If you are looking for more ways to use up the last of the lovely basil growing in your garden this season, then try making a pesto sauce! It can be frozen and then thawed in the wintertime for a taste of summer. We've been using this sauce tossed with raw cucumber noodles, cooked quinoa noodles, or to top baked wild salmon!

To make cucumber noodles, you will need a spiralizer. This handy kitchen tool makes noodles out of vegetables....zucchini, carrots, kohlrabi, sweet potatoes, beets, cucumbers! You can watch this short video I posted to Instagram a few weeks ago of me making noodles from yellow summer squash. You can order one here. If you don't have a spiralizer, then just enjoy this sauce tossed with cooked noodles, drizzled over baked chicken or cooked winter squash...or? Leave a comment below with more ways you are using it!
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Cucumber Noodles with a Raw Pumpkin Seed Pesto Sauce (dairy-free, nut-free, grain-free)



Happy New Year! Cheers! This is our favorite green juice recipe, in fact, our children think it's the bomb! They love it. Serve it in a pretty glass with a stainless steel or glass straw. I think you'll find that this green juice is very mild tasting and quite enjoyable to drink. This recipe is part of our new Elimination Diet Program and Book! We've been receiving so many emails asking about the Elimination Diet and where to find it. Our Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook (where the old program was) is out of print now. We spent our summer completely updating the book with 100 new recipes and plenty of new up-to-date science! It will be available this spring, published through Grand Central Life & Style. We also removed the elimination diet from the book because it deserved its own book. We have a brand-spanking new elimination diet program coming for you soon online. We can't wait to share this powerful healing tool with you, complete with new recipes, menu plans, and more!

If you are setting new year's intentions that revolve around eating well (I like intentions far better than resolutions) then this juice recipe is a great one to add to your repertoire! Through our research we've found that it's quite important for all of us, children included, to add some sort of raw cruciferous vegetable to our daily diets. You can make raw salads, green smoothies, or fresh juices. Cruciferous vegetables include kale, collard greens, mustard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, arugula, bok choy, daikon radish, horseradish, radish, turnips, rutabaga, watercress, and bittercress (a common weed).
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Green Cleansing Juice



The other week I was picking my daughter up from art camp and another mother came up to me to let me know the changes in her health that came about after following our Elimination Diet years ago. She said that she looks and feels so differently now and is not the person she used to be....in a good way. She was beautiful and her skin glowing! One of the things she discovered through the elimination diet process was a severe sensitivity to nightshade vegetables. You know what those are, right? Tomatoes, tomatillos, potatoes, eggplant, spicy peppers (including cayenne pepper), sweet peppers (including paprika), pimentos, tobacco, as well as goji berries and golden berries.

Symptoms of a nightshade sensitivity include:
  • joint pain
  • rashes
  • GI upset
  • fatigue
  • headaches
  • migraines
  • inflammation
All nightshade plants, including those growing in the wild, contain toxic alkaloid compounds. In foods, like tomatoes and peppers, these compounds are only found in small amounts so most people can process and remove them from the body and no harm is done. In wild plants, these compounds are found in a much higher concentration, sometimes causing death if ingested.

In people that cannot process these alkaloids very well, (and since many people consume nightshade vegetables on a daily basis) these compounds can build up in the body and begin to cause a host of issues. Of course not all people are sensitive to nightshades so don't get too concerned here that you need to eliminate yet another food from your diet! If you suspect that your body might not be tolerating nightshades then do a simple elimination diet and keep them completely out of your diet (yes, that means 100%) for 3 weeks and then add them back in, noting how you feel.
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Nightshade-Free Salsa


I know my blog posts have slowed down quite a bit lately. Remodeling a house, finishing a book, and being pregnant have taken up most of my time. I wanted to share this very easy, nourishing popsicle recipe with you and your children. These popsicles are sugar-free, sweetened only with the fruit itself. Ripe honeydew melon is very sweet, in fact, when I make these with the melon and mint alone, my children think they are too sweet! Adding the cucumber balances the flavors and adds nutrients like silica, and extra potassium and vitamin C.

I made a large batch of this recipe the other day, thinking they would make a great snack during labor. I made about 15 popsicles in varying sizes. Today we have five left. I usually only keep foods in the house I feel comfortable having my children eat; meaning they can go into the pantry, refrigerator, or freezer at any time and make themselves a snack. Today, though, I needed to cut them off from these healthy popsicles!

Everything is ready now for the homebirth our new baby. I have scrubbed the house down, pulled out the cloth diapers, slings, and blankets. I've washed and folded the little newborn clothes. The girls are really looking forward to being "mini-doulas" helping get the receiving blankets and hats when the time comes, as well as anything else that needs to be done. It could be anytime in the next few weeks.....oh the excitement around here lately! The boys ask everyday when the baby is coming.



Honeydew-Cucumber-Mint Popsicles

I like to use a very ripe honeydew melon for this recipe. You could also add the juice from one to two limes for a refreshing tart flavor. If you don't have very many popsicle molds, I would suggest using either a small melon or half a melon and a medium cucumber. You could also add ice cubes to any leftovers that won't fit into the molds and make a refreshing smoothie. Please note that this recipe is also suitable for all phases of the Elimination Diet!

1 medium to large honeydew melon, seeded
1 large cucumber, chopped
1 large handful fresh spearmint leaves

Cut the melon in half, scoop out the seeds, and then scoop out the flesh into a bowl to catch the juices. Add the melon and juices to a blender or Vita-Mix. Then add the chopped cucumber and fresh mint. Blend until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds. Freeze overnight. Source: www.NourishingMeals.com



More frozen summer treats:
Watermelon Sorbet
White Nectarine Ice Cream (dairy-free)
Avocado Fudgesicles

Frozen treats from other bloggers:
Watermelon Fruit Popsicles from the Spunky Coconut
Banana Ice Cream Pops from Gluten-Free Goddess
Red, White, and Blue Popsicles from Cook It Allergy Free


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Honeydew-Cucumber-Mint Popsicles

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