Homemade Roasted Chicken & Nourishing Broth

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by Nicole on May 1, 2012

in Food as Medicine, Traditional Medicine & Wisdom

This project is featured in both the Classic Meal Plan Free Trial as well as the Grain-Free, Dairy-Free Meal Plan Trial. Please take a moment to download and save them to get a glimpse of what it’s like to be a member of Whole Food Meal Plans. Until then, enjoy this more detailed description (with photos) of how to roast a chicken and make your own nutritious stock. [click to continue…]

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Herbal Spring Tonic Tea

spring herbal tea

by Nicole on April 10, 2012

in Home Remedies, Traditional Medicine & Wisdom

Spring is a time we often feel called to “clean out” whether — physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually. I always feel an urge to get rid of old things, declutter and literally air out the house. I also usually feel an urge to eat a bit lighter, add more veggies into my diet (especially greens) and let my body detox a bit. One way to help the body along in a gentle detox is to drink an herbal Spring Tonic tea. [click to continue…]

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Herb Spotlight: Plantain

April 3, 2012
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Plantain is a common plant that grows throughout North America and in Europe. It’s an herb that can easily be wildcrafted or gathered while you’re out walking in the woods. I love to know about plants like this–especially one like Plantain that has so many medicinal and culinary uses!

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Introducing Whole Food Meal Plans!

April 1, 2012
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Hi guys! I’m super excited to announce the launch of a project I’ve been working on over the last few months! We’re now offering weekly meal plans delivered to your email inbox. Each week you get 5 dinner recipes, 2 dessert recipes and 1 weekend cooking project recipe. You’ll also get a detailed shopping list, [...]

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The Difference Between Therapeutic Diets and Eating Disorders

March 30, 2012
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This post has been brewing in my mind for some time now. It was only when a friend on Facebook posted that she felt sorry for people on diets (including GAPS) that I felt the urge to pull myself up to the computer and write this thing. So here it goes, my thoughts on dieting [...]

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DIY After-Dinner-Mint That Aids in Digestion

March 28, 2012
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In many Indian restaurants you’ll notice a bowl with fennel seeds and small candies to be scooped up and chewed upon leaving. The fennel serves as a breath-freshener as well as digestive aid. The candy, well, that’s just for fun! This mixture comes from the traditional Indian practice of chewing on Mukhwas (mukh- meaning mouth, [...]

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Preschool Soup or Our Favorite Red Lentil Soup

March 25, 2012
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One of our favorite family meals is Red Lentil Soup. It’s easy to make, has a nice texture for the kids and is so warming and nourishing. I make a pot of this soup almost every week! It’s great to have around for lunches or for an easy dinner. And it’s something my kids ALWAYS [...]

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Observations After a Year on the GAPS Diet

March 24, 2012
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It has been a little over a year since our oldest son has been on the GAPS diet and I wanted to share our experience so far with this journey. Overall, this diet has transformed our son’s health. In 9 months he moved from below the 20th percentile in weight (where he had plateaued and [...]

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Tea Tree Oil is the “Windex” of Skin Healing

July 5, 2011

Remember the stubborn but loving father in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding?  He had a solution for any disease or discomfort that affected his friends and family: Windex. Got rheumatism?  Spray a little Windex on it.  Cuts or scrapes? Windex to the rescue.  While the philosophical debate about the use of Windex at [...]

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What Is The GAPS Diet? And Why The Heck Are We Doing It?

August 16, 2011
digestive tract

“All disease begins in the gut.” –Hippocrates, 460-370 BC For those of you who don’t know, our older son is currently on the GAPS diet. We started him on this diet a few months ago in an attempt to heal his chronic digestive issues and multiple food sensitivities. Over time we realized that his food [...]

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Easy Peasy Rosewater

July 26, 2011
rosepetals for rosewater

Walking through our neighborhood lately, you get whiffs of rose-scented air–a smell I personally adore. Roses are blooming indeed. We don’t have a rosebush in our yard, but lucky for me a good friend shared her bounty so I could try a little experiment: making Rosewater.

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Sunday Links

July 31, 2011
sunday links peonies

Sunscreen free options from Mark’s Daily Apple: 8 Natural Ways to Prevent a Sunburn A convincing idea from The Tangled Nest: Overwashed: Rethinking the Daily Shower Do You Use Mint.com? We do. Love this article on getting more out of it. Heather from Beauty That Moves shares the best way to hang laundry: Line Drying [...]

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Make Your Own Bug Repellent Spray

August 1, 2011
homemade bug repellent

A couple of weeks ago I posted a tutorial on making your own Bug Repellent Salve on the Unplugged Sunday blog. Have you checked out Unplugged Sunday yet? It’s a lovely blog celebrating ways to spend more time with your family, unplugged (i.e. without electronic devices). Something we can all benefit from, I think. Anyway, [...]

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Here’s Why You Need a Water Filter

July 28, 2011
water filter

Did you know that it’s common to find rocket fuel (aka Perchlorate) in the public water supply? I’m going to be honest, before I sat down to write this post I didn’t know that! We have been using a high quality water filtration system for over a decade now, and I knew there were many [...]

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Sunday Links

August 7, 2011
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Ali from the Whole Life Nutrition blog (and fellow Bastyr alumna) shares a yummy sugar-free summer treat: Honeydew-Cucumber-Mint Popsicles. Speaking of the Whole Life Nutrition blog, I have been meaning to try this gluten-free bread recipe (that you can knead!): Farmhouse Seed Bread. I loved reading this birth story on the Crunchy Domestic Goddess blog: [...]

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Our 2011 Oyster Harvest: Medicine for Body & Soul

August 9, 2011
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Over the Fourth of July weekend, we took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island to spend time with my husband’s side of the family. We enjoyed the beautiful weather, good food and the gorgeous waterfront view from their home. My in-laws live on the shores of Puget Sound, and when the weather is clear you [...]

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Ode to Ginger: The Universal Medicine

August 18, 2011
ginger root

Since our older son is currently on the GAPS diet, I thought we’d talk about the wonderful benefits of Ginger. During the Introduction portion of the GAPS diet, one is advised to sip Ginger tea between meals to help further aid and soothe digestion. Having studied Ayurvedic Medicine (the traditional medicine of India), I was [...]

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Sunday Links: The Product Edition

August 28, 2011
natural beauty products

We field a lot of questions from friends and family about which products to use for health, personal care, and household cleaning. So rather than linking to articles this week, I thought I would feature a few products we use and love. I’ll continue to do this on a regular basis so feel free to [...]

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Self-Directed Healing: An Intro to Autogenic Training

September 7, 2011
autogenics relaxation training

I’m over at Unplugged Sunday today sharing ways to help soothe our bodies and minds when life feels like it’s moving too fast. In Ayurveda, when we feel this way it typically means our Vata aspect is out-of-balance. Sometime soon we’ll talk more about Ayurveda and the three Doshas (Vata, Pitta and Kapha), but today [...]

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How to Prepare for GAPS in 5 Easy Steps

September 18, 2011
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I have to admit, when we started the GAPS intro I was shocked at how much work it was. I thought I was prepared. After having spent months “practicing” the diet—making stock, learning to ferment foods, and doing TONS of research, I was still amazed at how much time I was spending in the kitchen. [...]

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GAPS Diet Resources

January 20, 2012
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It has been almost one year since my son started the GAPS diet. He has improved by leaps and bounds in so many ways since we started this journey. His digestive problems are basically a thing of the past, he has put on much-needed weight, his color changed from a very pale color to a [...]

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Benefits of Ghee + Tutorial

November 7, 2011
homemade ghee

Despite what we’ve been told for years, butter is good for you. Plain and simple. I say eat butter and lots of it. Especially organic, grass fed butter. Grass fed butter has a high level of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which has been linked to proper weight management and has been shown to have anti-cancer [...]

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10 Essential Winter Remedies for Children

December 1, 2011
winter herbal tea

As winter draws near, it’s nice to have an arsenal of natural remedies handy in case the kids come down with a cold or flu. We do our best to eat nourishing foods, get plenty of rest and take our fermented cod liver oil on a daily basis, but sometimes even the healthiest person can [...]

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Health Goals for 2012: What Are Yours?

December 7, 2011
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As we get closer to the start of another year, I’m starting to think about my focus for 2012.  I’m not a huge resolution fan, but I like to use the beginning of the new year as an opportunity to take stock of my life. And when it comes to health, I always have a [...]

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Sunday Links: Is Gluten Causing You Problems?

January 8, 2012
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This month I’ll be sharing what I know about Gluten Sensitivity, Intolerance and full-blown Celiac Disease. I’m gearing up to do a Gluten Challenge at the end of February. During that whole month, I’ll abstain from all gluten products then reintroduce gluten products to see if I have any reactions to them. I’m also having [...]

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Grain Free Pizza (GAPS, SCD, Primal/Paleo, PHD*)

January 14, 2012
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I’ve been experimenting with ways to make pizza without the traditional dough as we venture further into the gluten-free/grain-free lifestyle. So I wanted to share a few recipes with you today. The first recipe I’ll share is for Meatza! Yes, you read that right. It’s pizza with a meat crust. To some this may sound [...]

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How Do I Know if I’m Sensitive to Gluten?

January 17, 2012
gluten free bread

I’m gearing up for my month without gluten. In February, I’m cutting out ALL sources of gluten from my diet so that I can do a proper challenge and see how (and if) my body reacts to it when I introduce it back in. I’ve been dealing with some lingering health issues for the last [...]

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In Honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

January 16, 2012
freedom starts with your health

Today we celebrate the birthday of a visionary and change-agent — Martin Luther King Jr.  In remembrance of him and his commitment to freedom for all people, I thought I would share this quote that brings together the concept of freedom and health: “In health there is freedom. Health is the first of all liberties.”–Henri [...]

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Alternative Medicine Decoded: What is Ayurveda?

January 25, 2012
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What lured me to study Ayurvedic Medicine many years ago is how comprehensive it is as an entire medical system. Ayurveda is more than a set of alternative treatments for particular ailments; it is a program for living. It is a way of life that addresses every aspect of human life. In fact, the word [...]

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Gluten Antibody Testing Options

January 29, 2012
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I’m excited to announce that Dr. Alex Kraft, ND, LAc will be sharing his knowledge here more often on Natural Health at Home in his column called NaturoKraft. Today he is discussing testing options for people suspecting Celiac Disease. This Wednesday begins our month-long gluten-free voyage, which we will be documenting here and providing resources [...]

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3 Simple Tips For Better Digestion

February 8, 2012
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Today I’m excited to bring you a Guest Post by Kotomi Yamamura, a student at the Nutritional Therapy Association . Before exploring the basics of building a healthy diet, we must first ensure healthy digestion. Without that, even the healthiest diet cannot do all it’s capable of doing. So I’d like to share with you [...]

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Healthy Herbal Chai Recipe

January 31, 2012
healthy herbal chai

Today, as part of Real Food Wednesday, I’d like to share a lovely herbal chai tea recipe to keep you warm and energized through the winter months—without caffeine. This blend contains Siberian ginseng to help the body adapt to stress, burdock root to help gently detox the liver, licorice to help balance the adrenals, Ginger [...]

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How to Use Astragalus Root to Enhance Your Immune System

February 22, 2012
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In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Astragalus is an herb used to help protect the body against illness, adapt to stress, lower blood pressure and protect the liver. Astragalus also has anti-viral and immune-enhancing qualities as well.  As such, it can be used as an everyday tonic to gently build resistance to weakness and disease. It is [...]

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How Can Maya Abdominal Massage Help You?

March 4, 2012
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Today I bring you an inteview with Licensed Acupuncturist and Maya Abdominal Massage Practitioner, Beth Webber. She practices in Seattle, WA and I have worked with her personally. I have found Maya Abdominal Massage to be a powerful modality in helping to prepare and recover from pregnancy and birth among other things. Read on for [...]

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My Gluten Free February Update

March 12, 2012
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Well, I did indeed go the entire month of February without gluten–after which I challenged gluten to test for any sensitivities. The most fascinating part for me was noticing what happened in my body after cutting gluten out of my diet.

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Weekend Links: Prepping for Spring

March 17, 2012
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Planning–Our annual nettle-gathering trip at St. Edwards State Park. Will take lots of pictures to post here! Enjoying–This guest post on the Whole Life Nutrition blog about the medicinal qualities of nettles. Ordering–Seeds from a new-to-us local, organic, heirloom seed company.

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Gluten Free Zucchini Muffins Instead

March 13, 2012
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In my last post, I teased you with a picture of my gluten free zucchini bread recipe (which is delicious!). I mentioned that I contributed this recipe to the Whole Foods Kitchen online course so I can’t share it publicly with you here. However, I do have an equally tasty Zucchini Muffin recipe that is [...]

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