Need help with niggling concerns...

[Green Diamond]

Greetings fellow Raw Food buffs :heart:

Firstly, let me say this is my first post here on Raw Food Talk but I have been a bit of a stalker and read through various threads for some time now.

Backstory: I'm 19 years old and live in Queensland, Australia. Last year I spent many months as a vegan and dabbled numerous times in my attempts to go Raw but always reverted back to cooked. I was always able to invent some excuse "I don't have the money." "I look like a freak." etc etc....but now I am ready to drop the excuses, kick my butt into gear and work towards being RAW & HEALTHY!

Basically, after thinking seriously about making the transition I have identified what I believe will be my biggest challenges.
1) I work in hospitality which means no set eating times and freaquently going long times without food. Hence, what I'm curious for is what foods you lovely poeople consider to be the most filling with a slow release of energy so I don't crash from potential natural sugar rush's...??
2)...Okay, this one has snuck back in here...it all seems very expensive. The financial situation in Australia is under strain (like it is in many places, I guess) and my personal curcumstances (living out of home, paying board, buying all my own food) does'nt help. So basically, do others consider their raw food endevours to be expensive and often unmanagable??

I'm planning on a high carb, low fat plan (though of course there WILL BE some fat as I do understand the importance of it in a healthy diet!)

Any tips and advice would be GREATLY appreciated! Also, I hope this has been posted in the right place.

Love and Light,
Green Diamond

[maggiesdaddy]

Hi! Welcome to the board!

I would really recommend this book by Brenden Braizer (http://www.amazon.com/Thrive-Nutrition-Optimal-Performance-Sports/dp/0738212547/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1316996466&sr=8-2). He talks a lot about foods that you can eat that have a slow release of energy (like dates) and has lots of good recipes! It is not an all raw book, but a lot of it is raw so I still count it as a good resource.

I have a wife and 9 month old and both my wife and I are full time college students. I will be honest and say that our apartment is paid for by student loans and stipends, but we pay for everything else. I don't want to admit it, but we live off of $900-$1000 per month. My wife is lacto-ovo vegetarian and I am a raw vegan.

At first the cost nearly killed me and made me give it up, but as I learned to shop sales and buy in bulk it really helped. I also now own a dehydrator which is making things a little easier. A large portion of my budget for food shrank when I started sprouting. It was intimidating, but it is easy when you get it! Beans are very filling and I can now eat a dinner of sprouted beans in various forms and then I don't have to buy so much fruit (which is expensive IMO).

There is a blog called Raw on $10 a day or less that you can google. Personally $10 a day is to much for me, but they have some good ideas!

[Green Diamond]

Thank you very much for your reply! I have actually noticed you in quite a few threads and have always found your posts/comments to be interesting :)

One trick I learnt during my previous raw attempts was to go to produce stores and ask for their "rejects"...basically fruit & veg that is overly ripe, a bit ugly, a bit mutated...but still perfectly fine to eat and very tastey! I would come home with masses of produce at half the price of the shelf stuff and I didnt mind a few squishy bits in my bananas etc as I would just save those for my green smoothies and leave the better stuff for when I wanted whole fruit.

If you have the time please tell me a little more about sprouting beans! I know you can sprout seeds (alfalfa, sunflower etc) but Im unsure about beans. Can you use dried beans...?? Sorry if this all sounds ignorant and silly.

I like all fruits and veg, luckily, so my variety has no limitations as far as my taste prefference goes but I am very active and need lots of bulk to keep me powered. There are no local farmer's markets that I have access to so I unfortunately have to get my produce from supermarkets or privately owned smaller business veggie places.

[maggiesdaddy]

Thanks!

Actually I get a lot of my information about sprouting from sproutpeople.org. They have a lot of great information and even some videos showing you how to do it. HOWEVER, I do not use any of their equipment. I use a mason jar with a cheesecloth tied tightly over it.

I put about 1/4-1/2 cup beans in a quart mason jar, tie a cheesecloth over it tightly and fill the jar with water. After soaking beans for about 8-12 hours I rinse and drain them three times and then I set them in my sink on my strainer at about a 60 degree tilt with the cheesecloth facing down. This lets them drain completely while allowing them to get air. Then I rinse and drain every 8-12 hours until sprouted. The sprouts should be 1-2 times the length of the bean.

My favorite to sprout is lentils and adzuki beans because they sprout so fast (lentils are ready in like 24-36 hours sometimes!). You can use dried beans. For me the cheapest ones in town are actually the ones that come from the bulk bin at my local health food store. They are around $2-$5 a pound and a pound lasts me FOREVER. I got like 3 lbs of beans two months ago and I am still working my way through them!


At first texture was a little funny to me so I processed them in my blender with some cumin, pink sea salt, oregano, chili powder and cayenne and had taco filling!

[maggiesdaddy]

Raw hulled sunflower seeds also sprout nicely in jar!