First posting....

[Laurel]

Hey everyone! I am a 29 yrs old, married, 4 kids mom. I have been thinking of raw foods for a few years and have been going on and off for a few weeks. Right now it is hard to be all raw because my dh and kids don't eat all raw and so I have to cook for them and then i want to eat what I have been cooking, oy. I do know, however, that I feel best when I eat raw. I get horrid stomache aches when I eat rice now. I have lost 7 lbs in a week and a half doing raw half the time and walking 2 miles every other day and doing yoga on the other days. I have taken pics of myself in a bathing suit to inspire me :o and it is definately motivating! I was horrid this morning, for example, I ate 3 mini candybar squares for breakfast because my bananas are brown :rolleyes: . I only like slightly green bananas, and I don't even like chocolate! But, I ate them before I looked at my pictures, lol. Good thing I have the rest of the day to make up for it. Anyways, now that I have rambled on and on about myself, it is really good to have a place to come, I am glad to be here.

[ConsciousCuisine]

Welcome! Many people find themselves eating cooked food (foods they don't really care for even) and then ask themselves: "Why did I just eat that?" You are not alone! You *will* get to the point where you lose all desire to eat anything that is not inherently health-building. It will happen. Keep up your good work! I like how you vary your workout too. That's a good idea!
Be Well! ;)

[Kristi]

Welcome to the board Laurel and WELCOME TO MY WORLD! I have 2 kids and a dh all who eat everything unraw! I struggle with the fact that I cook for them and desire the food as it is my addiction. I've referenced it to an alcoholic being a bartender. Not many can do it. I will make many casseroles and crockpot dishes at times when I'm not hungry or early in the morning when I wouldn't want that kind of stuff. I make for supper a big salad for me and anyone else that cares for it and fresh fruit. It makes it a bit easier to not want the other stuff. At least I'm not cooking it when I'm hungry and it's at the end of the day when I'm tired and weaker. I feel better on it....not that I haven't struggled plenty.....I try hard to remember that. Yes, it would be easier if I forced them into raw but that wouldn't really work either. Good luck. We are here to help. There are many threads around where I am frustrated and people have given me wonderful advice and motivation. I think one is "coping with a family that's not raw....." or something like that.

[Curtis]

Welcome Laurel :)
You are in the right place, a wonderful group of loving ppl are here to inspire and help you.

[Rawkinlocs]

Welcome!!

Just wanted to add, if your brown 'nanas aren't too bad, peel and freeze them and use in smoothies! The brown or spotted ones are most healthful from what I've heard!

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Hi Laurel,

Welcome :)

I'm fairly new here myself, and everyone is so friendly, helpful and fun. It's a great board to help keep you motivated.

I too took a picture of myself in a swimsuit - :eek: It was so bad that I'm not sure where I put the picture. Maybe I should look for it as a "motivator".

I look forward to seein more of your posts and seeing how you are doing.

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[Analeah]

Hey that's a good idea to freeze the brown bananas! Also have you tried dehydating them? I found even when they are brown if you put them in dehydrator for a few hours they get all soft warm and buttery tasting. Delicious! Ah but I digress, WELCOME LAUREL! :D It's great to have ya hear and I look forward to reading your posts and learning more about you!

[Rawkinlocs]

Hey that's a good idea to freeze the brown bananas! Also have you tried dehydating them? I found even when they are brown if you put them in dehydrator for a few hours they get all soft warm and buttery tasting. Delicious! Ah but I digress, WELCOME LAUREL! :D It's great to have ya hear and I look forward to reading your posts and learning more about you!

Oh YEAH Analeah!! Dehydrated brown bananas are so sweet, chewy and GOOD!!! Mmmm

[Laurel]

good idea! I will bring out my dehydrator, I haven't used it in months. My kids like the bananas when i slice them and freeze them. They are not very brown, just nicely browned. You know the way everyone says to eat them because the starches are broken down more. I am just a picky banana eater I guess! lol I haven't dehydrated bananas in years! I forget, do I dip them in lemon juice first or is that just apples?

[Analeah]

I just remembered after reading your post rawkinlocs that I had a bunch of banana dehydrating so I just went to check on them. I put almond butter on some of them and on some I put a cashew pine nut cream sauce I made on top. This is absolutely heavenly! If you can make your own raw almond butter or buy some at the store, try this out! So chewy and warm and yummy! Thanks again for reminding me! Laurel, I haven't heard anything about the dipping in lemon juice before dehydrating or anything like that. I just slice the banana the long way to make strips. You'll want to play around with the thickness though. Sometimes if you do it too thin it is more like a chip and is crunchy and if you do it thicker it gets really chewy, so it just depends on what you like. I have some apples dehydrating too, I have never dipped them in lemon juice before dehydrating and they still turn out good but it depends on how long I dehydrate them and how thick I sliced them etc. What is the purpose of the lemon juice? Is it to prevent the fruit from oxidizing or is it for flavor or for something else entirely?

[Laurel]

I think the lemon juice is just to keep the apples from turning brown too much. I had never thought of slicing the banana lengthwise! What a great idea! I had this picture in my head of you quietly spreading almond butter on round slice after slice of banana! LOL

[Kristi]

I buy the "old" bananas at a discount at the grocery......the ones no one wants.......take them home and peel n freeze! Smoothie heaven!

[Analeah]

Lol Laurel, you're so cute :p you just made me smile with descibing your image of me spreading almond butter on each little round slice of banana hehe. Doing it lengthwise certainly does save time but I think it tastes better too. If you want chips I would slice them up into discs but if you want a chewy snack do it lengthwise. It can be a little tricky at first but it can be pretty easy if you get banana's that aren't too curved lol. I sure wish I had one of those banana slicers though! They look really neat and supposedly they slice bananas lengthwise and really evenly. Anyone here ever used one before? Kristi, I do the same thing with buying the brown bananas too! :D Bananas are really expensive here normally, like around 4-5$ kilo and that's not even for the organic ones. Sometimes at the market in a far off corner someone will be selling really ripe ones for like 1-2$ kilo so I always jump all over it and buy tons of them. Same with other fruit too though you have to be a little more careful that the fruit is not too badly bruised or overripe and molding etc. I'm so excited, I'm gonna have so much yummy fruit dehydrated for the winter :)

[Laurel]

Ok, now I have another question. I have never dehydrated bananas so they are chewey. How long do I do it? How do I tell they are done? And I can store them chewey? Thanks for the idea, I feel wasteful, I am always throwing out ones people don't eat. They are only 93cents a bunch here. I am going to put my dehydrator to work in the morning!

[NWgal]

Welcome to you !


I have no idea about the banana's ... I just wanted to welcome you to this great group :)..

[Analeah]

It all depends on how thick you slice the bananas. Since I don't have a banana slicer or anything they always come out different. I usually just keep tasting until they get the way I like them too. If they are pretty thick and still soft I wouldn't think these would store too long without being refrigerated. If you want them to last a long time you could try making chips by slicing them very thin and dehydrating for a longer time. These I am sure would last for quite a while without being refrigerated. Wow, 93 cents a bunch lol you're lucky. :p Good luck dehydrating and have fun!