1 week's worth of recipes

[iwuvmydoggy]

Hi there!

I was just wondering if anyone would mind sharing a typical week's worth of raw recipes that they'd use?

Also, do you use any additional supplementation? (b12 vitamins, spirulina, juice, etc)

I would like to try a truly raw diet... I have not been able to find anything reliable for free.. One book I have on going raw has a section regarding legumes... It says to cook them (how is that RAW?)... anyway.. so yeah.. i would like to know what you eat, how you make it and how much of it you eat, so I can get an idea of portion size and the kind of variety I would need to include in my own diet.

I do not have a very good blender (and won't be getting one any time soon, as they are too expensive).. I also don't have a dehydrator (won't be getting one of those any time soon, either)... I don't have a saladaco (I want one & plan on buying one in the near future, in the meantime, I have awesome knife skills)... I don't have a juicer (I'm poor, what can I say?)... And I don't know where my food processor is, but I can use my crappy blender in the meantime.

http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt213/patriotcz/buttery-i_have_no_idea.jpg lol -- at least I'm honest. http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt213/patriotcz/popo_baffle.png

[spicyfull]

Poor can be a State of Mind. You have Knife Skills......That's the biggest asset you need. You can also get a hand shreeder like for Cheese etc. and slice Vegetables.

Check out Thrift Stores and Yard Sales......Another Man's Discards might be just what another's L@@king for. Whatever you do, keep the atitude that you want this and you are going to make it work.

Sprouting is one of the most economical ways of Staying RAW. FREE is an awful "BIG" word. Although you might find things Free sometimes. But be willing to Barter, Trade or Grow your own.

I'm wishing you The BEST RAW LifeStyle................

[iluvmangos]

With you only having a blender, I can't think of many raw recipes, besides smoothies and salads, that you could make. You'd be eating a lot of simple foods and salads. There's nothing wrong with that, but if that's not what you want, you're gonna need to dig up that food processor.

If you'd like to make green smoothies, it helps to blend the greens with the water first and then put your fruit in.

Once you find your food processor, you can make yummy ice creams. All you do is blend some frozen bananas either by themselves or with other frozen fruits depending what flavor you want. You may want to add a tiny bit of water or nut milk (no more than a tablespoon) to help with blendability, but I find that if you're patient, the processor will blend it all up eventually without the need for that. Sometimes I add a tablespoon of flax oil to improve the creaminess.

You can also make nut milk in your blender. You just blend nuts or seeds with water and strain. You may add a little sweetener like dates or honey if you like.

You can make guacamole without any equipment except regular silverware. Just cut open an avocado, scrape it out, mash it up with a little fresh lemon or lime juice and whatever seasonings you want. To me, it's good enough if it at least has lime and salt, but sometimes I add other things like diced jalapeno, crushed garlic, diced onion, oregano, & chili powder. I like dipping veggies in guacamole.

This website has some drinks/smoothies/shakes that you can make in your blender: http://fromsadtoraw.com/RawRecipes.htm

If you find your food processor, Version 1 is a really good recipe for Mock Salmon Pate. It's Alissa's recipe. I usually use sunflower seeds because they're cheaper: http://fromsadtoraw.com/Recipes/MockSalmonPate.htm

I like to spread it on a romaine leaf or nori sheet and roll up with some shredded carrots, chopped green beans, chopped cucumber, and alfalfa sprouts. It's also good as a veggie dip.

[Soose]

Hi, Iwuvmydoggy. Since we haven't been all raw for very long, I want to see the menus-for-a-week, too.

(Meanwhile, I think what helped my husband see he could go raw was reading a 30 day trial online at a stevepavlina.com I think it was. Very simple and I only remember him using a blender for smoothies. Maybe there are other blogs.)

I don't think the lack of kitchen equipment is a barrier at all for a raw kitchen. In fact, since my son asked strongly for some other options in life last week, and I started trying to learn to use a dehydrator and try a bunch of new recipes all at once, my food prep has gotten rather complex, rather than simpler! I know it's a learning curve; meanwhile, simple is GOOD and I long for those days. I think we're going to have regular "simple raw" days to give me a break. lol Anyway, back to raw kitchens.

If your blender is not a high speed one, and you want the smoothies, I think you will just need a little more liquid to make sure you don't weigh down the motor. I know the high-speed blenders do a better job of breaking down cell walls. I think, if you freeze some ingredients that will help break down cell walls. (We feed our dog a raw food diet, and he gets some veggies. Since dogs don't have enzymes to digest the cell walls, we either freeze the veg or put them in a blender with liquid or a food processor. So that is how I learned freezing breaks cell walls, at least as far as I know.) Frozen is good for a smoothie. Even the cheap little Hamilton Beach personal blender I have will make a green smoothie with some frozen fruit -- if I make sure the fruits are pre-chopped some.

As far as food processors, the big advantage there is volume. If you're not a crowd, knife skills and your blender will go a long way. And a hand sieve in some cases? Now, nut butters and seed butters if you want them, maybe someone has some ideas? How do you think they were made pre-electrical mania? <G>

Dehydrators. How do you think people used to do it when dried food was a survival matter? Do you have an oven that will stay on 120? A cheap oven thermometer. Some manual cutting the oven on to warm it, then putting food in; maybe coming back to pop it on for 1 min at intervals. Did you read the "quick pizza crust" recipe just put out on a list where they heated a pizza stone then cut the oven off before laying out the dough to dry? Or sun-drying on a screen on a dark surface. Or build a solar dehydrator. (I think it was Mother Earth News that had one as tall as me; look for plans and scrounge materials. You could out-perform and 9-tray modern wonder easily, especially this summer while the local produce is available.)

Another option is friends. For instance, I don't have a grain mill. Now that my blender will grind them, I was using that. But it doesn't handle rye well; leaves it too grainy for my son's tastes in some recipes. Don't let me forget to say that pre-soaking will solve that problem with grains where it's appropriate for a recipe. But when you want to grind a quantity of anything, find a friend with a grinder and go do a big batch and freeze it. (We grind and freeze our flax for the week.)

Sorry if this is seen as a sidetrack from your original post. Should relabel it somehow. "Raw without Appliances" or somesuch. <G>

HTH, Soose

[Soose]

Do you have an oven that will stay on 120? A cheap oven thermometer. Some manual cutting the oven on to warm it, then putting food in; maybe coming back to pop it on for 1 min at intervals.

Replying to my own post, duh, here is an idea. Put some bricks in your oven. Pre-heat. Then cut it off, and the bricks will continue to emit steady heat for a long time, right? Just take some experimenting...

[iwuvmydoggy]

i can make smoothies :D i know a bunch of those recipes.. as well as the icecream.. but i don't think you folks really eat nothing but smoothies and icecream all day.

in regards to having a food processor, i can find it, as that isn't a big deal. i have to clean the garage out anyway.. lol i just wanted to see what you folks could come up with. :)

i had considered building a solar dehydrator (I'm a survivalist, so doing things without normal electronics is something i like to do anyway)..

in regards to poor being a state of mind---- i guess you're right. i suppose i could buy all that fancy stuff, but i think it is illogical and unnecessary.. i am extremely cheap and very much a penny pincher... i don't have any kind of debt at all and i've got monetary deadlines i've made goals to meet. live poor now, retire beyond comfortably way before my peers. :) i like to stay on track and keep it that way. :) so the less money i have to spend on making a poop (excuse the way i put that), the better... cause that's pretty much what this amounts to.. spending thousands of dollars to make a poop. i just don't see the logic. why can't i eat something that isn't blended to a liquid? is chewing REALLY that bad for you? while i'm all for easier digestion.. i don't understand why my diet has to consist of 99% liquid... what if i don't like pizza? what if i never have eaten a lot of crackers and chips?... what are the bare minimums, the very basics of eating raw for someone that's a complete beginner?....

also, i don't see what's so hard about coming up with some stuff. you folks do this everyday.. when people first start out, most of them probably don't have a lot of equipment. they probably acquire that later on, especially younger people.. unless you are just lucky enough to be able to buy whatever you want right now (until your company lays you off or you have credit card debt).. so what do you eat in the meantime? smoothies, salads and icecream? i would prefer to eat more alkaline foods.. i don't need milk.. icecream is an unnecessary indulgence... and even though you folks mentioned that stuff, you failed to give any specific recipes, therefore my question has still gone unanswered. lol so i do appreciate all the suggestions and stuff, but i would still like to see at least one detailed recipe.

sorry to sound mean or whatever... just irritated that no one responded with an appropriate answer to the subject. the simple point is that i don't really care to buy all that extra equipment, and i don't see why i would have to, just so i can make poop everyday. maybe after a couple months into being raw, i would be moved and inspired enough to go spend a couple thousand dollars on new kitchen toys, but right now, i am looking at this going.... okay, raw organic food is going to cost me 3 times as much as normal food, AND i have to buy a 600 dollar blender, AND a however ungodly expensive dehydrator... AND an expensive juicer on top of that?... are you kidding me?... (yeah yeah.. investment for your future, your health is priceless, and all that...)

[snoops]

There are 400 pages in this thread of recipes and what not. Do a bit of searching and reading and you will find plenty of recipes. And there is an archive too with even more pages of recipes. Why are you looking for someone to re-write them out for you?

[iwuvmydoggy]

There are 400 pages in this thread of recipes and what not. Do a bit of searching and reading and you will find plenty of recipes. And there is an archive too with even more pages of recipes. Why are you looking for someone to re-write them out for you?

actually, smarty pants, that is NOT what i am looking for at all.

what i am looking for is to see what someone can eat that's nutritionally balanced for 1 week, without the use of fancy gadgetry.. i think this would help beginners (such as myself) quite a bit.. because as i stated in my previous post, people may look at this and be like "oh my god.. my food bill just tripled AND i have to buy all this other stuff??" and that can be a huge deterrent for people. why can't eating raw be simple and why do you absolutely have to use all those kitchen gadgets? can you not just eat a pear & chew really well? why do you have to blend it to mush first?... and if it was as simple as you seem to believe, why not just use copy and paste for the recipes, instead of "re-writing" them??

i'd also like to mention that i have been looking at recipes. there are lots of good ones.. but again.. going back to the nutritionally balanced thing and the newbie friendly thing.

[snoops]

why can't eating raw be simple and why do you absolutely have to use all those kitchen gadgets? can you not just eat a pear & chew really well? why do you have to blend it to mush first?...

It can be. If all you have is a knife then you will have to eat a lot of salads fresh fruits, nut, seeds. Add the nuts and seeds to your salads. Add some of the fruit to your salads. Be creative. There is a thread going at the moment about how you do NOT need to do anything special. Just eat it. There are threads of just salad and salad dressing recipes.

Don't worry about nutritional balance. Just eat raw. That is Alissa's message in her book. for newbies.

[iwuvmydoggy]

thank you! i will look for it!

[RaeVynn]

Normal day, for us, goes kinda like this:

Green smoothie, with a banana, kale, frozen berries, and water
A bowl of grapes
Raw almond butter on celery sticks or dehydrated crackers
Roma tomato 'soup' (recipe from aniphyo.com).
Glass of carrot/celery/cucumber juice
Lettuce salad from the garden, with some radishes, green onions, garlic greens, a few nasturtium leaves, a few herbs and flowers, with Hemp Citrus Dressing
Kale chips
handful of raw nuts or seeds, or an avocado spread on a cracker

Right now, with cherries and berries in season, we are eating a LOT of those.
During Winter, dehydrated 'heavy' foods feel better, like Tree of Life pizza.

I might, now, do one or two 'fancy' meals in a week, like raw lasagna, or raw pizza. Most days, it's just cashew hummus on collard greens for dinner :p

[iwuvmydoggy]

that sounds like a nice diet to me! :)

i love hummus and kale and all the other stuff you mentioned, so thank you for the ideas!!

[katacykls]

Hi Iwuvmydoggy, I will mention only the food that I eat that does not involve gadgets. Also, to answer your question some of the reasons my boyfriend and I have chosen to buy gadgets( and we did this over a period of time-we didn't just go out on a kitchen gadget spree) is because we enjoy variety. Imagine only eating whole carrots and celery and lettuce leafs everyday..Wouldn't you get tired ? For us, gadgets have allowed us to change the textures of food and to make different recipes which you may eventually want to make when you get tired of only having simple foods. Learning how to make more complex recipes and having the resources to do so has made transitioning a more enjoyable process. However, the gadgets are not necessary and you can have lots of fun and improve your health without them.

For breakfast I usually have 1 or 2 bananas with tahini and honey on top
Snacks-cashews, almonds, sliced carrot, diced zucchini tossed with olive oil and balsamic, I also split an avocado and sprinkle some salt and eat it straight.
Also, you can mash a banana and mix it with 2-3 dates.

[RawSar]

What most days look like for us:
Breakfast:
Fruit salad or chorella drink with supplements.
Lunch: Smoothie (just fruit or with greens) or veggies/green juice
Dinner: salad mixed leafy greens, cucumber, celery, tomatoes, peppers, sprouts with a fruit or avocado dressing.
Dessert: nut balls (dates, honey macadamia nut butter) or a piece of fruit

We keep things pretty simple in our house. Veggies and fruit all depend on the season. We do take supplements. We regularly switch the supplements up so we aren't continually taking the same ones all year. We don't take supplements we really don't need, we know which ones to take because we get EDS every 3 months.

Hope this helps and gives you some ideas. keeping it simple has been what works best for us.

[somelikeitraw]

i had considered building a solar dehydrator (I'm a survivalist, so doing things without normal electronics is something i like to do anyway)..


This is an intriguing idea! Would love to hear more!

[iwuvmydoggy]

thank you!!! :D this gives me a better idea & puts things more into perspective. :D i have several ideas working in my head now. http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt213/patriotcz/the-blacy-grimace.png http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/tt213/patriotcz/buttery-the_devil.jpg

[iwuvmydoggy]

This is an intriguing idea! Would love to hear more!

which part? the solar dehydrator or the survivalist thing? :D

[somelikeitraw]

both but especially the solar dehydrator

[Jenamarie]

I like seeing what others are eating, as I started RAW 2 weeks ago and I've started running short on ideas. Not so much for myself, I could eat salad for every meal and be happy. But my husband and kids crave variety more than anything.

regarding appliances/gadgets....I got both a juice and a dehydrator last week, totally free. freecycle is the best! It's like craigslist only everything is free (for those who don't know). I'm on the lookout for a food processor now, since I only have a wand/blender thingy and the weakest blender on the planet. really, it couldn't even blend cooked carrots and veggie broth together!

[RawKnitster]

There are a couple things that I have regularly. Almost everyday I will make a green smoothie of 2-3 fruits, about half a bunch of greens (usually spinach or kale, sometimes chard or parsley), and a heaping Tablespoon of Vitamineral Green (same as Alissa's Green Powder).

A couple times a week I like a superfood smoothie; nut milk or coconut water with goji berries, aloe vera, bee pollen, maca, MSM, VG, spirulina, cacao, and hempseeds.

I eat a lot of salads, greens or veggie slaws, usually with my favorite dressing; olive oil, lemon juice, honey, garlic, ginger, and sea salt.

Yesterday I had a bok choy and veggie salad for brunch, a small green smoothie for dinner, and Ginger's "Best Coffee Ever" for an evening treat.

Today I made blender applesauce with 3 apples, lemon juice, maple syrup, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Don't know what I'll have for dinner yet. Maybe a green smoothie or salad, maybe I'll whip up something more exotic. There is a bag of kelp noodles in my fridge that needs to be used up.

Variety is the way I like it. Whatever I feel like.

I got by for a long time with a $60 Osterizer Blender with a food processor attachment. Now I've got a Vitamix, Excalibur, and a Cuisinart. Nice to have, and I wouldn't trade them for anything, but not really a requirement to being raw.

Have your tried the local library for raw food books? How about visiting a large book store and reading the books in-store. I've done that many times, with paper and pencil in hand. :)