My children call this “purple kraut.” The flavor is tangy like regular sauerkraut with earthy undertones from the beet and carrots. You might want to make a few jars at once while you are at it. I find we go through it so fast that it is easier to make more at once. Serve with a meat main dish or bean soup to enhance digestion. I also like to serve this over poached eggs for breakfast.

I like to make a few batches of these just after we go blueberry picking. Making popsicles with freshly picked fruit is an effective way to help preserve the harvest! 

This easy and nutritious salad is best paired with the Garlic Ginger Salmon along with a side of mashed sweet potatoes or cooked quinoa. If you don’t have slivered almonds or have a tree nut allergy, use sunflower seeds instead.

Cashews are a softer nut and therefore do not need to be soaked overnight to be able to blend smoothly as almonds or hazelnuts do. Use fresh cashew milk over a cooked whole grain cereal for breakfast or use it to make fruit smoothies. I sometimes like to make this milk a little thicker by reducing the amount of water to 1 cup, and use it like a coffee creamer in my spice tea for a late night warming drink. If you are not using this milk in savory recipes, try adding a splash of pure maple syrup to it while blending! 

In the northwest hot peppers are grown in greenhouses because our summer temperatures are fairly mild. Hotter weather produces hotter peppers. Nonetheless, our farmer’s markets are brimming with peppers of all kinds from late summer through early autumn. Making your own hot sauce takes very little time and is a wonderful way to preserve the harvest. I’ve kept bottles in the fridge through the winter. This hot sauce can also be canned in small jars using the water bath canning method.

These simple, yeast-free pita breads can be made in just minutes. Use them to make pita sandwiches or use as flatbreads to serve with soup, curried stews, or as a crust for individual pizzas. I like to fill them with Chicken Salad or Sweet Potato Falafels and cultured vegetables and lettuce. My daughters like to stuff them with turkey, lettuce, and sliced Raw Sour Dill Pickles for their school lunches.

I like to keep a few jars of organic unsalted Sunbutter in my pantry for quick snacks and for use in healthy baking recipes such as this one. These bars make an excellent nut-free, vegan treat for your child’s lunchbox!

This low-glycemic, grain-free biscuit recipe is very simple and quick to prepare! Serve them with organic bacon and sautéed kale for breakfast, or with a bean and vegetable stew for dinner. You can also cut this recipe in half and use it to top the Chicken Pot Pie.

Tart cranberries paired with sweet oranges creates a flavorful grain-free rendition of a traditional favorite. Try serving this bread during the holidays when fresh cranberries are in season.

Lima beans are often called butter beans because of their soft buttery texture. They can be found in bulk at your local food co-op or health food store. Be sure to soak them in warm water for at least 12 hours, preferably 24 hours, to aid in digestibility. Feel free to add any vegetables to the soup in place of the yams and peas such as carrots, potatoes, kale, or zucchini.

This thick and rich custard can help to alleviate any chocolate cravings you might be having! It’s really not designed for children—ours think it is far too rich. You’ll need six small ramekins for this recipe, which can be purchased at most kitchen stores or online. I use Dagoba organic bittersweet chocolate, though any brand of chocolate will do—just make sure it’s organic and gluten-free. Serve with a dollop of Whipped Coconut Cream and sliced fresh strawberries.

This soup tastes best just after it’s made. It’s a great option to make on days when you might be feeling a little under the weather. If I have fresh tomatoes in the house I might add one chopped to this soup, but it is delicious just the way it is.

This grain-free granola is packed with protein and healthy fats. With just a smidgen of sweetener to help hold it together and boost flavors you can enjoy this treat for breakfast sprinkled over your favorite dairy or dairy-free yogurt. Top it off with fresh berries or diced bananas for a balanced breakfast or snack.

When purchasing red meat, be sure to always purchase grass-fed, organic beef. This is the most sustainable and nutritious form of red meat. Serve this chili with the Pumpkin Cornbread and a spoonful of raw cultured vegetables to maximize digestion.

A luscious smell fills the kitchen when these grain-free muffins are baking! They are high in protein and low in sugar. Eat one for breakfast with a green smoothie for a vegetarian protein-packed breakfast or share them with your children for a healthy after-school snack.

Use Homemade Pizza Sauce or a batch of freshly made Walnut Pesto and your favorite toppings to make healthy gluten-free pizza! If you don’t have sprouted brown rice flour then use regular, stone ground brown rice flour—they both work great! 

Hummus is a traditional Middle-Eastern dish made from garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas) and tahini. I’ve added several anti-inflammatory fresh herbs and a drizzling of extra virgin olive oil for a more sophisticated, nutrient-dense dip. Use it as a filling for a hummus wrap using either a tortilla or a blanched collard green, or serve with a platter of raw vegetables such as sliced kohlrabi, radishes, cucumbers, and carrots!

The key to this soup is a good stock—using a store-bought stock doesn’t even compare in flavor and nutrition to a homemade stock. I prefer to use homemade Chicken Stock but a homemade Vegetable Stock works well too. Serve with Thai rice noodles, zucchini noodles, or a scoop of cooked spaghetti squash for a light meal.

My children adore a salad made with fresh sweet carrots, cucumbers, and garbanzo beans! The apple cider vinaigrette is one of their favorite salad dressings. They also like it tossed with thinly sliced napa cabbage and peeled mandarins—another easy side dish for a family meal. We also use this dressing for making impromptu grain and bean salads.

I was first introduced to kohlrabi when I worked at a local state park the summer after my first year in college. A fellow co-worker, 65-year old Ben, grew much of his own produce and used to bring me sliced kohlrabi packed in cold water. It was so refreshing and crispy! Ever since then I have been enjoying it and finding new ways to prepare it. Use whole milk Greek yogurt or coconut milk yogurt. They both work great!

Leftover brown rice can be mixed with milk and heated on the stove to create a quick, nutritious breakfast—perfect for busy mornings! I will use either freshly made Cashew Milk or Macadamia Nut Milk. If you eat dairy products, then replace the nut milk with raw cow or goat milk. We like to top the cereal with ground raw almonds, a little coconut sugar, and frozen blueberries.

This is one of our favorite raw desserts. I love giving my children a slice knowing it is full of healthy fats, fiber, and antioxidants. Serve it with candles in lieu of a birthday cake or for an Easter brunch. 

Having nut-date energy bars in our refrigerator is indispensable for our family. I can serve them for breakfast with a green smoothie and bring them along on hikes or outings with my children. I prefer to make a double batch of this recipe when making it, which makes thicker bars. If you don’t have macadamia nuts, try pecans.

My children love the combination of mint and chocolate chips and I feel good serving them this ice cream knowing that it is providing them with healthy fats and a slew of antioxidants. The avocado gives the ice cream a light green color and helps to make it very creamy. Be sure to use a high-powered blender as the avocado and coconut milk thicken up immediately after you start the blender.

My children love anything with curry, and are especially fond of the flavors of Morocco. I always ate a lot of curried dishes while pregnant and breastfeeding and then offered them curried dishes by twelve months of age. From these experiences, their taste buds adapted to accept and enjoy these flavors. I like to make this recipe on a busy weeknight and serve it over cooked quinoa for a simple, balanced meal.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, from February through April, we go out as a family and harvest nettles. All you need is a pair of gardening gloves, scissors, and a large paper bag. Nettles are best harvested when they are young, just a few inches high. This is the time when the energy and nutrients of the plant are going into the leaves, rather than later in the summer when energy is put forth into seed production. We dry our fresh nettles in a dehydrator and then place them into a food processor to break them down further. I store the pulverized, dried nettles in glass jars.

This recipe uses whole grains instead of flours. By soaking the whole grains overnight in an acidic medium, stored minerals become more available and starches become more digestible. Making muffins this way is actually much easier and faster than using a flour-based recipe.

Griddle cakes, hot cakes, pancakes—they are all the same thing—a whole grain flour mixture usually made into a thin batter with milk and eggs. Back in the day when raw milk soured naturally due to lack of refrigeration and farm fresh eggs were outside your back door, pancakes were made because those ingredients needed to be used up. Soaking your grains overnight in some sort of acidic liquid begins to break down phytic acid and release some of the grain’s minerals. Feel free to substitute other whole grains for the ones used in this recipe.

This potato salad has a creamy dairy-free dressing made from shelled hemp seeds and raw cashews. It is incredibly nutritious, full of omega-3 fatty acids and magnesium. The dressing, once chilled in the fridge for a few hours, also makes a great dip for raw vegetables. If you cannot find purple potatoes, use red or yellow potatoes instead.

I make this recipe quite often during mid to late summer when cucumbers, tomatoes, and mint are at their peak. Combined with some homemade energy bars, this salad makes a great picnic lunch during a day hike on the trails. I pack it in small stainless steel lunch containers for each child.

When kale is tender and young it is best eaten raw. You’ll find it is slightly sweeter and not very bitter. This salad pairs well with just about any meal. Serve it with a bean soup and breadsticks or baked salmon and black rice as part of a balanced meal.

This recipe is perfect for lazy weekend breakfasts or large family brunches in early autumn when the fresh corn and squash are in abundance. If fresh corn is out of season, use about 1 ½ cups of frozen organic corn instead. Serve with an arugula salad for a nourishing, balanced breakfast or weekend brunch.

I like to make up a batch of this gluten-free dough and give it to my children to knead and make shapes out of. It is a relaxing after school activity for them and they help contribute to the evening meal! Use this recipe for breadsticks or omit the dried rosemary and form dough into balls to bake into dinner rolls. You can sprinkle the tops with sesame seeds or add seeds to the dough before kneading. Try sunflower, pumpkin, flax, and poppy seeds! This recipe is very versatile, have fun with it!

Use this quick and easy recipe to serve with tacos or to top homemade enchiladas. This recipe is especially good with the Raw Burritos. If you don’t own a food processor you can finely chop  all of the ingredients, though using a food processor cuts preparation time in half. I like to dice the tomatoes—if they are processed along with the rest of the ingredients the salsa gets very watery.

If you are in a quandary as to what to make for dinner, try this recipe! Serve the nuggets with organic honey mustard for dipping, Oven Fries, and a steamed or raw vegetable for a quick, nutritious, child-friendly meal.

This tea is delicious served hot or cold on ice. It has a flavor akin to black tea, only milder with rose-flavored undertones. Be sure to use organic dried rose petals as roses are normally sprayed with pesticides. Bulk herbs can be found at your local health food store or a local herb store.

I love the flavor of soured buckwheat flour and so do my children. We like to make these and set out different fillings for everyone to make their own crepe. Our favorite fillings are sautéed apples with cinnamon; Vanilla Plum Butter, homemade blueberry-honey jam; sautéed spinach and caramelized onions; and fresh peach slices with almond butter.

Making true “sun-dried” tomatoes can be done in a very dry, hot climate in the summertime such as in parts of the southwest and west. Here in the Northwest it is far too moist to dry anything out in the open so we need to use a food dehydrator. Roma tomatoes work best for this recipe because of their low moisture content. Dried tomatoes can be rehydrated with hot water to make tomato sauce or pizza sauce. They are great added to soups that will be pureed. I also use them to make savory crackers and flatbreads.

We grow both Thai basil and cucumbers in our garden, both of which our children like to snack on all summer long. This salad has a little zing from the coconut vinegar and a little spice from the red chili flakes. Feel free to adjust amounts to your liking. Serve with the Thai Fish Curry for a nutritious summer meal.

This raw pudding is similar to tapioca pudding. The chia seeds expand and release their gelatinous substance when soaked in a liquid. Serve pudding in small bowls topped with fresh raspberries, blueberries, or sliced fresh strawberries.