We have just had the most beautiful fall colours that we have had in many years but this week there were more leaves on the ground than there were on the trees. As I drove along the highway from my Toronto store to my new home and office in Waterloo I noticed there were many trees with no colour at all. So now we begin our longest season here in Canada….Winter!! I know it is only November but we have already had snow here in Waterloo and many other communities in Canada, and the temperatures are already below zero Celsius during the nights!
The long Canadian winter months have a negative impression on many Canadians leaving many in a depressed and unhealthy state. If we do some creative thinking and change our attitudes the winter will go by in a more positive and healthy way.
Here is a list of some wonderful ways to make this cold season pass more swiftly:
1) Dress for it – get yourself the right gear to go out into the cold. If we have warm mitts, hats, scarfs, boots and coats we will be able to go outside and stay warm. Buy bright colours to help to brighten your attitude towards winter. Also remember those who cannot afford the warmer winter gear; when you go to buy a new hat or coat take you old coat, hats, mitts and gloves to the local charities that help to dress the less fortunate.
2) Make the Best of it! If you cannot leave to go south you might as well find some fun and interesting things to do during these 5-6 months. Join a club that plays cards or start a new hobby like winter photography or enroll in a fitness group for the winter where you can go to run indoors out of the bad weather. Best of all take up a winter sport, like cross country skiing, curling, or skating to get out in the outdoors. Just remember dress for the cold, then it will be manageable.
3) Get organized – this is a perfect time of the year to clean out all of your closets or the basement. These are big tasks and should be done over a period of time so they themselves do not become an overwhelming hardship. Another great organizing task is sorting through your family photos – this year I am giving my family a box full of family photos as a gift for Christmas so they can start getting organized too! Look around your home and I am sure you will find some other great suggestions to do as winter tasks.
4) Start planning early for next year’s gardens – you can start your own flowers and vegetables from seeds and watch them grow. This is always a fun life giving thing to do!
5) Do some research about something new you can do for next summer, start saving and planning for this now.
6) Visit with others in your circle of family and friends. We started a gourmet group one winter with our neighbours since we never had time in the summer for getting together. It’s been 30 years now and we still meet to get together! We try out new recipes or share old family favourites. Another idea is to start a once a month game night or movie night. These things give us something to look forward to, and when this happens, time seems to pass more quickly.
7) Do something special for yourself; join the choir or a church group for an evening prayer or bible study group.
8) Take advantage of the quieter times we have during the winter months when we can just relax and read a book, or write letters to those who live far away.
9) Eat well – during winter months we want to make sure we are eating the right foods, adding juicing to our regular routines and trying new recipes that we always wanted to try. By eating more raw salads, juicing and drinking green smoothies we build our immune system so it takes care of us and we can avoid the cold and flu season.
10) Most importantly, have the right attitude – be positive and make the most of these months by trying some of the ideas I have listed above.
Holiday Pecan Loaf
Soak your pecans for 2-3 hours (other combinations of nuts can be substituted; walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts or brazil-nuts). Harder nuts need to be soaked for at least 6 hours.
Nut Loaf
this recipe makes (2-3) 6” stars or loafs
- 1 cup of each: walnuts & pecans
- 1 cup sunflower seeds
Meanwhile cut your vegetables into cubes:
- ½ cup of each: celery, onion & zucchini
- ½ cup cranberries
- 1 cup carrots
- 2 cups shredded cabbage
Put this into your food processor and pulse until it looks like a coarse meal.
Drain nuts and transfer this to the food processor and add the following spices
- 1 tsp of each: garlic, basil, rosemary & sage
- ½ tsp of each: cayenne, cloves and ginger
Process well, then put into a large bowl and add:
- 1 ½ cups steel cut oatmeal
- ½ to ¾ cups fresh ground flax seed
Mix well until all ingredients are wet.
Mold mixture into 1 ½ ” thick loaf in the shape of a star on Paraflex sheets then dehydrate for 3-4 hours and turn onto the fine mesh screen, continue dehydrating for another 1-2 hours. The smaller the star or loaf the shorter it might take. Serve with a Raw Cranberry Sauce (Recipe coming next week!).
