It's cold outside and I think I want warm on the inside?

[damomma94]

I'm desperate!!! How do people in cold climates do raw in winter? I am struggling with keeping myself raw. It was simple from March until early October. But now in December it just feels so hard to do.

I'm fine during the day. Breakfast, good. Lunch, good. Snacks, good. But, when I get home at night and it's cold and dark....not so good. Any advice or experiences will be very appreciated.

[juliebove]

What about something with a lot of black pepper or hot peppers in it? Or you could drink hot tea if this idea is fine with you.

[Rawkinlocs]

Some suggestions:

Keep those fruits that CAN be unrefrigerated, leave out so they won't be cold

Warm foods in the dehydrator

Warm raw soups over the stove just until your finger can rest comfortably in it without burning

Warm raw soups in the blender by blending until it's warm

Eat "warming foods" such as cayenne, ginger, garlic, etc. and/or add those spices/seasonings to your foods

Make the raw chili that is posted in our recipe section slightly warm that as suggested above

Make heavier raw food dishes such as crackers, breads, pizza, Alissa's calzone, etc.

[VibinOnLife!]

I pretty much stay cold most of the time, so I know exactly what you mean. Soups work for me. I just blend up some tomato soup, loaded with cayenne pepper, and fill up an oven save bowl that I've heated in oven. It warms the soup a little, but what really helps is holding that warm bowl in my hands. It gives the illusion of a hotter soup. And spices are the key. I use alot of cayenne and cinnamon in the colder months.

Also, when I'm eating anything other than soup I try to remember to take everything out of the fridge an hour or so ahead of time.

I'm sure that people also use dehydrators to warm food. I just don't have one.

Be well, and stay warm! :)

[Pierre]

I think the answer is to eat a lot of fat. I just got some pecans, which according to the label are 2/3 fat, and olives.

Even on cold days when it's 0 out and 16 in, I love frozen fruit smoothies!

[SedonaSun]

Cold stuff makes me very cold inside. Wintertime, I drink hot herbal teas to warm me up. Technically not raw, but I'm not so concerned with that. I'd rather be warm and warm food won't do it...only hot stuff.

For me, better a hot herbal tea than a hot bowl of SAD whatever.

Try different suggestions you find here and see what works for you. :)

[swingbolder]

Drink hot tea without the tea, that is, just hot water.

When I wake up early in the AM cause I gotta do some homework and it's still dark out and my house is cold cause the heat's been down all night, I drink some hot water and it warms me right up inside.

Also, don't eat your stuff cold out of the fridge, like rawkinlocs said. Warm it up first. With fruit, you can put it in a bowl of warm water for like 10 minutes or so, or just take it out a coupla hourse beforehand if you have the foresight.

[star1919]

Great ideas... Thanks!

Hot steaming tea for me... I'm comfortable with this. The nutrients come from the raw food I eat not the tea I drink.
It has sure helped me stay raw in the cold weather.

[damomma94]

Thank you all soooooo much one idea was better than the next. It feels warm just knowing there are others who understand. My friends and family just want me to "eat the cooked stuff already". But, I know that I feel better eating raw and there had to be a way to do it in the winter.

I haven't done anything with spices at all. Any specific dishes you guys could recommend? The tea and water are something I can start right NOW!!

I do have a dehydrator so that is something I'll try. I wonder if someone could suggest a raw soup that would work nicely?

I think the more fat idea is on target too. I have lost 25lbs so maybe a little more "padding" would help me feel warmer. Nuts seem to take the hunger edge off to.

Thanks to you all. I am overwhelmed with you generous support.

[Rawkinlocs]

In our recipe section, there are a lot of good (spicy) recipes there that you can search out using the banana icon up top of the forum.

For starters, look up:

gazpacho
jalapeno poppers
chili
fajitas

Do you own a copy of Living on Live Food? If not, GET ONE! It has a lot of recipes from simple and easy to more complex...but there are some nice, heavy, warm foods in there like the calzone (YUM), 3 varieties of pizza, eggplant parmesean, hearty chili and a lot more!

[Rawkinlocs]

damomma, I bumped up a few of those spicy recipe threads for you in the recipe section if you wanna go take a peek.

[Pierre]

Drink hot tea without the tea, that is, just hot water.

That reminds me of "Fnord is evaporated herbal tea without the herbs." :)

[damomma94]

Thanks for "bumping up" the recipes. It would have been a challenge to figure that out. I do have Alissa's book. I'm going to research through it today :) .

[RawTruth]

Also, dress more warmly!

(Fruit in the refrigerator, folks? How does it last long enough to have to refrigerate it?

[Lay-Lay]

I like making tomatoe soup in the vitamixer and leaving it in there a few minutes until it warms a little and eating warm flaxseed crackers out of the dehydrator with it.