"All the Fall Flavors" Soup

This bright orange soup is as delicious as it is beautiful. And with a dose of protein, healthy fats, and veggies, this soup is also a complete and nutritious meal. Perfect for those cooler days when you want to warm your bones, this soup is easy and super scrumptious for the whole family.

Pumpkin Soup Fall Soup Fall Flavors

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, vegan, paleo-friendly, and sugar free.


All the Fall Flavors Soup (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

  • Filtered water

  • Three pounds of carrots

  • One 15 ounce can or pack of organic pumpkin

  • Two cups organic sprouted lentils

  • Optional: 14 ounce jar of Epic Bone Broth: Turkey Cranberry Sage flavor (OR for vegan option: use same amount of veggie stock)

  • 3 tbsp organic olive oil or avocado oil

  • Dried or fresh chopped rosemary

  • Primal Palate Breakfast Blend spice mix (if you don’t want to purchase this blend, you can use what you have of the following: Himalayan Pink Salt, Garlic, Onion, Oregano, Cinnamon, Turmeric, Sage. However, I highly recommend the organic spice blends from this company!)

  • Pumpkin pie spice

  • Salt & pepper

How to:

  1. Peel and chop the carrots into 1/2 - 1 inch slices.

  2. Coat all carrots with avocado oil, and add a few dashes of salt, pepper, and 1/2 tbsp rosemary. Mix until all carrots are coated.

  3. Roast carrots at 450 degrees F for 20 minutes or until they are soft and aromatic.

  4. While the carrots are roasting, cook the lentils according to the package, you want them to have a soft consistency.

  5. Allow the carrots and lentils to cool a bit so they aren’t piping hot.

  6. Combine carrots, cooked lentils, the 15 ounces of pumpkin, and the entire jar of bone broth (or veggie stock) in a large blender, food processor, or in a large pot using an immersion blender. Don’t let lack of gadgets hold you back - I used my Nutribullet with as many ingredients as I could fit at once, and did this several times. Just get that stuff pureed!

  7. Add 2-3 cups filtered water and continue to blend. Add in increments of 1/2 cup, until soup is your desired thickness (hey, we’re all different, right?)

  8. Add 3 tbsp olive oil or avocado oil. Blend.

  9. Add 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice. Blend.

  10. Add 1/2 tbsp breakfast blend or 5-10 vigorous shakes each of garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, turmeric, and/or sage. Blend.

  11. Add salt & pepper to taste: 1 tsp of each to start. Blend.

  12. Transfer to a large pot and heat slowly on a medium to low flame.

Is It Ready Yet?

When the soup is hot, it may be ready to serve. BUT, did you taste it?

Here is where the wandering begins…it’s time to experiment with flavor.

I personally don’t measure when I cook, and you may not like this.
“Cooking is an exact science,” you may say.

But I’m here to tell you that it’s not. And it’s WAY MORE FUN when you can let yourself be free and experiment and find the flavors that YOU enjoy.

Before we wander, taste your soup. If it’s to your liking, then stop and eat it. If you feel it’s plain, “meh",” or “could be better” it’s time to wander.


Wander Free:

  1. Add more salt. Salt in moderation is nothing to be feared and this is a large pot of soup. Salt helps to awaken the other flavors in a dish. Taste.

  2. Add more pumpkin pie spice. I LOVE warm fall spices like this. If you do too, add more pumpkin pie spice. Taste.

  3. Add more Breakfast Blend, or more garlic, onion, turmeric, and sage.

  4. Repeat the above steps, little by little, until you have created a soup that tastes magical. If you like spice, add a little cayenne (SMALL amounts at a time) to add a bit of heat to the sweetness of the pumpkin and carrot).

Did you make this recipe? Snap a pic and post it on Instagram with the hashtag #wanderfreerecipes so I can see your majestic work of art!

Does it really annoy you that I’m making you do work in figuring out the recipe? Let’s talk about it! Just remember - give a man to fish, he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime. I want you to learn to cook for yourself, for a lifetime. #toughlove

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Note: the links to my favorite brands are Amazon Affiliate links, and if you purchase through them, I will earn a small commission. This helps me continue to do what I do, and to bring free health and wellness info to my Free Wanderers!

Easy Summer Pasta Salad

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, and vegan.

I spent Fourth of July with my best friend since Kindergarten, her husband, her new baby, and some friends. After making a superfood breakfast quinoa that wasn't necessarily at the top of the list for eggs-for-breakfast lovers, I decided I needed to create something a bit more classic for our Fourth of July celebration dinner. (Don't worry - that Superfood Breakfast Quinoa recipe will be coming soon for you quinoa lovers.)

So classic I did - with a gluten free twist. Who doesn't love a good pasta salad at a summer barbecue?

This pasta salad includes roasted broccoli, which is my favorite way to make broccoli. It makes it so tender, a little charred on the ends, and brings out the most amazing flavor. This is all condensed into step 2 below, as you shall see.

Summer Vegetable Pasta Salad

Easy Summer Pasta Salad (serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

  • One pound of your favorite gluten free pasta (I love brown rice pasta, or Trader Joe's brown rice and quinoa pasta)
  • One cucumber
  • Two tomatoes
  • One red pepper
  • 1/2 small red onion
  • One package or bunch of watercress
  • One head of broccoli
  • 2 tbsp avocado oil (for roasting broccoli)
  • 1/2 to 1 bottle of Bragg's Organic Vinaigrette (or dressing of choice)
  • Salt & pepper

How to:

  1. Cook pasta according to package, drain, and set aside to cool.
  2. For broccoli: Preheat oven to 400-415 degrees. Chop broccoli (both stems and florets) into bite sized pieces. Coat in avocado oil or other cooking oil. Roast for 20 minutes or until tender and florets are slightly charred. Set aside to cool.
  3. Chop the rest of the veggies (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onion, and watercress) into bite sized pieces (1/4 inch to 1/2 inch).
  4. Mix cooled pasta, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onion, watercress together in a large bowl.
  5. Add at least half the bottle of Bragg's Organic Vinaigrette to the bowl of pasta salad and mix well (I used 3/4 of a bottle).
  6. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

And that's a wrap! This one requires some tasting, as some of you may like more salt, more pepper, more or less vinaigrette, etc. This is where you learn to wander free in your cooking, and experiment with what YOU like. You don't need me to tell you exactly how to cook.

If you make this dish, snap a pic and post on instagram with #wanderfreerecipes so that I can see what you've done! Happy summer free wanderers!

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Anti-Inflammatory Pumpkin Smoothie

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, and vegan.

I'm pretty obsessed with pumpkins. I love the way they look, their color, their shape. I love how they feel, I love having them in my home, I love the taste, the smell, and the comfort of a warming pumpkin pie spice. So needless to say, when fall hits, I'm in heaven. I fill my house with pumpkins, I go to farms and pumpkin patches just to be around them, and I start to ingest pumpkin everything. #pumpkinfever

Enter, the pumpkin smoothie. For those of you in the colder climates, this pumpkin smoothie is a way to introduce some warming, grounding, earthy spices and flavors into your smoothie in order to balance out that Vata (Ayurveda-speak for cool, airy, space, windy energy).

For those of you living in a warm climate (I'm down in sunny Naples, Florida) this is a great way to spice up your smoothie on those cooler mornings, while packing a great anti-inflammatory punch from the turmeric. Just don't use warming spices too often in a hot climate, as they can be Pitta-aggravating (Pitta is more Ayurveda speak for the hot and fiery energies within us, and in the universe).

I hope you enjoy this! Be prepared for a savory smoothie, since there's no added sugar or additional fruit other than pumpkin, it may not be for everyone. But there's the option to add more sweetener if you'd like ~ just see below!

Finally, for anyone who has never seen turmeric in its raw root form - here you go! The health benefits of turmeric are endless ~ I'll write more on that soon, but a quick google search will provide you with mountains of info if you're curious.

The makings of this anti-inflammatory pumpkin smoothie ~ check out the turmeric!

Anti-Inflammatory Pumpkin Smoothie (serves 1)

Ingredients:

  • At least 20 oz. of water (or add half water and half clean milk alternative of choice such as coconut, rice, hemp, almond, cashew, etc. ~ look for unsweetened varieties free from carrageenan)
  • One serving of Sprout Living Epic Pumpkin Seed Protein (or your protein of choice. I love this because it's smooth, blendable, vegan, and goes with my pumpkin theme.)
  • 1/2 to 1 cup of pumpkin purée
  • 1/2 to 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch slice of raw turmeric root
  • A handful or two of raw spinach
  • optional: sweetener of choice (I used 1 tbsp of natural lucuma powder which is a superfood and lightly sweet. You could also add raw local honey, coconut nectar, or a touch of maple syrup if the savory spiced flavor is too much for you. Don't go crazy with the sugar.)

How to:

  1. Add all ingredients to your blender of choice (I am obsessed with my NutriBullet 900 Series, I got it a few years ago for Christmas and it's still going strong!). I recommend adding the water first so the protein powder doesn't stick to the blender. Throw everything else in with spinach closest to the blade of the blender.
  2. Blend until smooth.
  3. If smoothie is too thick, add more water! Then ENJOY!

Naaaaaants ingonyama bagithi babaaaaaaa....It's the pumpkin smoothie of life! #lionkinggrip

 

I'd love to hear how you liked this smoothie. If you make it, snap a pic and post on instagram with #wanderfreerecipes so that I can see what you've done! Pumpkin on, my free wanderers!

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Note: the links to my favorite brands are Amazon Affiliate links, and if you purchase through them, I will earn a small commission. This helps me continue to do what I do, and to bring free health and wellness info to my Free Wanderers!

Roasted Rosemary Parsnips and Carrots

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, vegan, paleo, and Whole 30.

This is a go-to side dish for me in the fall and winter months. I'll pair it with some sort of protein, whether it's meat, fish, beans, or hemp hearts. 

First, I can't say enough about eating root vegetables in the winter, colder months. Your body craves them, and it's what nature gives us during this time - root veggies are one of the only edible plants that grow in the winter. When we eat seasonally, we are truly living in harmony with the earth and with the flow of nature. From an Ayurvedic perspective, root vegetables (which, obviously, were grown in the earth) ground our cold, windy, airy, spacey energy that abounds in the wintertime.

This is super easy peasy, so here we go. You just need to grab a couple bags of veggies, some avocado oil, rosemary, and maybe more of your favorite spices. I used Primal Palate's Breakfast Blend and it is one of my favorite spice blends of all time - With himalayan pink salt, garlic, onion, oregano, saigon cinnamon, turmeric, and sage, it goes perfect with fall cooking and root veggies.

Delicious roasted root vegetable blend #nomnomnom

Roasted Rosemary Parsnips and Carrots

Ingredients:

  • 1 bag of organic baby carrots
  • 1-2lbs of parsnips (peeled, chopped, in 1/2 inch thick slices. Cut the large slices [at the wider end of the parsnip] in half, to make a half moon shape)
  • 2+ tbsp avocado oil
  • 1/2 to 1 tbsp dried rosemary
  • Salt/pepper and/or your favorite spice blend (I used Primal Palate's Breakfast Blend)

How to:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Dump baby carrots and parsnip slices in a large bowl
  3. Pour avocado oil over the carrots and parsnips and toss/stir to evenly coat veggies (use more oil if they seem dry)
  4. Add 1/2 - 1 tbsp rosemary, and toss to evenly coat veggies
  5. Add salt and pepper to taste
  6. Optional: Add more of your favorite spices to taste. I give 5-7 generous shakes of my Primal Palate Breakfast Blend.
  7. Spread the veggies out on a baking sheet
  8. Roast at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes (you'll know they're done when a fork easily pierces them)
  9. If you want more flavor when they are done, just add some more spices! No biggie! It's all learning and experimenting with what works for your tastes.

That's all she wrote folks! I hope you enjoy this easy delicious veggie dish. Take a pic and post on instagram with #wanderfreerecipes so I can see the amazingness that you've created!

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Note: the links to my favorite brands are Amazon Affiliate links, and if you purchase through them, I will earn a small commission. This helps me continue to do what I do, and to bring free health and wellness info to my Free Wanderers!

 

Creamy Fall Harvest Pasta

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, and vegan.

I am a huge fan of truly quick and easy meals. And I love to experiment with ingredients that I have on hand. On Instagram, I call it #jenspantrychallenge. I challenge myself to come up with something delicious without having to go grocery shopping, simply using leftovers or pantry items in a creative way!

This is how this creamy fall harvest pasta was born. One night I shopped at Trader Joe's and picked up their Rice & Quinoa gluten free pasta (it's amazing, you should try it), and was intrigued by a jar of Fall Harvest Salsa. The ingredients were super clean - lots of harvest veggies with tomatoes, peppers, and spices.

The next night, I was trying to decide what to make and looking in my cabinets for an idea. I saw the pasta...I saw the salsa...and had a crazy idea. What if the salsa could be a pasta sauce? I mean, come on - salsa in Spanish literally translates to sauce.

I cooked the pasta, dumped in the salsa, added some avocado oil for good fats, and still felt like the pasta needed some substance. I had recently been on an obsessive tahini kick (when I become obsessed with something, I eat it all the time for a week or two), and so...I poured in some tahini. The result was a magical creamy protein- and nutrition-packed pasta that you would have a hard time believing did not contain any gluten or dairy. But believe it, my people. And try it for yourself ~ Recipe below!

Amazing creamy gluten free pasta goodness!

Creamy Fall Harvest Pasta (serves 2)

Ingredients:

How to:

  1. Boil the pasta in a pot according to directions on package
  2. Strain pasta and return to pot
  3. Pour the entire jar of Fall Harvest Salsa into the pot
  4. Add 2 tbsp of avocado oil to the pasta, and stir until mixed
  5. Add 2 tbsp of tahini to the pasta, and stir until mixed
  6. Taste the pasta. If you want a thicker pasta with more "creaminess" add more tahini.(Beware, the tahini does have a strong flavor so taste as you add. Less is more - you can always add more later!) If you want a less thick pasta, you can add more avocado oil, and maybe even a tiny (1 tbsp at a time) bit of water. This is where you wander free to create the consistency that works for you!

And that's it! Line up some pumpkins, gourds, fall leaves, or just your kitchen counter and take a beautiful picture of your creation. Post it on Instagram with #wanderfreerecipes so that I can see what you've done!

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Note: the links to my favorite brands are Amazon Affiliate links, and if you purchase through them, I will earn a small commission. This helps me continue to do what I do, and to bring free health and wellness info to my Free Wanderers!

Some of the items - like the Trader Joe's items, are so much cheaper in the store! Go to a Trader Joe's to get those things, but the link is provided here so you can see what it looks like.

Welcome to the Wander Free Healthy Recipe Blog!

A lot of people have been asking me to share my healthy recipes that make healthy eating fun, easy, and most importantly, delicious. Healthy doesn't need to be boring or unsatisfying - the gazillion amazing healthy recipe blogs prove that! I'm on a mission to contribute to this wonderful health-conscious community and make healthy fun again. 

All of these recipes are my own creation or modifications of popular favorites I've learned over the years. All recipes are gluten free and dairy free. Many recipes will also fit the needs of vegetarians, vegans, paleo, Whole 30, and certain allergen-free diets such as egg free and nut free. There is truly something for everyone here, and most, if not all, recipes can be modified just slightly to fit your needs.

I love cooking, and I love creating recipes. Cooking has become almost like a meditation for me, I feel very at peace and "in the moment" when I am creating something in the kitchen. It's one of those activities that gets me into the flow state where time just flies by. I know you may not be the same way, so that's why I want to make cooking fun and easy for you!

I believe in wandering freely in cooking. While exact measurements are very helpful, especially for those new to cooking, it's my mission to help you take off those training wheels and create freely for yourself. I want to empower you to learn to experiment and explore in your cooking. That's what makes it so fun! Don't worry about doing things perfectly - just try something, taste it, and modify if needed. The worst that happens? You learn something for next time. 

Don't be afraid to step outside of the comfort zone of the recommended measurements.* Start slow, add some extra spices, throw in some different veggies - make this recipe your own. If you don't have one particular ingredient, sub something that you do have. Cooking shouldn't feel stressful, so make it easy for yourself.

*Disclaimer: Baked goods such as breads, cakes, cookies, etc. do need to have more precise measurements because of the chemical reactions going on. #science.

These recipes are delicious starting points. Try them out and from there - wander free!

Click below for easy navigation through the blog.

Complete Meals:

Easy Summer Pasta Salad (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan)

Fall Harvest Pasta (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan)

All the Fall Flavors Soup (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan Optional, Paleo)

Harvest Quinoa Salad (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan) ~ Coming Soon!

15-Minute Vegan Health Bomb (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan, Paleo) ~ Coming Soon!

Sides:

Roasted Rosemary Parsnips and Carrots (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan, Paleo, Whole 30)

Smoothies:

Pumpkin Smoothie (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan, Paleo)

Smoothie Tips & Free Downloadable Guide