best served within an hour of making it, though it will last in your refrigerator for up to 3 days. If you have a smaller family, I suggest making a half batch of this recipe. If you can't find heirloom tomatoes, use any variety of organic, locally grown. If you can't find sweet onions use 3 to 4 green onions, sliced into thin rounds.

Catching a flight can be hectic enough—add in trying to pack all of your own food for the day, and it might sound like a daunting task. But I promise you: with a little forethought, it can be simple, nourishing, and completely worth it.

Serve this lovely berry salad in the summertime with grilled fish or chicken for a balanced meal. You can find raw pumpkin seeds (also called pepitas) in the bulk section of your local food co-op or health food store. If you don't want to use pumpkin seeds, try sliced or slivered almonds.

Serve these nourishing sugar-free popsicles on a hot summer afternoon! You can replace the puréed watermelon with either puréed honeydew melon or cantaloupe. Use any fresh organic fruit you have on hand. I like using contrasting colors because it makes the popsicles look so pretty! Don't forget to use seedless watermelon!

Serve this nourishing raw berry tart as part of a summer picnic or 4th of July celebration! Be sure to keep this tart refrigerated until ready to serve.

Italian plums are in season in early September in the Pacific Northwest. They are delicious dehydrated and made into plum jam or plum butter! I also like to freeze halved plums to use for fruit crisps throughout the winter months. This plum butter takes some time to cook, but is very easy to make and can be canned and stored for the winter.

Serve this quick and easy vegetable side dish while summer squash are in season! It is delicious served with eggs for breakfast, or with roasted chicken or fish for dinner.

This quick and easy method of roasting chicken produces very tender, flavorful meat! Serve this whole roasted chicken on a busy weeknight along with baked sweet potatoes or rice pilaf and sautéed kale for a balanced, nourishing meal. Roasting a whole chicken on the weekend is also a great meal prep recipe. You can add the meat to quick salads, wraps, and soups throughout the week! 

Bake a batch of these grain-free muffins when you have too many overripe bananas on hand! You can replace the chocolate chips with chopped walnuts or pecans, or omit them altogether. These muffins make the perfect after-school snack for your children or can be served as part of a nourishing holiday brunch or breakfast!

Children love these cookies packed in their lunchbox, or served as an after school snack with a cup of warm herb tea and sliced apples. I prefer to use a homemade blueberry-honey jam, but you could use any sugar-free, fruit-sweetened jam.

Tender kale, roasted chicken, and winter squash perfectly complement tart apples and a citrus-balsamic vinaigrette in this autumn harvest salad. Roasted hazelnuts, pecans, or walnuts can be used to top the salad. Add crumbled feta or blue cheese if dairy is safe for your diet!

Adding avocado to your smoothies boosts the absorption of beneficial carotenoids from the greens! It also slows the digestion of the smoothie, which helps to maintain blood sugar and keep you satisfied longer....meaning this smoothie can be a meal in itself. To lower the overall fruit sugar (and FODMAP) content even more, replace the frozen cherries with more blueberries or frozen strawberries. 

This incredibly flavorful Thai-style tomato soup is made from roasted roma tomatoes! Make several batches and freeze it in quart jars during tomato season. Pictured here is purple mountain basil I grow in my gardens, however, Thai basil or sweet basil both work well in this recipe. 

Serve this southwestern style kale salad for a simple vegan dinner or lunch. The dressing can be added to the kale and stored in your fridge for up to four days. Store the other ingredients separately to be able to create a quick, nutrient-dense meal in minutes! Serve with Chipotle Yam Fries for a balanced, plant-based meal.

A roasted chicken dinner is a perfect nourishing family meal for fall and winter. Serve with Mashed Potatoes, Gluten-Free Gravy, and steamed green beans for a balanced meal. I like to sprinkle the chicken with plenty of unrefined coarse sea salt before baking. This gives the meat a ton of flavor.

You’ll love this simple, gluten-free flatbread recipe so much it will likely become a staple in your home! The grains are soaked, which increases their digestibility and nutritional profile, blended, and then POURED onto hot baking stones or cast iron skillets. No more wrestling with sticky dough or batter! This recipe makes two flatbreads.

Have you ever tried those salty seaweed snacks you buy at places like Trader Joe's? I know, they're addicting, we've tried them before and my children loved them! I won't buy them because they have so much packaging and because canola oil is listed as one of the ingredients (which is often genetically engineered). My 10 year old daughter has been thinking about a way to make them for months and she finally decided to figure it out last week. I asked her to write a "guest post" for me but she didn't want to. She did, however, write the recipe below but wanted me to "introduce" it. 

Although there is no dairy in this recipe, it could have fooled me. The creamy cheesecake layer, made from soaked cashews and fresh berries, has just enough tanginess to mimic regular cheesecake. I used cacao nibs and shredded coconut as pretty toppings for the bites pictured in this post, but feel free to use chopped pistachios, grated dark chocolate, or anything else that strikes your fancy.