Daily use of dehydrator?

[Secret Heart]

I have an odd question...do most of you use your dehydrator daily...or at least have raw food prepared in the dehydrator daily?

I am so discouraged because I fall off the raw wagon usually later in the day when I"m really wanting a more filling meal and I'm wondering if things that I might prepare with a dehydrator might satisfy my hunger more (ie more substantial raw entrees?)

I know this voracious hunger should subside a little as my body readjusts...and perhaps I'm not eating enough during the day...thanks for any insight you might have.

Heather

[Revvell]

When I first started, I made LOTS of dehydrated/gourmet stuff. Now, I don't find I need to. Other than keeping raw crackers on hand and an occasional "gourmet" recipe, I mostly eat lots of salads, handful of nuts, lots of fruit that I keep on the counter as I don't like cold stuff; water; smoothies. That's about it!

How long you been raw? Took me, ummm, maybe 'bout 6 weeks to a couple of months to get to this point.

But yeah, I would suggest some things that are heavier such as Alissa's lasagne, crepes, or something of that nature. Have it with a good salad and even a dessert!

RT and I went to brunch on Sunday and had cannolies, salad and antipasta at Taste of the Goddess. VERY nourishing and satisfying. Also had Strawberry Shortcake for dessert. I didn't feel overly full at all. A few hours later, had something more to eat.

See, folk don't understand. When you body starts getting more nutrients, it wants more and more. It acts as though it's starving for more ~ and it was. It also seems as though it's afraid it's not ever going to get anymore so wants to load up on them. After awhile, seems to settle down and one doesn't feel hungry all the time.

Solution ~ feed it!!! LOTS of green smoothies; LOTS of good food! Yesterday I ate 1/3 of a VERY large, VERY heavy watermelon. On raw, we can give our bodies what they want/need w/out worring about carbs, fats, proteins, etc. Just keep feeding LOTS of variety ~ and have fun with your food!

Revvell

[rawpriestess]

Hi,

YES, my dehydrator goes almost constantly. I am always making crackers or bread, or pie, or cake, something is always warm.

And one thing that I love to do is try new recipes.

I also eat heavier in the evening than I do during the day, but usually, I just eat what I feel like eating, it doesn't really matter what time it is.

So, you might try making some gourmet recipes, and even warming some foods. I personally love the pesto stuffed mushrooms warmed in the dehydrator, I make them then freeze them, then I pop a frozen one or 4 in the dehydrator, and warm them, as they defrost, they warm then I eat them, sooooo savory, and warm, and delicious, and good. YUMMY.

I also warm up the enchiladas, and meatloaf (I make this into burger shapes, dehydrate then freeze, then warm up in the dehydrator) I often eat these with hot sauce, or bar-b-que sauce or marinara sauce.

So, you might try this, especially if you are feeling hungry.

Which is perfectly natural to feel hungry.

[Gosia]

you do not have to use dehydrator to get satisfied, although making dehydrated recipes can be quite some fun. Personally, I prefer un-dehydrated recipes. I eat fruit all day and have a BIG (nothing near usual restaurant portions, something that they would serve a group of more than 10, easily. I am guessing that based on my experience at meetings that I attended, where they served amounts that I could easily eat all by myself!) green salad at the end of the day. If I don't have my salad, I am hungry. And, if I don't have my fruit, I am unsatisfied and thirsty. It seems that I just to have both. I eat quite a few banans daily. This gives me quite a few calories.

Example of my recent menu (which changes as fruit in season changes):
* a glass of banana smoothie (bananas, raspberries, water, blended) for breakfast
* later, mandarines, say 12
* bananas, say 4
* grapes, a big bowl
* apples, say 2
* more bananas, say 2-3
* in the evening, a BIG greens salad (a big bunch of various greens, with tomaotes, cucumber, sprouts, olives, avocado and a grapes-tahini dressing)
* followed by more fruit, say mandarines
* or perhaps a few bites of halva (ground sesame seeds, flax seeds, blended with some raisins and dates)
* and perhaps more bananas


Something more feeling (apart from bananas and salad), without dehydrating:

Halva:
Grind 1 c sesame seeds, 2/3 c flax seeds. Blend it with a handful of raisins and say 10-15 dates, unti sticky. Wrap it in paper. Or, process it a little longer, until chewy, and form balls and keep in a container.

Sweet balls:
Blend 1 c walnuts, 1 c almonds, a handful of raisins, 8 dried apricots, 15-20 dates, untils it sticks together. Form balls, keep in a container.

Apple pie:
Layer1: blend 1 c walnuts, 4 dates, 4 apricots, until just stick together
Layer2: blend 6 apples (first), 4 bananas, 5 T psyllium husks
Layer3: blend 1 c almonds, 6 dates, water (to obtain a spreadable dough)

All the best,
Gosia.

[VeganVixen]

WOW ! Thats alot of delicious food ,has your weight changed???

I tend to eat what I want for breakfast-lunch , but by dinner I try to fill myself with liquids .... I typically sleep better when not digesting or boated......

[bellamausi]

My most satisfying meals have all been made in the dehydrator. I don't use it every day, but very often. It's just that I don't feel like preparing foods every day, so my dehydrator doesn't run all the time.

Unfortunately, there are times, like today, when I do feel like preparing foods, and I don't have enough room in my dehydrator to make them all at once. So for the next few days it will be running all the time. :p

[Gosia]

when I've seen the example of my menu typed, I too thought that it is a lot of food. I asked myself, do I really eat that much? Well, I am!!! Sometimes I eat less, but usually it is about that much. And, when I get home, after eating fruit all day in my office and having a couple of bananas in a car, on my way home, I am ready for my big green salad. And, after that, I truly eat more.

And, my weight has dropped! Initally, after some months on raw, I noticed that I dropped about 5 kgs. Then, my weight has stabilized (and I am happy with that), but I have been noticing that as I go, my body is becoming leaner. I expect more improvement (muscle tone etc) when I go back on my bike and get some exercise again. I have been a bit overworked and under-exercised recently.:(

All the best,
Gosia.

[VeganVixen]

Im VERY glad to hear that - Ballet unfortunatley has made me fear "too much" food ,but since my gallbladder removal I couldnt eat that if I wanted , it would all come back up - sorry if thats tmi!!!

I LOVE salads though and sometimes eat 2 bags in one day ,lol!

[VeganVixen]

Im VERY glad to hear that - Ballet unfortunatley has made me fear "too much" food ,but since my gallbladder removal I couldnt eat that if I wanted , it would all come back up - sorry if thats tmi!!!

[zeeraw]

I personally love the pesto stuffed mushrooms warmed in the dehydrator, I make them then freeze them, then I pop a frozen one or 4 in the dehydrator, and warm them, as they defrost, they warm then I eat them, sooooo savory, and warm, and delicious, and good. YUMMY.

I also warm up the enchiladas, and meatloaf (I make this into burger shapes, dehydrate then freeze, then warm up in the dehydrator) I often eat these with hot sauce, or bar-b-que sauce or marinara sauce.

Raw Priestess,

Do you freeze alot of your stuff that you have dehydrated and then warm them up again? What other things keep well like this?

Thank you
Z

[Revvell]

Something more feeling (apart from bananas and salad), without dehydrating:

Halva:
Grind 1 c sesame seeds, 2/3 c flax seeds. Blend it with a handful of raisins and say 10-15 dates, unti sticky. Wrap it in paper. Or, process it a little longer, until chewy, and form balls and keep in a container.

Sweet balls:
Blend 1 c walnuts, 1 c almonds, a handful of raisins, 8 dried apricots, 15-20 dates, untils it sticks together. Form balls, keep in a container.

Apple pie:
Layer1: blend 1 c walnuts, 4 dates, 4 apricots, until just stick together
Layer2: blend 6 apples (first), 4 bananas, 5 T psyllium husks
Layer3: blend 1 c almonds, 6 dates, water (to obtain a spreadable dough)

All the best,
Gosia.

Do you soak any of the dried fruits in these recipes?

Thanks and thanks for posting them!

Revvell

[theresaann]

So far I have used the dehydrator to make flax crackers and I just created a recipe (using ALissa's great guidelines, of course) for "stoneground" wheat crackers. Oh-my-gosh. I have been eating them with her cream cheese recipe for last few days and I am in heaven. I am making corn tortillas tonight, can't wait to try THOSE tomorrow!

I want to add that I agree with Alissa's advice about just eat whatever you want, just make sure it's raw (vegan). I agree with this. I think eventually as we get healthier our appetite will eventually settle out.

Today I had 1/3 a small watermelon for bfast, a small green smoothie for lunch, more water melon in afternoon and HUGE green salad with sea lettuce, apple, greens, tahini dressing and those crackers with the cream cheese. And gosh darn it, maybe I"ll have dessert too!! Blessings, All

[Gosia]

I do not soak the dried fruit. Ideally, almonds should be soaked, and then dried. But, recently I have not been doing that. Also, sesame seeds are best unhulled, if you can get them. I made halva last week and I quite like the taste, I like this bitter and sweet combination, and the texture. I made another version also with dried mango blended in it, quite yummy too.

By the way, I noticed that your diet is very similar to mine!

All the best,
GOsia.

[Secret Heart]

Thanks everyone for your replies...I'm tempted to buy the less expensive dehydrator from Wal Mart as I don't know how much dehydrating I"ll be doing....The Excalibur looks amazing, but quite expensive.

Today was actually my first, very first 100% Raw day :D
I ate constantly.
I ran at the gym and did weights to start the day. Then:
Breakfast: Nectarine and fruit smoothie
Lunch: Big Salad, carrots, Perfect 10 raw bar, apple
Dinner: Another big salad,1/4 cup guacamole, apple with nut butter
Snacks: Pear, 1 oz nuts
Evening: Another apple, dried fruit

I feel as though I ate way too much! Any thoughts? Thanks!
Heather

[Revvell]

Gosia,

It IS yours! lmao

Actually, from what I know, dried fruits "should" be soaked also ~ or a lot of water drunk with/after eating. Guess if ya soak 'em before, the recipes wont turn out quite so sticky though, eh? :rolleyes:




By the way, I noticed that your diet is very similar to mine!

All the best,
GOsia.

[tracyinfo]

Heather, congratulations on your first 100% raw day! You did not eat too much! Trust that your body will desire what it needs and how much. Within a month or two your body will not want so much. I took longer (probably because I love to eat), about 4 months to cut back the quantities.

Blessings.


Thanks everyone for your replies...I'm tempted to buy the less expensive dehydrator from Wal Mart as I don't know how much dehydrating I"ll be doing....The Excalibur looks amazing, but quite expensive.

Today was actually my first, very first 100% Raw day :D
I ate constantly.
I ran at the gym and did weights to start the day. Then:
Breakfast: Nectarine and fruit smoothie
Lunch: Big Salad, carrots, Perfect 10 raw bar, apple
Dinner: Another big salad,1/4 cup guacamole, apple with nut butter
Snacks: Pear, 1 oz nuts
Evening: Another apple, dried fruit

I feel as though I ate way too much! Any thoughts? Thanks!
Heather

[bellamausi]

Thanks everyone for your replies...I'm tempted to buy the less expensive dehydrator from Wal Mart as I don't know how much dehydrating I"ll be doing....The Excalibur looks amazing, but quite expensive.

Today was actually my first, very first 100% Raw day :D
I ate constantly.
I ran at the gym and did weights to start the day. Then:
Breakfast: Nectarine and fruit smoothie
Lunch: Big Salad, carrots, Perfect 10 raw bar, apple
Dinner: Another big salad,1/4 cup guacamole, apple with nut butter
Snacks: Pear, 1 oz nuts
Evening: Another apple, dried fruit

I feel as though I ate way too much! Any thoughts? Thanks!
Heather

Congrats on your first day raw! I'm starting another 30 days tomorrow as well, let's keep in touch and support each other. Trust me, 30 days hasn't stopped my cravings for SAD yet, I will need all the support I can get.

I also don't think you ate too much! I eat that much easy every day! ;)

[RawTruth]

I dehydrate occasionally -- mostly just crackers, though. Or drying/crisping some soaked nuts, perhaps. My diet is much more similar to Gosia and Revvell's.

When I do make gourmet, though, I do not freeze it. Freezing bursts the cells and changes the molecular structure of the foods. I eat as close to nature as possible, so, for me, freezing is the opposite of what I'm striving for. (With the exception of frozen banana slices for ice cream, of course -- though I might be nearing the end of my obsession with it!).

So, no. My dehydrator does not go all the time.

[Revvell]

When I do make gourmet, though, I do not freeze it. Freezing bursts the cells and changes the molecular structure of the foods. I eat as close to nature as possible, so, for me, freezing is the opposite of what I'm striving for.
So, no. My dehydrator does not go all the time.


ditto.......

[Secret Heart]

Thank-you everyone for helping me not feel like I was eating way too much! Feeling really rough yesterday and today...maybe detox? But I feel amazing too...
Thanks again for your support and suggestions. I'm going to try that Halva Revell...it seems like a good snack.

Heather

[Revvell]

I'm going to try that Halva Revell...it seems like a good snack.

Heather

It's Gosia's. I was just quoting what she said. :)

Revvell (wondering why folk don't see the double "v"). :)

[maraw]

I had the same concern as you when I first started a few weeks ago. I thought I was eating SO much food! But then I read other people's journals and I found that everyone seems to feel that way in the beginning. It is wonderful to feel really content and satisfied from just fruits and vegetables. The past couple of days I have been really hungry though and I think it is just monthly femals stuff. I can't seem to eat enough and it is weird stuff too. Yesterday for lunch I had 4 tomatoes. That was lunch! Obviously my body needed that.

I just bought a book called 12 Steps to Raw. I just started it but she says in the beginning to learn to listen to you body. If you have a craving, it is because your body needs that nutrient. So feed it want it wants. If you feel like eating 3 bananas for breakfast, do it. And don't worry about eating too much. The great thing about this is you can't really eat in an unhealthy way.

And on the dehydrator question, I just sold my old one on eBay and bought an Excalibur. I have been preparing meals without it for the past 3 weeks and have gotten along fine. Seems like avocados have been a major part of our diet. And soups too. Alissa has some really good ones in her book. I do find that I would really like some chips or something so I am glad my new dehydrator finally arrived. It is fun to experiment. But you can do well without dehydrated foods.

Best wishes.

[VeganVixen]

Okay ReVVel ,we will spell your name right -scouts honor ;)

[VeganVixen]

Maraw you can do VERY well w/o the dehydrator -of course unless you feel that you need the heavier foods.....but IMO I think fresh ,unadultered foods are best (Im sure some here would agree)

[rawpriestess]

I have an odd question...do most of you use your dehydrator daily...or at least have raw food prepared in the dehydrator daily?

I am so discouraged because I fall off the raw wagon usually later in the day when I"m really wanting a more filling meal and I'm wondering if things that I might prepare with a dehydrator might satisfy my hunger more (ie more substantial raw entrees?)

I know this voracious hunger should subside a little as my body readjusts...and perhaps I'm not eating enough during the day...thanks for any insight you might have.

Heather

There are a couple schools of thought about raw food.

1. go 100% raw, unadulterated, cold turkey, no holds bared, black or white, that's it

2. ease into it.

Well, here's another one.

do what works for you.

I personally tried it both ways, and the first, cold turkey "felt" right but I quit after only 3 weeks, and it took me 4 years to get back to raw.

My friend who is a counselor, and therapist told me that I was setting myself up for failure, UNLESS I had made a commitment to being 100% raw, which eveidentally I hadn't.

This time I went raw, I did get rid of all the cooked food, packaged food, and spices, I got rid of everything that wasn't raw, but I didn't freek out when I went to a friends house and they had canned black olives in the salad, I just ate around them, and if one piece got in my mouth, I didn't freak out.

I just accepted that I might not ber totally perfect, and YES, i was totally commited, I just wasn't obsessed.

When a friend poured yogurt over some fruit, I didn't eat it, I just washed it off, and then I ate it.

When I was invited out to dinner, and they only had bottled dressing, I would ask for a fresh lemon wedge, and use the table salt, if I wanted it.

But I didn't use the bottled dressing, and yet, I didn't freak out about the table salt.

YOU see, I know myself. I am an all or nothing kind of person, and I think that maybe it would be best for me to live in the not so perfect grayish world of tollerance and understanding, or acceptance, and compromise.

NOW these are scary places for me, because it was really easy to just say, this or that, black or white, good or bad, right or wrong, but life isn't that way, life is very grey, it is very middle of the road, and when I was young and much more immature than I am now I didn't believe that you could be "on your path" unless you were obsessed, now I believe you can ONLY be on your path, if you are NOT obsessed.

There is always a different side to each tale, another spoke in the wheel, another slice in the proverbial raw pie. So, now I accept that I am not perfect, I don't want to be perfect, and there IS NO PERFECT anywhere, so I allow myself to be exactly as god/dess and I made me, perfect in my imperfecton.

So, my answer to your question, is YES, I use my dehydrator daily, to warm my raw food, to a temperature that suits me, it isn't hot like cooked food, but it is nice and warm.

I also freeze my food, not because I want it cold, but because I want infinite variety, and I can't eat 30 stuffed mushrooms in one sitting, or even in a couple of days, so I freeze them, and then dehydrate to warm.

Maybe after I've been raw longer (I've been raw about 4 months now) then I might not want so much variety, maybe I won't want warm food, maybe I will fly, maybe I will accend into the heavens, but that is then and this is now, so I do what I want to do NOW, and let tomorrow be exactly what it is, nothing.

So, if it "feels" right to you to warm your food, then great, if it "feels" right to you to eat simply, great, or to eat mono foods, great, just realize that your inner guidance speaks quietly and softly, it doesn't demand, or have emotions, you won't get inner guidance with any guilt or anxiety attached.

So, if you are "feeling" like you MUST do something, or you SHOULD or you HAVE TO, then it is just your ego, and you can dismiss it.

Wait for that gentle quiet voice to speak to you, and you will probably see it says, apple, fresh, crispy, right off the tree, instead of warm raw apple pie.

And whatever it says, go for it, with all of your desire, and passion.

blessings,
Rawpriestess