My New Roots Cooking Show - How to Make Nut Milk

My New Roots - How to Make Nut Milk from My New Roots on Vimeo.

My dear readers, I am indescribably thrilled to release the second video for the My New Roots Cooking Show! As the response was overwhelming, I decided to show you just how easy it is to make nut milk at home in your blender. I’m serious. This truly is one simple kitchen technique that changed my life forever, and I am so excited to share it with you!

All you need to make nut milk is your favorite nut (or a combination – get creative!), water, a blender, and a strainer. Of course a nut milk bag is the most convenient, but don’t let that stop you – there are all kinds of things you can use instead, which I mention in the video above. You can even flavour the nut milk with vanilla, raw honey, agave, or dates. Delicious!

Now here’s where you come in: First, I would really love your feedback because it gives me a good idea of how to improve the videos, so you can enjoy them more. And I would love to hear how your nut milk turned out! What nut did you use, did you add any flavours, was it easy, tasty?! Leave your comments below.
Second, I kindly ask you to pass the link around to your friends, family, mailman – anyone you think would like a tall, cold drink of nut milk. Spread the word through an email, your Facebook wall, Twitter…go nuts! Oops, sorry. You get the idea.

I hope you get the same kick out of making nut milk that I do. Once you taste the difference between home made and store bought nut milk, I am pretty sure you’ll be convinced to make the switch! You can use nut milk anywhere you use regular milk - in cooking, baking, smoothies, coffee & tea, and of course on your breakfast cereal. Not to mention that the nut milk you make yourself is totally natural, raw, sugar-free, additive-free, and preservative-free, so it’s the best choice for your health. Always.

Thanks for watching! Wahoo!
In love and gratitude, Sarah B

Drink your Sunblock! Goji Ginger Lemonade

I am SO on holiday and good grief did I need the following: family road trips, reading on the dock, creative cooking, farmers markets, skinny dipping, moonlit strolls, smoothies, wild flower picking, cabin napping, cottage hopping, hysterical laughter, river sailing, and bonfire sing-a-longs...a true Canadian summer. Nothing beats it. Sorry, Denmark.

The one thing missing from that list of favorite-things-to-do-in-summer is sunbathing. Gasp! It’s no secret I am a sun worshiper, and I come by it honestly. I can clearly remember both of my parents laying in the sun at high noon, slathering their bodies with baby oil to achieve a skin colour completely unnatural to our ethnicity. Nice role modeling. Thanks guys.

So how does a health-conscious person like me soak up the rays responsibly? Well, I have a few tricks, however logical they may be.
1. I only lay in the sun during non-peak hours (re: before 11am and after 4pm).
2. If I know that I will be exposed to the sun during peak hours, I wear light clothing that covers as much as I can stand, and a hat.
3. If I have to put on sunscreen to avoid lobster face, I use Beaver brand. It is still my favorite.
4. I make sure to consume plenty of fish oil, as EPA and DHA fats have been shown to effectively reduce to risk of skin cancer [1].
5. I drink Goji Ginger Lemonade to mega-dose on antioxidant power! More on that right now…

Goji Berry Power
Goji berries, or wolfberries are small, red, dried fruits that are super-charged with antioxidants. Scoring high on the ORAC scale (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) means that Goji berries will more effectively neutralize free radicals, slow the oxidative process and prevent the free radical damage caused by sun exposure [2].
This drink also includes fresh ginger, which is also incredibly high in antioxidants. If you like it spicy, add more!

I remember back in school one of my professors talking about a similar beverage she would enjoy in the summer, saying it was like drink-able sunblock. What a concept! Whipping up this fast and delicious beverage before heading out to the beach is a great way to up your intake of antioxidants (although does not replace sunscreen), while refreshing yourself and your family. Sun protection never tasted so good!



Goji Ginger Lemonade
Serves 1
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. goji berries
1 ½ cups water
1 tsp. ginger root, freshly grated
½ lemon, juiced
raw honey to taste (optional)

Directions:
1. Soak goji berries in water for at least one hour to soften.
2. Pour goji berries and soak water into a blender with remaining ingredients, blend on high until completely mixed.
3. Pour into a glass with plenty of ice and lemon slices.

Other Super-Antioxidant add-ins:
açaí berry powder
blueberries
vanilla bean
raw cacao powder
fresh peppermint
golden raisins
raw cranberries
blackberries

Miraculously Effective and Natural Sunburn Relief
Getting a sunburn is serious business, not just from a pain perspective, but also from a health standpoint. Yes, it’s been drilled into us to avoid sun overdose, but sometimes it just happens (I didn’t “mean” to fall asleep on the hood of my Corvette again…)

An incredible home remedy for neutralizing painful sunburns is as far away as your kitchen cupboard – the miraculous apple cider vinegar!
Simply soak a cotton ball or small sponge in apple cider vinegar and dab on the burned spot, or make a compress for larger areas. If severely burned, repeat two to three times a day. If you are suffering from head-to-toe char, it’s best to take a bath in the stuff – simply add 2 cups of apple cider vinegar to the tuba and soak for at least 15 minutes.
Apple cider vinegar applied to the skin effectively neutralizes the burn, relieves pain, and prevents blistering and peeling. Seriously amazing!

Note: you may smell like a pickle, indeed, but a little coconut oil will remove most of the odor, plus add much needed moisture to your parched skin.



All this talk of sunshine is making me long for my afternoon spot on the dock again…must. go. now.
I hope you are all having an amazing summer, filled with sunshine and lots of responsible enjoyment!

Love, Sarah B

[1] mercola.com
[2] ORAC 

Picnic-Perfect Drinks at N.E.E.T. Magazine

When the editor of N.E.E.T. magazine, an "eco-friendly, grassroots style bible" contacted me to contribute to their Summer food feature - alfresco-dining fare - I jumped at the chance.

For their June issue, I developed the two totally unique picnic beverages that kick Kool-Aid to the curb: Basil Lemonade and Hibiscus Ginger Cooler. They are simple to make, sugar-free, and of course loaded with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidant power! Check them out here and flip to page 192-195 for a printable PDF of both delicious drink recipes.

Happy Picnic-ing!
In health, Sarah B.

What's all the Buzz About? Bee Pollen.

Oh for the love of bees! Are you as obsessed as I am? Probably not, but I am a little special that way. My passion for bees knows no limits, as the amazing things they produce are infinitely mind-blowing! If you’ve been back in the archives, you’ll know I am a huge raw honey fan, and don’t even get me started on beeswax, but that is only scratching the surface when it comes to the bee products that fill my home, my tummy, and my life.
Let me introduce you to bee pollen. I have wanted to write a post about this for quite some time now because it is one of my absolute favorite superfoods. Not only is it delicious, versatile, and astonishingly inexpensive, but also is oh-so-good-for-you, like times infinity. But let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

What is bee pollen?
First, let’s distinguish between bee pollen form airborne pollen, the latter being the pollen that causes hay fever and other related allergies.

Bee pollen on the other hand is actually the collected pollen that the bees take back from the flowers and store in the hive for food. The bees obtain it by going from flower, scraping the powdery loose pollen from the stamen with their jaws and front legs. They moisten the pollen with a sticky substance secreted from their stomachs so it will adhere to their rear legs. The jagged bristles of their rear legs are used to comb the powder from their coats and front legs. The outsides of their tibias form concave areas used as pollen baskets, into which they press their golden deposits. When each of these baskets is fully loaded, the microscopic dust has been tamped down into a single golden granule – and that is the bee pollen that you can eat!

Why the heck would I want to eat plant sperm collected by bugs?
Because I said so.
But if that doesn’t convince you, how about some concrete reasons?
First off, bee pollen is a super high-energy whole food that supplies us with nearly every single nutrient the human body needs to survive. Wow. Surprisingly, it is very high in protein, containing between 20-35%, including all 22 amino acids.

Bee pollen is loaded with enzymes, something quite lacking in many modern diets. Enzymes are the little compounds that help us break down and digest food, one reason that eating raw foods is so important. Supplementing the diet with bee pollen is excellent all the time, but especially when we’ve been indulging in, ahem, falafels at 2 a.m. on Friday night. I also find it a great travel companion, as I know that I can give my body all the nutrients it needs if I can’t find the all-u-can-eat organic vegetarian buffet at the airport, for example.

And to top it all off, bee pollen is jam-packed with vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, and phytonutrients – I’m telling you, everything! If you were stranded on a dessert island, theoretically, you could survive off the stuff (although I have yet to meet someone who has tested this out).

Allergy Relief
As illogical as it may sound, many people actually experience relief from seasonal allergies by introducing small amounts of fresh, local pollen in to their diet. This could be due to the high levels of quercitin it contains, which is known for its ability to minimize or neutralize the histamine response (I discussed quercitin here). According to the Journal of Allergy, one study of allergy sufferers showed a majority of people with hay fever enjoyed a dramatic improvement after eating bee pollen, while some of the study's participants reported showing a 100% improvement in their condition with supplemental intake of bee pollen.




Okay great, but how does it taste?
The flavour of bee pollen is quite special – I guess I would refer to the taste as floral (go figure). Of course the taste of your bee pollen will depend on where your pollen comes from and the flowers that the bees were dippin’ into.
If you eat bee pollen on its own (which I would encourage at least the first time around), let it dissolve on your tongue to absorb and revel in its amazing complexities of flavour and texture. Mind blowing! And consider the unbelievable concentration of energy that it contains; literally the fertile male element of plant life! Holy cow.

Buying Bee Pollen
Because of its highly concentrated nature, and the fact that it is harvested from flowers, sourcing bee pollen gathered in a pesticide-free environment is important. And it’s also advisable to buy local bee pollen, as it will help to tune your body into your surrounding environment – kind of in line with my “zany” ideas about eating warm food in the winter and cool food in the summer.
Most health food and natural food shops now carry bee pollen. Sometimes it can be found sitting on the shelf right next to the honey, but the best quality bee pollen may be found in the fridge of freezer section of the shop.

Bee pollen comes as small granules in various shades (see photo). One bag from a single source can have a remarkable colour range, which comes from the various flowers the bees collected the pollen from. The granules should be relatively soft (never crunchy!) and dissolve easily on the tongue.
Do not buy bee pollen that comes in tablet form – heating the pollen during compression will destroy its enzymes and vitamin C content. It is a raw food and should be enjoyed as such!

Once purchased, store opened containers of bee pollen in the fridge, and unopened containers in the freezer for the longest shelf life.

The Price is Right
Totally wanting to take supplements, but don’t have the cash? Well, you’ve struck gold with bee pollen, as it’s loaded with the good stuff without the outrageous price tag. Score!

Taking Bee Pollen
Considering it is such very powerful food, it’s best to introduce bee pollen to the body in a responsible manner, (i.e. slowly). Sometimes with supplement and superfoods, we can react in unexpected ways, so it’s best to start off with small amounts and work your way up just to make sure your body is cool with what you’re putting in your mouth.
Adults: Start with 1 teaspoon, and then increase your intake every day by a few grains until reaching 2 teaspoons a day (10 ml). Daily intake should be a maximum of 1 tablespoon (15 ml).
Children: Start from 3 grains, increasing by 2 grains every few days until reaching 1/2 tsp. a day.

***Note: A small percentage of the population is severely allergic to bee pollen (particularly if you are allergic to bees or other bee products). Please use caution and common sense before introducing this food to your diet.

If you are interested in reading more about the production, medical uses, nutritional values, or are just curious about the life and anatomy of bees, an outstanding source is R. Krell's paper on Value Added Products From Beekeeping published in 1996 - the pollen section is specifically relevant to this post.



I thought I’d start with a simple smoothie recipe to get ya’ll in the mood for pollen, but there are many ways of incorporating these amazing golden granules into your daily diet. Sprinkle it on your morning cereal or lunch-time salad, top your desserts, add to salad dressing, or fold it into your raw food snacks (like The Raw Brownie perhaps?).

Bee Pollen Smoothie
serves 2
1 cup nut milk (or other milk)
1 cup blueberries (frozen are fine)
1 frozen banana, in 3 or 4 chunks
1 Medjool date, pitted (optional)
1 hunk of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tsp. bee pollen (to start, work up to 1 Tbsp.)

Directions:
1. Put everything in a blender and whir it up! Drink immediately.

You can make your smoothie out of anything you have on hand and/or what is in season – this is simply what I had today!

And yes, that is a glass straw. After all the thought and care I put into buying organic foods, and preparing them in a healthiest way possible, I could not consider slurping my beautiful smoothies through a plastic straw that is potentially leaching harmful toxins. Absolutely not, I say!
Also, glass straws are a far better alternative for the environment, as they are reusable. Those plastic straws, however small, still add up in the landfill.

I bought my glass straw from an artist in Mendocino county (of course) last fall and I am really in love with it. One of those things I constantly told myself I could live without is now something I use almost everyday and get so much pleasure from. You buy them online from many different vendors (just Google glass straws). They aren’t that expensive, and surprisingly durable. Thumbs up!

Am I finished yet? Yes, I am.


source: Haas, Elson M. Staying Healthy with Nutrition. Berkley, CA: Wiley, 2006.
            Jubb, Annie & David. Life Food: Living on Life Force. Berkley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2003.
           Value-added Products from Bee-keeping: http://www.fao.org/docrep/w0076e/w0076e00.htm#con

Raw Chocolate Milkshake Miracle

My dad believes that chocolate milkshakes fix just about any problem. Boy troubles? Chocolate milkshake. Bad day at work? Chocolate milkshake. I’ll never forget my disastrous 15th birthday party where he successfully pacified an entire room of disgruntled-drama-queen adolescent girls with chocolate milkshakes. God bless that patient man and his blender.
He makes them thick and rich with all the classic ingredients that I have long renounced, but I gotta say that I miss their undeniable consoling qualities now and again. They are just so good, and they somehow manage to put things in perspective every time.
Well dad, I’ve improved upon your classic, and it not only tastes like “a liquid brownie” (according to the hubby), but it’s totally raw, and boasts more antioxidants than a salad buffet. How can this be?! It’s all thanks to cacao.

What makes cacao a superfood?
Cacao has been given the illustrious label of “superfood” because it is an incredibly rich source of minerals and antioxidants. In fact, according to the ORAC scale (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) it contains more antioxidants per gram than goji berries, blueberries, prunes, raisins, red wine, and green tea. This rating system was developed by the United States Department of Agriculture to measure the effectiveness of antioxidants to absorb free radicals that cause cell and tissue damage. The higher the ORAC score, the higher the level of antioxidants present in the food. You can get a copy of the ORAC scale here.

So does that mean I can eat chocolate instead of fruit?
No. Eating a bowl of raw cacao nibs is not better for you than a basket of blueberries. Although cacao is very nutritious and incredibly yummy, like anything it should be consumed in moderation. Cacao contains two controversial elements; theobromine, a powerful stimulant which affects our nervous system and oxalic acid, which inhibits calcium absorption. Eating a couple of these milkshakes a week is certainly not going to do you any harm (in fact, for most of us it would be doing a world of good), but this should not be an everyday indulgence. Be a responsible health nut for crying out loud!

The difference between cacao and cocoa
Let’s get one thing straight people: cacao is not cocoa. They make look very similar, smell the same, feel the same, they are even spelled almost the same way, but they are worlds apart when it comes to nutrition. It all comes back to raw versus cooked foods, which I have talked about several times here on the site - when you heat any food above 40 °C (104 °F), you destroy many of the fragile enzymes and vitamins that are contained inside, thus rendering a once very nutrient-dense food, just a tasty one. It happens. That is not to say that cooked food isn’t good for you because it definitely has its place in the diet, but raw chocolate versus a Hershey bar? There’s simply no comparison.

If you’re in the market for some raw cacao (and you really should be on your way to the health food store immediately after reading this), please only purchase certified organic raw cacao to ensure that you are getting the most nutrition for you money. If you do not, well, you’ll also be chuggin’ down a whole lot of chemicals from irradiation and pesticides, which are standard practice in growing cacao beans.


Okay, without further ado, here is the Raw Chocolate Milkshake Miracle that has turned breakfast time into a ridiculous kitchen dance party delight. Food like this convinces me that God loves us and she wants us to be happy.

Raw Chocolate Milkshake Miracle
Ingredients:
• ¼ cup hemp seeds (or use soaked almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds etc.)
• 2 heaping Tbsp. raw cacao powder
• 1 Avocado
• 1 very large frozen banana (or 2 small)
• 2 Tbsp. raw honey, agave, or maple syrup
• dash sea salt
• ¾ - 1 cup water
• 4 ice cubes

Directions:
1. Blend all the ingredients together; add water to thin if desired. It’s a thick one, folks!
And although the urge to chug may take over, don’t forget to “chew” your milkshake for better digestion! Very important.

Dad, I know you love your ice cream, milk, and chocolate sauce combo, but when I come back to Canada, this is the first thing I am going to make for you. If my milkshakes don’t fix any problem we can come up with, nothing will. The only thing we’ll cry about is seeing the bottom of the glass.

The Great Juice Feast

I am taking a bit of a break this week…a break from food! I am juice feasting.

“Is that like juice fasting?”, you ask. Well, yes, they are essentially the same thing - a liquid diet of fresh pressed fruit and vegetable juices, except that with a juice feast, the idea is to consume a little more than you would on a juice fast to obtain a greater amount calories. It can also be referred to as a juice cleanse. Plus, fasting has such a sacrificial, deprived ring to it, and if I am not eating anything, I better be feasting on something!

This is a good time of year to go on a juice diet because the weather is warming up so our bodies can take more raw foods, fruits and veggies are coming into season, and as the seasons make their transition outside, it feels so right to make one inside.

There has been so much said about juice fasting/feasting/cleansing, so I don’t think that I will go into too much detail about it. For one, there are lots of amazing resources online that explain this process far better than I ever could. Secondly, everyone is different and your body’s reaction to a juice feast will certainly be different from mine. If I tell you what to expect, than inevitably, you will be disappointed if you don’t experience the same results.

Here a just a few resources to get you started:
Juicing Book
Juice Feasting
Living Foods
Vegetable Juice Recipes
The Best of Raw Food
The first link is wonderful because it is literally an entire juice book online (just please look past the rather, ahem, outdated graphics). The site offers oodles of information about the types of fruits and vegetables you can juice and what they are good for, in terms of nutrition, healing properties, and so many recipes, all for free! Me likey.

To give you an idea of what I am actually consuming, here some delicious combinations I really love. I usually go for 6-7 juices in total everyday, so I pick and choose from the following "menu" depending on the time of day.

Morning:
-2 grapefruits, 5 carrots, 1 piece fresh ginger
-2 pears, 4 kiwis, ½ lemon
-3 oranges, 2 apples, ½ lemon
-1 cup berries (any kind), pineapple, ½ lemon
-1 cup grapes, 3 pears, 4 kiwis
-1 whole watermelon (with rind if organic)

Afternoon:
-1 beetroot, 5 carrots, 1 apple, 1 handful fresh mint
-1 sweet potato, 4 stalks celery, 5 carrots, 1 apple, ½ lemon
-½ head Broccoli, 1 cucumber, 4 stalks celery
-2 leaves kale, 1 bunch mustard greens, 4 carrots

Evening:
-¼ head purple cabbage, 1 beetroot, 5 carrots, 2 tomatoes
-1 cup spinach, 4 carrots, 1 parsnip
-½ to 1 cup mung bean sprouts, 2 kale leaves, 1 parsnip, 3 carrots, 1 apple
-A handful of parsley, ¼ cucumber, 1 or 2 asparagus stalks, 4 carrots


Just in case you are curious (and I know you are!) here are the answers to the questions I am frequently asked about juice feasting.

1 - Are you insane?
No.

2- What’s the point?
A juice feast is basically a massive detoxification protocol. By consuming fresh juices that are loaded with nutrients, especially alkalizing minerals — and no fiber to slow digestion — you’re giving your body a chance to divert lots of energy from digestion to cleansing.

3- Aren’t you hungry?
Duh. Obviously. But it comes and goes, and I find it manageable. Plus, before I do commit to a juice feast, I work my way in rather slowly by decreasing my caloric intake day by day so my system gets used to eating less. For me, being hungry is the biggest challenge for sure, but knowing the good I am doing for my body overpowers my rumbly tummy. I think it is a very positive thing to experience real hunger once in a while. I know that I don’t often feel it, especially for extended periods of time, and when I do finally get back to a regular, solid-food diet, it is probably the most euphoric feeling I can get without breaking the law.

4 – How long does it last for?
I usually aim for 4-6 days, depending on how I am feeling. However, there is still a period before and after that are very important, where I eat mostly raw, avoid all processed foods, and obviously abstain from drinking alcohol. This is a challenge for a lot of people too: the idea of not drinking for 3 weeks, but all the more reason to give it a go.
I would suggest doing just one day to start. Some people go 150 days or more.

5 - Do you still go to work?
Yeah, I do, which was a little torturous today in fact (I am a cook). If you have a job where you are sedentary for most of the day, you would probably be fine. If your job requires a lot of hard, physical labour, I would try to do the juice feast over a long weekend, and maybe take a day off. The most important thing is to be near your juicer. If you can’t bring it to work, make sure you juice enough before you leave the house to last you through the day so that you are not tempted by the coffee and donuts in the conference room. Yikes! And going to work is also good, as it gets your mind off of being hungry – distractions are key.

6 – Do you lose weight?
Again, duh. But this is mostly water weight. Once you go back to your regular eating habits, the pounds will return slowly (unless you are inspired to make a change!).

7 – How do you know when to start?
I am pretty in tune with my body at this point, and I just feel when a re-charge is in order. If I am feeling sluggish, bloated, foggy-headed, I know it’s time to juice for a few days to clean up the system. And even though I eat a whole foods diet, I am still exposed to environmental toxins, occasional stress, and if I can’t eat organic, I am sure I get a couple pesticides thrown into my salad from time to time!

VERY IMPORTANT:
Juice feasting/fasting/cleansing is a pretty major undertaking, and you should consult with a qualified health practitioner before throwing yourself into one. Do not use this post as your sole reference! Taking care of your body means doing it in a responsible way, being educated about the choices you are making, and taking small steps towards something greater.

Answers to readers' questions:
1. Do you have to make these juices using a juicer? would it be possible to use just a regular ol' blender?
GREAT question!
The answer to this was very briefly explained in the 2nd answer above, but I will elaborate. The whole idea behind using a real juicer for cleansing purposes is because it separates a fruit or vegetable's fiber and liquid. The separation of juice from fiber means that the body does not have to divert large amounts of energy to the process of digesting the juice, as there are no fibres to breakdown, meaning that it can focus on other tasks such as detoxification. It also means that the body can easily absorb the nutrients present in the juice extracted by the juicer as they have all been released from the fibers and are freely available.
You could try blending up your desired fruits and veggies in a blender and straining them, but you will not get the same results in the end. Plus, many hard vegetables like sweet potato, carrots, and parsnips would be very hard on your blender's motor!

2. Curious what juicer you use - as it seems it gets a workout!
I actually borrowed a juicer from a friend this time, as the one I own is still back in Canada (sniff). There are many types of juicers out there in a wide range of prices. Here's a link that explains the differences between juicer types, so you can find the one that suits your needs and budget.

Masala Chai Tea Time

Who’s cold and cranky? Who’s damp and dreary? I am!
I know that the autumn weather on the Canadian side of the world is not so bad, but across the pond in Denmark, it is endlessly gross. The sun poked its head out for about 45 minutes on Saturday, but save for that scarce glimpse, it’s been over 10 days now. Help!

To pull myself out of this lousy-weather-induced slump, and warm myself up, I have developed a rather brilliant innovation: Chaice-cubes! Like Chai tea and ice put together…chaice! Allow me to explain:
At one of the restaurants where I work, we make a huge pot of chai tea every single day. It starts with boiling all kinds of delicious and aromatic spices, then adding black tea, milk and honey. The first part is essentially creating a concentrate, which got me to thinking: what if I made this amount of concentrate at home and froze it for chai-on-demand! So that’s precisely what I’ve done. This recipe will allow you to have a chai supply for weeks without the waste of tea bags, with optional caffeine, and you can even custom spice it to suit your taste!

Not just for warming up
Chai is a centuries-old beverage originating from India. In fact, the word chai, is the generic word for “tea” in Hindi, where as in the west we are referring to “masala chai” or spiced tea, when we ask for this beverage at a café.
There is no fixed recipe or preparation method for masala chai, so where ever you drink this beverage in the world, chances are it won’t taste the same way twice!

The health benefits of chai are numerous, considering the many spices it is made of. Below is a list of the spices I have included in my personal version of masala chai, and their medicinal qualities.


Ginger: aids digestion; decreases arthritic swelling; destroys bacteria and viruses; lowers blood pressure; aids circulation.

Cardamom: aids digestion and remedies gas, relieves asthma and bronchitis; stimulates the appetite.

Black pepper: aids digestion, remedies gas; has antioxidant and anti-bacterial qualities.

Fennel: aids digestion, and kidney and bladder function; relieves asthma, bronchitis, coughs, nausea; prevents gas; good for treating food poisoning.

Cloves: aids digestion; kills intestinal parasites; relieves abdominal pain; has anti-inflammatory effect on rheumatic diseases.

Cinnamon: aids digestion, relieves nausea, vomiting, diarrhea; has antiseptic properties; beneficial for the heart, lungs, and kidneys; aids insulin’s ability to metabolize blood sugar.

Star anise: aids digestion; relieves cough, bronchitis, and asthma; good for treating rheumatism.

Licorice root: relieves asthma; has many anti-depressant compounds; relieves cold and flu symptoms, coughs; relieves dandruff and psoriasis; aids gingivitis and tooth decay.

Masala Chai Concentrate
(use spices to your own taste, and use what is available to you)
Ingredients:
5-6 inches fresh, grated ginger root
¼ cup whole cardamom pods
1/8 cup whole, black peppercorns
1/8 whole fennel seeds
scant ¼cup whole cloves
8 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise
2 sticks licorice root
3 ½ liters fresh water

Directions (and how to make Chaice Cubes!):
1. Place all ingredients together in a large pot.
2. Bring to a boil and then simmer with the lid off until the water level is reduced by a few inches (expect this to take 1 ½ - 2 hours)
3. Separate liquid and solids by straining the pot contents through a sieve into a measuring cup or bowl with a spout.
4. Pour strained liquid into ice cube trays to freeze, or into sterilized jars/bottles for refrigeration (concentrate will last for 2 weeks in the fridge)

To make Chai Tea with Masala Chai Concentrate:
1. Warm milk (dairy, soy, rice, oat, nut) in a saucepan on the stove and toss in a few chaice cubes! Or pour in some of the refrigerated concentrate (use an amount that suits your taste).
2. When mixture is very hot, add a black tea leaves, or a bag of your favorite black tea. Steep for indicated amount of time. Alternatively, you can drink the warmed chai concentrate and milk without tea, as I prefer, since it is caffeine-free (it's just as delicious!)
3. Add honey, maple syrup or agave nectar to sweeten (this is an important step as it brings out the flavours of the spices). Sip slowly, warm up and smile.


Even if the weather forecast looks dreary I can be sure that a cup of spicy warmth awaits me at the end of my day. A sachet of the spices, or a bottle of the concentrate would make a beautiful Christmas or hostess gift during the holidays. Spread the warmth and chai!

info source: Balch, Phyllis A. Prescription for Dietary Wellness.
New York, NY: Penguin, 2003.