By Molly Patrick
Mar 15, 2016,
I see life as a rainbow. On one end, we have birth and on the other end we have death. The colors that make up the rainbow and hold everything together, is love.
I know that opener was damn woo woo, but bear with me and take comfort in the fact that I’m not going to bust out a strand of mala beads, I have no interest in cleansing your energy, and I’ll never use the words “alignment”, “awaken”, and “centered” in the same sentence.
What I’m getting at with the rainbow analogy is that from the time we’re born until the time we die we all have varying degrees of awesome and varying degrees of shit that we go through.
We experience the pure bliss of falling in love. We experience the highest concentration of pain when someone we love dies, and we experience everything in between.
It’s the combination of all this fuckery that makes us perfectly human. And to be human is to be flawed.
Imperfect. Messy. Complicated. Unsure.
It’s not because we’re screwed up or not good enough. It’s because being flawed, imperfect, messy, complicated and unsure is our birthright.
It’s what we get just for being human.
So the next time you eat a donut instead of an apple.
The next time you keep pouring wine instead of making a cup of tea.
The next time you don’t work out because you don’t feel like working out.
The next time you eat a croissant instead of a flax cracker.
The next time you don’t do your batch cooking.
The next time you let someone down.
Pause.
Take a breath.
And instead of beating yourself up, invite love in instead.
I don’t need to know how to cleanse energy to tell you that love is what safely gets us from one end of the rainbow to the other. It holds it all together. It makes everything okay.
And if you can’t give yourself love, then who can my dear?
We are all perfectly flawed and we’re all in this together. Love yourself through it and then move on when you’re ready.
Maybe learning about turmeric and making a Turmeric Vanilla Latté will inspire you to put down the croissant and reach for a curry? Let’s take a gander.
My stance on the word “superfood” is that it’s bullshit.
There is no one miracle ingredient or food that will cure everything from cancer to low self-esteem (though people who sell coconut oil would like you to think otherwise). It’s the combination of lots of different whole plant foods that keep the body happy and healthy.
My stance on this hasn’t changed on why superfoods are overrated, but turmeric might be as close to being a “superfood” as they come. Damn it! Does this mean I have to start wearing mala beads, learn how to cleanse energy and do “Awaken Centered” Yoga?
I fucking hope not. If so, I take it back. Turmeric sucks.
Mala beads aside, the health properties of turmeric are exactly like my ability to drink alcohol, damn impressive (which is why I no longer drink).
Here’s the scoop.
Turmeric is a spice belonging to the ginger family. Turmeric is what makes curry powder yellow and curcumin (a phytochemical) is the pigment that makes turmeric yellow.
Here’s a hefty list of potential benefits that we can all get from eating turmeric:
- It not only offers powerful protection from type 2 diabetes, it’s also beneficial for people who already have type 2 diabetes. This is because turmeric decreases the amount of fat in the blood. If you remember my post about diabetes, it’s all about fat gunking up the cells, leaving insulin locked out with no way to enter. Picture this: you’re the insulin, your cells are hot dance clubs that you want to party in, and the jerk bouncers who won’t let you into the club is fat gunked up in your cells. Eating turmeric will help decrease the amount of fat in the blood so your cells won’t get gunked up with asshole bouncers and you (insulin) will be free to enter the clubs (your cells) and party all night long.
- It has beneficial effects on Rheumatoid Arthritis because of its strong anti-inflammatory properties.
- It has been shown to effectively treat behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in alzheimer’s patients.
- It protects DNA from free radicals.
- It has anti-cancer properties.
- It has carcinogenic blocking properties.
Is it just me or am I starting to sound like someone trying to sell you on the Miracle of Coconut Oil or the Wonders of Acai. I don’t want to sound like Dr. Oz, so I better stop before I tell you that turmeric will also cure breakups and blackheads.
The point is, if you don’t regularly eat turmeric, you should. Simple as that.
Here are some things to keep in mind as you go forward on your turmeric adventure (and I thought I would never get to use those two words together in the same sentence. Dreams do come true).
- Turmeric comes in powder and root form. You can find the powder in the herb section of your health food store and you can find the root in the produce section, near the ginger. When a recipe calls for “fresh turmeric”, it’s referring to turmeric root. If you use fresh turmeric root, be sure to peel it, just like you would ginger. Using the edge of a spoon and scraping the peel towards you is the easiest way to do this. Just like any herb and spice, the dried version is about 3 times more concentrated than the fresh version. So if a recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of turmeric root, use 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder. They can be used interchangeably in recipes.
- Taking curcumin (the phytochemical in turmeric that gives it its color) in pill form does not give you the same benefits as eating turmeric. This is because there are other plant chemicals that make up turmeric aside from curcumin, and it’s how all of these phytochemicals work together in the body that makes it so powerful and effective for your health. This is the same for all nutrients. Eat the food, not the isolated nutrients in pill form.
- The nutrients in turmeric are more thoroughly absorbed by the body in the presence of fat and/or black pepper. So when you make something with turmeric, be sure to incorporate a little plant fat or black pepper to make sure that you’re getting as many benefits from the turmeric as you possibly can. My Turmeric Vanilla Latté recipe today is the perfect example of this.
Here are some easy ways to get more turmeric into your life:
- Add some to your green smoothies. Throw in about an inch of turmeric root or 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder with the rest of your ingredients and blend baby blend.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder to your grains as they cook.
- Make a curry.
- Make my Cheesy Sauce and put it on EVERYTHING.
- Add some chopped turmeric root to your baked tofu marinade.
- Add some turmeric powder to tofu scrambles or tofu salad to give it a nice yellow egg-like color.
- Sprinkle a little turmeric powder in soups and stews.
- Make today’s Turmeric Vanilla Latté recipe below. Holy yum in a cup.
Here’s the thing. No food, pill, ingredient, chant, form of yoga, dance or prayer can keep us from arriving at the other end of the rainbow.
But when we eat a diet full of whole plant foods including often passed over ingredients like turmeric and seaweed, our quality of life becomes exponentially better.
And isn’t the journey over the rainbow so much more enjoyable when we feel damn good?
Today’s Turmeric Vanilla Latté recipe is perfect if you’re trying to kick coffee to the curb. It has just the right amount of turmeric and vanilla to taste exactly like a dream. It’s also super frothy.
And I don’t know about you, but I want to drink a frothy dream EVERYDAY. After you make this, take a pic and share it with our Private Facebook group. This Turmeric Vanilla Latté drink has kicked many a coffee habit!
Ingredients
- 3 dates if using huge jumbo dates, only use 2, pits removed and simmered in water for 5 minutes
- 1 cup plain unsweetened organic soy milk or any other unsweetened non-dairy milk
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract liquid
- tiny pinch of salt
- Cinnamon powder to dust the top
Instructions
- Take the dates out of the water and place them in your blender along with the soy milk, turmeric powder, vanilla and salt (do not add the water that you simmered the dates in - just discard that).
- Blend until the dates are totally blended, about 2 minutes depending on your blender.
- If you want a cold drink, pour into a glass and drink just like that. Add some ice if you want it extra cold.
If you want it hot:
- Pour into a small pot and heat, whisking as it heats.
- Heat until it’s a nice temperature to drink - not too hot.
- Dust the top with a little cinnamon powder and enjoy.
- You can also add some cinnamon powder, cacao powder and / or nutmeg to the blender, along with the rest of the ingredients for an extra yummy kick.
Notes
I hope that you have a happy week. May it be filled with honoring and loving your imperfections.
50 Comments
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I totally agree with you about the superfood hype, a balanced diet is what we need, we don’t need to fret about buying expensive exotic things, there’s so much goodness in our everyday fruits and veggies and spices. And I LOVE your photos they look fresh, fun and are really refreshing on the eye 🙂
This looks pretty DAMn good;) I will repost.. For..accumalitive value..since I only have 1051 a month after busting my ads of so c.f. 2007 in a salon getting underscored as usual;)
Must try turmeric 🙂 This drink looks yummy.
It’s SOOOOO yummy!
xo
Molly
Why do we toss the liquid from the dates? Wouldn’t it contain good stuff?
You can save it if you want!
Just made this – SO DELISH. Writing it into my cookbook now. So much joy 🙂
This was amazing – me new favorite drink!
Awesome! So glad you like!
xo
Molly
I am new to CFDG and read how you said that plant fat/ black pepper will help me utilize the turmeric more beneficially. In the vanilla latte recipe, where will the plant fat come from because I am so used to using coconut oil or a nut butter for that. Thanks for any advice you may have. I can’t wait to use more turmeric in my diet!
Hey Becky –
Welcome to the CFDG fam!
There is a bit of fat in soy milk and nut milks.
If you use either of those, the turmeric will utilize the plant fat and do awesome things to your beautiful bod.
Have you joined our private Facebook group yet?
Here’s the link to join us.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cleanfooddirtygirl
xo
Molly
How could you make use of fresh turmeric root? I don’t trust most turmeric powder.
Thanks,
Rachel
Hey Rachel,
You can sub 3 x less turmeric root for powder in any recipe.
With this, you would just add it to the blender.
Have you joined our private Facebook group yet?
Here’s the link to join!
xo
Molly
Yes I am a member of the FB group. I also get the Saturday Fuckery 🙂
Thank you so much!
Another winner from you, Molly! Thank you! A really nice way to start the day.
Thank you Jennifer!
Have an awesome day.
xo
Molly
I don’t have any dates onhand. Is there anything that can sub for the dates? I really hope so because this looks delish!
Hi Becky,
Maple syrup would be a nice sub for the dates. I’d suggest starting with a teaspoon and add a bit more if needed.
Meghann- Team Dirty Girl
If I would make some of this up in advance and refrigerate it, how long do you think it would last. I would like to make some for my son so he would have throughout the week (he doesn’t live at home.)
That was yummy, I drink golden milk but this is tastier then the golden milk I make. Wow, love it. It is golden milk but even better. Thanks for my new favorite drink.
This recipe got the 9 year old’s approval within the first 15 minutes of signing up for the meal plan email and making it. Thank you!!! It’s so divine and feels like a perfect warm drink for fall/winter. It makes me excited to see what I can learn from your meal plans!
I AM ADDICTED TO THIS DRINK! OMG! YUM!!!!!! I make it before going to bed every night! Thank you for this recipe!
Carlene, I still haven’t made this myself but now that it’s getting colder out your testimonial is quite convincing that I need to do this sooner than later. Thanks for stopping by!
Karen
Team Dirty Girl
You HAVE to try it Karen! I heat mine up after blending and it is a big yummy mug of comfort. (I use a mug and add a bit more milk in the recipe to fill it.) I have been following along with CFDG for a while now. Every day I get inspired by the wonderful followers in this group. So I finally decided that it was time and I signed up yesterday for the meal plans. Looking forward to Friday!
This was fantastic and perfectly timed. Just started antibiotics for strep (gotta love kids birthday parties, the germs have a celebration) and this made my throat feel so much better!
Hi April,
Thanks for reading and the nice note. Hope you feel better soon!
Karen
Team Dirty Girl
Finally tried it. Why the hell did I wait so long?!? My new hot drink!
Oh my gosh this taste great. This taste sooooooooo good. This is great for my RA.
Thank you Molly
I love this drink! I made it for my 12 year old daughter; she was skittish because of the ingredients. After drinking a glass full she begged me to make some for her to drink on the ride to school in the morning. By her own words, she is obsessed!
Every morning I make a big mug of hot ginger tea with a teaspoon of turmeric paste added. I add big splash of soy milk and sweeten with a few drops of liquid stevia. I am addicted! Now I have to try your turmeric latte sweetened with dates. Oh yum. A new addiction coming up, me thinks. ????
Will try the recipe. Thanks for sharing it… but the vulgarity reduces the intelligence you may think your portraying. This article would have much more class without it. I can’t really rate the recipe until I try it though…
There are plenty of other blogs out there with great plant based recipes.
Best not to bother with this one if the language isn’t for you.
xo
Molly
I’ve been wanting to try a turmeric latte for ages and had a few recipes saved. Of course I chose to make yours as I knew it would probably be amazing, and it was. So comforting and delicious, can’t believe there’s no sugar in it! I added a pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon to the blender, along with a pinch of pepper to make the turmeric more bioavailable. This is totally my new drink.
Woohoo! Thanks for stopping back to let us know you are digging the T-latte and your delish spice tweaks. For sure, there is sugar in the dates, just not the refined kind 🙂 ~Karen
This is quite nice. My blender missed a few chunks of dates, I had no turmeric so I substituted 1/8 tsp powdered ginger, and halved the vanilla and even with the adjustments it’s really subtle and relaxing. I will def make this again. Thanks. ?
So glad you like it Katie!
xo
Molly
So fucking good! I added a half a banana. Thank you!
Love this latte, I thought I would never replace my hot chocolate that was my go to comfort but i don’t need it now, thanx Molly
I was so nervous trying this as I was afraid I would hate it. But it’s delicious ?. Thanks so much for this recipe.
Woohoo! So glad you liked it.
I have been craving a treat coffee house beverage lately. I don’t drink coffee but sometimes a Matcha Latte really hits the spot. I’ve been seeking something with no caffeine. I don’t really enjoy the flavor of turmeric but after seeing a lot of love for this recipe in the facebook group I gave it a try. It is amazing! Creamy, sweet, smooth, a little earthy and I feel good about drinking it as an occasional treat. The turmeric is not overpowering and the dash of cinnamon on top is perfect. Thank you dirty wizzards for continuing to push me outside my comfort zone.
This is so so good. My two little ones helped me gulp down a double batch.
It is also really delicious with freshly juiced ginger added.
Thanks so much for the recipe!
Ooh, fresh ginger juice sounds like a lovely addition. Thanks for stopping by. ~Karen
I haven’t tried this recipe yet but definitely will. Question – is the turmeric I get in the spice section of my grocery store the same thing or do I need to get it somewhere else? Is that a dumb question?
Hey Jennifer, There’s definitely no harm in asking when you aren’t sure. Yes, it’s the same spice you’ll find labeled turmeric in the spice section of any grocery store. Let us know what you think if you try the recipe! ~Karen
Omg! I may never drink coffee again! This is so yummy! Can’t believe I have been in the FB group for over 6 months and somehow just discovered this! Thanks!
This drink is very similar to the golden milk I love to drink a few times a week. It’s so delicious! One question, I know (and you mentioned in your blog) that turmeric should be taken with black pepper (or some sort of fat-that I did not know!) in order to reap the benefits of it. There is no black pepper in this recipe, so are we counting the bit of fat from the non-dairy milk?
PS: I am in my one-week trial and yesterday I prepped the Corn Salsa, Mongolian Tofu, and Cauliflower Masala because I already had all of the ingredients (all staples!). Tonight we’re having the Masala and I can’t wait because I practically licked the Vitamix clean after making the sauce! YUM! I’ve been eating plant-exclusive for almost 4 years and I love the WOE! I recently started following the CFDG FB page, signed up for the Sweary Saturday Love Letters, and am ejoying reading your past blogs.
I love your vibe so much! I now need to decide whether to do the meal plan subscription or “just” the recipes one…. I love to cook, and am pretty good already at food prep, but am getting in a bit of a rut!
Hi Juanita!
Yep, the fat in the non-dairy milk is key here. Of course, if you like things on the hot side, you’re always welcome to add a few grinds of black pepper to your latte! 🙂
We’re so happy you’re loving the Trial! It’s truly delicious. Email us here with any questions you have about subscribing and we’ll be happy to help.
Cheers!
Stephanie
As others have mentioned I was wondering about the black pepper? I thought that turmeric needed to be taken with black pepper for the health benefits that it has. Also I made my latte with oat milk is that an ok substitute or should I buy some soy milk? Looking forward to adding this to my daily routine!
Hi Kathi,
The fat in the non-dairy milk helps absorption here. If you like the idea, you’re always welcome to add a few grinds of black pepper to your latte! We’re big fans of substitutions and I personally prefer oat milk to soy. You do you!
High fives,
Stephanie