Brrrrr! Foods to warm up with

Seems like another lifetime when I was writing about using foods to stay cool in the summer heat

And now, here we are on a day when the high is below zero!  Gotta love that Minnesotan weather and the pride that comes with knowing how amazingly adaptive we can be... body mind AND spirit (I think weather this cold definitely affects them all!).

I rode the bus into the office today, (thankful I live on a bus line!) after my car decided it was too cold to want to leave the garage.  And although I'm still thawing, I must say, I feel a sense of accomplishment and even IF I don't accomplish another thing today, I am glad for opportunities to be shaken up and pulled out of my comfort zone (in small doses!)

It also made me think about all the foods that are warming and good to heat up with.  So check out the chart one more time... only pay attention to the warming foods today.  You'll be helping your body navigate this chilly chilly weather with a bit more grace, so even if your car doesn't start and your toes feel like icicles, you'll have something to focus on being proactive and adventurous with!

Hot	Warm	Neutral	Cool	Cold
Garlic, Scallion	Bell pepper, chives, green beans, kale, leek, mustard green, onion, parsley, parsnip	Chard, lettuce, shitake mushroom, sweet potato, taro root, yam	Alfalfa sprouts, asparagus, beet, bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, corn, cucumber, eggplant, potato, pumpkin, spinach, turnip, zucchini	Chinese cabbage, mung bean sprout, seaweed, snow pea, water chestnut, white mushroom
	Cherry, Chinese prune, coconut, dried papaya, grape, litchi, pineapple, plum, raspberry, tangerine	Dates, loquat, mango, olive,  papaya	Apple, apricot, fig, lemon, orange, peach,       persimmon, strawberry, tomato	Banana, cantaloupe, grapefruit, mulberry, pear, pear-apple, watermelon
	Oats, sweet rice, wheat bran, wheat germ	Buckwheat, brown & white rice, corn meal, rice bran, rye	Millet, pearl barley, white rice, wheat
	Black  beans, brown sesame seeds, chestnut, lentil, pine nuts, walnuts	Almond, adzuki bean, black sesame, filbert, kidney bean, lotus seed, peanuts, peas, sunflower seed	Mung bean, soy bean, tofu, minter melon seed	Pumpkin seed
Lamb	Beef, chicken, freshwater fish, shrimp, turkey	Ocean fish, gelatin, oysters	Chicken egg, clam, crab	Pork
Black pepper, cinnamon, dry  ginger	Anise, basil, cardamom, carob,  clove, coriander, fennel, fresh ginger	Licorice, lycii, poria mushroom	Cilantro,  corn silk, mint leaf	Bamboo, cassia, chrysanthemum, mulberry leaf, lily bulb
Alcohol	Brown sugar, coffee, molasses, rice vinegar, wine	Malt, honey	Tea	Salt, vitamin c, white sugar