Raw on a budget? An easy raw recipe request!

[Subtitles]

I have strayed away from my raw ways, mostly because I was bored with what I was eating and am always on a very tight budget.

I'd like to start adding more raw foods again, and was hoping you guys could offer me some advice (yet again!) for low budget, easy raw meals (that I won't get bored of right away!).

[CathyA.]

watermellon is juicy, filling, and cheap

[speltrong]

Something I've been hooked on lately is big green salads with different toppings & dressings. For the lettuce, you can buy a gigantic bucket of organic pre-washed baby greens from Costco for a little over $3 (at my costco anyway). Then I just top with various things like cherry tomatoes, nuts, seeds, carrot, whatever I have lying around in the fridge. And for a dressing, you can easily make various flavors also using stuff lying around your kitchen.. blend some herbs, lemon juice, and avo together for a creamy dressing. Or do oil & vinegar. Or soak some sun-dried tomatoes and blend with water & herbs and a little tahini for a great tasting dressing. I have found that eating a lot of salads like this has kept cravings at bay, and is actually much cheaper than trying to eat a lot of gourmet raw food. :-)

[Daniel21]

One thing you can do is stock up at a farmers market, usually produce is much cheaper there and usually tastes better. From there, just be creative or check out recipes you can use as a guide line. It's pretty fun just whipping up some healthy foods for the soul. Turn some good music on in the kitchen and let your creativity flow.

[Nad]

Check out this blog, Raw on $10 a Day (http://rawon10.blogspot.com/) - perfect for raw foodies on a budget!

[MyRedPanda]

Check out this blog, Raw on $10 a Day (http://rawon10.blogspot.com/) - perfect for raw foodies on a budget!

Wow, I love this! Great ideas :)

[speltrong]

i totally love the raw on 10 blog as well... thx for sharing!

[MyRedPanda]

Wow, after reading over the rawon10 blog, who has that much time on their hands? Holy cow, it would take hours to prepare that food each day. At least the deserts and Thai food and pasta dishes anyway. I want to try some of them, but will do so on the weekend. For during the week all I really have time to "cook" is smoothies and salads!

[Animalnurse]

One thing I have been doing (just budgeting in general) is writing down what I spend in a book, especially on food. Everytime I waste food I write that in my budget book so I know what I am wasting in money. This is a good reminder of how much money and food I am wasting. I am also starting to take things that are close to going bad and mixing it with other things to make chips, cookies, dehydrated fruits and such. It keeps me from wasting so much and gives me some snacks. I do spend a lot of money currently as I am trying to make new recipes and am trying to get things that I can snack on if I feel the need. Once I have a god amount, I know this money spent will go way down.

Don't be afraid to play with the food you do have. If it appears it is close to going bad and you have a dehydrator blend with spices and spoon onto teflex sheets and dehydrate. This will give you a tastey snack and maybe a new recipe.

Marshall

[soulvibe]

Budget raw salad - Iceberg lettuce, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, avocado... Chop it all up, add some freshly squeezed orange juice for dressing and mix it all together! There you have it, a budget raw salad meal! :D

Budget fruit meal (smoothie) - Bananas & spinach... Still my favourite smoothie ever, so simple, so satisfying/filling, and so easy.

Budget juice - Apple, carrot & celery juice... Again, so simple, cheap, and tastyyy! :woohoo:

Hope this helps! :)