I love avocados. They are a staple in my house, and I eat them almost daily. I add avocado to salads, to burgers, and to eggs. I eat avocado by itself with a sprinkle of salt. But most of the time, I make them into guacamole. When we had a picnic in the park the other day (you can read about it HERE), we took along homemade guacamole with us.… Continue reading
recipes
Healthy Snack: Apple with Peanut Butter
My 6-year-old was looking for a treat this afternoon. We had too much going on to tackle a big baking project, so I decided to pull out this old standby. It’s simple, nutritious, tastes great, is full of fiber, and it has a nice balance between fats and sugars. Best of all, both of my boys though it was a wonderful treat.… Continue reading
Decorating Spring Eggs (+ egg dye recipe)
With Easter on its way next weekend, we’ve been seeing eggs, bunnies, and chicks everywhere (not to mention a plethora of goods containing huge amounts of sugar, and even more insidiously lots of high-fructose corn syrup, artificial dyes, unhealthy oils, genetically modified soy, and chemical preservatives).
We avoid bringing unhealthy sweets into our celebrations, including our celebration of the rebirth of the natural world around us in the Spring.… Continue reading
Potato-free Shepherd’s Pie
Several months ago, we had a bunch of leftover pureed cauliflower “mashed potatoes” (recipe HERE). On a whim, I decided to make a shepherd’s pie using the cauliflower as a topping. Everyone loved it, and it’s now become a regular part of our dinner rotation. For this reason, I’ll steam and puree 3-4 heads of cauliflower at a time – so we have enough for our first dinner as well as enough to top our shepherd’s pie with leftovers.… Continue reading
Homemade Natural Scouring Powder
The other day I was reading about the many hazardous chemicals contained in everyday cleaners. While we’ve replaced most of the cleaning products in our home with safer versions or products that I make for us, it’s rather concerning to me that trying to clean up can be linked with so many health hazards.
We’ve been using a “green” scouring powder for years.… Continue reading
Simple Spring Salad
As the days get longer and warmer, I find myself desiring more fresh raw greens in my diet. Perhaps it’s something primal; my body instinctively knows that this is the time of year when fresh greens start to become available, and that it needs them to help clean things out after a winter spent in relative hibernation. But whatever it is, recently I’ve found myself craving more salads.… Continue reading
Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream
We’ve had several warm days in a row. When our local dairy cow-share had an unexpected supply of cream, my 6-year-old immediately asked if we could use it to make chocolate ice cream.
I wanted to fulfill his desire without serving up a bowl of typical, sugar-laden ice cream. So I made our own ice cream that I sweetened with bananas.… Continue reading
Grain-Free Bread
The other day we read a book that involved sandwiches. Since we don’t eat grains, we don’t regularly have bread in our house. As a result, my kids have never had a traditional sandwich. They’ve certainly had their share of roll-ups, but not a regular two-piece-of-bread-with-filling-in-the-middle sandwich. After reading the book, my 6-year-old really wanted to try a sandwich.
While I’m very careful about the food that I feed to my kids, both for health and food allergy reasons, I also try hard to make sure that they don’t feel deprived on our diet.… Continue reading
Homemade Elderberry Syrup
Elderberry syrup is a great, traditional way to boost immunity. Our naturopath recommends taking some at the first sign of a cold or flu. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to find high-quality organic elderberry syrup that doesn’t contain vegetable glycerin.
We try to avoid foods containing vegetable glycerin as a preservative because glycerin can coat your teeth and thereby prevent the natural tooth remineralization process.… Continue reading
Pureed Cauliflower “Mashed Potatoes”
If you’re looking for a way to incorporate more vegetables into your diet, or simply looking to lower the glycemic index of the foods that you’re consuming, this recipe is a great comfort-food inspired way to do both.
While it doesn’t taste exactly like mashed potatoes (it is, after all cauliflower), I’ve surprised many people by telling them that they were eating cauliflower.… Continue reading