Shelf Life

[rawnappy]

I am new to raw........I made some tahini dressing yesterday and am curious as to how long it will last. I filled up one of those dressing cruets. Is there a way that I can tell if it has gone bad. I probably overmade, I will cut down on the amount next time as my husband and children did not like it. Personally I thought it was pretty tasty.

[RawTruth]

Double check in Alissa's book or one of the others that have tahini dressing (hopefully you have at least one), and it should say how long it'll keep. That's one thing I like about the Boutenko's books; as I recall, they usually mention the "shelf life." I keep tahini dressing (and most dressings I make) for about a week, though sometimes they don't last that long -- if I'm eating a lot of salads.

You'll be able to tell when it's not good anymore -- trust me on this. It's not like the processed bottled dressings you buy with so many preservatives that you don't know if it's good or not -- you have to actually read a date to know. With raw food, you'll likely know when something's spoiled -- almost as easy as when you just look at a banana on your counter and you think "hmmm ... better eat this or get it into the fridge cuz it ain't gonna last another day!"

[rawnappy]

Thanks, and I have Rita Romano's book but it doesn't say anything about shelf life and I have placed a order for the Butenko's. I am waiting for it to get here. I plan on making Alissa's book my next order of business.

[PixieGreen]

You'll be able to tell when it's not good anymore -- trust me on this. It's not like the processed bottled dressings you buy with so many preservatives that you don't know if it's good or not -- you have to actually read a date to know. With raw food, you'll likely know when something's spoiled -- almost as easy as when you just look at a banana on your counter and you think "hmmm ... better eat this or get it into the fridge cuz it ain't gonna last another day!"

That's the truth! I wanted to add that dressings or marinades with a lot of vinegar keep longer. I've kept mind for up to a month [ack!] but only simple ingredients [like oil, vinegar, fresh herbs, garlic]. I'm not sure how long seeds/ nuts last once "prepared."

Christa

[rawpriestess]

I try to make either 1/2 or 1/4 of a recipe the first time I make it, to see if I like it.

Once I do make an entire recipe, I will either freeze it (I know alot of people don't do this, because you loose some nutrients, but for me, I need thins quick and in a variety to stay raw, so it works really well for me) or I pop it in the fridge, and try to invite friends over.

I have so many rituals around food, because overeating has been my addiction of choice for so many years, that I try to indulge in the rituals, even if I'm not indulging in the cooked food.

And one of those rituals is to NOT be forced to eat anything I don't want, so I need alot of choices. Sometimes I will even make 3 or 4 things for dinner, just because I don't know what to eat, then I can eat the one thing I want of 1/2 of one and 1/2 of another, and then I can put the rest either back in the fridge, or give it to a friend.

So, I've often had as many as 8 things in the fridge, and probably about 20 different things in the freezer at any given time.

Things in the fridge last about 3 days or so, but I do know that the cashew sour cream, marinara sauce, bar-b-que sauce, things like that last a couple of weeks, although they still taste good, I don't usually eat them after that long a period of time, as the "LIFE" force energy, must be depleated by then. So I ususally make new after a few days.

I've actually had seasoned vinegar in my fridge for several months, but I only use it for cleaning with when it's that old, I use it for salad dressing for the first month or so,