Sleeping well is key to proper digestion and detoxification. When we don’t sleep our bodies produce more inflammatory chemicals. This can lead to a leaky gut, as well as pain and inflammation throughout the body. This tea calms the nervous system and helps prepare the body for a deep sleep. Drink 1 to 2 cups about one hour before bedtime.

The majority of people are walking around under constant stress. This can change digestion and immune system functions, and also leave you more susceptible to having a leaky gut. Science is even showing that stress can alter the organisms in our intestinal tract. This tea contains compounds that have been shown to assist in normalizing the stress response.

Chicken broth is rich in gut-healing nutrients, amino acids, minerals, and vitamins. Chicken broth can be made two different ways—from a fresh whole chicken or from a chicken carcass that has been previously roasted. I prefer the flavor of stock made from fresh chickens. Plus, then you have a lot of cooked meat that can be stored in your refrigerator, which can be used to make a quick meal the following day.

Stocks are actually very easy to prepare. You just toss everything into a big pot, cover, and let it simmer for hours on your stove. If you don’t have all of the ingredients don’t worry, stocks are very forgiving, just use the ingredients that you have on hand. The seaweeds add an abundance of minerals and trace minerals to the stock, which is very beneficial as most people are deplete in minerals. Freeze your stock in widemouthed quart jars for later use.

Fermentation is a magical process where beneficial bacteria present on vegetables are allowed to flourish under the right conditions—an anaerobic environment made possible by a salt brine and a covered jar. Just make sure you chop the vegetables into small pieces—this will help them to ferment properly. Lacto-fermented vegetables are a rich source of probiotics that your digestive system needs to thrive! Add a few tablespoons of these vegetables to a meal or use them as a healthy snack.

Turnips comes in various sizes—from small radish-sized ones, to large ones that can fill up the palm of your hand. I prefer to use baby turnips in this recipe because of how tender they are. This low-FODMAP pickled veggie recipe is delicious served with breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

This recipe gets its name because of the red cabbage, green cabbage, and carrots used. It takes about a week to make sauerkraut, or longer for a fuller fermentation! Serve a few spoonfuls of this kraut with every meal.

Growing your own little sprout garden is a fun an exciting process. Broccoli seeds are particularly challenging to sprout as they take longer to sprout compared to other seeds, so be be patient. It takes a few days for the seeds to even break open and they are slow in growing. They say that all good things come to those who wait. Broccoli sprouts are very good things so your patience will be rightfully rewarded!

These nutrient-dense tacos are quick to prepare and make for a great weeknight meal! Use any type of grain-free tortilla (homemade or store-bought). Make a double batch of the beef taco meat to have on hand for easy leftover lunches!

If you are craving a lot of vegetables but don’t want a traditional salad, try these wraps! They are delicious dipped in the Garlic Ginger Peanut Sauce. These are not very filling but highly nutritious, so you may want to make a double batch! We use tapioca flour paper wrappers that can be found at your local Asian market or health food store. They are paper thin and translucent once softened in warm water. These are used in fresh spring rolls at Thai restaurants.

Make this flavorful tomato-peach salsa in late summer when tomatoes and peaches are in abundance! Serve over Roasted Chipotle-Lime Chicken or your favorite soft tacos. Serve this salsa with Fish Tacos or with your favorite spiced bean and grain combination.

These soft tacos are easy to make and delicious served with my Fresh Peach Salsa. If peaches are out of season, or you do not want to take the extra time to prepare the salsa, then use an organic store-bought tomato salsa instead.

I love making this healthy, high protein, grain-free treat for my children as an after school snack during the winter months. It is also the perfect holiday dessert served with a dollop of Whipped Coconut Cream. The smell is intoxicating while it is baking. Serve with apple or pear slices and warm spice tea.

Serve this flavorful salmon dish with the Balsamic Roasted Beets and a large garden vegetable salad. Always remember to purchase wild salmon from the Pacific coast—preferably from Alaska. Avoid consuming farmed salmon as it is a dangerous risk to your health. Research shows that most farmed salmon contains chemicals that damage mitochondrial function in the body, which changes how you process blood sugar, leading to an increased risk for diabetes.

I love making these muffins as a special treat for my children in the fall time. Full of warming spices and hearty oats, these gluten-free muffins are packed with nourishment. You can replace the cranberries with fresh or frozen blackberries, blueberries, or raspberries if desired. If you would like, you can fold in about a half cup of chopped walnuts or pecans to this recipe for more nutrition.

Adding fruit to olive oil and vinegar creates a luscious, fruity salad dressing. If you don't have a white nectarine use a white or yellow peach instead. This dressing pairs with any type of spicy salad green. Try mustard greens or a spicy salad mix in place of the arugula.

This is an excellent salad to serve in early autumn when the fall harvest of greens is available and the green apples and fresh figs are in season. Make a double batch of the dressing to have on hand for a quick salad of mixed greens. Dried figs can easily replace the fresh figs in this recipe.

I love making these high-protein, grain-free pancakes for my children in the morning. They like them drizzled with maple syrup; I like them topped with fresh berries and sliced bananas.

Fresh Cranberry beans can be found at your local farmer’s market in the summertime. They are white with dark pink speckles and are easy to shell. Have your children go into the backyard to shell them on a sunny afternoon. It’s a great activity to keep them busy and feeling like part of the family team! Serve this salad over cooked quinoa or fresh lettuce leaves.

Beets are a nutrient dense food, particularly rich in folates that protects us from heart disease, birth defects, and certain cancers. Kale is a powerful anti-cancer food rich in organosulfur compounds. Walnuts are very high in omega-3 fatty acids, which reduce inflammation, protect against cardiovascular disease, and improve cognitive function. Serve this nutrient-dense salad with Rosemary-Lemon Roasted Salmon and cooked Millet for a balanced meal.

The beautiful dark purple and blue hues you see on berries are actually powerful antioxidants that protect against macular degeneration, reduce cardiovascular disease, decrease cancer risk, and protect brain cells! This smoothie combines blackberries, blueberries, and cherries but you can add whatever frozen berries you have on hand. Since we freeze the black currants growing in our garden during the summer, I like to add a small handful of them to this smoothie as well. Acai powder is a purple superfood powder from a berry growing in the Amazon.

This is one of my favorite autumn breakfasts. I like to serve it with poached eggs or organic homemade breakfast sausages. This meal will definitely power you through a busy morning! To make meal preparation faster I will cut up the squash the night before and keep it in my refrigerator in a covered glass container. Just be sure to dice the butternut squash small so it cooks evenly without burning. I like to use ¼-inch cubes.

Ginger lovers will enjoy this light and creamy soup. Serve this soup with the Spiced Citrus Salmon and a mixed green salad for a colorful, nutrient-rich meal.

Serve this mineral-rich salad at your next potluck or holiday gathering. It also pairs well with baked wild salmon and cooked brown rice. We buy gluten-free, soy-free miso from the South River Miso Company. Miso is a live food rich in beneficial bacteria!

Starchy root vegetables such as celery root and parsnips provide a source of clean-burning, low glycemic carbohydrates. Serve this soup in lieu of bread with a meal. It’s hearty, warming, and very satisfying on a chilly autumn evening.

Craving soothing salty and crunchy? Instead of reaching for a bag of potato chips, try making these. You can bake them at a low temperature or use a food dehydrator. I prefer to dehydrate them, which keeps all of the nutrients intact.

Enjoy this nutritious dairy-free yogurt in place of cow’s milk yogurt. Serve it topped with fresh berries, figs, or peaches and a sprinkling of chopped nuts for dessert. Be sure to use the full fat canned coconut milk for this recipe. The agar and gelatin powders serve as thickeners. For the probiotic powder, I use Therbiotic Complete from Klaire Labs.

Serve this probiotic-rich drink in lieu of juice or soda. You can use the juice from cracked fresh, young coconuts or young coconut water from a can or glass bottle. You can also add freshly grated ginger to the coconut water if you would like to make a warming digestive tonic. To make a live ginger soda, add 2 tablespoons of grated ginger to the bottle on day 1. Then strain when fermentation is complete. Add liquid stevia to sweeten it. 

Serve this refreshing salad as a summer afternoon snack or along or as part of a balanced dinner. It pairs well with baked chicken or salmon and a steamed vegetable. 

I make a few gallon jars of lacto-fermented pickles every summer. They keep in my refrigerator for up to 6 months! When making pickles, it is important to buy pickling cucumbers, often called gherkins, which have thinner skins and fewer seeds. Larger ones will need to be cut into spears, but smaller ones can be left whole. I like to separate them out and make one jar of small ones and another jar with spears.

This simple salad can be used as a base recipe to create many variations according to what you have on hand. In the springtime, try replacing the tofu with chopped hardboiled egg, diced radishes, and fresh dill. Use sea salt in place of the tamari. In the summertime when an abundance of fresh vegetables are available, add diced red bell peppers, blanched green beans, chopped kale, and chopped sugar snap peas. Sometimes I like to sprinkle the salad with toasted sunflower seeds just before serving.

French lentils, also called Le Puy lentils, are named after Le Puy in Auvergne, a volcanic area in the center of France with ideal soil and climate for the growth of the lentils. French lentils have a delicate taste and a fine green skin with steel blue speckles. They usually can be found in the bulk section of your local co-op or health food store.

When you are looking for something crunchy and spicy to eat, try these! I like to keep a jar in my refrigerator at all times. My children sneak the carrot sticks as soon as I put the jar into the refrigerator. You can add other flavors if you wish—try chopped garlic and chili peppers!

This is one of my children’s favorite lacto-fermented recipe. Once fermentation is complete, they can go through two jars in a day if I let them! Needless to say, I have to make large batches of this recipe! Sometimes I like to add hot chili peppers to one jar and black peppercorns to another. I’ve also used pickling spice, which is quite delicious as well.

When you have too much kale growing in your garden and don’t know what to do with it….make sauerkraut! The word sauerkraut is German for sauer (sour) kraut (greens or plants). Serve a few scoops of this probiotic and enzyme-rich vegetable dish with any meal! 

These hamburger buns contain no yeast, which means no rising time! They are easy to make and bake up quickly. Serve them with grass-fed beef burgers, or our favorite, Sloppy Joes.

This recipe is a fun twist to regular omelets. Here in the Pacific Northwest we have access to high quality smoked wild salmon, if you can’t find it you can use leftover cooked salmon instead. I like to add fresh organic cheese from my local farmer’s market. Use organic feta cheese if you don’t have access to fresh cheese, or omit it altogether. Other vegetables you can add to the filling include sautéed zucchini, cooked chanterelle mushrooms, or sautéed spinach. 

Use this hearty, high-protein grain-free bread for small open-faced sandwiches. Try spreading slices with soft goat cheese or White Bean Hummus, then add a slice of heirloom tomato, fresh basil, and a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper. 

Kale and hazelnuts are signature foods of the Pacific Northwest—where we live—so it would make sense to use them in as many ways possible. Kale Pesto is one! Serve a dollop of this pesto over baked organic chicken, grilled salmon, or toss with steamed vegetables and cooked brown rice noodles. 

Kombucha, pronounced kum-BOO-sha, is a drink made from tea, sugar, and a special kombucha culture. A kombucha culture looks sort of like a large pancake, though it conforms to fit the shape of the container it is in. The culture itself is a living relationship of different beneficial bacteria and special yeast cultures. The sugar is a simple carbohydrate that provides food for the yeast and bacteria. The tea provides substances that aid in the brewing process: caffeine, oxygen, nitrogen, tannic acid, vitamins, and some minerals.