Creamy Herbed Sunflower Seed Dressing or Dip (dairy-free, paleo)

I 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.

Gluten-Free, Nut-Free Toddler Snack Cookies

I received an email last weekend from someone who has our book and also has a toddler about the same age as our twin boys (who are 15 months now). She was asking about snacks to take on outings and play dates. I replied to her and mentioned the obvious for us: green smoothies, nori, rice cakes, fresh fruit.

The other morning I was baking my Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from my Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook to snap the needed photo for a guest blog post I was writing. You can view The W.H.O.L.E. Gang blog to see that post and my recipe. Diane has a wonderful gluten-free blog that I encourage you to check out. W.H.O.L.E. = whole healthy organic living everyday! Quite catchy and creative!

The boys were helping me by sniffing ingredients, tasting little pieces of medjool dates, emptying the baking drawer, practicing with the wire whisk, etc.

After I put the cookies in the oven to bake, I realized they couldn't eat them because the cookies contain chocolate. This is not a food that I would like to introduce quite yet, we'll give that one a few years! Feeling particularly inspired, I whipped up a batch of cookies perfectly designed for a toddler, though mommies and daddies might like them too! They came out perfect the first time!

Gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, nut-free, sugar-free!

But certainly not taste-free! My boys loved the cookies! They had a perfect texture, not too hard nor too soft, perfect for little hands and mouths.

If you would like substitute ground nuts for the sunflower seeds I am sure that would work just fine. I would suggest almonds, cashews, or hazelnuts. Of course you could add mini-chocolate chips in place of the raisins if desired.

Happy Baking!