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.

The Elimination and Detoxification Diet ~ It's about Feeling Good!

What is the Elimination Diet? It is a program of eating designed to calm inflammation and balance the body. Once the body is calm, and the disease symptoms diminish, it becomes noticeable to a person when a “trouble” food is eaten and the symptoms come back.

If you have felt sluggish, had chronic health complaints, or just not felt quite right then an elimination diet is a useful tool that may help bring you to that optimal state of health you desire. Yes the elimination diet usually results in, on average, a 10 to 15 pound weight loss, but more importantly it promotes healing at the cellular level by identifying foods that are causing an immune reaction.

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Learn how to safely and effective follow an elimination diet with our new book!

Complete with 125 delicious recipes, shopping lists, and meal plans, The Elimination Diet is a complete functional medicine resource for you to improve your health and feel better, naturally.




Go to our website, www.WholeLifeNutrition.net, to download your FREE Elimination Diet Cookbook and Quick Start Guide!   

The main focus of the Elimination Diet is getting the gluten, dairy, eggs, yeast, corn, and soy out of your diet. Doing this, along with eating a diet high in plant foods, calms inflammation and gives your body a break. Additional foods that can be problematic for some people are citrus, nightshade vegetables, certain nuts, among others. These foods are removed in the first two phases and are then slowly added back during phase 3 to note any negative reaction. 

An Elimination Diet is useful in treating the following health conditions:

• Fibromyalgia
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Psoriasis
• Arthritis
• Asthma
• Eczema
• IBS
• Chronic Migraines
• GERD
• Anxiety
• Constipation / Diarrhea
• Sinus problems
• Weight loss / Weight gain
• Infertility

Items to stock in your pantry and fridge:

please make sure you always use "organic"

• dark leafy greens (dandelion greens, kale, collards, chard, bok choy, mustard greens...)
• cabbage (all varieties)
• lettuce
• cucumbers
• ginger
• garlic
• onions
• yams
• winter squash
• broccoli
• cauliflower
• Brussels sprouts
• carrots
• celery
• avocados
• cranberries (fresh or frozen)
• blueberries
• bananas
• cherries
• raspberries
• plantains
• pears
• apples
• brown rice
• quinoa
• wild rice
• adzuki beans
• mung beans
• sunflower seeds
• pumpkin seeds
• chia seeds
• hemp seeds
• pumpkin seed butter
• sunflower seed butter
• wakame and nori seaweeds
• wild salmon
• organic chicken
• organic ground turkey
• organic lamb
• wild game
• organic virgin coconut oil
• organic extra virgin olive oil

Visit the Elimination Diet page on our website to get started today with a Free Cooking Video Series!

Elimination Diet Recipes: 

Phase 1:
Winter Green Smoothie
Spring Green Smoothie
Super Antioxidant Smoothie

Blueberry-Cucumber Smoothie
Cherry Beet Detox Smoothie
Peach Ginger Mint Smoothie
Homemade Turkey Stock
Homemade Chicken-Nettle Stock

For more smoothie recipes refer to the recipes in our cookbook.

Phase 2 Recipes:
Roasted Beets
Lacto-Fermented Vegetables
Blanched Kale, Pomegranate, and Salmon Salad
Adzuki Bean and Yam Hash
Blueberry Syrup with Rice
Cinnamon-Sunflower Truffles
Grated Beet and Carrot Salad with Radish-Miso Dressing
Green Apple Salad Dressing
Healing Quinoa-Cabbage Soup
Creamy Asparagus Soup (without the cashew cream for phase 2)
Kale with Caramelized Onions
Lettuce "Tacos"

Mango-Coconut Pudding
Mung Beans and Rice with Indian Spices and Caramelized Onions
Nori Rolls with Sticky Brown Rice
Quinoa Salmon Burgers
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Spiced Pumpkin Soup
Simple Baked Salmon with Spring Vegetables
Summer Vegetable Kitcheree
Honeydew-Cucumber-Mint Popsicles
Vanilla Coconut Cream Cheesecake
Brown Rice Flour Tortillas
Whole Roasted Organic Chicken with Garlic and Herbs
Masala Chicken and Vegetable Stew
Turkey Vegetable Quinoa Pilaf

Phase 3 Recipes:

Raw Super Green Salad
Collard Wraps with Raw Sunflower Pate
Creamy Sunflower Seed Dressing/Dip

Pepper-Mint Dressing & Marinade
Kale and Avocado Salad
Creamy Summer Zucchini Soup
Cucumber Salsa
Flavored Lemonade

Creamy Potato-Leek Soup

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Spicy Thai Mung Bean Burgers

Beet, Pear, and Almond Salad

Sauteed Romano Beans with Hazelnuts

Zucchini Almond Flour Bake
Minty Chicken-Zucchini Kebabs
Healing Chicken-Ginger Soup
Chicken Fajita Salad with Spicy Avocado Dressing
Plantain Crepes

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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.

Thin Buckwheat Pizza Crust (Gluten-Free, Yeast-Free, Vegan)

I am not sure how many of you have fond memories of pizza. From what we hear, pizza is sorely missed when going gluten and dairy-free. This yeast-free, gluten-free (and xanthan gum-free) crust recipe is a newer creation of mine. I do have another yeast-risen sorghum crust that I haven't shared yet. What I like about this recipe is that it only has a few ingredients and can be prepared in a snap!

I have made this recipe several times, sometimes making a quadruple batch for large gatherings. It turns out great each time. I have replaced the tapioca flour with arrowroot powder and it works too, though I needed to add a few extra tablespoons of water to the dough.

The predominant flour in this recipe is raw buckwheat flour. Raw buckwheat flour, made from grinding raw buckwheat groats, is quite delicious and very mild in flavor. It is not gritty at all and is light in color. The raw groats are soft and can easily be ground in a coffee grinder (one preferably not used for grinding coffee beans). I use the dry container of my Vitamix now but used to use a coffee grinder before the day of the Vitamix! Just make sure you keep grinding until a soft powdery flour is formed.

Buckwheat is super nutritious! Did you know that buckwheat is not a grain but rather a seed related to rhubarb and sorrel? The nutrients in buckwheat help to control blood sugar and lower harmful LDL cholesterol.

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!

Candied Walnuts: An Edible Holiday Gift

If you are looking for a great (edible) gift idea during the last minute Christmas frenzy, I've got a quick an easy one for you. Candied nuts made without refined sugars! The girls and I like to make them every year to give as gifts. This year we made them, packaged them in glass jars, placed pretty Christmas fabric and ribbon on them, and gave them as gifts to teachers and friends.

I actually posted this recipe last November, just after I started this blog, before I understood that it is best share one recipe per post. You can view this recipe in my Pear and Hazelnut Salad with Creamy Cranberry Dressing post. Just scroll down, you'll find it.

Happy Holidays to all! Hope your days are Merry and Bright!