Best item to stay raw

[rayofsunshine]

Hi,

Was wondering what you can't live without to stay raw. Is it an appliance, packaged food, book, etc.?

I asked for a vitamix for Christmas and it has made such a big difference for me. I love making green smoothies and blended soups in it. Just made Alissa's fudge sauce and it was delicous. I use it multiple times a day.

What's your "can't live without" for this lifestyle?

[srsarri]

Foods: Bananas, Mangos, and Avocados (ill eat em all together in a big bowl sometimes! LOL)

and my Knife.... my boyfriend is VERY scared of me when I have my Knife!, Ive only cut myself 5 times with it! LOL ..... cuts veggies like a champ!

and my blender of course! Not a vitamix but it serves its purpose!

[rayofsunshine]

Those are some of my favorite foods too. They contain a lot of soluable fiber which is good for my IBS. (and they are yummy too.)

[roseyonnex]

Banana vanilla ice cream....fill me up and is so good!

[Raw Yogini]

I think getting my Vitamix for GS made a HUGE difference for me. I get all that raw goodness and it's filling and I do believe that GS have helped w/ cravings.

Raw cacao was instrumental in getting me off sugar. I don't use it a lot now but at first I made sure I had a raw dessert everyday and many of them had cacao in it. I believe it helped me give up all the SAD chocolate I was eating.

[Vaclare79]

Vitamix & knives!!! I play with knives now! lol

[Jenifae]

Raw Chocolate............Yummmmmmmmmmmmmm!

[Nutz Over RAW]

Soyabella! I used to strain my almond milk through a cheesecloth (long, messy process). The Soyabella is fast! It's also easy to clean up and I now have a yummy smoothie every morning.

[Veganforlife]

Alissa's book and DVDs
My Cuisinart food processor
My Vita Mix blender

all organic fruits/veggies/nuts/seeds/sprouts

[ShantiLove]

Bananas :) fruits, avokados, cucumber and greens. Oh and not to forget hemp seeds.......

[RawHeaven]

Best item to stay raw?

Your faith in the process.

[Veganforlife]

Best item to stay raw?

Your faith in the process.

VERY nice. Love this!!!

[annavon]

Alissa's book and DVDs
My Cuisinart food processor
My Vita Mix blender

all organic fruits/veggies/nuts/seeds/sprouts

My thoughts exactly

[debilana]

hmm wheres David Mason been=) that sounded like something he would have said as well! I like that=)

in the physical world, being able to have treats whenever I want is the key. I love sweets and nuts :D

equipment- my food processer.

[Eva]

A knife = nearly can't live without.

Make life easier and are super helpful: nori for quick, easy, fun snacks; spiral slicer for the same; blender. :)

[RawKnitster]

I have to say, I can't live without rawfoodtalk and the people that come here. Writing my thoughts and feelings about food has been such an amazing learning tool. When I'm having a tough time, I remember what I wrote and the comments and advice received from my raw buddies. Reading the blogs and threads of others dealing with the same issues has helped, too. Even your question is full of positive reinforcement. :)

[debilana]

Ditto the above. No matter how hard a day I am having, even the times I have been stuffing something SAD in my mouth, I still come here everyday many times. I AM a RAW person- I pack my lunch and start my day and live my life every single day like one- no matter what slips I have. This board helps keep me focused and cheered and always so many good ideas! (I learned just last week I could freeze a supply of fresh juice in jars for the week- and I did, and its DELISH:D ).

I went to several other boards but some of the peeps..were a bit ...well, I will not judge:D

[srsarri]

YES!, RAWFOODTALK!

Sometimes I come here and ask questions I already know the answers to (fully, or partially) Just to hear them from other people, because they are the answers I need to keep me here!

LOVE IT!

[cara4art]

As far as appliances, I would definitely say my Excalibur dehydrator(I had this well before getting into more raw), and my Benriner slicer/shredders. I love both of these, and I'm always cruising for more cool dehydrator recipes that are easy too. Right now, I've got some cut-up collard greens marinating to make some "chips"! This will be the first time for this kind of recipe, so I'm excited, plus I'm a chip fiend if I get ahold of any. Great way to stay OFF SAD chips if these work!
As far as support, this board, and a couple of others for me, as well as the ever-growing number of cool raw websites, blogs, recipes, etc.
As far as food, always having something that's either ready to eat(like some yummy dehydrator stuff like one's favorite crackers, etc.)or very easy to prepare helps a whole lot! I was just saying to my non-raw(but very much fruit-loving, hubby)that the big advantage to daily raw food prep is that often it is so easy - just plop something into a big bowl or the blender, and you've got a fast easy meal, esp. if one has some nice crackers or something like that on hand to round it out. Or, as veganforlife was saying before she adopted her two new words - GREEN SMOOTHIES. These have helped hugely for me in so many ways I can't even count 'em, and I got my distant friend in Florida onto these as well, with great results!
Loving raw - sitting here right now with a lunchtime green smoothie with 1/2 a large mango, an orange, some lime juice, soaked chia seeds, hemp protein powder, and my spinach parsley mixture. Yummy and refreshing, since it's a very warm day here in SF!

[Eva]

Oh my, yes! I nearly forgot the D! It's so nice to have wraps, pizza, crackers, etc.!

[rayofsunshine]

Thanks so much for all of your responses. You all have given me a lot of tools to keep raw. I do agree... Raw Food Talk is filled with great advice and inspiration. I checked here daily for months before I joined in.

If you are a lurker (LOL), as great as this board is for that, you will get even more out of it if you join and are able to give too.

[rawnhealthy]

What I can't live without? Honestly it's green smoothies. Without them I don't even stay raw!:D

[Sugar Snap Pea]

Medjool dates! They really take care of my sweet tooth! And eggless egg salad on onion bread! Love that!

[rawstrength]

Walnut taco meat and organic dried figs from www.rawfromthefarm.com Love it!

[coco]

i don't know about needing them but i really appreciate my super sharp knife and good cutting board. i use a blender regularly but i could live without it. same with the juicer, i use that even less than the blender. i do use a grater quite often, a garlic press, strainers are very useful. oh, and the lettuce spinner of course. a soggy salad just isn't very nice!

[amihm]

oh my magic blender! I think I need to get a new knife...