Can I afford this?

[Pennypower]

I really want to get started, but right now I'm really broke. This week I can get the book and MAYBE this CD's. The real problem is that my blender is lame (doesn't work all that well, but will do ok I guess), and I don't have a juicer. Do I really need a juicer? Will smoothies with Kale in them be gross if it's not blended up perfectly, like still kind of chunky. Anyway, I'm anxious to do this RiGHt! Not halfway.
I just can't spend 100's of dollars right now, and I'm nursing, so I can't survive on just fruit and salads all day. I guess I'll be able to get more calories from the Recipes in the book.
Any suggestions on how to prioritize?
Penny

[Rawkinlocs]

If you CAN upgrade to another blender (still can be a standard one) that would be awesome! But if not, you can make the smoothies work...just blend the greens with a little water and blend that all up first and THEN add your fruit.

No, you don't need a juicer. Just work with what you have and get one item at a time. That's what I did. I think the first thing I bought was a food processor as I already owned a blender and an old, centrifugal blender that was collecting dust from a while back. I did what I could with those items and then when I could, I bought a dehydrator from Walmart for little under $50 (it was the round, Snackmaster WITH temperature control). Then, later I got bought a used Champion juicer from someone on this site, there was a part missing so I just ordered that from the company. Later, I got an Excalibur dehydrator and then later a Vitamix blender.

But you CAN get by with a standard blender, a standard Black and Decker or Hamilton Beach processor and a standard round dehydrator with temp. control and depending on how fancy you want to get with making recipes etc. you don't really need all of that...but if you want more variety to help with the transition and beyond, then they are good to have those other pieces of equipment...but they are not mandatory.

So, again, start off with the blender for smoothies, salad dressings, soups, etc. and then next I'd get a food processor so you can successfully make pate's, banana ice cream, etc. and then later on, if you want to make crackers, dried fruit, etc. then you can get the dehydrator.

Also, if it's a choice between the book and DVD, get the book as it has all the recipes and the inspiration and the instruction, etc. - the DVD is a great supplement TO the book, but I'd get the book first and foremost.

[Morn]

Penny - there are also tons of recipes posted on this site. Use the banana to do searches and browse the recipe threads. You can eat simply or gourmet on this diet. It is what sounds good to you and what you want to do.

[Veganforlife]

Can you afford NOT to? That's the question I posed to myself when I first went raw. Weighing out the long-term outcome, I decided I can't afford NOT to. This (in the long run) way of eating will save hundreds on medical expenses.
As far as foods? Keep it simple. A lot of times you can get a whole lot of bananas reduced for quick sale. Fruits and veggies reduced for quick sale. I wouldn't worry about going gourmet.
Do green smoothies and eat lots of fruits and veggies.
Good luck!

[puffysmom]

I did not get a new expensive blender. I am using the one I have. I love Kale and spinach in my smoothies and even though sometimes there r small chuncks u dont notice it when u drink it due to the flavor of both greens r not that strong to begin with. Also someone posted in another thread that when u drink the smoothies u swish around mouth to get the enzymes started and so i started that and still do not notice the little pieces of green.

I do have a dehydrater but could get along without it. Most of the sweets I have made can be eaten raw also. I am still having a hard time getting past that part cause I was so used to having eggs and other things in my foods that would go bad if it was not baked or refrigerated and now if i want to leave it sit overnight in order to have more foods to dehydrate at once i can......and not in the fridge. The one item i use the most is the blender. Even my granddaughters cheap $15 smoothie maker blends it up good enough to drink.

[DavidZaneMason]

Sure. No worries. All you can do is put one foot in front of the other where you are NOW. Just increasing your over-all intake / commitment to the fresh fruits & vegetables that you LOVE will yield tremendous benefits - don't you think? Eating simpler CAN be as simple as just doing that. Blenders, Dehydrators and other goodies are just the icing on the cake! :)

-David Z. Mason

[Dj 247]

I have been eating raw fruit, veggies, salads, and nuts. I drink plenty of bottled water. I find that it is expensive just eating this simple. I eat a lot more when I eat raw. But really cooked food is really expensive also, and you are paying for fillers not good nutrition. So if you got to eat, and everyone does you might as well buy food that is going to benefit your health. Just my thoughts. What do you think? :rolleyes:
I forgot to add that I do not have any special appliances except for an old kitchen blender. I have since ordered a juicer, but I wish now I would have gotten a food processor first. I am also the type of person who will do without until I get the brand that I want so I will not be getting any appliances until I save some money up. And I am not going to get Alissa's book until I at least have a food processor to make the stuff.
Read Revells blog about not having enough money. I think I might try to find a way to make some extra cash. I am looking into getting a second job to come up with the money I need.

[Sharon in Colorado]

... I'm nursing, so I can't survive on just fruit and salads all day.

Any why would that be? That's the healthiest diet in the world and pretty much what Alissa lives on. Look at how productive she is! I don't mean productive milk-wise, but she has TONS of energy.

As long as you are getting enough calories (aka eating until satisfied) to keep you going, it's perfect.

[Shoney]

Hi and welcome to the boards! I'm a nursing mom too, and while I'm not completely raw, there are days when I have been. My milk supply is not affected so long as I stay hydrated (and eating lots of fruit helps with that). The minerals and vitamins in vegetables also help tremendously with the nutritional quality of mama's milk, and I add brewer's yeast (nutritional yeast) to my shakes for the B-vitamins. Bananas and dates are great for potassium. I supplement my shakes and salads with ground flaxseed. What has encouraged me in term's of my baby's health is that this is the first winter that neither of my kids have gotten bad colds or ear infections. In fact, eating vegan (and a lot of raw), this is the first winter ever where neither of them needed medical attention for an illness. And when they have gotten sick, it's been very brief and they don't get nearly as ill as everyone around them.

When it comes to equipment, I was fortunate in that my dad bought me both a food dehydrator and a food processor. The dehydrator I really don't use, but I use the food processor frequently. Currently I am using the blender I got for $3 at a garage sale a couple years ago, and it works fine. Second-hand stores, garage sales, newspaper ads are good places to look for Champion Juicers (though I haven't used mine in weeks) and the VitaMix (still don't have one). The larger your town, the easier it should be. Oh, and the other thing I use a lot is a Black and Decker citrus juicer, I think you can get them at Wal-mart for pretty cheap. It has a plastic one quart pitcher, and you simply cut the fruit in half and hold it in place while the machine does its thing. I make a lot of oj and lemonade that way.

In terms of expense, that has been a hard one for me too. The most expensive part for me was re-learning how to shop and stocking my kitchen. It took a few months, and I am still in that process as I am still transitioning to raw. In the long run, I know eating this way is best for me and my baby (who is not so much of a baby anymore). When I have gotten discouraged about not being able to make this happen all at once, I just remember back to five years ago when I was very ill from drinking half a gallon of cola every day, and my hormones were so messed up my health was seriously in danger.

I eat a lot of avocadoes/guac and shop as cheaply as I can. I'm on a tight budget right now, and I get organic when I can but don't worry about it when I can't. When I go to the health food store, I buy as much as I can of whatever is on sale.

So don't stress, this is supposed to be fun! Read as much as you can about raw, experiment and pay attention to your body. When you make a recipe for the first time, make smaller amounts so if you don't like it you won't have wasted a large amount of food.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

[Pierre]

Put some avocado in your salad. That'll fill you up! Also get some sesame, figs, and crucifers for calcium.

[Tirza]

Just a comment on what you need to eat when nursing:

Think about the ultimate "nurser", a dairy cow. We all know how force-fed they are in order to increase production, but...

Think about a cow in the field, just enjoying a peaceful, unstressed life. That cow walks around finding food and water for itself, and chews on greens all day, maintaining its own very large body and bone structure with that, as well as producing milk to nurse its calf (which will use that milk to grow to adult size within only one year!) She gets some seeds or even a little grain from some of the plants she eats, but mostly she eats greens. She chews, swallows, brings up the cud, chews more, swallows, all day long. Her calf gets more than enough milk. If that cow is owned by a little family, she will have enough milk to spare for them too. They might also feed her some grain mix but in the wild, it is not so. They are leaner and rangier if they are in the wild, but they have an extremely high level of health and endurance. In "captivity", dairy cows get many many diseases probably brought on by being overfed, overmedicated, housed inside in damp conditions and no sunlight and exercise. Interesting, no?

Even though this is far from our conventional thinking, we really should try to see how it is in nature and determine the purest, closest to the original way of doing things that we can. The rest is all "icing" and not totally necessary. You add the extras for variety.

Now I'm not saying that we should subsist on greens like a cow, but we probably could if necessary. We are not cows, so our needs are somewhat different. But they sure make a lot of milk and hug bone structures out of greens! I think the Boutenkos are right when they say we should be majoring on them.

[Dimond]

You should be able to get all the information you need from the internet, esp this site. If necessary you can get some books from the library. I've never owned a raw book & have been doing this for over a year successfully. I also don't have a juicer or dehydrator. If you're going to spend your money wisely, use it for food and a good blender.

[Elizabeth]

After I had to sell my excalibur and champion to get $$ to move, I got both a dehydrator (the round snackmaster type)and juicer (a basic centrifugal) ..lol..off of freecycle. It was fabulous!! Also, after I was able to upgrade, I sent my old "free" ones to my son, who is starting a juice fast today. It is amazing what you can get on freecycle. I am a big fan!! I also love giving things away on it, a great way of managing spring cleaning. :-)

I frankly think that it is, or at least can be, less expensive to eat Raw!!! Do not feel that you have to eat organic all the time, after all, if you were eating cooked SAD, you would not be eating organic. If you focus on sales and use sunflower seeds for milk and pates instead of the more expensive nuts..and gallon jugs of distilled water instead of more expensive brands, you will be surprised at how affordable it can be. also..raisins and apples are inexpensive, sometimes even in organics. I can get organic carrots for .80 a lb. and sometimes even .50 a lb. And bananas are just fabulous. They are filling and can be used in smoothies and fruit salads. They are on sale here at one store, organic for .69 a lb. while that is the price for regular ones at many stores i n my area. Also, the bags of organic hearts of romaine are a lot less expensive than the fancy spring greens. Just have fun and explore the produce departments in your area and you will see that the savings from not eating meat and eating out, fast food, soda, coffee, etc., make raw vegan economical, if you do not spend money on a lot of convenience and more luxury products. You can save for the more specialty things you might like to use to add more dimentsion to your diet as you become more familiar with your Raw tastes....

Good Luck!!!!

http://www.ketoforum.de/diet-ticker/pic/weight_loss/11655/.png (http://www.diaet-ticker.de/)

[chilove]

Hi there,

You can get a good quality blender really cheap at thrift stores. I always see them at the Goodwill and Salvation Army stores for under $5.00 usually. They will let you plug them in to make sure they work well.

Fruits and veggies are just what you need!! :-) That is what we are meant to eat. Like someone else said, just make sure you are getting enough calories and you will do great!

WIshing you lots of success!

Audrey
www.rawhealing.com

[portiz]

Hi! I have to say one of the best things i bought was my breville juicer on amazon. it was an amazing find. it was a refurbished model (that normally goes for over $100) for only $22 WITH SHIPPING! its one of the centrifugal ones (like the omega 1000) that you feed the produce through the top and the juice pours out on the front side. i splurged on my 9 tray dehydrator but i figured the old blender/food processor i have (which has lasted this whole time) plus this juicer will carry me for a while. i figured i'd get great use out of both until i can save the $$ up for the appliances i want.
but until then, check amazon, overstock, ebay, andn pricegrabber for used or refurbished models. you'd be surprised with what they carry and the condition they're in.