by Ruth Hofer
Don’t be put off by the possibly esoteric list of herbs, or the number of steps, or the length of prep time… Enjoy the process of creating and brewing your family into epic health and relish in the joy that comes from seeing them enjoy a special beverage that totally and 100% supports their health and totally 100% pleases their taste buds. And for anyone who in their pre-raw days consumed a lot of root beer… now you can once more, this time guilt free!
My husband loves the flavour of root beer. In Australia, the closest substitute is Sarsaparilla soda. Both of these, however, aren’t exactly something I’d be happy with my children drinking and definitely not something I’d choose for myself.
I’m pretty sure all the raw mom readers are aware of how damaging consuming pop (or soft drink as us Aussies call it) is for our families’ health. I’m also pretty sure there are at least a few moms out there whose kids still would LOVE it if they served them root beer as a treat. Well… now you can… and as your loved ones enjoy the yummy root beer goodness, you can enjoy the fact that you are supporting their vibrant health rather than compromising it.
HOW TO CREATE A ROOT BEER ELIXIR STEP-BY-STEP
- Fill a saucepan (ideally heat proof glass) with around 2 litres of cold spring water.
- Gather and place into your pot of water:
- 3 TB sarsaparilla root
- 2 TB burdock root
- 2 TB dandelion root (make sure it’s raw, not the roasted coffee substitute)
- 2 TB licorice root -
(I used all dried, but if fresh is available to you, use fresh instead, just double the amounts.) - 2 TB freshly grated ginger
- 1 vanilla bean, snipped into 4 pieces
- Slowly simmer the herbs in the water until it gently boils, reduce the heat and let mixture infuse for a couple of hours at least (overnight even).
- Strain mixture and add sweeteners. I personally use a couple of spoonfuls each of molasses and evaporated cane juice and then reheat the brew to boiling and let reduce to a syrupy consistency. Remember that the licorice itself adds a sweet flavour, so use less concentrated sweetener then you normally would. I like molasses for the colour and iron content even though it isn’t raw. I haven’t tried it yet, but I bet simmering dates in the brew would work fine. Or just add straight up honey. You could even add in some cinnamon and stevia for sweetness without calories. I’m a little more lax on the sweeteners for this, as it isn’t an everyday drink.
- Let cool and decant into a glass bottle.
- Add 5 - 10 drops WINTERGREEN essential oil and shake vigorously.
- Store in fridge for up to a week. Use about 1/3 root beer mix to water (using sparkling mineral water gives you the same bubbly feeling as the regular pop version does and seriously kids of all ages love it… just don’t tell them it’s healthy!)
The most important ingredients to replicate that root beer taste are the sarsaparilla and the wintergreen. Feel free to experiment with the others. All the dried root herbs are liver tonics. Pretty much everyone’s liver in western society could use a little help and cleanse. Go easy on this stuff if you are pregnant. The licorice helps carry the other herbs to where they are needed in the body (i.e. the liver) but also has the tendency to increase blood pressure (another reason to exercise caution drinking this during pregnancy). All the ingredients are safe for children. The wintergreen really is the key ingredient. If you are at all cautious about ingesting essential oils check out the chapter on using essential oils in food preparation in the book Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine by Gabriel Cousens. I love using essential oils in my food, especially cardamom essential oil (but that is a whole other post in itself). You can buy wintergreen oil from the Hulda Clark store where she uses it in her healing protocols.
Seriously, Wintergreen oil is amazing stuff. When I was playing around with the root beer elixir (before the addition of the wintergreen) something wasn’t quite right, so I googled traditional ways of making root beer and came across information on wintergreen leaves being the main ingredient of the root beer of yesteryear. We just happened to have some of the oil lying around, so I added it in and WOW, my cordial now tasted like the real deal. My husband gulped his glass down and begged for another.
From my research, wintergreen is a super potent healing agent for joint injuries, muscle pain, bursitis, and arthritic conditions. As it is so potent though, I would not recommend consuming extreme amounts of wintergreen. My husband is currently rehabilitating a pretty major hip injury sustained from some hectic mountain biking. If you are the mom of active and thrill seeking teen boys, that’s another reason to give this recipe a try.
I have just finished reading THE DAYLIGHT DIET. I actually woke up at 5am just to finish it. I usually go to sleep around 3 or 4am, so this is amazing. I went raw 8 years ago and it has been the most important thing I have ever done for my health. Until now! This book is going to change my life! There, I said it. I really mean it too. I recall an Oprah show about 15 years ago where she asked people ‘What is the ONE thing you know if you did it would change your life?’ I knew right away what that one thing was, but I felt it was absolutely impossible! In fact, that one thing was actually 2 things because that one habit morphed into another new one.
However, I never did change my sleeping habits. I would go to bed every night between 3 and 4am, or later, or not at all. Due to school and work, and then later having my babes, I always got by 7 or 8 so I could never catch up on lost sleep. Especially since going raw, I felt like super-woman to have so much energy and be so productive. But that habit eventually morphed into another which was late night eating. I knew instinctively when Oprah asked that question, that if I could have a more natural sleep cycle such as rising at sunrise and sleeping well before midnight, it would change my life. I didn’t know how my life would change, but now I do. My health would go to the next level! And who knows what that will do..!
It can be very stressful to transition to Raw. As a mother of three and wife to one. . . None of whom are as enthusiastic as I am about going Raw, I can tell you that every day at meal time I get a headache. As the mom I want to lead by example, not force, and definitely not have to fight every step of the way. I want my kids to be healthy, and healthy. For my husband and I, we want to feel young and full of energy, weight loss and clear glowing skin would be the bonuses for us.
My name is Roy, I’m not a Raw Mom, I’m an aspiring Raw Dad to be. I’m the leader in my family when comes to health. I was introduced to raw food just last year from my friend, Linda, who is a full-time raw for years.
I have been eating raw foods for two and a half years and have had the honor of being a new Mama to my son, Thaddeus, for eight months now!
One of the most important aspects of mothering for me so far has been to live out the Continuum Concept, as described in Jean Liedloff’s book. I finished reading her book just a few weeks before I heard her interview on the Raw Mom Summit! I instantly knew that I wanted to put into practice the Continuum Concept, especially giving my baby the adequate time to be “in arms” before he became more independent through crawling and eventually walking. I have found it challenging in American culture, since the concept is based on a mother-baby-village relationship.
We moms have a tough path to walk as we help our daughters navigate the sometimes choppy waters of growing up girl. It’s our job to protect our children and do our best to keep them safe and healthy, yet we also have to allow them to grow, stretch and learn from their own mistakes. It’s a fine line between letting them be who they are and wanting to “tweak” them just a little bit so they don’t suffer from the same mistakes or struggles that we did.
The 
Fill up in the day with fresh fruit, veggies and dips, raw soups and flax crackers, raw trail mixes, raw puddings and cereals, salads and garden burgers and zucchini pasta and cabbage burritos and manna bread avocado, tomato, lettuce, cucumber sandwiches or peanut butter/almond/cashew butter with banana.
Yesterday I picked up my daughter, Kim, and granddaughter Hannah, and brought them over to our house for a visit. Just like any other grandma (or mom), my first thought was that they must need to eat; so on the way to our house we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things. We went to the produce department first and Hannah picked out a pint of bright red strawberries for her snack. As we browsed the rest of the store she held on to her treat. Later when it was our turn at the cash register Hannah would not release the package and protected it as if her life depended upon it. The cashier had to walk around to the cart where Hannah was sitting so she could scan the price label.
My husband Emrys may even love them more than me. My daughter Ella, will have a whole blender full, if you turn your back, your breakfast is gone!
So Benji and Ella tucked into their green smoothie soups with finely chopped fruit salad on top.
