Friday, May 13, 2011

Staying warm this winter

Everyone in Melbourne has felt the cold of winter creep in this past week, this usually spells the end of exercise and the beginning of couch sitting with a blanket over your knees and a hot chocolate!

So how can we keep warm, fit and well this winter?

Eating for the season~ It is important to feed our bodies enough energy so it can produce heat to keep us warm all day. Winter is the time for all our root vegetables; carrots, turnips, parsnips, squash and sweet potato help give us sustained energy over the wintry day. Garlic ginger, shitake mushrooms and honey all have warming and immune building properties, add them to cooking wherever possible! Wholegrains such as millet, buckwheat and barley support kidney function which helps maintain body temperature. Using beans in our cooking with lots of spices like Cayenne, ginger, pepper, cinnamon, cardamon and garlic help stimulate circulation and provide warmth from the inside out.


Herbal teas~ Having tea enhances the circulation to your skin. Grate fresh ginger into all your favorite teas. Herbs such as cardamon, cinnamon and cloves are all warming, Rose Hips are high in vitamin C and help support immunity; as does adding a bit of manuka honey for sweetness. Pick yourself up a yummy Chai blend and enjoy with milk and honey. If you like hot chocolate go for a good quality raw cacao blend- Loving Earth drinking chocolate is delicious... and healthy!


Exercise & Lifestyle tips~ It can be very hard to get moving but great winter exercises include Yoga (especially hot yoga), dancing, gym, jump rope skipping and weight lifting. After you exercise have a nice hot shower and use a loofa to massage the skin and exfoliate; this will bring blood flow right up to the surface of your skin.

Heat packs~ At Evelyn Faye we now carry a beautiful range of heat pack, eye pillows and hot water bottles. Lovely for at home and as gifts this chilly season


Our winter recipe~ Curried Pumpkin Soup :-)

about 6 cups of cubed butternut pumpkin
Olive oil, Butter, Salt
1 Onion
1tsp of Mustard seeds
1tsp Yellow curry powder
dash of ground cumin
1tbs of minced fresh ginger
4 cups of chicken stock
1/2 cup of sour cream and parsley to garnish

1) In batches- add oil and butter to pan and lightly fry pumpkin until slightly brown then put aside

2)Add more oil to pan and lightly fry onion until soft. The add curry powder, mustard seeds, cumin and ginger and fry for another minute or so, stirring with a wooden spoon

3)Return pumpkin to pot and add Chicken stock, simmer for 40min or until pumpkin is completely tender.

4) Blend the soup smooth and add salt and pepper as desired. Garnish with sour cream and parsley.





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