I've got an easy, nourishing main dish recipe for you today! These Nightshade-Free Chicken Tacos are super easy to prepare and perfect if you are following our Elimination Diet or another special diet such as an autoimmune diet or a diet specific for arthritis. My children also love this recipe! The chicken taco filling is cooked in a Crockpot making the prep time less than 10 minutes. I like to serve the taco filling with my Plantain Tortillas (pictured here) or my gluten-free brown rice flour tortillas. The filling is also wonderful served inside of a baked half of a kabocha or delicata squash, topped with greens and sprouts of course!

Need a little more assistance in the kitchen creating this meal? Then check out the elimination diet video cooking series I created on how to make plantain tortillas and this chicken taco filling, plus a few more easy and delicious elimination diet recipes. You can sign up here to watch the videos.

Use this recipe for Phase 2 of our Elimination Diet program. Not quite sure what an elimination diet is? An elimination diet is a powerful tool to get to the root of most diseases and disorders. Why? Because most disease begins in the gut. The gut has the highest concentration of immune cells, and the most common thing that the immune cells will react to is food.

When you are constantly in pain, moody, and fatigued, your body is inflamed. In other words, your immune cells are being irritated by something in your environment. What is the most likely suspect that is irritating you? Surprisingly, it’s your food.
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It's not easy coming up with a whole food-based frosting that is as nutritious as it is tasty, but way back in 2010 I came up a sweet potato icing recipe based off of the ingredients I was using in the liquids for this Buckwheat Cinnamon Roll Recipe. I've made a number of different variations on this theme and included some in my cookbooks. I have even made this into a chocolate sweet potato frosting! Below you will find a delicious dairy-free sweet potato buttercream that you can use to frost your cakes or cookies.

Use this frosting to make sandwich cookies using my Gluten-Free Shortbread Cookie Recipe, or use it to frost your favorite cupcakes. Using orange-fleshed sweet potatoes will create a beautiful orange frosting (perfect for fall holidays), while using white-fleshed sweet potatoes will create a gorgeous white frosting (to replace those sugary vanilla frostings).
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Today I wanted to share a recipe from my Nourishing Meals cookbook with you—another kneadable gluten-free bread! Creating a recipe for kneadable gluten-free (and xanthan gum-free) bread took me years and years to develop.

I still remember walking into my oldest daughter’s first week of preschool. The smell of freshly baked spelt rolls wafting throughout the house like a sweet perfume pervades my memory. My daughter took great care in carefully kneading each ball of dough into the shapes of her desire. The warm rolls were always served with raw honey and butter. All week she looked forward to bread day.

A few years later my second daughter was entering preschool. We found out she was sensitive to gluten during her toddler years, so she could not participate in the process of bread baking in preschool or kindergarten. I was at a loss for what to do. Yes, I was able to replace the gluten with gluten-free options, but none she could knead. None where she could be part of the process of grinding the grain into flour. None that connected her to the meaningful work that the whole process of bread baking imbued.

Inspired by the very real fact that my daughter could not participate in the entire experience of bread baking, I started down a path that was years in the making. I was almost there in the spring of 2010 when I posted this gluten-free baguette and Garlic-Rosemary White Bean Dip. I had been using chia and flax already for a while to help mimic the texture of gluten, but something was still missing. Still determined to create a kneadable gluten-free bread without xanthan gum, I had a flash of inspiration one day. What would happen if I added psyllium husk to the mix? I already knew how it worked to absorb liquid and create a gel, and so I had a pretty good feeling that it might help to mimic gluten in baking recipes. And that was it. I had finally cracked the gluten-free bread code! I eventually shared my Farmhouse Seed Bread recipe here with you in 2011. After many failures and triumphs (and partially edible loaves of gluten-free bread), I finally created a recipe that actually needs to be kneaded—a delicious, chewy round loaf of bread made from whole food ingredients! That recipe eventually morphed into many more gluten-free bread recipes using the basic framework I had developed, including this Buckwheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread and more, which can all be found in my Nourishing Meals book.

Years later, my twin boys entered kindergarten. By then there were so many children who were sensitive to gluten that the class was designated a gluten-free classroom, and their teacher only used my recipes for bread baking day. They ground their own buckwheat flour using a hand crank grinder. Different combinations of teff flour, brown rice flour, buckwheat flour, and arrowroot powder were used to form the dough. My boys would come home with rolls that they had carefully crafted into different shapes, tucked inside of little napkins. “Mom do you want to try my bread?” they called out to me after pick-up. Smiling, I said "yes."

Baking gluten-free bread is quite simple, though it requires a few extra ingredients compared to wheat-based bread recipes. To replace the gluten—the protein that gives bread it’s chewy texture and what helps it to rise by allowing gas bubbles to get trapped—I use a combination of ground chia seeds and psyllium husk. These ingredients form a gel that acts like gluten, allowing gas bubbles from the yeast fermentation to get trapped so the dough can rise. They also help to hold moisture and bind everything together.

Any gluten-free flour or blend of flours can be used in this recipe, but by using raw buckwheat groats, which can be ground into a soft flour using a hand or electric grain grinder, children get to experience the whole process of bread making, from grain to loaf—connecting head, heart, and hands.
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I finally have the recipe many of you have been waiting for....the gluten-free, berry scone recipe you've seen me post about on Instagram over the last few weeks. Although I used raspberries once, they are out of season right now and just too darn expensive to keep using. Instead, I've been making these with the frozen blueberries we have in our freezer from last summer's harvest. You could use any berry in this scone recipe. Try blackberry, chopped strawberries, marionberry, or blueberries. I've also tested this recipe using diced (very small) Granny Smith apples with added cinnamon, which were quite delicious as well. Oh...and this recipe is xanthan-gum free of course!

If you haven't seen our brand new Whole Life Nutrition website already then you might want to check it out: www.WholeLifeNutrition.net. We've begun to add articles and videos, and will be adding a lot more content and features in the coming weeks so stay tuned. You can sign up for our newsletter there and get our Free Clean Eating Cookbook and Grocery Shopping Guide if you would like (all new gluten-free, whole foods recipes).
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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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I love a good cobbler, especially in the summer when our kitchen is brimming with fresh fruit! I created this gluten-free cobbler recipe after our first blackberry harvest. For those of you not living in the pacific northwest, you should know that blackberries grow everywhere here....a great food to wild harvest and freeze! We recently picked 12 more quarts of berries, made two more cobblers, and froze the rest (and of course enjoyed as many as we could straight from the vines).

This vegan, gluten-free cobbler recipe uses sprouted brown rice flour, which I've used in other recipes, such as my Sprouted Brown Rice Bread and my Brown Rice Flour Tortillas. You can purchase sprouted flour here or here. This satisfying dessert recipe can also be used during our Elimination Diet in phases 2 and 3. Be sure to use my Homemade Corn-Free Baking Powder here to make it Elimination Diet friendly! That recipe can be found in both of my cookbooks and here on Instagram.
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I love making big salads in the summertime with the abundance of fresh, organic vegetables we have growing in our garden. Each day it's a different salad. Sometimes I get on a kick and will use the same vegetables and dressing for days in a row. Lately I've been making this amazing Creamy Lemon-Dill Dressing. It's so good, I usually double the recipe below so I can have leftovers for the next day!

I've been posting photographs and the occasional recipe (or at least the ingredients) to my Instagram account. So be sure to go there to get the scoop on how I live this organic, gluten-free, whole foods lifestyle daily with five children.

If you are not familiar with nasturtium or kohlrabi….let me explain. First off, it's great for our bodies and our taste buds to experience new flavors and new plant chemicals. Remember, your genetics have less to do with your health than the environment that they are exposed to. Research has discovered over tens of thousands of miraculous plant chemicals in the last few decades, and it appears that each plant has it's own powerful array of these compounds.

The nasturtium plant is an annual that produces beautiful bright orange edible flowers and tender green leaves, both of which have a delicate peppery flavor. They are great companion plants for your garden, attracting beneficial predatory insects.  Kohlrabi is a cruciferous vegetable, sometimes known as a German turnip, that is delicious either raw or cooked. I prefer eating it raw in salads, or as an alternative to chips for homemade dips. We use the tender, mild tasting greens as wraps in place of tortillas.
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Hello dear readers! I have a special treat for you today....literally! A dairy-free, grain-free "cheesecake" made from my Soured Coconut Cream recipe. This no-bake recipe is so simple to make and will delight your friends and family. I've tested it many different ways to get the perfect ratio of ingredients, in fact maybe too much, because now I want nothing to do with coconut milk!

The secret little ingredient in this recipe that helps hold it together and lighten it up is....agar powder! Agar is a gelatinous substance derived from red algae. When it is mixed with a liquid and heated it forms a gel. You can actually make vegan "jell-o" with it using fruit juice. I use this brand of agar powder. Make sure you don't use agar flakes, as the amount needed is different as well as the fact that they need to be soaked in a liquid before using them. You may be able to substitute grass-fed gelatin but I'm not sure on the amount. You would need more than a teaspoon for sure, maybe 1 tablespoon?

If you don't want to use the raspberry topping, try drizzling each slice with warm chocolate sauce and topping with fresh berries. You can use the Chocolate Ganache recipe here if you like.
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Do you ever crave that rich, creamy taste of sour cream but are sensitive to dairy products? I created a very simple replacement for sour cream that can be dolloped over baked potatoes or yams, spooned over beans and rice, added to tacos, used to make a layered taco salad, or used to make no-bake "cheesecakes"!! Seriously, where can't you add a spoonful of this rich dairy-free sour cream?

This recipe can actually be found in my brand new, completely revised Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook. I created a whole new chapter entitled "Get Cultured!" full of healthy cultured foods like this one. Think Live Hot Pepper Relish, Pickled Basil Beets, Kombucha (with flavor variations), Coconut Milk Yogurt, and so much more! I just couldn't wait to share this recipe with you so I decided to post it today. If you are interested, the new book releases on April 29th, 2014, and is available for preorder now!
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We have a garden full of tender fresh collard greens right now which is what inspired me to create these nourishing raw wraps! My children even love them. Well, my 8-year old thinks they are just okay, and the littlest one can only really eat the pâté and cucumber strips, but the rest of the gang enjoys them!

I know I haven't been blogging much lately. I have a one-year old now who is into everything.....and four other children. Need I say more? However, we do have a new website in the works which I'm excited to share with you, so stay tuned! If you want to keep up with what I'm cooking and creating in my kitchen please follow me on Instagram. In the meantime....please enjoy this raw collard wrap recipe!
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Here is a hearty, antioxidant-rich, winter pilaf recipe for all of you wild rice fans out there! This simple recipe makes a perfect addition to your holiday table. It can even be used as a stuffing for turkey. I like to add chopped, roasted hazelnuts just before serving. It's seriously good, and good for you!

Wild rice, kale, and fresh cranberries are super foods! Did you know that fresh cranberries, which are in season right now, are high in a multitude of cancer-protective nutrients? They are also an incredible food for reducing inflammation! We are adding a handful to our green smoothies nearly everyday while they last. Cranberries contain a unique mix of potent antioxidant compounds including proanthocyanidins, resveratrol, pterostilbene, and Vitamin C. Proanthocyanidins are anti-inflammatory, have been shown to be helpful in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, and help to improve immune system function. Resveratrol and pterostilbene are the amazing anti-aging compounds also found in red wine!
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I thought these healthy gluten-free chocolate cupcakes with bright orange frosting looked quite festive for halloween. You could even offer them to your children in exchange for their candy loot! My children normally go trick-or-treating and then come back home and give most of their candy away to the last of the trick-or-treaters. Oh what joy they have in doing this! Then they put whatever remaining candy they have next to their bed and in the middle of the night the hungry candy gnome comes to take it away. In exchange he leaves them some healthy treats like pomegranates, herbal tea bags, and oranges. Seriously, my children think pomegranates ARE candy and are absolutely thrilled to each have their own left by a mysterious candy gnome! If you plan on using this tradition with your children, it is best to start when they are young.
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We just got back from visiting family in the midwest. This recipe is one my mom likes to make often, though I have put my own twist to it. She asked me to make it one evening for dinner, but we were out of sliced almonds, which she toasts on the stove with a little bit of honey and sprinkles over the salad. I found raw pumpkin seeds in her freezer and devised my own version of candied seeds. We made this salad again and again during our trip and everyone enjoyed it!

Since we've been back home, our children have been picking all of the juicy, ripe strawberries growing in a special 3-tiered strawberry bed we built a few years ago for our backyard. I am not sure there will ever be enough for a salad! If you don't have strawberries available, try fresh blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries instead.
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Making your own hemp milk is easier than buying it! Plus by making your own, you don't get any extra added ingredients, just pure creamy goodness. However, since there are no added flavorings, this milk tastes a lot like hemp seeds (as it should) so the flavor might be a tad stronger if you are accustomed to store-bought hemp milk. We buy Nutiva shelled hemp seeds in bulk through amazon.com. I like to store a jar of them in the refrigerator and the rest in the freezer to keep them fresh.

Use this milk for baking, in pancakes, as a dairy-free milk base for smoothies, poured over whole grain breakfast porridge, or just for drinking. It stores best in the refrigerator in a sealed glass jar or pitcher for 3 to 4 days. The small glass pitcher you see in these photos is from our local food co-op. I actually have two different sizes, both which have a really nice lid that screws on. I store my homemade almond milk and cashew milk in these glass pitchers as well.

Homemade hemp milk is also suitable for anyone following an Elimination Diet. It can be used in all phases of the diet! Hemp seeds are high in easily digested protein, if fact, they contain all 20 known amino acids!

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We receive quite a few comments and requests about nut-free recipes. Indeed, we do eat a lot of nuts, but we enjoy seeds quite often as well. This creamy ranch-style dressing is perfect to top any type of green salad, be it a crispy romaine salad or a picnic potato salad. If you use less water the dressing is a creamy dip for carrot and celery sticks. I also love that this dressing is raw, made from soaked raw sunflower seeds. Before you go to bed at night just place the seeds in a bowl and cover with filtered water. If I am making this dressing for dinner then I would begin soaking the seeds around lunchtime.

I use lemon juice and garlic in this dressing, which for some breastfeeding moms might be problematic (if your baby is very young). Our baby just turned 3 months and can tolerate just about anything I eat now. Early on I could not eat lemon juice or raw garlic. So if you are making this recipe for a new mom or are breastfeeding yourself (or cannot tolerate citrus), I would replace the lemon with about 3 tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar or coconut vinegar and omit the garlic.
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This is a super simple recipe for making your own refined sugar-free, nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free candy. It has only two ingredients plus a little sea salt. It kind of reminds me of a Tootsie Roll but without all of the cell-damaging hydrogenated oils, genetically engineered corn syrup, artificial flavors, and sugar!

I am not sure how we have gotten so offtrack when it comes to celebrating holidays. Holidays have become completely commercialized. Halloween is now celebrated by giving pounds of chemical and sugar laden "food" to children wrapped up in plastic packages that end up in a landfill. Our children don't need one more thing damaging their growing bodies. But what do you do? Keep your children from a tradition that has been taking place in our country since the 1930's or let them be part of the fun?

Our tradition on Halloween began when our first daughter was three years old, which was her first year trick-or-treating. We take our children out early, all dressed up in costumes (this year purchased at our local consignment store). They trick-or-treat for about an hour. Then come home and get to choose one piece of candy to eat, usually a lollipop. Then the rest gets put under their bed for the Candy Gnome. The Candy Gnome lives off of candy alone and is very happy to find it there waiting for him. So in return he gives the children each a special treat (a healthy treat)! This is usually a pomegranate, fruit leather, and an herbal tea bag for each child. Our children are thrilled when they wake up on November 1st. Seriously. Though last year the Candy Gnome didn't get much to eat because they happily gave most of it away to other trick-or-treaters later in the evening!



Maple-Sunbutter Candy

I use organic grade B pure maple syrup in this recipe. Grade B syrup is less refined, richer in minerals, and also cheaper! I use Organic Sunbutter which is made from roasted sunflower seeds (the non-organic versions have sugar and other stuff added). This candy can be made with other nut butters if you desire. Almond butter is particularly delicious! I have not tried peanut butter, but I bet it would work too. Adding a few dashes of vanilla would also be good. This candy can easily burn if it is not tended to or if the heat is too high, so watch it carefully. Note: these taste best the day they are made!

1 cup grade B maple syrup
1/2 cup organic Sunbutter
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Place all ingredients into a 2-quart stainless steel pot with a thick, heavy bottom. Whisk together.

Then turn heat to high and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Once it is boiling, immediately turn heat to medium or medium-high, whichever maintains a steady, low boil. Whisk continuously for about 8 minutes or until the candy thickens and begins to stick to the bottom of the pan. Remove pan from heat and remove the whisk (otherwise the candy will get stuck inside of the wires as it cools). Let it cool until it is cool enough to handle, about 5 to 10 minutes. Any longer and the candy will begin to get too hard to work with.



Place a piece of parchment paper down on a clean work surface. Roll warm candy into thin, long logs. You will make about 5 of them. Then slice into 1 to 2-inch pieces. Wrap each piece in unbleached parchment or waxed paper. Let cool completely before serving. Source: www.NourishingMeals.com


More Healthy Gluten-Free Treats:
Maple Caramel Corn
Cinnamon-Sunflower Truffles
Sugar-Free Chocolate Macadamia Clusters
Almond Goji Berry Truffles

Healthy Candy Recipes from Other Bloggers:
Healthier Candy Recipes from The Nourishing Gourmet
Peppermint Patties from Elana's Pantry
Healthy Butterfinger Candy from Book of Yum

Are you in the mood for something a little cleansing after the holidays? Me too. This blanched kale salad is uber nutritious and easy on the digestive system. Pomegranates are almost out of season so eat 'em up while you still can. Our children go through one to two every morning this time of year.

This salad can also be used as part of Phase 2 on our Elimination Diet. It makes a great quick, healthy lunch. Blanch the kale ahead of time and keep it in a container in your fridge. Use leftover salmon or none at all. I toss all ingredients for the dressing into my Vitamix without ever measuring and blend it up in a snap. Toast some sunflower seeds and season them with coconut aminos or use raw seeds. It's a basic salad with great flavors and textures, plus it will keep you energized all afternoon!
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