Winter food.

[How?]

Does anyone mix up being raw with some cooked or steamed winter food?I have been 100% raw for two years with no lapses but its cold where I live in winter and I am interested in at least seeing is it possible to mix some good healthy cooked food with being raw like soups or something for dinner.The trouble is I don't even know where to start and I find cooking a chore.
Also does anyone have any thoughts on whether raw foods make you feel more ungrounded and any raw ways to balance this. thanks.

[PammieTaj]

You might try eating heavier raw foods - basically more fat - like nuts and avocados. Another suggestion would be to consume spicier foods, ginger, chilis, and the like.

Occasionally I make a slow-cooker full of some vegan soup and will have some of that. It can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be. I usually end up putting most of it in the freezer for later use.

[JCB44]

you can warm raw soups to 105-110 deg. I drink hot herbal tea in the winter, some people say it is not raw, my choice. I actually feel more grounded eating raw foods.

[Dimond]

I'm always cold. I just leave food out to get warm, wear warmer clothes when eating, etc. If real cold then I'd eat near heat.

[RawKnitster]

I'm having the same thoughts. I've been raw for 2 1/2 years. This week an Arctic front moved in and the temps dropped into the teens, well below normal. I've been fighting cooked cravings for several days, drinking chai rooibos tea with warm almond milk, eating lots of fats and curry and warming spices, chocolate, too. Nothing has satisfied or warmed me.

Today, I finally broke down and made a simple soup of chopped veggies simmered for about 15 minutes in water with a little sea salt. It was heavenly. My digestive system is handling it fine. Unfortunately, it did not satisify my cooked cravings. It intensified the cravings. Not a good place to be going into the holidays.

The scary part about eating the cooked veggies, when I look in the mirror it seems my face has literally fallen. :eek: My husband says I'm imagining it. I'm not so sure.

[Aleesha Sattva]

i see a huge difference in my face when i eat cooked food. huge.

i warm my food... lightly. keeping it below 110 degrees. you can do chilli, soups... all kinds of things. you can use the dehydrator or the stove on low.

i have tomato soup for dinner every night. i simply warm it on the stove. makes my body soooooo much warmer cause drinking it on the cool side makes my entire body chilled which is fine in the summer... notsomuch in the winter.

[RawKnitster]

i see a huge difference in my face when i eat cooked food. huge.

i warm my food... lightly. keeping it below 110 degrees. you can do chilli, soups... all kinds of things. you can use the dehydrator or the stove on low.

i have tomato soup for dinner every night. i simply warm it on the stove. makes my body soooooo much warmer cause drinking it on the cool side makes my entire body chilled which is fine in the summer... notsomuch in the winter.

So the difference in my face is not my imagination. That is good to know. I wasn't sure if it was the cooked food, or my disappoint with myself for eating the cooked food.

Thanks for the excellent advice. I will start planning gently warmed raw meals. Warm tomato soup would be ideal. :)

Blessings to you, Aleesha. You always have the answers us rawbies are looking for. :) I am grateful for you and to you. (((HUGS)))

[Tguch]

Hello! Another suggestion I would have is to add supplements to your daily routine -- I started taking phytoplankton, D3 and reishi mushroom herbs daily (or every other day) about a month ago and my body has gotten much stronger from the inside out. I can physically feel the difference. Hands and feet and nose aren't cold - I have great circulation. I can go outside and walk between buildings without a coat in freezing temperatures and I notice it is cold, but my body is warm. This is the first time in my entire life where I have not been cold. I am usually a big cold baby in the winter sitting next to the radiator with a blanket on.

Now I don't know which of these is making the difference because I started them all at the same time. But I suggest you perhaps identify areas where you could be lacking -- not just nutrition in your diet, but overall in your physical composition. And then find the supplement that works. I am truly amazed that I will not be cold this winter. :)

Now on the other hand, sometimes the idea of eating warm food comforts me -- then I have miso soup. :)

[BlackKat]

[QUOTE=RawKnitster;635491]So the difference in my face is not my imagination. That is good to know. I wasn't sure if it was the cooked food, or my disappoint with myself for eating the cooked food.
QUOTE]


Me too. I notice this. I break out, I have bags under my eyes and my over all skin tone looks nasty. Like I'm coming down with a cold or something.

Good motivation to stick to raw, even though those warm soups on cold days are so tempting. Tea is a savior in the winter

[How?]

Well, I've done two soups although they are more like stew. I just chuck in lots of stuff,,,,carrots,brussels sprouts(missed these babies so much from being raw),leeks,tomato,parsnips,seasalt. Totally yum!! :)

Also reading the Jay Kordichs website said this " Also, we eat more cooked foods in the fall and wintertime. Unless you live in a very warm area, where the temperature does not fall below 45 degrees throughout the year, you should be consuming warmer foods in the fall and winter, then more living foods in the spring and summer."

Not meaning to sound like thats gospel or anything...just interesting on how an older member of the raw food brigade does it. Also, my digestive system didn't say a thing.Not a budge and that must be a good sign. I also for the past few months soak some porridge in hot water and find its good after cold fruit for breakfast followed by some herbal tea.

[DawnD]

I am a bit colder these days but I don't think too much about it. I have always had cold hands from October to April. I do drink hot tea at work and that fills a need for warmth. I decided to invest in knee socks and undershirts this winter thinking the extra layers will keep me comfortable. I see so many women still wearing sandals and I just couldn't do that. burrrrr!

[monkeyboy]

A Patagonia jacket and a bottle of Pinot Noir gets me through the winter here in the preppie colony.

Peace M.B.

[snoops]

yo yo monkey boy;)

[klomasius]

I've been through two winters at 100% and have done fine, though the last one was mildly annoying it just went on for ages, but I think that was in my mind, and not because of the raw, but for other reasons.

Things I find I gravitate toward during winter:

saunas - I love these and any chance I get I'm in there (at my local leisure centre, whcih just happens to be 5 mintues up the road from my house), even now its summer over here I'm wanting to go to the sauna lots still.

warm broths - especially seaweed broth, my favourite: torn up raw nori sheets, warm water, unrefined salt, lemon juice and a dash of cold pressed oil. You can jazz it up with chopped spring onions and finely chopped tomato.

spicy foods - I love my cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamon for sweets, and cumin, paprika and garam masala for savoury foods.

If you suffer from cold extremities, theres lots you can do to assist with this including the above, and also exercise and certain circulatory herbs.

Hope you find your balance. :)

[RoseGreen]

Winter is why I love a feezer. There aren't so many seasonal fruits and veggies available, so I make big batches of stuff when it's available and freeze it until I need it.
Also; I am planning to use more winter squashes and tubers and root vegetables, which seem to keep longer. I am way too excited for my dehydrator to arrive so I can make some cool things again. Definitely gonna try some sweet potato chips in it, and the seaweed broth sounds lovely. Will try that, too.

I live in the Cleveland area and we tend to get ferocious winters here on the lake. I have so many pairs of argyle knee socks it's ridiculous. But I stay warm; with those, my nice warm tea with raw honey, and my sweaters. And- "The Boy" gives off as much heat as a banked blast furnace, so I have that as well. ;)

[Mikey_H]

I actually feel much better physically and mentally eating like 90-95% raw as opposed to 100% raw.
Everybody is different but if you feel like you should add some cooked food into your diet then it will probably do you well.
Me personally, I don't typically cook things that don't "need" to be cooked... ya know, I'll keep my veggies raw for the most part. But when it comes to foods (organic!!) like eggplant, sweet potato, and organic animal products like grassfed beef, free range chicken/eggs and wild-caught salmon, I eat them cooked (obviously). I don't eat much of these foods but I feel better eating some of them than none of them at all. Whole raw food is of course the main base, but if your body is telling you to eat something else, set your own standards and don't follow somebody else's morals or dietary standards.
I have another friend that's a mostly-raw-foodie too, but she feels good eating the occasional whole grains whereas she doesn't digest animal products well. I, on the other hand, do NOT tolerate grains at all... make me feel awful for the most part unless sprouted. Whereas I do digest small amounts of organic animal products well.

So find your appropriate range! It certainly wont hurt to try something out(just make sure your ingredients are wholesome, organic and if possible, local), I've gone through finding my appropriate range for a few years now and I'm pretty good at where I'm at. Good luck!!

[healthywealthy]

hot baths seem to sort me :)

[lovenlife]

I too am sooo cold in winter. I make hot soups and enjoy them.