Raw Cranberry Sauce ~ So Easy! (vegan, sugar-free)

If you are looking for an extremely easy and super nutritious cranberry sauce recipe then I have just the thing! I've been making this raw cranberry sauce recipe for a few years and have shared it on Instagram and Facebook but never seem to get around to getting it up on my blog....until now!

Serve this tart and tangy cranberry sauce with your holiday turkey, baked salmon, or winter squash and bean casserole. It's also delicious on top of pumpkin pie! I know, I know. Try it and you'll see!

Did you know that cranberries are one of the most concentrated sources of ellagic acid, a potent anti-oxidant and anti-cancer compound? Ellagic Acid is a phytochemical that is found in significant amounts in cranberries, raspberries, wild strawberries, blackberries, pomegranates, pecans, walnuts, and other plant foods. For the most part, think bright red plant foods that make your mouth pucker! Ellagic acid is destroyed by cooking, so eating cranberries in a raw recipe like this is most beneficial!

Findings from a 2016 study "cast a beam of light on the potential therapeutic use of ellagic acid in obesity-related colon carcinogenesis" (colon cancer). A 2015 study found that ellagic acid inhibits the proliferation of MCF-7 breast cancer cells and that its use could be a "novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of patients with breast cancer." Another 2015 study found that ellagic acid from pomegranates suppressed prostate cancer cells!

Food is medicine! You can use this to your advantage during the holidays and enjoy medicinal recipes like this raw cranberry sauce.

Homemade Sriracha Hot Sauce Recipe (sugar-free)

After a long blogging break, I'm back with an amazing hot sauce recipe for you to make and enjoy for many months. I grew a lot of hot peppers in my garden this year, in fact my garden has been extremely bountiful this year! Up until recently, I've sort of taken my garden for granted. I had no idea how healing gardening could be….until it was all I could do. You see, on June 2nd, just after returning from a functional medicine conference and after two years of non-stop work, I suffered an adrenal crash. Taking care of five young children, updating and publishing a book, developing an online program, co-authoring a new book, and being in charge of the development of a new website and book launch proved to be too much.

Two things that have helped tremendously with the healing process (other than totally slowing down, going to bed early, taking certain supplements, diet, and Epsom salt baths) are gardening and staying off the computer. Being in the fresh air, having the sun beat down on my skin, feeling my bare feet in the soil, and eating nutrient-dense raw vegetables and fruits everyday straight from the garden (your adrenals need a lot of vitamin C to function properly) has been extremely therapeutic for me. In fact, it would be wonderful therapy for anyone suffering from adrenal fatigue or adrenal burnout. The little bit of energy I put in, I got back tenfold in edible bounty. Gardening has helped to reset my cortisol rhythm and nourish me, whereas too much computer time (especially at night) along with too many stressors has led to a dysfunctional cortisol-melatonin cycle. To help heal and regain balance, I’ve also spent a lot of time with my children outside all summer …at the lake, river, ocean, and mountain. Nature is powerful medicine. I encourage those of you who are dealing with a chronic illness to get outside for a walk in the woods, spend time at a beach every week, and take some time to be in your garden everyday (you can start a garden this fall if you don’t have one already).

I just love going into my garden and harvesting the abundance of vegetables growing there, and then preserving them so we can enjoy their flavors, colors, and nutrients all winter long. If you have too many hot peppers, then consider making this hot sauce recipe. It's a perfect way to preserve them! If you don't grow your own hot peppers, then check out your local Farmer's Market; they are usually brimming with all kinds of peppers this time of year!

According to this resource, sriracha sauce is named after the coastal city, Si Racha, in eastern Thailand. Sriracha is used as a dipping sauce in Thai cuisine, and is also used frequently in Vietnamese cuisine as a condiment for pho, noodle dishes, and spring rolls. Of course, we use it on everything! Traditional sriracha sauce uses sugar in its ingredients. Instead, I use sweet red peppers to cut the spiciness of the hot peppers. The sweet peppers also add body and flavor to the sauce.

Cucumber Noodles with a Raw Pumpkin Seed Pesto Sauce (dairy-free, nut-free, grain-free)

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!

Cranberry-Pear Sauce (refined sugar-free)

This year's cranberry sauce recipe uses ripe pears to sweeten up the tart and tangy cranberries. I've added a smidgen of coconut sugar to help balance the flavors but I imagine that stevia could be used instead. Coconut sugar is a low glycemic sweetener but stevia is a "no-glycemic" sweetener meaning it doesn't raise blood sugar at all. This recipe can be made days ahead of the big day and served cold or warm.

If you are gluten intolerant be sure that the coconut sugar you are using is gluten-free. Anything that is dry or granulated like sugar, flours, cornmeal, polenta, etc. can be processed in a facility where wheat or gluten products are processed. I use coconut sugar from Big Tree Farms, which is sold under the brands, Sweet Tree and Essential Living Foods. Our wonderful local food co-op also stocks coconut sugar in the bulk section but it is NOT gluten-free. It comes from Glory Bee Foods. I called them and none of their products are anywhere near gluten-free, so beware. Our other health food store in town, Terra Organica, sells coconut sugar in bulk and it comes from Essential Living Foods so it is okay. My friend Melissa from Gluten-Free For Good made a comment in the post we recently did on gluten cross-contamination pointing out that some coconut sugar brands are contaminated with gluten. Other than the one I mentioned above, I have not seen any sold around here. If you know of one, please leave a comment to help each other out.

Fresh Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce

This recipe in not the traditional way to make pasta sauce using fresh tomatoes. I take the easy and fast route. I just don't have time to remove the skins and seeds from 20 pounds of tomatoes each time I make sauce! Place fresh tomatoes in a blender and blend the seeds, skin, and all. Plus, this way we use the *whole food* -- the whole tomato. Once you begin to make your own you'll never want to go back to store-bought pasta sauce!

I have been buying cases of fresh, organic tomatoes from Smallwood Farms in Eastern Washington. If you grown your own tomatoes, this recipe is a great way to make use of them. The sauce can be canned in mason jars or stored in your freezer for later use. The other day I asked Facebook fans what everyone was doing with the tomato harvest this season. There are so many great comments. Be sure to head over there and check them out if you need more ideas!

Salmon Puttanesca

Today I am sharing my mother's Puttanesca sauce recipe. Nearly every Christmas Eve that I can remember, she makes this sauce to serve over pasta. Can you imagine what it would be like to not be able to feed your family this Christmas? I can't. This is why I am excited to tell you that I am one of over 60 food bloggers participating in a campaign to increase awareness of childhood hunger this holiday season.

Share Our Holiday Table is a virtual, seven day progressive dinner to help raise funds for children in need. Did you know that nearly 17 million children, or one in four, live in homes without sufficient food. As a mother of four, I want to make sure that my children are well-fed daily with healthy, nourishing foods and I know that I am not alone. All parents want this for their children.

Children need proper nutrition for their immune systems to function well, for proper brain development and growth, to be able to pay attention and learn in school, and to be able to run, skip, hop, and jump all day long!

Now we all have a chance to help nourish a child in need. Donate today. Even five dollars if that's all you can do. Every little bit helps.

Raw Caramel Dip for Apples

Happy Autumnal Equinox! As the evenings become as crisp as the apples, darkness begins to triumph over light. Today we celebrate the closure of summer, the dying of the light, and prepare ourselves for a new season. Autumn. As the trees shed their leaves and the plants die back, shedding old beliefs or thought patterns and going inward to feel our roots, our connection with the earth, can be quite powerful at this time.

Last night I was part of an equinox celebration (albeit a day early). The night was crisp and the sky crystal clear with the moon almost full. A warm fire, songs, and good food shared amongst friends composed most of our celebration. One friend brought a delectable raw caramel dip and sliced fresh apples. It was so tasty that I tried to recreate it today. Success! It tastes very close to her version (thanks Janet). Enjoy!

Grated Beet & Carrot Salad with Radish-Miso Dressing

This Asian inspired salad dressing is vinegar-free and citrus-free; two ingredients that are often hard to omit from salad dressings. I received and email from a reader asking for Elimination diet recipes that don't contain any fruit.

Finally, I had the idea to use radishes! This fabulous salad dressing also contains Adzuki Bean Miso, a soy-free and gluten-free miso available from the South River Miso Company. I demonstrated this dressing and salad yesterday evening for an Elimination Diet Class I taught at one of our local co-ops. It was a hit and I am sure you will enjoy it too.

For those of you on the Elimination Diet, how are you feeling? We have received so many emails in the last week regarding this diet I am finding it hard to keep up with! Instead of replying to you individually (since there are many similar questions) I thought I would answer one in each of my next few posts.

A few of you have asked us about protein, specifically animal protein. Some of you have asked if it is possible to up the animal protein content during the beginning of the diet. If you experience blood sugar dysregulation or are pre-diabetic, then following the 2-day detox might be difficult and could pose more problems. We suggest you add in wild caught salmon, healthy fats (like avocado, coconut butter/oil, chia seeds) and crunchy raw salads like this one. These foods pose the least possible reaction, while adding in anti-inflammatory compounds to assist in healing. I hope this will help some of you so you can have the best and most beneficial elimination diet experience!

Macadamia Nut Cheese Recipe

This vegan nut cheese recipe is perfect for topping homemade gluten-free pizza or for using in between layers of lasagna noodles, vegetables, and sauce. It is easy to make using a high powered blender, such as the Vita-Mix.

I find the flavors of this dairy-free "cheese" sauce are best balanced with the acidity of tomatoes, such as my Homemade Pizza Sauce recipe.

Macadamia nuts are expensive and exotic, I know. Just think of this sauce as a treat. A little goes a long way, macadamia nuts are very rich.

Easy Homemade Pizza Sauce Recipe

Pizza! Yay! Today I am sharing my recipe for homemade pizza sauce. And do you know what that means? Yes, a gluten-free pizza crust recipe to come soon!

This sauce is so easy to make. I use a 7-ounce glass jar of Bionaturae organic tomato paste to start. Then I mix in olive oil, honey, salt, and herbs. That's it! Pictured here is a triple batch. We are visiting with family right now so large batches are the norm these days.

Our two girls and their two cousins played restaurant tonight complete with hand written menus, aprons, and wine! This pizza sauce with a Gluten-Free and Yeast-Free Buckwheat Crust, Homemade Gluten-Free Seed Crackers with apples and french sheep cheese, a large Pear Pomegranate Salad, Whole Grain Flatbread, freshly made butternut squash lasagna with Macadamia Nut Cheese, Vanilla Tapioca Pudding, and a sparkling hibiscus cooler were all on the menu! It was quite a feast for all 12 of us.

Luckily the adults got to relax while the girls busily took orders and ran back and forth from the dining room to the kitchen carrying plates of food!

Sugar-Free Holiday Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Cranberries are one of my favorite fruits. Blame it on growing up in Wisconsin, or maybe their tart and tangy nature, or beautiful ruby color. Whatever the case may be, I love cranberries!

I created this sauce to go over my Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake, but it would also work as part of your Thanksgiving feast. Traditional cranberry sauce uses loads of cane sugar. This one doesn't. I use either coconut nectar or raw agave nectar to give it a little sweetness.

Serve it warm or cold, either way it is sure to please. When it is cold I like to use it as a jam to spread over toasted Hemp Bread. Mmmm, so delicious!

Update: This is a cane sugar-free sauce. It still needs quite a bit of sweetener to make it palatable and not overly tart. The sauce is still not very sweet even with this amount. There are infinite ways to make cranberry sauce. Some suggestions include adding diced pears or apples, increasing the orange juice and decreasing the sweetener, or using coconut sugar. Please read the comments below for all of the suggestions. Be creative here and try what works for you. If you come up with something great then leave your recipe in the comments section below. Enjoy!

Spicy Dairy-Free Tahini Dip

I thought you might enjoy this thick and creamy dairy-free dip recipe for your upcoming holiday gatherings. It would make a great appetizer! In this recipe I use a fresh jalapeño pepper and cayenne pepper for a very spicy dip, but below the recipe I have a variation for a non-spicy herbed version.

This recipe is a slightly altered version of one found in a very lovely cookbook entitled, I Am Grateful, Recipes and Lifestyle of Cafe Gratitude. This cookbook is primarily a raw foods cookbook (or uncookbook I should say). In addition to the wonderful recipes with color photos, the book permeates warmth and love. Each recipe is an affirmation. I Am Flowing for a veggie noodle dish, or I Am Light for a dairy-free Tzatziki recipe, or how about I Am Cherished for a Cashew Lemon Cheesecake? They all sound so inviting, don't they?

I can feel the loving energy that was put forth to create this book on each and every page and this is why I want to share it with you. I have other raw food books, but I like this one because of how approachable it is. Enjoy!

Fig-Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe

Figs blended with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and maple syrup....well, what's not to love? This lovely salad dressing is delicious atop a salad of fresh organic greens, maple roasted walnuts, heirloom apples, and fresh figs. Sounds gourmet-ish doesn't it?

Well, you could pour yourself a glass of wine and imagine yourself sans children dining at one of those fancy, expensive restaurants. I do anyways. It's a nice break from watching the twin toddler WWF wrestling matches we have going on here all day.

This dressing recipe was inspired by a salad served at Cafe Gratitude last weekend. My friend and colleague, Dr. Jean Layton, walked to this wonderful, gluten-free, mostly raw restaurant in San Francisco. I ordered the "I am Celebrating" which consisted of a deep dish pizza made from raw buckwheat groats and sunflower seeds topped with an olive tapenade, fresh tomatoes, and a nut cheese. The large salad that came with it was drizzled with a luscious fig-balsamic dressing. The whole meal was so amazing I decided to order another to go. The fig dressing still lingered with me so I decided to recreate it.....

Blueberry Syrup

Today I thought I would share a very simple pancake syrup recipe that is full of blueberry lusciousness. This antioxidant-rich, blueish-purple syrup is great atop freshly made pancakes and also can be used as a Phase 2 Elimination Diet recipe!

My favorite way to use this syrup is to pour it over a stack of homemade, gluten-free buckwheat pancakes. Though lately I have found a few additional creative ways to use it. You see, it is blueberry season out here, and every year we pick at least 100 pounds of these sweet, juicy morsels. That means every year around this time our fridge is stocked with fresh blueberries and a jar of this syrup. Usually I don't measure, but since I wanted to share it with you, I painstakingly took the time to measure out all four ingredients. I know, I work hard don't I? :)

For a Phase 2 elimination diet-friendly breakfast, try pouring this syrup over a bowl of cooked short grain brown rice or quinoa and top with toasted pumpkin seeds and a sprinkling of cinnamon. Enjoy!

Raw Cilantro Lime Chutney

We had a cooler evening yesterday, perfect for Indian food I thought. I made up a double batch of the Lentil and Spinach Dal recipe from my cookbook along with two different curries. One was a potato chickpea curry and the other was a patty pan squash curry. We served everything over brown basmati rice. With all of the cooked food I like to serve something raw that will help digest the meal.

I began making this raw cilantro lime chutney a year or two ago. The flavors were inspired from a chutney served at this wonderful Indian restaurant adjacent to the Kirkland PCC (Seattle area). Tom and I used to occasionally dine there years ago while we were attending Bastyr University.

My children don't eat the chutney, it's just too spicy for them, though they always love the dal and curries I serve it with! We hope you enjoy this too!

Raw Cilantro Lime Chutney

Serve this chutney with a spicy lentil dal or curried vegetable dish. You can use my measurements below or just toss the ingredients into the food processor with wild abandon and see what comes of it. Most likely it will be delicious, this is how I do it anyways! :)

2 large jalapeño peppers, seeded 

2-inch piece of peeled ginger

4 large cloves of garlic

zest from 1 large lime

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 large bunches cilantro (stems and leaves)

juice from 1 large lime

1/2 cup shredded coconut

Place the jalapeño peppers, ginger, garlic, lime zest, and salt into a food processor fitted with the "s" blade and process until minced. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until combined. Store in your refrigerator for up to a week. 

Other raw recipes you might enjoy:

Cucumber Tomato Basil Salad

Raw Mediterranean Kale Salad

Spring Slaw

Raw Chocolate Pie

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Dairy-Free Ranch Dressing Recipe

We've been enjoying our time this week at camp GG's, a name we coined for Grandma and Grandpa's house on the lake in the Midwest. The kids get to spend these endless summer days biking, swimming, water skiing, kayaking, and chasing fireflies at dusk.

I have had a number of requests for a dairy-free ranch dressing recipe. So here it is. I was planning on posting this last Thursday evening, but my lovely sister-in-law went into labor that evening with her third baby. She was helping me with the photos you see here while she was having a few mild contractions. After all of the kids were asleep things picked up quickly and we barely made it to the hospital before she pushed a healthy baby girl out in less than two minutes! Amazing!

I used a buttermilk ranch spice blend from Penzeys Spices in this recipe. You can order it online here. If you want to try and recreate this blend on your own then here are the ingredients: salt, bell peppers, garlic, onion, sugar, black pepper, parsley, thyme, and basil.

This dressing is so tasty that this batch has nearly disappeared in two days! Even the die-hard ranch dressing lovers here have been enjoying it.

Dairy-Free "Buttermilk" Ranch Dressing

This dressing is better after the flavors have had time to meld. Give it about a day and the tartness from the lemon juice will lessen. Use this as a salad dressing over crispy greens topped with summer vegetables or use it as a dip for carrot and celery sticks. Store in the fridge for up to 10 days.

1 cup raw cashews

1 cup water

2 to 4 cloves garlic

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 to 2 teaspoons honey or agave nectar

1 teaspoon Herbamare

1 tablespoon Penzeys Buttermilk Ranch Dressing blend

1 teaspoon dried dill

cracked black pepper, to taste

Place the cashews, water, and garlic into a blender fitted with a sharp blade or a vita-mix. Blend until very smooth and creamy. Then add in all of the remaining ingredients and blend again until just combined.

Pour into a glass jar and refrigerate overnight. Shake and pour over your favorite salad. Enjoy! :) 

Note: If you don't have the spice mix you can easily add the individual dried herbs to your blender and make an equally delicious dressing (I've done this several times)! Add some garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, dried parsley, dried thyme, and dried basil to your blender with the other ingredients. You can taste and add more of a certain herb if needed. You may need a little extra sea salt too (the spice mix contains salt).

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Thai Fresh Green Curry (Vegan)

Yesterday I was standing in my kitchen at 5pm, with four hungry children underfoot, wondering what to make for dinner. I made the usual rounds to the pantry, fridge, and garden. Something spicy, green, and with noodles was brewing in my mind. A green curry sauce, over noodles, with tempeh, broccoli, spinach and zucchini. Hmm, and how about roasted cashews too.

Every now and then I make a simple Thai Green Curry Sauce. Yesterday evening I took note of the ingredient amounts to be able to share it with you.

If you are one who feels intimidated by cooking Thai food then this recipe is perfect to begin with. The sauce is so flavorful while being very easy and quick to prepare. You'll probably find yourself making this over and over again.

Once the sauce is made, you can do quite a bit with it. Last night I served it over Thai rice noodles, sauteed tempeh, broccoli, spinach, and zucchini. I garnished the dish with freshly roasted cashews. (I sauteed the tempeh in a separate pan and kept half of the dish sans soy for those in our house who do not eat it).

Fresh Thai Green Curry Sauce

This delicious Thai style sauce can be made in about 20 minutes from start to finish. I didn't have any jalapeno peppers on hand and so used crushed red chili flakes this time. It tasted just as good as usual! Saute the veggies over medium-high heat for a few minutes (starting with the veggies that take the longest to cook) and then add a little water and cover to finish the cooking by steaming. You can then pour the sauce over your stir-fry.

2 handfuls fresh cilantro (leaves and stems)

2 small shallots

4 cloves garlic

1 to 2 jalapeno peppers or green Thai chili peppers, seeded (or 1 to 2 teaspoons crushed red chili flakes)

1-inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled

1/2 teaspoon lime zest

1 to 2 teaspoons agave nectar or coconut sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

1/4 to 1/2 cup water

1 can full fat coconut milk

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a small pot and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes, uncovered. Use the ideas below to create a meal. Enjoy!! :)

Here are a few more ideas for using the sauce:

• Quickly saute a variety of fresh veggies and then pour the sauce over them and simmer until cooked but still crisp.
• Sauté chunks of fish, such as halibut, and spinach. Serve the sauce over the fish and spinach on a bed of rice or quinoa.
• Simmer a fillet of salmon (skin removed) in the sauce.
• Sauté cubed tofu, onions, zucchini, carrots, snow peas and then add to the simmering sauce.
• Serve over bean thread noodles, rice, or quinoa.
• Sauté chunks of chicken breast and your favorite veggies then add the sauce and simmer until cooked. Garnish with thinly sliced basil leaves.

If you have any other ideas please share, thanks! :)

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Homemade Chipotle Barbecue Sauce (soy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free)

Just in time for summer BBQs comes an easy recipe for homemade barbecue sauce! It is sweet and tangy with a nice kick from the chipotle chili powder.

I don't shop around much for barbecue sauce and therefore am not on the up-and-up with ingredients and allergens commonly found in sauces. I have no doubt though that many BBQ sauces contain soy sauce and therefore wheat, many recipes probably contain large amounts of cane sugar, and some contain other types of processed ingredients that most of us would like to avoid.

Here I use a combination of organic strained tomatoes, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, and olive oil. Along with a bit of onions, garlic, and chipotle, this sauce is mighty tasty and very easy to make!

Use this sauce to marinate chicken, fish, tofu, or tempeh (if you tolerate soy). It can also be used to top cooked beans or whole grains (this is how Tom uses it). If you have any ideas on how you like to use BBQ sauce then let us know. Enjoy! :)

Nori Rolls with Sticky Brown Rice

Nori rolls are an all-time favorite in our family. They were a staple food through all of my pregnancies, I could even handle them during the 17 weeks of extreme nausea I experienced while pregnant with my twins!

Whenever our family goes out for a hike, a day at the beach, up to the mountain to play in the snow, or on an airplane trip, these rolls are sure to go too. They are the ultimate in healthy snack foods.

The seaweed is salty and full of trace minerals, the sticky brown rice is slightly sweet and nourishing. Then add in whatever vegetables please your palette and maybe a dab of leftover cooked salmon or sautéed tofu and you are good to go. A well-rounded meal or snack.

Slice them or leave them whole. Eat them with wasabi and tamari or eat them plain. Maybe a bite of pickled ginger here and there. Do what pleases you and your dietary needs.

Smoothies & Lettuce Wraps

Its Friday night and Tom is dutifully doing all the dishes so I can write. Yes its late, but our twins, now nearly 11 months old, have awoken twice already this evening. They are great at not sleeping, but somehow we survive on what little sleep we manage to get. I am hoping that by the time they turn a year we will have them sleeping at least a five hour stretch at night.

Stammering down the stairs this morning in a half asleep state all I could think about was water and a tall glass of green smoothie. You see, I nurse those babies all night long and am dehydrated by the morning. Nevermind that I have drunk all the water I had next to my bed during the night, I am thirsty in the morning.

We make a green smoothie nearly every morning with what we have available. This morning it was a tropical-tasting smoothie with banana and pineapple. A few months ago I bought a few pineapples and cut them into chunks and froze them. Today I used a handful of those frozen pineapple chunks, 2 small bananas, 1 large pear, 1 large apple, a chunk of ginger, and 1 Meyer lemon. I added a few cups of water and then blended it all up until smooth and then stuffed the Vita-Mix with as many fresh greens as could fit. I used spinach, collards, and parsley. Blend again until smooth. Drink up! My 3-year-old slammed down a whole glass faster than I did. Oh, hydration, its a wonderful thing!


While the babies were taking their morning nap, I managed to start a pot of garbanzo beans, make a pot of vegetable and leek soup stock, and make lettuce wraps for lunch. My 3-year-old daughter, Grace helped me by skimming the foam off of the boiling garbanzo beans. The white, frothy foam that rises to the top of a pot of cooking beans contains the indigestible starches that can cause your belly to get upset. Soaking your beans overnight, skimming the foam off of the top, and cooking with the seaweed, kombu, all help to make beans more digestible.

When I cook beans, I cook beans! That is to say, I don't just cook a small pot. I cook as much as can fit into my 8-quart stock pot. It is much easier to cook a large pot of beans and then freeze them in 2 or 3-cup containers for future use. In fact, the adzuki beans I used for the lettuce wraps today were in the freezer. All I needed to do was run the jar under hot water and place them into a pot to reheat. Easy!

The garbanzo beans I cooked today will be used for hummus tomorrow, some will be frozen, and some were used in the Fall Vegetable Stew I made for dinner tonight. Served it over quinoa with a green salad on the side. A warming autumn meal.

Lunch today: lettuce wraps, or shall I say lettuce tacos? The romaine lettuce I used was a little to small to be used as a "wrap" so it was a taco. I am often not in the mood for something heavy at lunchtime. I need something light and energizing to keep me going through the afternoon.

This recipe is from our cookbook in the Elimination Diet section in the appendix. Tom created it for Phases 1 and 2 of the diet.

This fall we took a group of 19 people through the diet with weekly cooking classes and meetings. During the first phase of the diet a friend of ours, who was doing the program, approached me and asked me to create recipes she could eat with sauces. She said "just give me sauces and I can eat anything." So I did, and during the next class, elimination diet sauces were born. Atop our brown jasmine rice, adzuki beans, and yam "wraps" comes a creamy, salty, slightly sweet, rich, green sauce made from pumpkin seed butter, coconut milk, fresh cilantro, Herbamare, raw garlic and ginger, and a little agave nectar. I don't have exact amounts for the sauce but I can give you estimates. Use your taste buds and intuitions to find the right balance of flavors. Add a little of this and a little of that, blend, taste, and adjust. Be creative, its simple.

Garlicky Green Sauce

1/4 to 1/2 cup pumpkin seed butter
1/2 cup coconut milk
large handful of fresh cilantro
5 cloves garlic (start with less and add more as your tastes desire)
1/2-inch chunk of peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon raw agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon Herbamare
water (I think I used about 1/2 cup to 1 cup)

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Add water to desired consistency. Add more salt to taste. Drizzle it over cooked grains, steamed veggies, chopped romaine lettuce.

After eating one lettuce "wrap" I decided to just throw the rice on the plate and top it with beans, steamed yams, and crispy chopped romaine lettuce and then smother it all with the Garlicky Green Sauce. Much easier to eat and make. Enjoy!