Looking for health

[Soose]

Hi. I'm Soose. 2.5 years Vegan, almost all raw. I've been trying to get to raw (and get my family there) since before that. We finally have made the transition, first my dh, then my 13yo ds, then me. We're looking for health, freedom from food allergies and weight struggles.

I can tell we're about to "lose it" if we don't get some help and find more variety to eat. I need help learning how to prepare ingredients, how to stock my kitchen, how to time things so I have food on hand for meals. I've got a few raw books but need more explicit instruction so I can put it all together.

Thanks for this community! :)
Susan

[spicyfull]

Welcome.......Alissa Book "Living on Live Food" is the Book to get, check to the left of this page. For now keep plenty of Fruit around. Use the "SEARCH" at the top of this page, being exact on the Recipes you are looking for and it will take you to Threads explaining them.

Or you can start a "New Thread" asking for a specific Recipe and someone will post theirs. I used to spend a day prepping vegetables and storing them in Containers, I would chop peppers of different colors, store them seperate. Cut onions, store them seperate etc. And when I came in HUNGRY. I would just throw things from them in a Bowl. "PREP" is key.

So your Husband lead the Family, That's a GOOD Thing. PLEASE DON"T GIVE UP. Hang in there, it will ALL come together.

I wish you everything you need to Stay RAW..........Welcome to MY World.

[sport]

What are you eating right now. How limited is your diet.
Are you doing smoothies.
Are you doing ice cream.
Do you have a dehydrator.

[Colorawdo girl]

welcome....and happy raw. Lots of info here. Read and read because raw has a ton of variety.

[Soose]

What are you eating right now. How limited is your diet.
Are you doing smoothies.
Are you doing ice cream.
Do you have a dehydrator.

Hi, Sport. Yes, we eat smoothies, both green and fruit. A green smoothie most every morning. (Spinach, lime, mango, pineapple, banana; sometimes flax.)

And we make banana icecream (and sometimes other berries or fruits added). I have a Blend Tech.

I have an Excalibur dehydrator but we are just starting to use it. I've bought a huge bag of frozen green beans and dehydrated those a couple of times. (Gives my ds something to chew on.)

Other than that, lots of fruits, and a large green salad once/day for lunch with avocado, red bell peppers, purple cabbage, homemade tomato salsa, grape tomatoes, sprouts. A good many baby carrots.

When we start feeling there is too much sugar from the fruit, I encouraged eating celery, which seems to help me a good deal. The guys eat sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds on the salads sometimes.

We don't usually use dressings, and not always the salsa. We've gotten used to fresh raw greens. My son though will overdo on olive oil on all of his food and on salts. I've tried to teach him to measure out or dribble out the oil.

I have an old juicer but we're not using it much, though I have a good inexpensive source of organic carrots.

I have made two raw soups to serve with salads. The celery one in one of the Boutenko books, and a tomato basil I just threw together. We have made butternut squash soup (with pineapple and mango?) in the past but my son is not fond of it.

Last week, I bought almonds and pecans -- I know the almonds are not raw anymore. I'm afraid it's tempting to eat too many nuts out of hunger right now. When I say hunger, I mean if the larder runs dry or nothing is prepared. I do try to keep the fruit and salad makings available.

For several years I've tried to make sure we all get some raw ground flax every day. I sometimes add raw ground flax to the green smoothies but my son doesn't like it there -- he doesn't mind it in oatmeal but we've not been eating that since going raw, and really for a time before that as I was trying to encourage more raw.

My son made a bowl of cooked oats yesterday for breakfast, and made some tofu jerky in the dehydrator for lunch. First slip from raw. :( I know if I don't start providing more variety, he won't stay with it.

I stayed up reading the forums last night, and the few raw recipe books I have. This morning, I soaked some of the organic rolled oats for him to have for breakfast. I know it's not really raw. But I'm hoping he'll be satisfied with that for breakfast. Thought I'd put them in the food processor with a couple of dates and some pecans, and serve with berries. Just served it, along with half a small melon and a bowl of berries. Many times he gets his own food but he appreciates someone making a spread for him.

For lunch, I've soaked some cashews to do something with...

I guess we've been eating rather like the Steve Pavlina 30-day trial on his blog-- not copying him intentionally, it's just where our food had evolved until we were almost raw. My husband and I could stay very simple raw.

In fact, my husband wasn't doing well on a simple Vegan diet; he kept getting pudgier and pudgier over two years, very unhealthy for his age. (This has really puzzled us, as he was so clean with the diet, almost no refined foods, and eating moderately, I'd say 80-90% raw, as well as exercising. I think he couldn't handle even the one tiny bowl of oats in the morning, or maybe the combination of that with something else. And I know he wasn't doing well on even limited beans. We tried digestive enzymes but that did help him to stop putting on weight, though he said it improved his digestion.) Going raw has finally turned my husband around and he's losing that pudge.

My son is getting frustrated with the lack of variety. I think we need to be making some of the crackers and breads and spreads if at all possible, and some entrees and breakfast foods. And to encourage fun and experimentation with the food! He's always wanted that but was restricted by the food allergies. I told him if he wants to be a chef, it'll have to be a raw Vegan chef.

This is probably the wrong forum to have written so much about what we are eating. Sorry! We do need help.
Thanks, Soose

[Soose]

Sorry, that should be "We tried digestive enzymes but that did NOT help him to stop putting on weight, though he said it improved his digestion."

[sport]

I have read your post and you seem to already be doing anything that came in to my head to suggest to you.
Have you ever logged on to thegardendiet.com or read any of their books. They have kids so maybe they could help you. It would be a pity if someone like you (who is trying so hard to succeed) were to fail through lack of resources but it is very understandable that your son should feel the way that he does and I understand your frustration.

[Soose]

Thanks very much Sport for your kind words. I *am* in a little bit of a panic today (or a scramble) -- not the best but it's been a very long journey, and we can't afford to slip back or give up. Everyone's health had been improving but for several months we had digressed some, which is why we finally pushed over the border to all raw.

It is a little hard for me personally to bring all of this together, though I know most of the info is readily available with searches. I hope everyone doesn't mind the influx of questions, disjointed as they may seem. Again, thanks!
Soose