Winter is a great time to warm up with the late harvest vegetables, and it’s also an excellent way to keep up your nutrient intake during the bustle of the winter season. The winter brings with it cold and flu season, as well as the time of year when many of us increase our sugar intake with all of the festive events. You can keep yourself balanced and support your immune system with adding a few easy habits into your winter routine:
- Don’t beat yourself up about holiday indulgences, just be sure to include healthy choices. One way to do this is to eat a small whole foods snack before going to your holiday party. That way you won’t show up starving and head straight for the meatballs and mac and cheese. Try a piece of multi-grain toast with figs and goat cheese. This low fat, high nutrient snack takes the edge off hunger but still feels festive.
- Start your day in the black, not the red. Smoothies are a great way to get vitamins and nutrients packed in early in the day even if you are on the go. Surprisingly, the average blender does a great job with dark leafy greens, and when pureed they actually taste a little sweet. So mix your favorite fruits and throw in a handful of chard and spinach to add fiber, iron, and vitamin A. Experiment with nut butters and plain yogurt to add some protein, or grab a hard boiled egg to have on the side.
- Find your happy place. The holidays bring out the weird in some people, and when you factor in all the added rushing around with shopping, parties and pageants, even professional meditation practitioners get tempted to scream at the clueless drivers in front of them. Implement a weekly ritual that replenishes you, like acupuncture, where you can reconnect your brain to your body. If you’re one of those people who thinks you can’t take an hour out for yourself once a week, take a few minutes to calculate how much time you lose to fuming each week about things that throw you off center. Reclaim that time for activities that will nourish you, and recharge your coping mechanisms.
- Add fresh seasonal vegetables into your diet wherever you can. Chard and kale are two winter greens that are incredibly versatile, and easy to add to any meal. Dice them up with onions and mushrooms for a hearty side dish, or add brown rice for a warming vegetarian entrée. Cook a little extra and scramble it with a few eggs for a quick breakfast the next day.
- Stay warm with a tonic tea. Sometimes people want something hot to drink on cold winter days, and the default tends to be coffee or black or green tea. Add new flavor to your hot drink repetoir while also fighting cold and flu germs. Simmer water in a pan with a cinnamon stick, a teaspoon of whole cloves, orange slices, lemon slices, fresh ginger, a few peppercorns, a garlic clove and a dash of cayenne. Sweeten with honey if you like and sip all day long. If you’re already sick you can increase the amount of garlic and cayenne up to your tolerance for a major cold-buster tea.
Okay, I don’t want the be the nutrition consultant that goes on the record for telling people to drink whisky when they get sick, but there is some interesting background in this old wives tale tonic. A friend with a cold was visiting, and we got talking about traditional remedies and winter tonic drinks. We are both familiar with the expression – “go home, take a bath, and get in bed with a heating pad and a hot toddy,” but neither of us had ever looked into to drink itself.
Here’s my G rated version of the recipe, and I drink this as a general cold prevention tonic throughout the winter. If I actually have a cold I will add Cayenne and garlic as well.
Hot Toddy
1 lemon
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon Honey
1 thumb-size piece of fresh ginger root – thinly sliced
Simmer the lemon, cloves, and ginger in 4 cups of water for 10-20 minutes. (The longer the simmer the stronger the extraction, so you can simmer for hours if you have the time and the inclination). Add the honey after you take the drink off the stove.
What I find interesting about the hot toddy is that the ingredients are well known cold remedies, complete with anti-microbial, anti-viral, and anti-inflammation properties, as well as being high in vitamin C. While the whiskey seems unintuitive, it does provide an analgesic and sedative effect. The origin of the Toddy itself is colorful as well. “Toddy” is an Indian word used to describe a juice extracted from palm trees, and according to Wikipedia it is believed the drink was popularized in the west via Scotland as far back as the 18th century. Through time, hot toddy became a more generic term for warm drinks with a blend of curative spices and spirits (usually whiskey, brandy or rum), but there remains disagreement as to whether the drink is Scottish or Irish in origin.
Cloves
Cloves were one of the first spices to be traded, dating back many centuries. Their origin is the Molucca Islands of Indonesia and the Southern Philippines, and they are now grown in Tanzania and Madagascar. It is known throughout most of the world as a panacea, and is used to treat everything from acne and diarrhea, to toothaches and nausea. The traditional clove-studded orange was originally created to be a natural bug repellent. Its oil has antiseptic qualities, as well as being known for its analgesic, antibacterial, anti-fungal, antiviral and stimulating properties.
Lemons
Lemons are very high in vitamin C and calcium, as well as providing liver support and enhancing bile production, (this helps your body clear toxins). Traditionally lemon has been a key ingredient in most folk remedies, and is used to treat colds, flus, digestive problems, halitosis, rheumatism, asthma, fatigue, and headaches.
Ginger
Ginger has been used as a traditional medicine for over 4,000 years, and has been a prized rhizome in Asian, Indian, Arabic and Chinese cultures for centuries. It too is used to treat digestive upset, headaches, colds, flus, and inflammatory conditions like arthritis and ulcerative colitis. It is anti-fungal, antimicrobial, and anti-viral, and is known to thin the blood and help reduce cholesterol. (Make note of this if you are in blood thinners or take a lot of aspirin as it can lead to clotting issues).
Honey*
Honey has been used historically as a remedy all over the world. The antimicrobial elements of honey are widely known, but few people realize why. Despite being 40% Fructose and 30% glucose, honey is acidic and anaerobic. Bacteria (which usually incites a reproductive free-for-all in sugar environments), cannot thrive in honey. Honey also contains glucose oxidase, which when combined with water and oxygen converts to gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide – giving it antiseptic properties. Honey is known far and wide for it’s wound healing properties and its ability to soothe sore and inflamed tissue, and can be used for everything from sore throats to pink eye and psoriasis.
So there you have it – a hot toddy! Enjoy this warming winter drink through the darkest days of winter and be well!
*A few side notes about honey in general – not all honey is equal. There is a vast difference in the types of honey available and the manufacturing process itself. To derive the greatest medicinal benefits from honey, purchase only the most local and the least processed options. The heat exposure in mass manufacturing cheap honey changes both the bioavailability of nutrients and even the glycemic reaction to blood sugar. Honey is not safe for children under the age of one because of some of the enzymatic reactions that can take place in an immature intestinal floral environment, and it can lead to infant botulism.
It was tough to pick one thing in season to promote this week since October kicks of harvest season, but in my opinion dates don’t get nearly enough publicity. Their season is short, and when they are ripe enough to eat they must be handled with care since they squish so easily.
Many people know what a wonder food dates are, so I’ve seen people choke them down in an obligatory way that is usually reserved for fish oil wheat grass, but there is something about figs that stands out as an epicurean hallmark when someone prepares and serves them for you.
People who would never otherwise bother with the fig hoover conspicuously over the platter when they are served in small bite-sized wedges along side pear and apple slices and some sharp cheddar. Curiosity gets the better of them, and as they experience the celebration of seasonal flavor meeting a kaleidoscope of texture, you can see in their eyes that they will buy figs at the next trip to market.
Alas, as the best intentions go, it turns out to be too much work on a dark, rainy night after a long day at work. What seemed magical in the cocktail party environment suddenly takes on an aire of extravagance in your own kitchen, and the poor raindrop-shaped powerhouses languish in the fridge until they meet their demise.
It doesn’t need to be so!!! Figs are easy, versatile and one of the most flavor flexible foods around. This snack attack serves as a mid-meal pick-me-up, a pre-dinner appetizer, a hearty lunch sandwich or even an exotic dessert with a little dressing up. In every instance it takes no more than 5 minutes to prepare and serve.
Ingredients:
Fresh bread
Fresh figs
Brie Cheese or Goat Cheese
Directions:
1. Slice bread of choice (I like multi-grain)
2. With a fork, Squish fig into bread
3. Place cheese on top of squished fig
4. Place in toaster oven until cheese is melted
Here are some pictures in case you can’t believe it’s this easy 
The month of October hails a flurry of epicurean delights for Santa Barbarains, and one of the most exciting events is the month long eat local challenge, sponsored by our very own Edible Santa Barbara. The goal is to shop locally and eat foods that are grown/produced within 100 miles of Santa Barbara.
It might sound like an impossible challenge unless you’ve been to the Saturday Farmer’s Market recently. You can buy pretty much anything to your hearts delight at the Saturday market, and the eat local challenge is a great way to explore the freshest fruits and vegetables in season, fresh cheese, local meats and eggs, Mamas Jam, dates, honey and more!
In celebration of the Santa Barbara Eat Local Challenge, Living Well Health is offering half price consultations for the month of October!
For only $40 you can plan your meals around eating locally and fully maximize the joys of harvest season with healthy meal planning and cooking consultations! Think eating locally is too complicated for your busy life? Not sure what you would do with all the pumpkin and dates in season?
Not a problem with Living Well Health cooking consultations! Living Well Health will help you organize a meal plan to your tastes and preferences, and give you quick, delicious tips on how to prepare all of the amazing produce bursting in Santa Barbara County this Fall.
Set up your appointment today at livingwellhealth@gmail.com
Namaste,
Living Well Health
Sometimes I feel as though if my clients don’t really need me, my menu plans, and nutritional meal data. Instead, they need their grandmothers. Yes, they need the matriarch and her handy Fannie Farmer Cook Book.
I remember making mousse with my grandmother one Saturday afternoon, and I can tell you first hand it was so much work there was no guilt in eating it! So what I mean to say is that the current health crisis is not so much about a lack of information; it’s about lifestyle. I would go so far as to say the “health crisis” is at its core, a time crisis.
The value of a home cooked meal goes beyond its nutritional benefits. The fact that when you cook from whole foods you can control sodium, fat and sugar content, and that you can avoid additives like chlorine dioxide, heptyl butyrate, benzaldehyde, and sodium steroyl-2-lactylate are simply an incidental benefit of having the time to nurture yourself, your environment, your family and your local economy.
When you buy your vegetables at the farmers market every cent of your dollar goes to the farmer who grew your food, as opposed to the 0.05-0.15 cents to every dollar when you buy at the traditional grocery store. When you bake your own bread, simmer your own soups, and sit down to eat with friends and family, dinner is the event of the evening instead of a necessary chore to choke down enough empty calories to keep you conscious as you rush to the next commitment on your calendar. You are breaking bread with loved ones and feeding your soul, instead of burning fossil fuels, inducing heartburn, and amping out your adrenal system when the stop light feels like it’s taking too long.
So take some time this fall to smell the roses and even learn a few recipes on how to cook with them. It’s harvest season and the sugar pumpkins are bursting with beta carotene and vitamin A. Figs are oozing magnesium, potassium, and calcium. Apples are at their maximum crispness, and cabbage is begging to dress up your salads and stir-fry’s – just waiting to lend a helping hand in fighting off cancer, ensuring adequate vitamin K, and escorting toxins out of your cells.
