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.

This simple grain salad is something I like to make when I cook a whole chicken for soup. I will save some of the breast meat for enchiladas or salads like this one. Now, if you are vegan please read on to see what I do to make this salad sans meat.

Nettles, you say? You mean those pesky weeds that grow like wildfire and sting if you brush up against them? Yes—those! What many people don’t realize is that nettles are actually a powerhouse of nutrients. Once they’re cooked, blended, or dehydrated, they completely lose their “sting” and become a delicious, mineral-rich green. Nettle season varies depending on the year and climate. Here in the Pacific Northwest, with our unusually warm and sunny winter, the first tender shoots are already here! Perfect timing for gathering and enjoying them in the kitchen. My oldest daughter, Lily, even helped me put together the photo tutorial below to show you how simple it can be to harvest and prepare these wild greens.

Today I wanted to share with you one of our family's most treasured fall projects: making homemade applesauce and canning it. I use applesauce quite a bit in my vegan, gluten-free baking recipes so I thought it would be fitting to demonstrate how to make it with step-by-step photos. You will save a LOT of money by making your own applesauce, especially if you pick all of the apples yourself like we do. Just the other day the kids and I walked around the neighborhood and picked about 70 pounds of apples, Asian pears, and pears!

The phrase "Be a Yocal, Buy Local" still rings in my head from my Bozeman, Montana days. Yes I used to live there and loved it! The co-op there had stickers with the above phrase that I had plastered on my Nalgene water bottle. (No, I do not use a Nalgene bottle anymore....stainless steel for us now!).