help with food dehydration and cook books needed

[vickiesltw]

I am using my food dehydrated for the first time since I walked the appalachian trail in 2001 and then on only dehydrated jerky.

I have tried using RAW the uncook book by Juliano and having nothing but problems with the recipes. Most of the recipes we have tried are very elaborate and over spicy, salty. In 6 days I used 1 16 oz bottle of olive oil and 1 10oz bottle of organic soy sauce following these recipes. My husband thinks this is outrageous. I have no idea if the season is and such is overally excessive for raw food or not.

The items I have tride to dehydrate are taking much longer than the times in his cook book. Or they just taste horrible.

I tried to check some raw books out of the library there is quite a selection however all are out.

I desperately need help

[Gosia]

Recipes:

http://www.greenchefs.tv

http://www.rawguru.com/html/recipes.html

http://www.fromsadtoraw.com/RawRecipes.htm

http://www.living-foods.com/recipes

http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/home/home_a.htm

http://www.purejoylivingfoods.com/recipes/index.shtm

http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/rawrecipe.htm

http://www.fresh-network.com/recipes/index.htm

http://www.rawfoodfocus.com/index.htm? art_cravingsforsweets.htm

http://www. shazzie.com/raw/recipes/

http: //www.alissacohen.com/recipes.html

http://www.beautifulonraw.com/html/recipes.html

http://www.rawgosia.com/recipes.html

All the best,
Gosia.

[Rawkinlocs]

Hi Vickie and welcome to the group!

Well, there are a few things that we can address here:

1. You may need to start out with more simpler recipes...I highly recommend you getting Alissa's book "Living on Live Food". It ranges from simple and quick to more elaborate recipes that require more steps (though still easy). But it's MORE than just recipes; it's like having a raw coach in written form...lots of encouragement, information and inspiration! You can start out with more simple things like her Mock Salmon pate' or her Date Nut Torte (always a hit with virtually everyone who tries it, Raw or SAD eaters alike) and in fact, you can test-drive some of her recipes if you go to her website (http://alissacohen.com) and click on "recipes".

2. Sometimes when first going raw your tastebuds don't quite appreciate the raw recipes, especially if there are too many flavors going on. So again, eat more simple things to start along with (of course) simple fruits and veggies that you like or love. There are some recipes that I tried when first starting out that I didn't care much for that I now like or love.

3. When making recipes for the first time, halve or quarter the recipes as to avoid TOO much waste.

4. Sometimes climate is a factor in how long it will take something to dehydrate.

But again, consider getting Alissa's book. In the meantime, visit our recipe section here as there are LOTS of yummy, tried and true recipes right here that are posted...some of which were created by some of our own members here. Do a search for butter pecan ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, cheesecake, fudge, oatmeal cookies, onion bread for starters as those are some of our favorites around here amongst others!

[levamssg]

Vicki
Boy can I relate. That was the first recipe book I had too! Now, after 1-1/2 years, I appreciate it -- but starting out with it wasn't easy. I did really like the borscht and piecrust.

Right now I'm dehydrating sweet potatoes coated with oil, lemon, cayenne, and chili powder, with a pinch of celtic salt. (you can add other spices as you experiment). Some sliced really thin for chips, some thicker for crackers.

Simple flax crackers are nice ... just soak an equal amount of flax seed with water overnight. Then add some spices ... I add a bit of lemon juice, some garlic, sometimes a bit of ginger, celtic salt, sometimes bits of veges like red peppers or carrots. Mix the whole thing in a food processor well. Spread out on teflex sheets -- really thin for chips, thicker for crackers and dehydrate overnight.

Then there is the Kale recipe that was posted here. Flat kale (curly works too) washed and stemmed, coat with mixture of olive oil, apple cider vinegar and celtic salt. About 2T oil/ to 3/4T vinegar to 1/4tsp salt per large bunch of kale. Massage into kale pieces until coated. Dehydrate overnight and presto - kale chips. Simply wonderful.

Alissa's book has so many good recipes, from main dishes to desserts. I'd highly recommend getting it.



anyway, Lots of sites have already been listed. Another good book is Eating without Heating by Sergei and Valya Boutenko. It has all the recipes in it from Victoria's book 12 Steps to raw, plus others, and most of them are simple and good. Don't know how many are for dehydrators tho.

But, as already suggested, go easy mixing up elaborate stuff. Do simple dishes at first, and work up to 'gourmet' dishes. This is a non-dehydrator recipe from Todd (from this board) .. the waldorf supreme. Easy, good, and filling. Chop 1 apple, 1/2 sweet pepper (I use red/yellow/orange), 1 tomato, 1/4 onion. combine all chopped ingredients in large bowl. Add one chopped fairly soft avocado, a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper and a pinch of celtic salt. Stir this really well so the avocado coats some of the ingredients. Enjoy.

Attend raw potlucks in your area and exchange recipes with other raw fooders. Soon you'll have so many that you want to try that there won't be enough days in the week to fit them all in!

[Sillybloss]

I agree with everyone above....Alissa's book is the BEST to start with. All the others I believe assume prior knowledge that a newbie doesn't have. Alissa will give you the experience that allows you to branch out to other recipe books.