Any advice?

[growinhealth]

Hey everyone I am new and I haven't been on the forum in a while because I have become so discouraged with Raw Food, I don't have anytime to do it, because I am a college student taking afull load also working 33-40 hours a week with little time for getting good yummy raw meals, it doesn't seem appetizing just raw fruit and I can't eat raw veggies they taste so grose...anyone have any encouragement for me, I really just gave up the last two weeks and I could really use some help thanks

[DotfromOz]

You could really make good use of the book, Brown Bag Well & Stay Well by Victoria Bidwell, I'd say. It's got 60 ideas for mostly raw foods intended for lunches (and the ones that include some cooked foods like baked sweet potatoes could be easily adapted to raw, a few even include hints for doing that) but when I first did some raw eating about 20 years ago, I used the recipes for dinner and breakfast oftentimes, too. Very few of the recipes are complicated at all...usually just chopping a few things and mixing them with some seasoning. All you need for prep of most of the recipes is a good knife and cutting board with maybe a hand juicer if you'd rather be more dainty than simply whacking a lemon or lime in half and using your hand to squish the juice over everything else. The most exotic ingredients used were things like mangoes or a persimmon in a couple of the recipes. Otherwise, everything else is readily available in a good commercial supermarket.

You might check around used bookstores or websites for it. Well worth spending some bucks beyond the original price, IMO.

P.S. I just checked my favorite used book website, www.abebooks.com, and there's a copy for sale there for only $7! That's less than I paid for the book brand new! Enter "Victoria and Bidwell" in the author search or it won't pull up anything by her.

[VeganVixen]

also are you trying the right fruits and veggies-to me NOTHING is better than a ripe mango,deep red strawberry,or a PERFECT cabbage wraps w/sweet and sour sauce (its really easy to make,I will send you the recipe).......also you do need to focus on the health benefits and try to appreciate the yummyness of raw foods if you cant spend a lot of time at the dehydrater-or get a smoothie at a local juice bar.....I can symethise I have been in and out of college recently and am going full time later this year......good luck-pm me if you want some simple tips and simpler modified recipes !

good luck-trust me raw is worth it -and if you want try 75% at first then more to get used to it

[Pailani]

If you have a blender, you could try green smoothies (fruit smoothies with some greens added) and blended soups. It only takes a minute to rinse out the blender, so clean-up is easy.

[hollin]

I'm in college as well, and I can totally understand how difficult it is! Most of the information out there is written for people who have a kitchen, buy their own food, and aren't on a budget (though there are exceptions!). You might try going to all the eating facilities on and near campus and making a list of the foods you're be able to get there. For example, on my campus I can get fresh vegetable salads, oranges, grapefruit, pears, bananas, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, salsas, olive oil and occasionally some other raw foods. You may find that there are more options available than you originally thought. However, it is likely that you won't find all the foods you need to maintain a healthy raw diet on your campus. Check out the local supermarkets and/or health food stores to see what is available. I currently eat mostly the foods listed above that I can find on campus, and then purchase raw nuts, dates, organic apples, limes, seaweed, and other non-refrigerator food to keep in my dorm room with me. I also take a multi-vitamin-- I know it is not ideal, but I'm not going to be a purist and jeopordize my health because of it. School food is definitely not organic! When I go home, I try to vary my diet am much as possible (adding avocado, mango, and foods that need refrigeration, etc.) so at least I am getting those nutrients every once in a while. I look forward to improving the quality of my diet when I am finished with college and will have greater control over the foods I consume, but with a little creativity and flexibility I feel that it is definitely possible to eat raw on campus!

Peace.
Hollin

[tracyinfo]

Great ideas, Hollin. I hope others can do as well as you. I wish I had known about this lifestyle when I was in college.

--Tracy

[growinhealth]

Thanks everyone! I love this forum, it really encourages me to keep on the path of healthy living (both mind and body) I am definately going to check out all the suggestions mentioned to me. You guys rock!