Cheapy Non-Dehydrator/Zukes Recipes?

[violetsareblack]

Hi all.

I am fairly new to raw and with having a household of 8 we are very tight on money so therefore I have yet to be able to buy a fancy dehydrator (or even a blender that will blend smoothly for that matter) and am finding it hard to stay raw because of this so far. I know it's as easy as just eating simple foods but I do searches for entree recipes here and on Gone Raw and google searches and so far everything I find requires one of 3 things: 1.) a dehydrator with temp control, 2.) lots and LOTS of raw nuts, which, buying the raw ones get very expensive for me. I usually just buy the conventional ones which have probably been heated to save money and even that, at $7-$8 a pound it gets pricey. and 3.) Zukes or some other squash made into "pasta".

So, does anyone have any really GOOD recipes that do not require a dehydrator or tons of expensive nuts or making pasta into "spaghetti"?
Any spaghetti or other "pasta" dishes don't work for me because I don't have a spiralizer and I do not like the texture of the zukes when grated into "pasta".

Maybe I'm just too picky to be raw? I mean I am not ready to give up. I guess it's not really as easy as I thought. I do simple green smoothies for breakfast and fruit or veggies for lunch and snacks but when dinner comes I always want something REALLY GOOD, something really savory and cooked- dinnery-like, I guess? I mean it doesn't have to be cooked, but at times I find myself eating something cooked just to satisfy the fact that I want a nice and savory dinner type food. Old habits are hard to break. And no, drinking more GS is not what I want right now. I hear people say to eat as much gourmet raw as you can or want in the beginning to help transition but am I doomed to fail because I feel like almost every recipe I see that sounds oh so perfect calls for a dehydrator. :(

I have found a few on Gone Raw. There's a lovely taco salad but I ate it like everyday for 2 weeks because it curbed that craving of wanting a savory meal and then I got burned out and moved on to another and so on. I have found a few pate's to use as "burrito" fillings but they get pricey esp when they call for nuts and sun dried tomatoes. And I have made some good fajita mixes with lots of veggies and those are good but sometimes I want a change. I have tried the herb encrusted mushroom but then the nuts for the topping can get pricey.

Being raw is just expensive! I was told I'd save money and time but so far I haven't done either. We HAVE tried to grow our own but living in the Ohio Valley (in KY) it's not easy and we also have had a drought this year. Nothing grew for us except some herbs. My Mom grew up growing her own with her parents so we know we are doing it right. We just bought a house and it's the worst yard to try to grow in. Even our neighbor said so.

So, anyone have any simple yet savory and inexpensive recipes to share? Anyone have any tips on dehydrating food without a dehydrator? I do actually have a dehydrator but it was from Freecycle and it has no temp control and it looks like one of those Ronco ones, all circular and stuff. I was told it would heat the foods to high so I stored it away.

I'm sorry if I came off whiny but I know this is easy and will get easier (kinda like when I first became vegan, hard at first but got easier later) but I just need to find the right recipes to hold me off until I get more use to simpler foods and get the equipment I need. I just get tired of seeing these wonderful recipes that look SO GOOD and see "dehydrate" after it! Blah!

[Veganforlife]

two words - green smoothies!!!

[violetsareblack]

Not to be rude at all but that was one answer I was not wanting and I think I even said it in my post. It is NOT what I am looking for as far as dinner right now. :(

[PixieLed]

Hard to come up with some off the top of my head. I would say that some of the recipes that call for dehydrating don't necessarily need to be... for example, cookies, burgers, etc can just be eaten as is. Also if it's such a problem, you could use the dehydrator you have now, and just dehydrate for shorter periods, or let it cool off before restarting it. I'm a student and at one point that's the only type of dehydrator I had too. If it's a choice between cooked food and slightly overly-dehydrated food, I'd for for the second. But it will help you practice making recipes for when you get the real dehydrator.

Also, in terms of buying lots of expensive nuts... try replacing expensive nuts like almonds, walnuts, etc, with raw sunflower seeds. These are the cheapest and they taste good and if ground enough can sub for other nuts without a problem. Oh and try not to eat the same dish for 2 weeks, I know this is why you're looking for recipes, but you don't want to get burnt out on recipes. ;)

I also tend to eat some of Alissa's fudge balls, or Raw Priestess' Brownies, and instead of almond butter or walnuts, I use sunflower seeds and agave/honey/dates with cacao/carob.

Try using avocados instead of nuts in your fillings, they are quite tasty. Also try purchasing produce that is in season and on sale. So for now, try eating half a watermelon as a meal... forget about the idea of having a "set dinner", just enjoy the bounty of nature's fruits and veggies! :)

Good luck and sorry I don't have too much good advice!

[Veganforlife]

SoRry - my bad!!!:cool:

[violetsareblack]

Hard to come up with some off the top of my head. I would say that some of the recipes that call for dehydrating don't necessarily need to be... for example, cookies, burgers, etc can just be eaten as is. Also if it's such a problem, you could use the dehydrator you have now, and just dehydrate for shorter periods, or let it cool off before restarting it. I'm a student and at one point that's the only type of dehydrator I had too. If it's a choice between cooked food and slightly overly-dehydrated food, I'd for for the second. But it will help you practice making recipes for when you get the real dehydrator.

Also, in terms of buying lots of expensive nuts... try replacing expensive nuts like almonds, walnuts, etc, with raw sunflower seeds. These are the cheapest and they taste good and if ground enough can sub for other nuts without a problem. Oh and try not to eat the same dish for 2 weeks, I know this is why you're looking for recipes, but you don't want to get burnt out on recipes. ;)

I also tend to eat some of Alissa's fudge balls, or Raw Priestess' Brownies, and instead of almond butter or walnuts, I use sunflower seeds and agave/honey/dates with cacao/carob.

Try using avocados instead of nuts in your fillings, they are quite tasty. Also try purchasing produce that is in season and on sale. So for now, try eating half a watermelon as a meal... forget about the idea of having a "set dinner", just enjoy the bounty of nature's fruits and veggies! :)

Good luck and sorry I don't have too much good advice!



Thanks. Yeah, I am trying for just having fruit and other simple things for dinner but it does not always work that way. Especially living in a house that consist of 7 other people who all eat cooked food. It's hard! LOL

Ya know, I'd love to try that dehydrator out but it didn't come with any instructions and I was scared the food would turn out wrong, plus with it being round, I wasn't sure if it'd work for things like burgers, etc. I have never dehydrated anything in my life, so do you have any tips on how long I'd want to dehydrate something with no temp control?

I think my main thing is, for now I want to do the gourmet raw foods to help with transition. I will eventually one day be able to just sit down and munch on simple foods for dinner but it's not eay just yet. I've tried. When all the kids and my husband sit down with all this nice cooked food (all vegan except my husbands food) it just hits me and then I'm wanting to find a raw version and when I can't I cave in and think "this once won't hurt" but then it does. Then I want a cooked meal all the time until I find something raw that works.

I actually made a Live Garden "Burger" recipe from a cook book and it did not require it to be dehydrated but the entire time I ate it, even though it was good, I just kept wanting something warm and savory in my mouth. And after seeing a picture for some dehydrated burgers, it wasn't cutting it anymore.

yeah, I've always been like that with food says my Mom. I'd eat one thing for weeks or even months and she said I wouldn't touch anything else until I got burned out. I eat what I crave I guess. If I eat something I'm not in the mood for I feel sick and get grossed out. I have always been a very weird and picky eater. very, very, very picky. People say they don't even see how I managed to stay vegan because I'm picky. It was fine once i was able to get a vegan dish taste just as good as a non vegan dish. I guess that is what I am desiring here. I know not all raw food is going to taste exactly like cooked dishes I eat but even close to it would be good.

I never thought about replacing the nuts with the seeds. I can handle the seeds. They're cheap! Thanks!

[violetsareblack]

SoRry - my bad!!!:cool:

It's ok. I know I should do more GS's each day. I do about 2 a day but I am surrounded by 7 people who eat cooked food and it makes transitioning so hard sometimes! Esp when I KNOW there's ways to make what they eat raw and delicious I just don't know how!

[garden granny]

I had an old fashioned round dehydrater when I first started and made everything on it, just check the food often & you'll know when it looks and feels ready to eat. It's especially great for flax crackers, onion bread, zuchini chips, banana chips, or burgers. At least use it until you can get a better one, and it will help you have a little more variety. As far as non-dehydrated foods, I slice zuchini thin and marinate it in olive oil with garlic and then make a tomato basil sauce and put the marinated zuchine in it and it's great, mushrooms are also good to marinade. Right now berries are really good, and watermelon, cantelope, peaches, all fairly inexpensive. And if you want to have a garden next spring, start now by composting all your vegetable and fruit scraps - just mix it up in a pile with soil in your yard, leaves, grass clippings, etc., and by next spring you'll have compost to spread out over your soil and you'll have the best garden in town. :D Hope that helped some.

[violetsareblack]

I had an old fashioned round dehydrater when I first started and made everything on it, just check the food often & you'll know when it looks and feels ready to eat. It's especially great for flax crackers, onion bread, zuchini chips, banana chips, or burgers. At least use it until you can get a better one, and it will help you have a little more variety.
As far as non-dehydrated foods, I slice zuchini thin and marinate it in olive oil with garlic and then make a tomato basil sauce and put the marinated zuchine in it and it's great, mushrooms are also good to marinade. Right now berries are really good, and watermelon, cantelope, peaches, all fairly inexpensive. And if you want to have a garden next spring, start now by composting all your vegetable and fruit scraps - just mix it up in a pile with soil in your yard, leaves, grass clippings, etc., and by next spring you'll have compost to spread out over your soil and you'll have the best garden in town. :D Hope that helped some.

Not to sound dumb but how often should I check the food? I knowmost dehydrators call for things being done for only a few hours to some being overnight.

I never thought to marinate the zukes first. Maybe that's the problem with using them as pasta, plus not having something to make the zukes into pasta looking noodles. I know marinating veggies in something for a few hours gives it a "cooked" texture/taste. I will have to try that. Thanks!

I hope we don't have a drought again next year for a garden. It was so bad this year they almost banned fireworks. Living in the Ohio Valley can be pretty bad sometimes. The weather is always one thing or another and really wacky.

[violetsareblack]

So, I guess no one has any recipes.... just "ideas". :(

[snowdrop]

not sure if you wanted zucc recipes or not since they are pretty cheap...
i peel zucc into wide strips and use it (salted & squeezed out) to make layered dishes, (lasagna style) rolled dishes, or even as fettuccini with a sauce of choice.
or i cut it into little wedges and add lots of tomato wedges, sweet onion, cuke basil ribbons, chopped parsley and dress it w/a nice oil & vinegar nice change for leafy salad.
julianne the squash along with carrots and whatever other veggies you like, (pepper, mushrooms, etc) and place inside a leaf of cabbage or lettuce with a great dressing (tahini or ranch or whatever) fold or roll and munch away.
because zucchini really does not have great big flavor- you can make it do whatever you want (like tofu)
best to you!
(bananas are cheap too- and make super 'frosties' blended frozen with cocoa)
please let me know if that helps, or if you are looking for something altogether different.

[Tk2dsky]

another way for zucchini is to use a veggie peeler and peel it into thin linguine strips to make them more noodle like.

A really nice satisfying meal for me was the stuffed portobello from Alissa's book.

Basically you take a portobello mushroom, clean out the cap, flip it upside down and fill with homemade guacamole. It tastes much better than it sounds, and is really filling.

[MintLia]

It really isn't necessary to own a dehydrator (Samariah asked the same question). You can use the oven at low temperatures to dry up your food. You can put the food in the oven in the evening and let it dry over night and it's usuall ready in the morning (I imagine it must be hard to get to the oven during the day with so many people around). I'll check my recipe book and will get back to you on this.

"Maybe I'm just too picky to be raw?" No such thing! :) The last time I had a craving, I ended up eating lettuce 2-3 times a day for 5 months. Still think you're picky?:D

[garden granny]

Not to sound dumb but how often should I check the food? I knowmost dehydrators call for things being done for only a few hours to some being overnight.

I'd check about every hour or so the first time you use it, after that you'll pretty much know how long most things are going to take.

[MintLia]

Buying lots of nuts can really be expensive. Try using seeds as well and they are much cheaper. The cheapest you can get are the sunflower seeds, then sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, followed by walnuts and almonds. The rest of the nuts tend to be a little pricy. I find that whenever a recipe calls for, say, cashews, I just use almonds. True, the taste and texture are not exactly the same, but they're pretty close. Experiment and see what you like. Sunflower seeds are wonderful as spreads or dips. You could use a base of 1 cup sunflower seeds with half a lemon juice, half a cup of water, and salt to taste, and then add different things to this base to make spreads, dips, sauces.

Add:
1. Half a teaspoon of curry powder, 1/3 cup of apple juice,
2. 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tablespoon of olive oil,
3. 1/3 cup of apple juice, 1/2 teaspoon of horseradish (grated),
4. 1 small apple, 1 carrot, 1 clove of garlic...

Use your imagination. Eat these with whatever you feel like. I like them all wrapped in a lettuce leaf but usually I just take a spoon and dig in :D . Having dinner like I used to (with many courses) is no longer an option because I get so full by the time I finish eating one thing that you couldn't pay me to eat anything else.

I very much like Veggie Mac Cheese Spread by Shari Viger (http://www.rawfoodsnewsmagazine.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=61). I don't do it exactly the way she does. I don't make cheese (can't be bothered), put in quite a lot of Ume plum vinegar, and sometimes use almonds instead of macadamia nuts. Because the spread is sooo salty (but not so much that you cannot taste anything else!), I end up using just a little bit. To me, it tastes best on celeriac slices and red bell pepper, but go ahead and try different veggies.

There's also a recipe called Keffi's pate (http://www.living-foods.com/recipes/keffis.html). It's delicious. Again, I don't soak as the craving always comes in a flash and cannot even wait for one hour in the fridge. The best vegetable to eat with this are carrots, but go ahead an experiment.

I really hope this will help and don't let not having a dehydrator stop you from eating raw. I've been using my oven to dry up foods since forever and they always come out OK.

[beppa66]

You can use a potato peeler to slice zuc into noodles.
then add pesto sauce and toss.
Fresh basil, lemon juice, garlic, pine nuts, pepper, salt, olive oil
process in food processor til creamy. I like to add some cayenne.
there are some good recipe sites look for freshtopia.net (carrot cake)
www.living-foods.com/recipes, http://www.therawtable.com/recipecoll/burger.htm, http://rawinspiration.blogspot.com/2007/06/creamy-cocobanana-pie.html. Hope these help.