Been in the Kitchen ALL day

[Soose]

Okay, make that over two days. I've tried several new recipes, been keeping the dehydrator going continuously. It's empty now and I feel I should get something in for overnight. I'm just TIRED.

Second thing I notice: I can't keep up with demand here. (The food goes even before it's really finished in the dehydrator.)

I know this is just a learning curve. Sure do wish that pizza had been tastier, after all that effort.

Off to collapse!

[Colorawdo girl]

I got tired just reading your post. Hmmmmm..simple is super. K.I.S.S. them all....Keep is simple silly(ur not silly, its a saying to say to oneself). hahaha
To me, complicated raw recipes and fixing elaborate things all the time is far more work than s.a.d. food prep. If I didnt lean on the simple side of raw, I prob not be raw. That was the huge blessing I discovered about raw was its simplicity.

In the beginning, transition, some want more than fruit in hand eating. So prep is def needed. Whatever you do, makeit fun lest it be a drudgery and you stop altogether.
Gotta be a better way for you? Lotsa simple stuff?

[DebB]

How many are you feeding?

I don't recall the poster's name, she was a regular here - and she'd fix raw for I think it was a family of 8!! *Ü*

[spicyfull]

The More you do it, you will began to find Short Cuts. I would also keep PLENTY of Fruit around for them to Munch on. I would ALSO share the work load with them........

[Soose]

Thanks, all. DebB, I am feeding 3 of us.

Colorawdo Girl, I'm making this all out effort because we've all been eating very simply for several weeks, and my son was getting frustrated. He ate some cooked food a few days ago. He likes this experimenting, and in encouraged that we'll have new foods to try.

(Plus, the guys both are headed out for a week long camp and will need to take all their food with them. They'll have access to the camp fridges and freezers, but I'd like to send some dry stuff if I can. And some treats. All the other boys will have treats daily, and they have a snack store. It's very tempting to my son.)

Spicyfull, I know you're right about the shortcuts. I appreciate the quick pizza crust just posted.

I told them last night to not expect any new recipes today; today we eat simply because I need a break. But it's shopping day, so I'm searching for recipes to try over the next week.

Thanks all! I truly appreciate you making the effort, taking the time to reply and help me out with my learning curve! :) This is a great raw forum!

[Springtime]

Yesterday i made my very first meal out of "whatever was in the cupboard": i did not sit down and plan and think about what i was gonna make and what i needed, i could simply throw a whole dinner togehter by what i had in the house (and it wasn't a lot).

That took me about 6 weeks of 5 meals a day before i could do that, and I'm only feeding myself.

So what i'm trying to say is that it takes a little while before it all sinks in and your coooking auto pilot starts working, but when it does it's there for life.

Ps. what a wonderful thing that your food is so very appreciated that your family just wants more! You must be making delicious foods!

[Green_Woman]

I stayed up late last night trying a few new recipes and only ONE worked out. :eek:

But it was worth the time invested to eliminate the recipes we didn't enjoy... even if I was pretty tired afterward. ;)

[Soose]

Green Woman, do tell what worked. :) (If they're dehydrator recipes, I'm going to keep adding to the "What have you got in your dehydrator" thread. )

I've had a rest this morning, and am heading out for the store; but my son is making a large salad ("Don't we have anything special to go in it?" he said.)

So, I'm going to try marinating four large portabella caps. I think I'll take three and try for "steaks" and the last I'll just use the same marinade and slice and see if we get anything like jerky. Just on my way here to compare the recipes for those two.

[T-Bird]

Soose, how old is your son? Sounds so sweet!

[DebB]

Hi Soose ~ I know some talk about freezing and losing nutritional value, etc. - but, I like to make big and freeze, freeze, FREEZE - yippee!

I understand the frustration of making recipes only to not care for them in the end. I just did that with a multi-step, multi day pizza recipe. My goodness it was a lot of work and we just didn't care for it.

Have you tried Russell James' Med. Almond Bread (http://therawchefblog.com/the-best-thing-since-sliced-bread/comment-page-1)? It's one of my favorite breads to date. *Ü*

[Soose]

Hi, all. :) I took a break from food prep today, other than to bag up last night's green beans (from the dehydrator -- something to just munch on, and they came out a little better this time as I didn't "over dry" them).

T-bird, my son is 13.5yo. He really will help out in the kitchen. When we first got the dehydrator, I rather hoped he would take off on it all on his own, as he has always wanted to experiment with recipes; been waiting all these months for him to do that (as I felt too overloaded with other things). But I guess he needs me to participate.

Maybe I discouraged his food concoctions too much when he was young? (Lordy me! I would head to the shower and he would run to the kitchen and start putting something together. Oats, mustard, salt, baking soda, any spice or herb, raisins, just anything at all he could find, he would mix in there... no recipes to be used. <G> And it was not possible to channel it with a kids' recipe book before you ask that logical question.)

Anyway, once I joined here and began experimenting he has been willing to join right in. I guess I had to break the ice? And once we've made something once he will go do it on his own.

Sorry to natter on... it's been amusing. :)

---
DebB, sorry your multi-day pizza did not work out well. Do tell more. (I've been away some hours and if you've posted elsewhere, I'll find it, just haven't looked yet.)

Thanks for the Almond Bread recipe link. It sure gets rave reviews! If I can find anything approaching "bread" my son will be just tickled! I see from the photos that it looks similar to the onion bread recipe in form.

We made a lot of [cooked ] tortillas over the last couple of years, mostly rye based, but I'd put the tortilla iron away, as I felt we were overdoing the cooked grains. I need to try some flat breads as you say in the dehydrator or on my two pizza stones.

My big question right now is, what shall I cook overnight? So many desires! :)

[DebB]

I'm trying a new flax bread recipe tonight from the Cafe Gratitude book. My husband is giving up nightshades as of 10 days ago, so I'm trying new bread & cracker recipes that don't have tomatoes or bell peppers.

And I have to dehydrate all the pecans and almonds I have soaking. I hope I can squeeze them all in!

I like to soak all the nuts and dehydrate them and then toss them in the fridge or freezer. It's my "stash" and all ready to use in recipes.

A couple weeks ago I made corn tortillas using frozen organic corn that I get at Costco. Yeah, it's probably been blanched, but I don't sweath the small stuff. Like Kevin Gianni once said, "Hey - it's better than Twinkies and Mt. Dew" - ha! The recipe is in Raw Food Real World, page 188 and it was FANTASTIC. Very pliable - so tasty. I found it online here. (http://www.adventuresinrawfood.com/raw-corn-tortillas) *Ü*