Raw Food Diet Essentials

[cbritton]

Good Morning,
I'm preparing to start my 30-day challenge on February 1. This will be my first time attempting a raw diet, and I am very excited.
In preparing my kitchen and house for the diet, I have a question.
What would you say are the essential items to have in stock? What spices, sweeteners, flavorings, dried nuts and fruits would you say you couldn't do without? Also, what sort of tools do you use most often? Dehydrator, sprouter, etc.
Thanks very much in advance for your help!
Christiane :o

[Allison]

I use my juicer and my food processor every day. Besides fresh fruits and vegetables, I think the things we use the most are almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, raisins, and dates.

[SimplyRawesome]

CONGRATULATIONS Christiane!!!

The same as Allison, I use my juicer and food processor daily. It's also good to have a Sprializer if you plan to make pasta dishes (made out or zucchini or squash). I do use my dehydrator but not that often. I made it through the first 3 months without it and decided to try it. It really depends on what you plan to make. My suggestion would be to keep it simple the first few months as you "feel your way around" the raw world! LOL.

Some of the things I find essential in addition to what Allison said are:

Spices: Liquid Aminos (natural soy sauce) or Nama Shoya, Sea Salt, Apple Cider Vinegar, cayenne, ginger, Italian seasonings, fresh cilantro, fresh parsley. That's all I can think of at the moment but if you go through the journals, you may find more.

Sweeteners: I just use dates for sweetening. Either whole or processed. Some recipes call for honey so that's another staple to have on hand.

Flavorings: fresh garlic, fresh ginger.

I haven't ventured into sprouting yet.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

Good luck!!

[cbritton]

Thanks for the tips so far.
Nutrimom, how do I find your journal?
Thanks!

[tracyinfo]

I use my food processor every day. I have lots and lots of fresh produce in the house, along with an assorment of seeds and nuts. I also like soaking wild rice for about 3 days and making a salad with it. I marinate mushrooms, pickle vegetables and have been trying to make sauerkraut!

Good luck, Tracy

[levamssg]

Welcome Christiane!

These are my raw food "tools" ...
Juicer - use it Every Day
Vitamix - almost daily (smoothies,salad dressings,nutbutters and such)
Dehydrator - used frequently in spurts
Food processor - used frequently
Citrus juicer - used occasionally when needing quick lemon juice etc
spiral slicer - used occasionally (special recipes)
salad spinner - use frequently (I make large batches of salads)

Foods I keep on hand: Carrots/celery/apples/red peppers/scallions/
spinach/various greens/mushrooms/raisins/almonds/walnuts/pinenuts
sea salt / dates / avocados

I have a large array of spices, but I use basil, oregano, garlic, ginger the most

I use dates as sweetner. I use wide-mouth mason jars to do my sprouts.

You'll end up finding several "tried and true" items that you make again and again. I have a morning cereal of chopped apples/walnuts/raisins w/added fruit such as grapes/bananas etc, every day. Generally have a serving of vege salad every day ... and fill in with various other creations --whatever I'm hungry for or sounds especially good at the moment.

Have fun with it!! Good luck
cheers
terry

[askcassyfirst]

Hi Christiane! Welcome, and best wishes on your new raw journey!

I agree with what everyone else suggested, I love my food processer...I use it more than any other tool. My first 6 month raw it was the only tool I had, if you don't count the knives and the sun-dehydrator I made from a glass pan and some mosquito netting. (I had a Champion Juicer, but at the time I was out of the US, and the juicer had been left with family. I have it now, but only juice occasionally. Sometimes I will use it to homogenize.) I prefer eating foods as they are these days, grab and go...It doesn't take a lot of tools, they just make it easier and less time consuming when you are doing raw recipes...

I recently bought a spiral slicer from Alissa, which I love because I can now make chips and pasta, so it has broadened my horizons so to speak. Last week I bought a new dehydrator, having begun to desire more than the old Ronco I had. (For more info on that and other tidbits, feel free to read my journal-I included a link in my signature line. Many of us are journaling on this site in the photo section.)

In terms of what types of foods to have on hand, Alissa's book has a great chapter that goes over all of that in detail, and is helpful to newbies. Personally, I like to keep a good supply of fresh leafy greens & cabbage, which I love, as well as carrots and fresh fruit. My favorites are tropical fruit like mangos. I also like coconuts.

I use a lot of cashew and walnuts in my uncooking, as well as raisins & dates which are pretty in expensive. Buying the raw nuts in pieces rather than whole can sometimes be cheaper. Just make sure they are raw.

Spices: I love my Celtic salt, sesame seeds (which I grind for flavor,) cumin, curry, cayane, fresh herbs like basil and sage, and the occasional bit of cinnamon powder.

Good luck on the challenge, I will look forward to reading your journal!

Cassy.:)

[SimplyRawesome]

Thanks for the tips so far.
Nutrimom, how do I find your journal?
Thanks!
Here ya go ... http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=332&cpage=4&perpage=15&cat=500#poststart

[twinyoga]

raw almonds
raw cashews
raw almond butter
raisins
lots of fruit!


I make smoothies and soups with my blender but I do not use a dehdrator or make sprouts. I don't feel a need to at this time. I like to keep things simple.

Debbie