do you miss warm/hot foods?

[zeenes]

I just got Alissa's book in the mail (waiting on the backordered DVDs) and while I was thumbing through it, my SO came up with a good question. Do you find that you miss having a warm meal? I see the recipes for enchiladas and jimaca fries and such...but aren't they cold? or lukewarm at the very most? Is this difficult to adjust to?

Sorry if this has been asked before - I did a search of the forum, but didn't find anything. Thanks!

[Rawkinlocs]

I don't miss hot foods. When I was eating cooked food exclusively, I was never one who liked my food piping hot where you had to blow on it before you could eat it.

With the dehydrator, the foods are often slightly warmer than lukewarm, especially if straight out of there. I made some raw brownies and I ate them out of the dehydrator and they were warm enough to make one feel like they were cooked brownies, but not excessively hot - kinda like how the warm cookies from Mrs. Fields would be when they've come out, yet had a chance to cool a bit.

Also, many like raw soups and they become slightly warm from the blending action (esp. if you have a Vitamix) but also, many will put soups on the stove and warm just until your finger can rest comfortably in it without burning it.

I also do raw stir fry (I call it stir dry - if you click on the banana search icon above and type in stir-dry, you'll find the recipe) where veggies are marinated and I put on the dehydrator to warm/soften the veggies and it's like steamed veggies, but with a lower temp. There's also a very popular chili recipe in our recipe section you may want to look up.

Nah, things I miss/crave never have anything to do with the hot-factor. But that's just me :D

[rawpriestess]

I am one who warms almost all of my food in the dehydrator, and I also warm my soups to finger warm, I love soup this way.

I also add just a touch of cayenne to foods to give it that warm sense in my mouth. Works with warm tea etc. Even when I don't want the spice, the warmth of cayenne is sooooo comforting.

I really like the pesto stuffed mushrooms warmed.

But So, far, other than the banana ice cream, I don't eat anything cold. I like my food luke warm or warmer.

I do drink an occasional almond milk shake now and again, I guess that is kind of on the cool side, I used to put ice in it, but now I just make it, and all the blending to shmoosh up the dates, makes it a little warmer that fridge cold, if that makes any sense at all.

[sweetgoddess]

I thought I would miss the warmth of cooked food when I started raw. I was so suprised though, for I didnt miss it at all! I never would have guessed that would be the case, believe me. But after a week or two of starting raw, so many changes started happening, and later on, when I did have a cooked meal, there was nothing soothing to me about the warmth of the food. That surprised me.

I guess you will find out if you give it a go, and wow there are wonderful suggestions in this thread for getting some warmth from your raw food.

Blessings~

[deedub]

For me I found that I did not really miss hot food as much as I had to get use to cold food. For me the whole concept of living food as opposed to dead food was so impressive that I did not care that the food was not hot or not meat or not ... And then simular to what Sweetgoddess said I started to see the benefits from eating this way so quickly that I really just wanted to keep doing it. Now I just have so much anticipation of positive changes that I am just excited.

[angelandarose]

Right now with temps in the 100's I don't miss the warm food feeling. But come fall and winter I know I will. I started this in the spring when it was still cool around here and had a hard time adjusting to all cold foods. I did make some chili one time that I warmed in the dehydrator, plus the spices of that warmed me up good. I do still drink very warm tea, that helps sometimes when I'm wanting that warm feeling in my mouth. Experiment with your dehydrator. ;) Also if I have some soup that I like warm I let it sit in a bowl of hot water to warm it up some.

Love,
Angie

[city]

ok, I'm just going to chime in with the "warm it up in the dehydrator" mantra. Really works. The food doew not come out hot but it's warm and cozy.

[Drawn]

Although I thought I would really miss warm/hot foods when I went raw a couple months ago, it has been such a non-issue for me during the summer. I wonder a little if I will miss it in the cold, cold winter. It was one of the reasons I got my dehydrator before fall settles in (the other was to be able to capture some summer fruits for the long winter). However, I found that it was almost strange the first time I ate something warm again. I'm glad I have the option to warm stuff though since it will be one less excuse to slide during the upcoming winter.

[rawgrrl]

I don't have a dehydrator yet, but ginger, garlic, cayenne, galanga are some of the spices which will toast you nicely.

[Shan]

I'm only on day two of the 30 Day Challenge, and I already miss warm food! I also am getting tired of everything mostly being crunchy. I don't have a dehydrator yet. If I can stay on this for the 60 days then I will reward myself with one! I think that's enough time to prove to myself (and hubby) that I wouldn't be wasting money.

[Rawkinlocs]

Hiya Shan!

Yeah, you'll get used to that "crunch factor"! LOL!

But one thing you can do is to marinate veggies in olive oil and sea salt (or maybe some Nama Shoyu if you're not opposed to using it). The longer it marinates (especially like greens or cabbage, etc.), the softer they will get. But when you get your dehydrator, you will be able to have warmer stuff and softened stuff to help you better transition.

[Brianna]

I don't really think about it, but I guess sometimes it might be nice to have some warm food. I definitely don't miss burning my tongue though! Then you can't even taste the food because your tongue hurts so bad!

[Conscious Midwife]

I wondered about this too.

My concerns are with missing hot bread, cooked cabbage and melted cheese. Since I don't eatmeat I gues I really don't eat to many other hot foods that much anyway.

I'vr read the begining of Alissa's book, but definately need to read thru recipies a get prepared.

My efforts without preparation have yielded a 60-70% raw result at best.

[juliebove]

I generally dislike either warm or cold foods. The best temp. for me is room temp. although I do like green salads on the cool side. The only time I like something really hot is when I have a stuffy nose or sore throat and then the heat seems soothing. But then I can get that heat with tea or hot water.