Another Newby

[13WaysToFeed]

Hi I'm Chris.

Been thinking of going raw for the past 6 months or so and finally took the plunge! My reasoning is for better all around health.

I started Wednesday, so this is day 4. Wed - Fri I was drinking some sweet tea and had a couple Pepsi's too. Thought it may help to transition. But today I have been 100% raw (all organic) and plan on staying that way. Yesterday and today I've been getting some headaches, hopefully that passes soon.

I do have a few questions so bare with me.

1. It's ok to use raw apple cider vinegar and cold preserved olive oil and stay 100% raw? Is this also live food?

2. Is it ok to freeze foods? I mainly plan on freezing nuts, fruits and garlic. Is it still live food after being frozen?

3. I already have a juicer, got it a few months ago. What should be my next big purchase? I'm leaning toward a Viti-mix 4500. Which I have a 20% from Bed Bath and Beyond so I can pick it up for $320 plus tax. I was possibly thinking of a KitchenAid blender too. Is the Viti-mix really worth the extra $220? Or maybe I should go food processor first? I hear Cuisinart's are a good choice, what's a good model to use? Also what's a good dehydrator and how much should I expect to spend for a good one? I really only want to spend about $400 right now and maybe another $400 in a couple months.

Thanks in advance for any info, any other tips would be great too!
This site is full of some much information, I'm finding it does take quite a bit of time to find the answers I'm looking for. Already spent a few hours or more reading through the threads.

Oh one more thing, I caught on that SAD is cooked food. But what does SAD actually stand for?



:)

[CathyA.]

Standard American Diet. :( so SAD. I'd get the Vita-mix myself. The raw apple cider vinegar is good. Olive oil...make sure that it is high quality. I freeze my foods. I think there is a bit of debate on that one. I consider it raw.

[klomasius]

Welcome n00b!

It's ok to use raw apple cider vinegar and cold preserved olive oil and stay 100% raw? Is this also live food?

Most would consider this raw food here.

2. Is it ok to freeze foods? I mainly plan on freezing nuts, fruits and garlic. Is it still live food after being frozen?

Yup, food is frozen in the wild as well and animals eat it.


3. I already have a juicer, got it a few months ago. What should be my next big purchase? I'm leaning toward a Viti-mix 4500. Which I have a 20% from Bed Bath and Beyond so I can pick it up for $320 plus tax. I was possibly thinking of a KitchenAid blender too. Is the Viti-mix really worth the extra $220? Or maybe I should go food processor first? I hear Cuisinart's are a good choice, what's a good model to use? Also what's a good dehydrator and how much should I expect to spend for a good one? I really only want to spend about $400 right now and maybe another $400 in a couple months.

Blender, blender, blender!


Oh one more thing, I caught on that SAD is cooked food. But what does SAD actually stand for?


As Cathy said, Standard American Diet (SAD) or for me Standard Australian Diet. Also, you might see SWD which is Standard Western Diet. SCD, Standard Canadian Diet.

[spicyfull]

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

[Gossy]

Welcome Chris!!

Looks like some others have answered your questions, but I have to pipe in and say the blender vs. food processor is a debatable thing. If you're going to get a blender definitely get the best. I've struggled for years (though I've just gone raw recently, I've loved making smoothies for years already ;) ) with crappy, cheaper blenders, that didn't do their jobs. I just recently got a Blendtec and love it. It will crush freakin' anything. I get awesome smoothies from it. I haven't tried mashing other things in it yet, but I plan to.

I also do think though a food processor is a must. I was living without one my first week of raw and chopping everything by hand. Time consuming, messy, lots of washing things after. Then I managed to "free" an older food processor from my parents which they were not using. Omg, life is so much easier now. I can throw in an onion, merely cut in half to fit the container, celery, carrots, what have you, hit pulse a few times, and I have nicely minced/chopped/yummy bits ready for salads or other recipes. I don't think you need an expensive one - just one that has a large enough bowl and a good blade. If possible, I've definitely get one to start off with in addition to the blender.

As far as dehydrators, I haven't gotten one yet, but every raw foodist I've talked to about it recommends the Excaliber 9 tray. I believe you can get the latest 3900 model for around $200, and you'll want to get the non-stick sheets for it too, which are around $7-10 dollars each depending on where you look/shop online. I'm not sure this is essential to start with, however, I just ordered one a mere two-ish weeks into raw fooding, because I really love chips and have found so many great chip recipes I must try out, not to mention making my own cookies and/or breads! Of course, if you can get along on just salads and smoothies for a while you can wait on this one for sure :)

Hope this babbling helped and welcome to the forums!

[sport]

Freezing is fine.
I even freeze greens and then add them to smoothies. I reckon that they are better frozen while the nutrient level is highest than allowed to wilt and deplete.

[13WaysToFeed]

Thanks everyone! :) So far I'm still 100% raw. Been through some crappy days, headaches, low energy. But I'm feeling great so far today and have a feeling today will be a lot better.
I ended up just going with the KitchenAid blender for now. Decided that ultimately I would like to get the Vita-mix 5200. But since that's such a big investment I'm going to wait till I'm raw for at least 2 months to make sure this is a life style change that I'll be sticking to. I guess I'll use that as a reward for myself later on if I can keep it up!

[k8sl8]

Not too late to change your mind, lol. the vita mix IS a blender!!! Just a really good one! You'll never be sorry, even if you discover (unlikely) that RAW isn't for you. I owned one for lots of years before I ever even heard of a raw diet.

If nothing else it makes terrific frozen drinks for the SAD world.