Dairy-Free Vanilla Cashew Creamer Recipe

Are you working to eliminate dairy from your diet and in need of a creamy "milk" to add to your morning coffee or tea? I've been making this dairy-free cashew creamer for over a decade and never get tired of it! I don't drink coffee but like to add it to turmeric-ginger spice tea, Dandelion Root Chai, roasted dandelion root tea, and sometimes a maca hot chocolate drink I make.

I know many people who follow a paleo diet and like to add coconut milk or coconut cream to their tea or coffee, but every time I try this I'm quite repulsed by the overwhelming coconut flavor! This cashew creamer does not overpower the beverage that it is added to, yet still offers a warm, rich flavor. If you own a high-powered blender then you can whip up this recipe in minutes, if not you will need to soak your cashews for a few hours in a bowl of water (and then drain) before blending. Another option, if you don't own a high-powered blender or are out of raw cashews, is to add a large spoonful of raw cashew butter to your blender along with 1 to 2 cups of water (plus the other ingredients below) and blend into a creamy milk! I do this on occasion if I'm out of cashews and the milk is so smooth creamy.

Even though this dairy-free cashew creamer is so rich and creamy, it is actually full of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats! In fact, 82% of the fat in cashews is unsaturated, and about 66% of that is monounsaturated. Cashews are also a great source of some very important minerals, including magnesium, manganese, copper, phosphorus, and zinc!

If you are following the Elimination Diet, then this recipe can be used in Phase 3 during the reintroduction of nuts.

Green Cleansing Juice

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).

Dandelion Root Chai Tea

I'm so excited to share this dandelion root chai tea recipe with you today! It makes a great coffee substitute for those of you who are trying to reduce caffeine intake. I don't know about you, but I just love warm spicy drinks like chai tea, especially in the wintertime. I prefer to make my own because coffee shop chai is usually far too sweet for me. I've been working on perfecting a chai tea recipe for some time now. Yesterday I was inspired to add dandelion root to my recipe after reading this article on the amazing cancer-fighting effects from consuming dandelion root extract.

Dandelion root tea is earthy and slightly bitter. It's excellent for assisting the liver with detoxification as well as being stimulating to the digestive system. Chai spices are warming and also stimulate digestion. You are welcome to play around with this recipe and add other spices such as fennel seeds, nutmeg, star anise, or black tea leaves. Additionally, if you are sensitive to the bitter flavor or are unaccustomed to the flavor of dandelion root, you may consider starting with 1 or 2 teaspoons instead of a tablespoon.

Flavored Lemonade (sugar-free)

This is another guest post by my 10-year old daughter, Lily (I helped her format the recipe). For those of you who have been reading this blog for a while you might remember the first guest post she did on Homemade Seaweed Snacks. This is another yummy creation of hers, I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! -Ali :)

What inspired me to create lemonade in jars was a stand at the farmer's market. They take two cups that fit together and shake the lemonade to mix it. Because we don't have two cups that fit together I thought  jars would work too.

This is a great drink for a hot afternoon. I made these before we went blueberry picking one day and we had them when we got home. It was so refreshing to have these after a hot afternoon in the sun.

Homemade Hemp Milk

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!

Dairy-Free Hot Cocoa Recipe

The wintery blast that hit us last night brought snow and hot cocoa too. I had some vegetable side dish recipes to post for Thanksgiving....but hot cocoa calls when the wind is whipping and the snow is falling! We woke up this morning to a couple of inches of snow on the ground and the kids decided to go out early to play. After a few hours of sledding and a couple of snow ball fights, they came inside with frozen hands and hungry bellies. I made them some snacks and a batch of this rich and creamy dairy-free hot cocoa.

This recipe uses maple syrup as the sweetener and a combination of coconut milk and cashew milk to create a rich, warming drink. Make sure to add the salt as it balances all of the flavors. If you have a finely ground sea salt then you can add the lesser amount below, but if you use a coarser ground salt then use the full 1/4 teaspoon.

Winter Green Smoothie

This is one of the green smoothies we make in the winter. It is chock full of healing dark leafy greens, cabbage, fruit, and cranberries! Adding the tart green apples and tart cranberries make it palatable without lemon juice.

This smoothie is ideal if you are following The Elimination Diet. I've been enjoying it all day today! I think my toddler boys each drank 2 cups this morning. I couldn't pour it fast enough!

We own and use a Vitamix 5000 series for making our smoothies. If you don't have a high-powered blender then you'll want to make sure your blade is very sharp. You'll also want to half the recipe below.

Sugar-Free Cranberry Orange Punch

Welcome to the first stop of our Gluten Free Thanksgiving Progressive Dinner Party! Today I will be serving Cranberry Orange Punch. Our dinner party will be held at eight different blogs on Monday through Friday of this week and you’re invited to attend! By the end of the week you'll have many new ideas and recipes for your gluten-free Thanksgiving day menu. Enjoy!

Today's punch recipe is very simple to prepare and only takes a few minutes. You'll need one 8-ounce bottle of unsweetened cranberry juice concentrate. I buy it from our local food co-op in the juice isle (it is not refrigerated). Simply mix the cranberry concentrate with sparkling mineral water, orange juice, and either liquid stevia or agave nectar. I like to float orange slices and cinnamon sticks in the punch bowl which add extra flavor and make for a nice presentation.

Every year I make a variation of this punch for Thanksgiving and Christmas but never measure. Last night I made this punch eight different ways to get it just right! You'd think it would be easier than that, I mean, it's just punch! Come on, I created a gluten-free, vegan, flourless (and sugar-free) chocolate chip cookie recipe the other day which came out perfect the first time. But the punch? Well, it took a little more work. Enjoy!

Soothing Tummy Tea

The holidays are famous for overeating, aren't they? I thought I would share with you a digestion-stimulating herbal tea recipe of ours. It is a unique combination of roots, leaves, and flowers. First you simmer the roots, called a decoction, and then you add the leaves and flowers to steep.

We make a pot of this herbal brew a few times a week. Sometimes we add nettles, sometimes burdock root, but always ginger and licorice.

I am not an herbalist so I can't explain the details of how this tea works on your digestion, just know it works, and it works well.

Briefly, dandelion root stimulates the liver to help digest dietary fats. Ginger decreases inflammation and is soothing to the stomach. Spearmint relieves gas and nausea. Licorice is soothing to the stomach lining, promoting more mucous production which then in turn reduces acid indigestion, ulcers, and an upset tummy. Chamomile contains compounds which relax the smooth muscles in the digestive tract to relieve pain and cramping.

The tea has a delicious blend of sweet and spicy flavors with overtones of mint and chamomile. It is perfect for the holidays or simply sipped while curled up on the couch with your kids and a pile of books on a windy Autumn day.