The Gadgets Make the Difference!

[ShelShel]

You know what, I started raw with almost nothing useful, but a knife and a very old blender. Over time I've acquired a small dehydrator. I was never very impressed with any of the recipes I tried. So, I ate very simply and had a harder time sticking with this.

However! Just this week I purchased a new blender (not vitamix, but so much nicer than the one I had) and the Spiral Slicer from Alissa's site. HOLY COW! What a difference these two things have made to my menus. I can't believe what I can create with these that I couldn't have before. From potato chips to pasta. Creamy sauces and soups.

It's just amazing how these few items are making all the difference in how I can stay raw. I feel so less limited and am coming up with fantastic new ideas at each meal.

I plan on getting an excaliber next, but that will have to wait a bit yet. Now I feel confident getting it though...the slicer was so easy and really works!

Has anyone else added something new to their kitchens to make things easier to stay raw?

[shashibala]

Strangely enough, I've been happily surprised by my coffee grinder. I never had one, being a tea drinker. It is really powerful. I use it for flax seeds when I make breads or crackers, cacao nibs, and spices. I used to do lots of Indian food cooking. For that you usually heat the spices either dry or in oil before adding the other ingredients. I've found that grinding spices in the coffee grinder right before use makes them very fresh and potent. Especially cumin seeds, delicious! I also ground up very crunchy sundried tomatoes in the coffee grinder and added the powder to flax crackers.

[Maui Girl]

I agree! I travel with a cheap blender and a few other gadgets and I can never come up with the same result. If I go to a friends house to show them how easily they can do something, the results are fantastic if they have the right gadgets. If not, it is still good but now a "wow".

[Dimond]

My 3-cup mini chopper is probably the best purchase I made since the Vitamix (which I got before raw). It was cheap, takes up little room & chops veggies, nuts, makes ice cream.

[Snoozy]

I had a cheap blender but really wanted a better one so I bought the Blendtec ($400 ouch!). My dh let me without complaint because he sees how much I use it. I probably use it 3-4 times per day. I LOVE it.

Since I noticed such a huge difference between blenders, I just decided this week to order the Excalibur dehydrator. I have a cheap one but I'm not real happy with the results. I guess I just decided that this is a way of life for me - for the rest of my life! Why should I skimp on this stuff? Yes, it's a big investment initially, but I will have these items for 10+ years.

So if it helps me to make better food, which helps me to stay raw, which helps me to be healthy, which will help me to live long enough to raise my kids and eventually my grandkids, it's worth it. :D

[Sugar Snap Pea]

Don't forget that Magic Bullet, for small jobs, I use it every AM to chop almonds for my smoothie. (I like it a little chunky!) Also good for whipping up salad drsgs! Quick and easy to clean up!

[Florina]

...
Has anyone else added something new to their kitchens to make things easier to stay raw?

Oh yes!
My kitchen is very different.

"Hi, my name is Florina and I'm a kitchen gadget addict." ;)

Apart from the blenders the juicers and the dehydrator, I've added quite a few kitchen gadgets. I also use some of the old ones differently.

Probably the weirdest thing I got for my kitchen is a diaper pail :D
I guess the danish fruitflies prefer a raw/organic diet, too? They can really be a plague in the summer! Preparing fruits and veggies several times a day, I got the idea that a diaper pail would do the trick. And it did! I won the battle over the fruitflies with a diaper pail - heh.

I like my fruits and veggies at room temperature, for better taste, and I keep most of them in my oven on the grill-racks(?) where they are kept safe from the fruitflies. Also softer fruits like pears and mangos don't get soft or mushy like they attend to do from pressure, on the side facing down on a flat shelf. Also they don't roll.

One thing I also changed since going raw/vegan are my knives and forks. I find that some fruits and veggies taste metallic when cut or eaten with metallic utensils. I use a lot of spatula-looking wooden knives and bought a giant bag of disposable forks and spoons made of cornstarch.

I have a loooong wishlist of kitchen gadgets. Basically everything on the 4 pages of "Kitchen Helpers and Special Unique Gadgets" on excalibur.com's website. And a lot of things from ebay and amazon, too.
(Btw. are the "Evert Fresh Green Bags" from excalibur any good?)

/Florina

[Aleesha Sattva]

i got something wonderful for lee valley tools. they have a compost bucket made of steel... AND you can get these wonderful little bags (which will compost as well) to line the bucket with. it makes it so you NEVER get a mouldy yucky to clean bucket ever again!!!!

http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=10025&cat=2,33140

http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=53281&cat=2,33140&ap=1

as for making my raw life easier... when i first went raw my hubby was GREAT about it. he had me get whatever i needed and then, to celebrate my 40 pound weight release he bought me a bunch of items (kitchen-aide food processor, mandoline etc) to celebrate.

i found with each item i picked up, my raw life became fuller and easier!

[Snoozy]

i got something wonderful for lee valley tools. they have a compost bucket made of steel... AND you can get these wonderful little bags (which will compost as well) to line the bucket with. it makes it so you NEVER get a mouldy yucky to clean bucket ever again!!!!

http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=10025&cat=2,33140

http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=53281&cat=2,33140&ap=1

as for making my raw life easier... when i first went raw my hubby was GREAT about it. he had me get whatever i needed and then, to celebrate my 40 pound weight release he bought me a bunch of items (kitchen-aide food processor, mandoline etc) to celebrate.

i found with each item i picked up, my raw life became fuller and easier!

Great idea! Thanks for the links to the compost bags. I will have to get some of those.

It sounds like you have a wonderful, supportive husband. That's so nice that he's interested enough in your raw lifestyle that he would know what to buy you as a reward! Good for you. :)

[ShelShel]

I second this thought about the hubby. Mine just asked me this morning if I had placed another order for my raw treats. He didn't want me to run out. He said, "This can't be your diet...it's got to become your lifestyle. Get what you need and count it as part of the grocery budget." :D I'm so blessed.
And that truly is the right approach. It's the one I've tried to make. I just now and really really getting that. Raw for life.
And these gadgets really make it so much easier and enjoyable.

[Bingo24]

I just decided this week to order the Excalibur dehydrator. I have a cheap one but I'm not real happy with the results. I guess I just decided that this is a way of life for me - for the rest of my life! Why should I skimp on this stuff? Yes, it's a big investment initially, but I will have these items for 10+ years.

So if it helps me to make better food, which helps me to stay raw, which helps me to be healthy, which will help me to live long enough to raise my kids and eventually my grandkids, it's worth it. :D


Well, inquiring minds want to know - how do you like the Excalibur? Is it worth it?

[cara4art]

Recently I bought the teflex sheets for my Excalibur dehydrator - I am in LOVE! Since then, I've been able to make raw "cookies", "breads" and just yesterday, raw granola, which even my non-raw, but still health-conscious husband was wowed by! My next purchase will be a 7-cup Cuisinart food processor - I've been promising myself this for 14 years, on and off, keeping on telling myself that I really don't need this, but since I am exploring more raw, there are indeed things that are best done in the food processor. A stronger blender would be good too, but for now I'm using my Osterizer that I've had for a good while.

[Florina]

I saw the compost buckets and the bags on amazon or ebay... if only I had a garden, I'd definately get one of those!
Great tip recycling goddess :)

/Florina

[Conscious Midwife]

I'm so in to gadgets that I think I'll get back into selling pampered chef again.

Love that stuff.

I share details next week when I get back on board:D

[Barbie2]

I love my Excalibur! I love my food processor, smoothie blender, but my old blender is an old pal of mine. For some reason I like and use my old blender more than the smoothie blender. I have a new Spiral slicer and coffee grinder, but haven't used them yet.

[Florina]

I'm so in to gadgets that I think I'll get back into selling pampered chef again.

Love that stuff.

I share details next week when I get back on board:D

Huh? What's that? Did I miss something and didn't even know? Details next week ?!!??!?? You've got to be kidding me!??!!?! Tell me more! Seriously! *hyperventilating* NOW! :eek: What is it? AAARGH!

*fetching my appleslicer trying to calm down*

/Florina

[Conscious Midwife]

Huh? What's that? Did I miss something and didn't even know? Details next week ?!!??!?? You've got to be kidding me!??!!?! Tell me more! Seriously! *hyperventilating* NOW! :eek: What is it? AAARGH!

*fetching my appleslicer trying to calm down*

/Florina

Hang int here I'll have my website up by next week.

It's the coolest neatest stuff around, I promise you'll love it.
Now that we are RAW we can skip the stoneware and enjoy all the tools.

[Aleesha Sattva]

i looooooooove my excalibur. even if i only used it once a month... for the next 40 years... think of how much use i'd get out of that 200 bucks!

another gadget... avocado slicer (http://aleeshasrawlife.blogspot.com/2008/03/avocado-slicer.html)! i had no idea this would be soooooooooo GREAT. really great. you have got to get one!!!! i used it on my papaya and it worked like a dream.

great great gadget!!!!

and yes, i am VERY blessed to have such a wonderful hubby!!! i think i'll keep him LOL

[lori ann]

Yes,
I am a gadget junkie. I love pampered chef. I love my juicer, blender, coffee grinder, food processor and excalibur dehydrator. I use them all. I have the spiral slicer and I have not figured out how to use it. I am sure if I do a banana search there would be help. Anyways, for me all these gadgets really help me on this journey.

[Florina]

I am LOVING this thread!

The Melon Ease... is it any good?
http://images.google.dk/images?um=1&hl=da&q=melon+ease&btnG=S%C3%B8g+i+billeder

And what about the Tater Mitts? Would they work for peeling almonds?

I have been looking for a manual potato-ebrasion-peeler-gadget at both yardsales and online for years, but I never found a manual one for homeuse. When I was a child, the next door neighbor had one she used every day. She also used it to peel almonds for christmas, and since I often make raw marzepan in large amounts as well as raw chocolate treats for friends, I would really like to have one.
Does any of you know where to get one? It has to be manual. The electric ones take off a lot more than just the peel.
It probably looks something like this: http://www.midural.ru/ek.en/dbo.enterprise/201/kartof.jpg

Thank you recycling goddess!
I am so getting the avocado slicer... It was already on my wishlist, but I wasn't convinced it would be any good.

/Florina