Gum, Root Beer, and mints

[Betsy]

Any raw versions? These are becoming my nemisis.

Any without all the chemical sweetners?

DOesn't anybody else have these issues?

[juliebove]

For gum and mints, you can just chew on a piece of real mint leaf. Either grow your own or buy them at the store. Don't know about Root Beer. Never liked the stuff.

[jacsam]

I know that the health food stores carry gum without chemical sweetners. They are a little more expensive than regular gum but not too bad. They have mints also but none of these are raw....sorry.

[Betsy]

I thought about the mint leaves,,,, maybe I can soak them in a sweetner and dry them?

For the gum, I haven't seen any chemical free gum yet. Eaither on line or in the health food store. Where do I get it?

thanks guys/gals!

[shakti17]

licorice sticks are nice to chew on

[Betsy]

Thanks, but, how do I get licorice sticks, please?:o

[ellesgarden]

Sometimes, I chew on fennel seeds.

[Adensspell]

Fortunately I hate gum and mints...I also hate all soda but a few years ago after I gave up all sodas, I found Virgil's rootbeer. Well let me tell you, that was not easy to give up. For a long time I would have it just every so often, like every 3 months...if there is a raw version out there, let me know!!

[tvillemom]

fennel seeds?? Can you please explain? I am going to try to stop chewing gum, but I've also been paranoid about bad breath:o I'm interested.

[bananafana]

I saw root beer flavored stevia at the health food store. I think you could add it to water to get the soda pop effect. They also had dark chocolate, milk chocolate and mint falvors. Hope this helps.

[bananafana]

I just checked amazon and they sell liquid stevia in the root beer flavor.

[Green Amour]

you could also try making some old fashioned root beer. I had a recipe from Linda Rector Page-can't find the book at the moment, but I found something similar:

1 vanilla bean
1 (5-inch) licorice root, broken into pieces
3/4 cup chopped dried sarsaparilla root
2 tablespoons dried sassafras root bark
1 tablespoon chopped dried burdock root
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
3 heads star anise
3 quarts water (12 cups)-they suggested distilled
2 (1/8-inch-wide) strips of orange zest

for sweeteners they had non-raw things- but you could make some substitutes and adjustments
however the roots are still simmered and brewed- so I don't know if this is kosher to discuss.
But I wonder if you could grind these to a powder and use them that way.

I've read that there is something called rootbeer extract-don't know how natural or raw the stuff is, though since I haven't seen any.

[Betsy]

Oh, wow alot of excellent suggestions so quickly, thanks guys/gals!:D Must try them all.

With the root beer Stevia, would that be good to add to a Kombuncha tea for the carbonation effect? Root Beer without the carbonation isn't root beer, LOL!! I'll try that and let you all know. It might just hit the spot, being that Kombuncha tea is sorta carboniesh.. Is there anything else that you can think of that would provide a good carbonation effect?

[Adensspell]

wow those are great suggestions!

I have tried the liquid stevia stuff, it wasn't bad when put in sparkling water, but it isn't Virgils. The thing about virgils is it has lots of herbs and is sort of spicey. I think I might try brewing my own, maybe instead of simmering the herbs just heating them gently for a really long time...then bottling with honey in a way that it ferments and gets carbonation?

[Green Amour]

the site where I found the recipe( chow.com) did have complete instructions for creating the carbonation. Apparently it has to do with an interaction of yeast and sugars. I always liked my rootbeers flat. :p

[walnutty]

Rootbeer flavored KOMBUCHA, anyone?...:D

[Betsy]

ME! ME! I'll take a Root Beer Koumbucha!

[Anastazia]

Watch out for the fennel seeds, they'll increase your breasmilk!!! :eek:

(Would milk show up if you're not nursing? Hmmmm....:rolleyes:

....kidding! I'm sure it wouldn't....well, pretty sure......:D )

~Anastazia~

[Green Amour]

you can make creamy mint candies with beautiful organic raw honey( the kind that's thick and whitish). I haven't really perfected a technique though. But I added some mint extract to the honey tried to shape it like a little patty as best I could and covered with cacao sauce, then froze them. They taste just like these mint patties I used to buy at the health food store. :)

[walnutty]

Oh, Green Amour, that sound so good! Thanks for the idea, I am definetely going to be trying it!

[Green Amour]

You will love the taste and I hope you'll let us know if you come up with a good method of working it! :D

[Betsy]

that does sound good...recipie ideas, anyone?

[RawDrop]

My fiance and I are going to work on making a raw ginger beer, because I love giner ale. I think we will also try to make a raw root beer and pass on the recipe.

For Mints and gum, I know that there are herbs or roots that work for gum, I can't think of any at the moment. I would imagine that you could come up with some recipes for mints by making a paste and then dehydrating.

I think I will have to work on that. It is pretty interesting trying to figure out how to make things that would have normally been made by boiling. Makes me feel almost like an alchemist.

[Betsy]

Just get plain Koumbucha Tea and add RootBeer Flavored Stevia. There you have it. Delicious. I'm drinking it right now. Tastes almost exactly like Root Beer, with the carbonation and everything. This, however tastes raw, pure and ALIVE!

thanks folks for your other ideas. Sounds great!