Serve this salad as a whole meal! If you can't tolerate legumes then replace them with some cooked chicken or turkey, or just leave them out. I like to keep grated veggies in separate containers in the fridge to make putting together nutrient-dense salads really simple and quick. You can also use your food processor fitted with the grating disk to quickly grate a lot of veggies! Set all of the ingredients out onto your counter and let everyone make their own salads.

The dough for these cookies can be made ahead of time and stored in your refrigerator for up to a week (stored in an airtight container)! You can take a little out at a time and bake what you need if you would like. I use sprouted garbanzo bean flour from To Your Health Sprouted Flour Co. but you can use regular garbanzo bean flour that can usually be found at any health food store and many grocery stores. I find the flavor and digestibility much better in the sprouted version.

This recipe makes enough to frost one dozen cupcakes or a 9-inch cake (double the recipe for a layer cake). Use white-fleshed sweet potatoes for a white frosting (that can also be colored with natural food dye). 

Make this easy-to-prepare meal on a busy weeknight. Then, while it is baking, prepare a quick green salad or prep some green vegetables for steaming or braising. If you don't have fresh herbs on hand then replace them with dried. I like to use my Homemade Herbed Sea Salt or Herbamare to season the chicken. This Herb Zipper quickly pulls fresh herb leaves from their stems...a very handy little kitchen gadget!

This recipe can either be made into one loaf or a dozen rolls. Serve rolls with honey and butter (or coconut butter for a dairy-free option). Be sure to use freshly ground raw buckwheat flour in this recipe (see the tip below)!

Elimination diet cookies made from plantains! You'll love these chewy spice cookies if you are following our Elimination Diet or another special diet such as an autoimmune diet, gluten-free diet, paleo diet, or vegan diet! They are also a perfect treat to introduce to older babies and toddlers. Once your baby is okay chewing soft foods then try making these cookies.

In between nursing the babies, changing diapers, reading stories to the girls, and building block towers with the babies I still need to make a meal, right? Or shall I say three meals a day, every day.

People often ask me how many hours a day I spend in the kitchen. Well it is not as many as you may imagine. I find ways to cut corners, use what we have, and stretch the ingredients I have on hand. I have four children now and life is not as simple as it was with one or two in tow.

I don't know about you all but we sure have been doing a lot of Christmas baking these days. The girls just love to roll out the dough and cut out Christmas cookie shapes! The cookies are fun to give away to Christmas carolers and friends. Today I wanted to share one of my newest creations for you to enjoy this holiday season.

Spring is here, hurray! Spring is a time of change, a time to detox, and a time for greens. How fitting that after a long season of warming dense foods one of the only fresh things available at this time (if we just reverted back to the pre-industrial era) are bitter greens.

I created this soup today for lunch basically out of a craving for something healing and nourishing, while being warming and spicy all at the same time.

Well, we have been very busy lately. Hence the two-week gap in posting to the blog. Tom has been working for months now round the clock on a research paper entitled "Nutritional Deficiencies in Celiac Disease, is Supplementation Necessary?" He is just about done with it, and I am looking forward to reading it! I will let you know when it is published and provide a link to it.

I have had numerous requests for more breakfast ideas that don't involve eggs or soy, and of course without gluten or dairy. Here is a tremendously simple idea for you to take into your kitchen.
Beans and rice. With a Spicy Avocado Sauce recipe.
The idea isn't a new one. Cultures all over the world consume these two staple foods for most meals of the day.

Here I present to you a gluten-free yeast bread, sweetened with honey, reminiscent of whole wheat bread. Dark and hearty, full of whole grain goodness that is usually deplete in gluten-free breads. Because of teff's amazing nutrition profile this bread is higher in protein and iron than most of its gluten-free counterparts.

I tested this recipe a number of times, each time changing one aspect of the ingredient list. I finally settled on this version, knowing it was a winner because of how fast it disappeared in our house.

I am about to divulge another secret recipe. A sweet, nutritious little breakfast treat. Naturally gluten-free of course! Even those of you not following a gluten-free diet will enjoy these pancakes. They are also egg-free making them perfect for older babies and toddlers. Our 14-month old twins began eating these a few months ago and love them. In fact, if we have leftovers, I will pack them in a to-go container and take them for them to snack on during our outings.

Today was our daughter, Gracie's, 4th Birthday. I can't believe she is four already. Where did 3 go? It just disappeared into sleepless nights and endless days with twin babies.

When I was younger my parents made a well-rounded breakfast nearly every morning. Back then this consisted of scrambled eggs, toast, and fruit, or pancakes, sausages, and fresh fruit. French toast with maple syrup was a regular favorite too. Maybe even waffles made in a Mickey Mouse waffle iron. Remember those? Of course some mornings we were all running late and had cold breakfast cereal with milk but I don't remember those mornings so much.

Nori rolls are an all-time favorite in our family. They were a staple food through all of my pregnancies, I could even handle them during the 17 weeks of extreme nausea I experienced while pregnant with my twins!

Whenever our family goes out for a hike, a day at the beach, up to the mountain to play in the snow, or on an airplane trip, these rolls are sure to go too. They are the ultimate in healthy snack foods.

Who needs gluten or dairy when you can have this? Here is a real life testimonial from the mouth of my almost 4-year old daughter (with bread in hand): "This bread is so good you ever made, I love chocolate chips!"

Living in the Pacific Northwest we are blessed with a bounty of fresh, wild salmon, some of which comes from the pacific coast and some from Alaska. My cooking creativity is sparked just by looking at the plump and glossy, pink-hued fillets.

We have been picking pounds of cherries from our lovely friend’s cherry tree. Every year they give us a call in July when their cherries are ready and a call in late August when their peaches are ready. Both of their trees abundantly produce the most amazing cherries and peaches. Even after picking boxes of fruit there is still more on the trees!

Somehow soup and stew weather has crept into July; the temperature isn't even 60 degrees right now! I crave warming, soothing cooked foods in cold weather. This rich mushroom soup is perfect! Serve this creamy dairy-free and gluten-free mushroom soup with a loaf of crusty gluten-free french bread and a salad of greens, crispy apples, and pumpkin seeds with a good balsamic dressing.

This recipe was inspired by an email I received from a fellow gluten-free blogger and mother of a toddler. Her son is allergic to wheat, dairy, soy, eggs, oats, and nuts. She had great success in baking my Rhubarb Muffins and other recipes, and was wondering if I had any cookie recipes that fit her son's allergy criteria and that also excluded seeds. Hmm, seeds too? No flax, no sunflower, no nothing?

Today I offer you a recipe in spirit of sunny days and lighter fare (although it has been a bit chilly here). Adzuki beans and rice are very easy to digest while giving you clean-burning energy to get you through fun-filled summer days. I made this for dinner tonight, though I am looking forward to the leftovers for lunches.

Instead of reinventing the wheel, I thought I would share with you today a recipe from my cookbook (The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook). Some of you may have made these already, but for those who have not, the photos will probably inspire you to give them a try!

Fresh kale salads are so easy to make and incredibly nutrient-dense. Pictured here is kale I have growing in my garden. Kale is a cruciferous vegetable. It has the ability to speak to our genes and upregulate numerous detoxification and antioxidant enzymes! A wonderful way to use raw kale, other than green smoothies, is to toss it with lemon juice and olive oil. This softens it and mellows out the bitter flavors. 

What a gorgeous day here in Bellingham! I think it hit 75 degrees, at least on our thermometer. It was a wonderful way to celebrate May Day. Our 4-year old daughter, Gracie, danced around the May Pole at her preschool celebration and made flower garlands. I made 5 dozen Almond Thumbprint Cookies for the celebration, nearly half of which Tom burned because I left him in charge, its all good though, there was still plenty to go around.

As promised, here it is, finally, the White Nectarine Ice Cream. Naturally sweetened and of course gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free. The photo doesn't do this recipe justice. The consistency and flavors are simply amazing. Even after 24 hours of freezing, it is still soft and easy to scoop just like traditional ice cream made with cream and sugar.

When I make this, my kids practically eat the whole container in one sitting. I have to cut them off and hide the container in the back of the freezer!

Kitcheree is a highly nourishing, hypoallergenic stew made from mung beans and brown rice. It assists in the detoxification process as it is very easy to digest. The spices and summer vegetables create a luscious stew that can be made in just minutes using a pressure cooker, though you don't need one to make this.

We've been drinking a lot of these yummy, dark purple smoothies lately. Since fresh fruit is in abundance right now, why not?

For those of you on the elimination diet, this drink is great during the two day green smoothie cleanse. Yes, I know, it's not green, but it still works, especially if you are feeling bored with the color green and need a change of pace. It does actually have a little spinach in it so we could technically call it a green smoothie!

Every now and then I will bake a whole, organic chicken for dinner. Since figs and sweet onions are in season right now I am finding more creative ways to use them!

This very simple, nourishing soup aids in detoxification, though you'd never guess by the taste. Plus, it only takes a few minutes to prepare....perfect if you feel like you are starving during Phase 2 of the Elimination Diet!

The frost peaches are in and we have surely picked our share. 130 pounds that is! I have spent the weekend pitting, cutting, freezing, and dehydrating these sweet, juicy little morsels of summer nutrition. A way to remember summer, eat local, reduce our carbon footprint? Or just enjoy fresh!

Romano beans are similar to the standard green bean, but they are flat and grow in Mediterranean-type climates. I bought a bag from a local organic farmer at the Saturday Market. I was thrilled to see that this particular stand was using Bio Bags to sell their produce! I sure wish all co-ops and health food stores would switch to this biodegradable and compostable form of plastic!

The other evening, as I was preparing dinner, I thought about using up some of the zucchini that I had. Why not layer it, sort of like scalloped potatoes I thought? Hmmm, almond flour might be nice in between the layers of zucchini as would the sweet walla walla onions I had.

The days of overflowing gardens and refrigerators full of produce are upon us! What to do with all of those peppers, tomatoes, and onions? I got it! A fresh black bean salad!

On Saturday, the girls and I went to the market to pick up what is not growing in our garden, such as peppers (mine aren't ready yet), cucumbers, carrots, and garlic. While I was picking out a few hot peppers, my girls saw some "pretty tomatoes" that they really wanted to buy. Apparently the tomatoes in our garden aren't pretty. So I bought tomatoes as well.

Here is another summer recipe for you to sink your taste buds into. Refreshing, colorful, slightly salty, and full of flavor, this salad would make a great addition to a summer picnic!

Today I wanted to share with you a tasty little waffle recipe that I created a few days ago. I know many gluten-free recipes and packaged products usually contain large amount of not-so-nutritious starches and refined flours such as white rice flour. Well this one doesn't. I rely on flours from super nutritious grains such as teff, quinoa, and millet. These flours not only significantly boost the nutrition, they add loads of flavor.

We've been enjoying our time this week at camp GG's, a name we coined for Grandma and Grandpa's house on the lake in the Midwest. The kids get to spend these endless summer days biking, swimming, water skiing, kayaking, and chasing fireflies at dusk.

This past Thursday I had a cooking class. A dessert class to be exact. There is a lot to prepare the day of a cooking class. Not only do I need to make sure I have all of my recipes printed and ready to go, I also need to pack up most of my kitchen to go with me. Then there is the shopping, class, and clean-up. But when there are children involved, and in my case, four of them, I also need to prepare dinner and make sure the house is in order for the babysitter.

We've been very busy around here lately. Berry season is in full swing and that means it's picking time! Yesterday evening I took the kids out by myself to pick berries. Raspberries and blueberries. There is a small, family-run organic farm not too far away from us that offers u-pick organic berries. We go every year.