Got Winter Food?

My diet has been mostly raw, live food since the 7 Day Raw Food Challenge this summer (see July 2011 posts and http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1383344 for more info).  Now that the cold days and nights have set in I have added some warm food.   OK, it's the Southwest Desert so a cold night is around the freezing mark, 32 degrees Fahrenheit, zero degrees Celsius.  I realize you folks from the Northern US, Canada, Germany, Russia, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia, and the Italian Alps, are laughing at me and thinking, "That's not cold."  I hear you.  Nevertheless, I found a list of warming foods, herbs and spices we can use.  *I know there are Southwest Desert Blogger readers in the Southern Hemisphere where it is summer, but most of the earth's population lives in the Northern Hemisphere, so you Southerners will have to store this warming food info for future use and scroll down to the raw cacao treats.
Warming foods:
cinnamon, garlic, ginger, cloves, coriander, cumin, chives, dill, fennel, fenugreek, lemongrass, mustard, nutmeg, oregano, pepper, spearmint, radish sprouts, fenugreek sprouts, quinoa sprouts, dried red hot pepper, cayenne powder, miso soup, peppermint tea and my own tamari soup.  Here is my recipe for quick and easy tamari soup.  The only thing that makes it quicker than miso soup is that you do not have to blend the thick miso paste with water.
Tamari or Shoyu Soup:
-one cup or mug of warm, pure water
-one teaspoon tamari (or more to taste)
-garlic and ginger to taste (You can use sliced, diced, grated, or powdered garlic and ginger; if using powdered, just a pinch or two will make a nice, flavorful, warming, quick broth.  If using fresh, just add a tiny bit so that you do not overpower the broth.  You can always add more to your taste.)
-optional: serve in a bowl and add bean or lentil sprouts, a bit of scallion (green onion) or any other thin cut veggies you have on hand.  Another option is to substitute miso or Bragg's aminos for the Tamari.

I know there is debate in the community as to whether Tamari and Bragg's aminos are pure enough products.  Are they raw?  As I see it, I do not use these things often, and if you are hard-core, you can just warm water (I said warm, not necessarily boil) and feel the comfort of holding the warm cup in your hands.  Personally, I have been making mild organic miso soup with sprouts almost nightly.

*I add organic powdered cinnamon to any sweet I make with raw organic cacao* and carob*.  David Wolf has written about raw cacao (chocolate) and lauds its virtues.  You can get *organic cinnamon, vanilla extract, nuts, raw cacao powder, beans,  and nibs, miso, Bragg's products, herbs, homeopathics, raw and natural vitamins, coconut oils, hemp seeds, chia, tamari, natural pet food, natural cleaning products, etc., all at discount at iherb: www.iherb.com/info/benefits  Use the discount code WAL660 for $10 dollars off first order of $40 or more, and free shipping for orders over $20. Also see their freebies pages and select one free item with your order.  There are product reviews that are helpful.  I have been buying from them for years.  They also ship to over 180 countries.

I like organic raw carob better than organic raw cacao powder at this point, however they mix well and may have synergistic action.  Carob has some calcium and cacao has magnesium as well as caffeine.  Cinnamon* has chromium which is said to balance blood sugar, so it is nice to add to sweets.  I have been mixing 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, a tablespoon of honey, generous dash of cinnamon, 1/4 to half teaspoon vanilla extract* (optional), and a blend of raw cacao powder and raw carob powder to make a desert.  If you blend in enough powders, you get the consistency of chocolate truffles.  I like to grind brazil nuts and sprinkle into the blend for added selenium and texture.  I have also sprinkled in a bit of hemp protein powder for added nutrition.  Even the carnivores will like this sweet.  You can just eat it with a spoon or shape into balls or other shapes for presentation.  Just be careful of the caffeine in the cocoa -- it could keep you up at night.

It is a challenge to be pure raw in a world that prizes preservation and shelf-life.  I believe the herbs and spices we purchase are heat dried and may be irradiated.  The vanilla extract is probably well cooked, but I have found a superior organic vanilla extract -- not raw, but delicious.  I like the taste better than the organic raw powdered vanilla I purchased at a fancy price.  Maybe some day I will get used to the taste and texture of the powdered vanilla.  It appears to be a purer product, but for now it does not work for me.  I found a nice quality organic cinnamon powder in a glass jar at a local store.  I have seen the same product, Simply Organic brand, available in other states, so look around and see what you can get.  The quality of the Simply Organic powdered cinnamon* has been consistently high.  I keep it in the refrigerator and it lasts a very long time.  Bottom line here is that we generally do not use much vanilla, cinnamon, etc., so if it is not raw and organic, the choice is yours.  These are surely exotic luxury foods to be treasured and used judiciously.

I enjoyed some baked winter squash and yams for the holidays.  I added raisins and butter to some, cinnamon and raisins to others, ground nuts, raisins, and cinnamon to some, and a dash of salt sometimes.  This was a very warming and physically satisfying winter treat.  Not raw, but festive.  Sometimes I juice yams and sweet potatoes with my fresh carrot, greens, apple, celery juice.  It adds a nice thicker texture and richness to the winter juice.  I prefer the smoothness of the juice I get from my old centrifugal juicer over the Omega VRT 350 HD juicer.  The Omega produces weird "pulp" and strings along with the juice.  For those of you wondering, the Omega VRT350HD produces pulp in root vegetable juice too.   

Unless noted, I try to get organic produce whenever reasonably possible.  In my daily mixed greens and vegetable juice with a bit of apple, the weight of the pulp (waste material) from the Omega VRT350 HD is noticeably more than the waste pulp produced for the same amount of juice using my 16 year old centrifugal juicer.  Perhaps results would vary based on the brand of centrifugal juicer you use, but I get more overall efficiency, i.e., juice versus pulp, from my old centrifugal juicer.  Plus, I like the clean, flavorful, pulp-free juice the centrifugal juicer produces.  Also, the centrifugal juicer is faster and does not jam or leak as frequently as the Omega VRT 350 HD.  Don't get me started on an Omega Vert rant.  There are at least 9 previous posts dedicated to my Omega vertical juicer and its problems. 

Another interesting thing I have noticed this winter -- I do not like my tea or soup as hot as I used to.  A high raw diet has made me more sensitive to hot food and drink.  My soups are warm and I allow my tea to cool to comfortably warm.  Conversely, I do not like my smoothies as cold as I used to, even in summer.  In other words, I am more sensitive to the temperature extremes of food and drink and prefer to consume food closer to "room" temperature.  This seems natural. 

Environmentally, I use very little energy or fuel for cooking as compared to a conventional diet.  Over 75 percent of my winter diet is raw, including daily, fresh, mixed vegetable juice.  In summer I was 90 to 100 percent raw.  The juicer uses energy, but I save fuel by growing sprouts.  The sprout seeds require very little packaging and shipping fuel.  They produce at least ten times their volume in fresh green produce.  Sometimes a rounded teaspoon of seed will produce one or two cups of sprouts, or more, depending upon how long I let them grow.  The seeds are compact and require minimal storage space.  I keep them in glass jars with tight fitting lids.

I have been reading You Are What You Eat by Dr. Gillian McKeith.  It is one of a wealth of raw food and transition diet books in my local public library.  This book covers a broad range of health and nutrition topics.  The author espouses adding more raw to the diet, but does include information on the best grains, herbs, and nutritional supplements to use for therapeutic purposes.  It would be a good book for beginners looking to improve the diet, get educated, detox, and add more raw, live foods, although it contains good information for anyone looking to fine tune what they eat.  Check your public library and online resources to educate yourself.

Be happy.  Be healthy.
Staying warm,
Southwest Desert Blogger
C. (c)2012  *P.S.  Let me gift you a code for $5 off any purchase at www.iherb.com .  They sell nutritional supplements, raw supplements, raw and organic food such as tahini, coconut oils, energy bars, goji, etc., herbs, teas, organic and natural shampoos, conditioners, skin creams and lotions, cosmetics, dry skin brushes, Madre Labs acai and Cafeceps, soaps such as Dr. Bronner's Castile, raw cacao*, organic chia seed, hemp seed, seaweed, nuts, seaweed noodles, oils, homeopathics, organic pet food, etc. at discounts.  Currently, they ship free for orders of $20 or more.  They also ship internationally.  Just enter code WAL660 at check out.    Plus, there are helpful product reviews.   And more free:  iherb offers a variety of FREE PRODUCTS to sample, so be sure to select one with your order.  I think you will find iherb prices lower than your local store.  It is interesting to browse www.iherb.com so check it out.