The cold months are approaching and no better way to warm
yourself than from the inside out. So get those soup pots
out and start cooking. Here is one of my favorite fall/winter
soups...
Winter Squash Soup with Ginger
by Lori Nicolosi
Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 - 6 cups water, chicken or vegetable stock
3 - 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 large butternut squash, peeled and cubed
2 - 3 Tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground coriander
tamari to taste
1 teaspoon or more to taste celtic sea salt
fresh coriander (cilantro) for garnishing
In a large soup pot, add the olive oil, onions, and sea
salt. Cook over low heat until the onions are transparent
and soft. Add the garlic. Let that cook for a few minutes
until the aroma of cooking garlic fills the air. Raise the
heat to high and add the ground coriander, cinnamon and
the squash, stir well and cook for a few minutes making
sure to stir often so the spices don't burn. Add the water
or broth until it is just covers the squash. Bring to a
boil over high heat then cover with a lid and lower heat
to a simmer. Cook for about 1 hour, until soft.
Carefully blend the soup until smooth and silky or mash
it a little and leave it chunky. Add the ginger... the larger
amount if you like it a little spicy. Finish with tamari
to taste and sprinkle on top lots of yummy fresh coriander.
note about ingredients: use organic ingredients whenever
possible
Come check out the Real Foods Forum at
http://www.herbshealing.com/wisewomanforum.htm
In need of grounding and warmth on these increasingly
cold autumn nights?
Try this hearty root stew, it will warm up your toes, thicken
your blood and get you ready for winter.
Root Stew
by Lori Nicolosi
1 large yellow onion chopped
2 Tablespoons organic butter
4 good sized red beets with greens, grate beets and clean
& chop the greens
4 potatoes peeled and grated
4 carrots grated
4-6 cups bone broth or spring water
sour cream
celtic sea salt
Saute the onions with 1 teaspoon sea salt in the olive
oil until transparent. Add the broth, beets, carrots and
potatoes...making sure the liquid covers the veggies. Bring
to a boil, cover pot with a lid and cook for about 30 minutes.
Add in the beet greens and allow to cook for just a few
more minutes. Add more salt to taste and serve with sour
cream. This is also delicious with a splash of chickweed
vinegar added.
To learn about herbal vinegars go here
http://www.susunweed.com/Article_Herbal_Vinegar.htm
note about broth: A storehouse of nutrition waiting for
you to come and get it!
Want to learn more about broth? Need a few good recipes?
Go to to the URL below to check out this very informative
article to learn more.
"Broth is Beautiful" by Sally Fallon.
http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/broth.html
An excerpt from
Nature's Children
by Juliette de Bairacli Levy
Garlic Butter
Garlic is known as the most medicinal of all
the herbs, and it is also highly tonic. Here is a pick-me-up
for mothers which is good for the entire family and delicious
tasting, too.
Use only fresh natural butter. To every tablespoon
of butter, add half a dozen minced garlic cloves and a sprinkling
finely minced parsley (and, if available, the minced leaves
of mustard or cresses).This is spread on wheaten crackers,
or stirred into warm rice and, of course, spread on bread.
The traditional way of making garlic bread
in Portugal is to heat, then slice the bread, rub it with
butter or drizzle olive oil, and press minced garlic into
it.
A Note on Butter and Margarine
I totally avoid margarine for my human family,
and for my dogs and cats. The hydrogenated fat used in margarine
keeps indefinately and does not go rancid as fresh butter
does. This "forever" quality means that it permanently
lines the internal organs, and that can hardly be considered
beneficial. I know of a Dachshund who died after eating
a quarter-pound stick of margarine!
To learn more about the author go to
http://www.wisewomanbookshop.com/Author_Juliette_de_Bairacli_Levy.htm
Book Review by Mischa Parrill, Wicca at BellaOnline
http://www.bellaonline.com/site/Wicca
I give this book 4 Bella Stars.
"Nature's Children"
is a book written by Juliette de Bairacli Levy. Ms. de Bairacli
Levy is, as described by a friend in the introduction of
the book, the "original nature girl". She is a
Gypsy, and her travels have imparted upon her great knowledge
of herbs, plants, and natural things, which she shares in
this book.
The book is illustrated with many wonderful
photographs of her children, and their various animal friends,
in the natural settings throughout the world in which they
were raised. The book details a way of life those of us
in the Western world have largely forgotten. She steps you
through pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing in a nature-reverent
way.She includes many ideas about organic foods, herbal
medicines, and simple how-to's for the parent concerned
for the ever-growing detachment from nature present in the
world today.
I enjoyed this book immensely. While, alas,
I feel I am a bit too technology oriented to completely
abandon my "urban" way of life, I did find her
book inspiring, and it has helped me remember to include
natural things in my, and my children's, everyday life.
"Nature's Children"
is published by Ash Tree Publishing, ISBN number 0-9614620-8-6
and can be purchased from the publisher's site at http://www.wisewomanbookshop.com.
The suggested price is $11.95 US.