Beginner Questions

[Gossy]

Greetings all!

I just joined the site today. I made the decision a few days ago that I need to change my diet, drastically, to help my health and improve my life. Raw food just makes so much sense to me and I'm incredibly excited to jump right into this!

But, since I'm a planner and list maker, jumping right in hasn't happened lol. I have a bunch of questions and hope you all can steer me in the correct direction!

First - what are some "must have" beginner supplies? I invested in a spiffy fancy blender, and am definitely open to appliance suggestions, though I may have to incorporate those slowly due to cost. What are some useful cooking items, that are fairly cheap, that have helped you most with going/staying raw?

Second - Purchasing/storing foods - help! I have a great selection of stores and farmer's markets in my area, including organic produce. But am I going to have to start going to the store each day to buy the freshest of fresh? Or is fridge/freezer a viable option for storage of things? Any other storing tips/tricks?

Third - How did your raw diet start? I'm feeling a bit over whelmed with meal planning. I'm so used to picking up frozen meals for lunches for work, and just eating left overs for dinners. I think some extra thought is going to have to go into things, at least at first, to get this going. I'm already pretty sure I want to do a smoothie for breakfast each day, so that's easy enough for me to figure out, but figuring out easy to take lunches and dinners is making me a bit zany!

Four - Home growing - who does it? Does anyone have an indoor or deck sized set up? I'm thinking it might be fun and enjoyable to start my own little garden, but apartment living doesn't exactly make that easy . . . anyone know of a good website or book for that? Or do it themselves and have tips?

Five (and last, for now, ;) ) - hot foods and chocolate. I am ADDICTED to soup. Please tell me I'll be able to still enjoy hot soup now and then. Are there acceptable "raw" soups out there? That are hot? Or ways of heating to maintain the integrity of raw food? And chocolate. I cannot give up my chocolate. Please tell me there are raw chocolate products/recipes out there!!

Thanks in advance to all! I'm planning to spend this week/weekend getting myself set up, and hope to be ready to jump into raw this weekend. Any beginner tips on things I should pick up, veg/fruits I should stock up on, etc, are very much appreciated too!

~ Rebecca ~

[Shels]

Hi Rebecca, welcome to the community. :D Your enthusiasm is wonderful.

First, you really ought to have a blender to make green smoothies, but you don't actually need anything else. I'd imagine it would be handy to have a dehydrator and processor, but you'll be fine without them.

Second, there are plenty of fruits that you can buy before they ripen, and keep on the counter for a week or so while you wait. You can buy frozen fruit for your smoothies as well - fresh is always best, but some things like berries are really expensive that way. You can also freeze nuts and seeds for as long as you want and they'll be fine. The majority of greens and veggies last a surprisingly long time in the fridge.

Third, my transition into raw was very gradual, so once I decided to commit it didn't really require much of a change for me. One thing you should keep in mind is that you need to eat when you're hungry, even if you had "lunch" a few hours ago, and not sit down to "dinner" if your tummy isn't rumbling. The great thing about raw food is that it can be very simple, don't worry about planning out your meals, you can just throw them together when you get hungry.

As for the fourth, I'm also in an apartment, and we just planted a couple of things in pots on the porch. :) There isn't a lot of space, but at least we can have a few plants.

Five - yes yes yes! There are loads of raw chocolate recipes and products, thank goodness. You'd be surprised how many you can find just by googling them. If you need a packaged candy bar to hold you over, Green and Black and Dagoba are raw products. :)
As far as your soup goes, there are raw soups, but I'm afraid you'll have to settle for having them warm if you want to be 100% raw - which, by the way is something that could come in time. Just the fact that you're starting this is wonderful, there's no pressure to go cold turkey right off the bat.

Stock up on bananas, lots and lots of bananas and greens for your smoothies, lots of lettuce to make salad, and some veggies you'll enjoy munching on. Give yourself plenty of variety so that you don't turn to SAD food to satisfy a craving.
Avocados are also great to have on hand to make creamier dishes (like fudge!), and a little agave nectar goes a long way for sweetening things.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes. :)

[SevenKindsOfCookie]

Hi Rebecca! I'll try to answer your questions from my point of view.

1. For me the most important ones besides a good knife is a blender, food processor and juicer (I have all of them in one machine actually). Since you have a good blender already I'd recommend getting a food processor. They are really inexpensive.
A dehydrator is certainly not a must. But if you want to make recipes that taste more like cooked food it is a handy tool.

2. Fresh is always better, but it's not always practical. In fact, we do weekly shopping in this house and it works just fine with the raw diet. There are some things like avocados that I buy monthly when they are on sale and keep them in the fridge.
I try to mix in as much freshly picked wild and home grown food as possible though to make up for it. :)

3. Personally, it all started with a glass of vegetable juice and my body simply told me that "I want more of that!" and I started eating and drinking more and more raw vegetables and fruits. I later learned about the raw diet, and by that time I was already high raw, so it wasn't that big of a transition in my case.
There are several different ways to transition. Alissa recommends going 100% over night. I personally think that it works for some people but not all. I like slower transitions myself because the changes seems to stick better.
Just try out new recipes and keep making the ones you like. And like you said, make a green smoothie in the morning.

Meal planning isn't such a big deal for me since I eat mostly salads and smoothies. I only make more advanced meals every now and then. But if you want to eat the "gourmet" raw stuff each day it can be a challange.

4. I try to grow as much as possible with the little space I have. I grow lots of sprouts and indoor greens in the winter. And in the summer I keep a small garden with veggies and greens.
Things like zucchini, tomatoes, cucumber etc. are really easy to grow and very rewarding.

I also pick a lot of wild food, and that's the real superfood. It has more nutrition than anything you can buy at the store and it's totally free! I really recommend learning about what kind of wild eatables that are available in your area.

5. It's up to you really. If you want to have hot soups then do so, but it's not raw. You can have warm raw soups, but not hot ones. You can add some hot spices to make them "hotter" though.

As for chocolate however, you are in luck. There's a huge amount of raw chocolate products and recipes out there. I don't think you'll miss any conventional sweets on the raw food diet really!

[Gossy]

Thank you Shels and Seven! I appreciate the tips and tricks and general info on what others did.

I would love to jump 100% into raw right away, but the over-planner in me is going "OMG You'll fail!!" because I don't have a month of meal plans set up. And I'm really concerned about destroying my stomach (whenever I eat salad now a days my stomach HURTS, for example) while I transition. I guess I could go on a mostly smoothie plan. I guess my only apprehension at this point is feeling like I'll "screw up" and not have proper supplies on hand to make something filling, or won't be getting proper nutrition (like enough protein), and make myself feel sick(er).

But since I have till this weekend (which is when I planned to jump in anyway ;) ) I'll start making a shopping list and see if that makes me feel better.

And THANK YOU SO MUCH for cluing me into the fact Dagoba is raw chocolate. I know I've seen that in the co-op organic whathaveyou store so I am now safely unafraid of being chocolate deprived! :)

[Shels]

A smoothie plan sounds delicious. =] As far as your stomach hurting when you have salad, I'm not sure what to tell you, you might be combining things improperly. Have you cut grains out of your diet yet? They wreak havoc on your system, and are oftentimes to blame for numerous stomach problems.

Also, don't worry about not getting your nutrients, all you need are greens, and smoothies will work wonderfully for that.
Here're some fun facts to brighten your perspective:

• Greens contain more beta-carotene than carrots
• Greens contain more vitamin C then oranges
• Greens contain more Vitamin E than whole grain wheat
• Greens contain more vitamin B2 than dairy milk
• Greens contain a complete amino acid profile (protein)


Greens provide the best source of the alkaline minerals: calcium, magnesium, and iron as well as many others, and these alkaline minerals create the perfect environment for health by cleansing your body of bad bacteria, parasites, yeast, etc.

Happy eating!

[Gossy]

Honestly, I haven't cut anything out yet. My raw food revelation just occurred and I'm hoping to jump in by the weekend. I have been trying to be better about what I eat lately in general, but I'm still eating basically 98% cooked foods until I feel comfortable with my planning part of this ;) though I'm making sure not to let myself wait too long!

You're right though, I could be attributing some of the veggie/raw food pain I feel to the raw foods when it really isn't their fault. In fact, reflecting on it now, I usually eat the salads/raw foods I do currently consume along with cooked foods and grains. So. Duh!

That brings up another issue though. I love ranch dressing. Or dressing on my salad period. Any tips or tricks for making dressing?! I definitely want to whip some of that up this weekend for any salads I decide to eat.

*wanders off to Google raw dressings ;) *

[Amarynth]

Greetings all!

I just joined the site today. I made the decision a few days ago that I need to change my diet, drastically, to help my health and improve my life. Raw food just makes so much sense to me and I'm incredibly excited to jump right into this!

But, since I'm a planner and list maker, jumping right in hasn't happened lol. I have a bunch of questions and hope you all can steer me in the correct direction!

First - what are some "must have" beginner supplies? I invested in a spiffy fancy blender, and am definitely open to appliance suggestions, though I may have to incorporate those slowly due to cost. What are some useful cooking items, that are fairly cheap, that have helped you most with going/staying raw?

Second - Purchasing/storing foods - help! I have a great selection of stores and farmer's markets in my area, including organic produce. But am I going to have to start going to the store each day to buy the freshest of fresh? Or is fridge/freezer a viable option for storage of things? Any other storing tips/tricks?

Third - How did your raw diet start? I'm feeling a bit over whelmed with meal planning. I'm so used to picking up frozen meals for lunches for work, and just eating left overs for dinners. I think some extra thought is going to have to go into things, at least at first, to get this going. I'm already pretty sure I want to do a smoothie for breakfast each day, so that's easy enough for me to figure out, but figuring out easy to take lunches and dinners is making me a bit zany!

Four - Home growing - who does it? Does anyone have an indoor or deck sized set up? I'm thinking it might be fun and enjoyable to start my own little garden, but apartment living doesn't exactly make that easy . . . anyone know of a good website or book for that? Or do it themselves and have tips?

Five (and last, for now, ;) ) - hot foods and chocolate. I am ADDICTED to soup. Please tell me I'll be able to still enjoy hot soup now and then. Are there acceptable "raw" soups out there? That are hot? Or ways of heating to maintain the integrity of raw food? And chocolate. I cannot give up my chocolate. Please tell me there are raw chocolate products/recipes out there!!

Thanks in advance to all! I'm planning to spend this week/weekend getting myself set up, and hope to be ready to jump into raw this weekend. Any beginner tips on things I should pick up, veg/fruits I should stock up on, etc, are very much appreciated too!

~ Rebecca ~

Hi Rebecca!

Welcome! I've been Raw since sometime in January, I think. I really haven't been keeping track of time, as I've just been having so much fun learning how to be Raw and changing my life for the better. It is such a refreshing, wonderful way to live and I feel so much better for it. I'm in Upstate NY too...so it's great to see the movement blossoming out my way as well. You've had so many great answers so far, let's see if I can give you something that might be helpful too....

1. All I have so far is a blender as well as a mini chopper sort of food processor. So far, both have worked fine for me, but I am hoping to get a dehydrator, juicer and a better blender and food processor sometime soon. It all takes time, as yes, some of these items are very pricey...but well worth the wait I think! I've been eating very simply, so the blender works well for smoothies and such....

2. I go to the produce store/farmers market about once per week. I store all my fruits on the counter, other veggies and stuff in the fridge. This works pretty well for me. Sometimes I do have to toss stuff, as I tend to buy more than I can eat. lol My kids aren't the greatest fruit and veggie eaters...but they do like when I make fruit smoothies with almond milk. :) I put all my raw nuts in the freezer...and take them out as I need them. Right now, strawberries are plentiful and cheap, so I will buy extra and freeze them for smoothies and stuff. :)

3. When I first started eating Raw food, I was pretty much the same as you...worrying and trying to plan like crazy. Someone on this board told me to eat simply...and that is exactly what I do. Smoothie or fruit salad in the morning, salad for lunch, or just a nice bowl of tomatoes with some cold pressed olive oil, basil...yum. Dinner is typically a salad, though sometimes I'll make up a bit of guacamole and/or salsa and eat that with some raw flax chips that I purchase from the health food store. I've just discovered Brads Raw Chips....OMGOMG...they are to LIVE for. I had some of the cheddar chips today with a salad and they were so good. These are really helpful to me, because I miss bread...and since I don't have a dehydrator yet, I need to purchase those types of things. It all depends on how I feel. I find that eating Raw, I am not as hungry as I used to be when I was eating SAD. I eat...don't think I starve myself...I just don't ever feel ravenous. I guess I just always feel satisfied. Occasionally, if I have time and the resources, I will try something more complex, but for me...simple works wonderfully.

4. I own a house, and did once have a strawberry patch and a small garden but do not have such a great green thumb. I'm determined to get something going this year though, and know that if I truly apply myself that I can accomplish what I set out to do. Sorry I can't be of much help in this area.

5. I haven't tried any raw soups yet, but have heard that you can warm them a little bit in a dehydrator, or if you blend the soup long enough it does get warm. Let me know if you try the soups..I intend to eventually. LOL

Good luck and once again welcome! I know you'll have as great a time as I am!

Amarynth

[Gossy]

Wellps, I did it! I jumped in! Sort of ;)

I decided since I was out running other errands I might as well run to the store and get going on my raw foods! I picked up numerous kinds of leafy greens, frozen fruits (just much more economical, and I intend to primarily use them in smoothies for the time being, I'm hoping to get more fresh fruits at the farmer's market/local growers soon!), a few fresh fruits, sprouts . . . the works! I had to Google to find out if I was storing them right (I feel like such an idiot! Not knowing how to store lettuce! Duh!) and then decided to splurge on a salad spinner and special salad storage container. Those should arrive via Amazon soon! Hopefully I can consume all my current greens before they go bad.

I am worried about wasting money because food spoils. I think I have everything in the fridge that needs to be, everything on the counter that needs to be, and if I see counter stuff going bad I read a tip to freeze it and use it for smoothies as a way of salvaging it. We'll see! I'm super excited to hit up the farmer's market this weekend now and see what I can snag. I know it may be too early in the season for some things but any fresh fruits will be great!

My shopping excursion did lead to more questions though.

Anyone have suggestions on buying greens - as in, how to avoid using 100 plastic produce bags? Luckily my grocer is amazing about using recycled items, and taking back things for recycling, but I'd rather not use them at all. Is there a special type of bag I could buy/take and throw things like fresh, loose, organic spinach leaves in? I did pick up some already washed, in containers greens too, to make things a bit easier on myself. But in the future I'd rather save the extra cost and just get the loose kind. And that requires weighing it, so I need *something* not too heavy to put it in.

Also, any suggestions or ideas or thoughts on non-organic things? If I wanted to get fresh fruit my options in the organic realm were extremely limited. Everything I went to go for were non-local growers and said things like "treated with a waxy whathaveyou to maintain freshness!" Ugh. I don't want waxy whathaveyou on my stuff!! So I had to pass up getting things like oranges, pears - it was very sad! I wanted some of those! I just wasn't sure "what to do" so to speak. And I don't want to consume fruits that might be bad for me because they're packed with pesticides too . . . are my only options in this case to go to local co-op and farmer's markets and only getting what is available there? I fear I will never eat another orange then, living in Upstate NY and all . . .

So - now the question becomes, what do I have for dinner?! I'm so excited to try out my new blender I think I might look up some green smoothie recipes and give that a whirl. Or, I guess, salad! :)

I'm so excited to get started on raw eating! Everything I bought looked so healthy and colorful and alive. It seems like the benefits of raw food diet start even there - everything you eat just looks better!

~ Rebecca ~

[SevenKindsOfCookie]

I'm so excited to get started on raw eating! Everything I bought looked so healthy and colorful and alive. It seems like the benefits of raw food diet start even there - everything you eat just looks better!

It certainly does. I always get a lot of envious looks when I bring my own food to dinners. One time someone even yelled "Hey, his food looks a lot tastier then ours!". Felt bad for the hostess, but it was still pretty funny. :)