What Raw Food Technique Intimidated You the Most?

[Evie M]

I recently saw Julie and Julia again. Julie was so intimidated about making Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon. So I decided to tackle the technique that has been intimidating to me. After 2 years of dabbling with raw foods and 2 months of being about 90% raw I just opened up my first Thai young coconut. The water is as good as I was expecting it to me. The meat is amazing. What the heck took me so long? It wasn't even that hard.

I feel like a real raw foodist today! :throwhearts:

[MysticTree]

I haven't been intimidated about anything raw - though some might include drinking their own urine in the raw thing but I don't and I ain't going there!

I was lucky when I was growing up in that my father was both broad minded about food and he didn't divide things into difficult and easy or veggie and meat-based. His only criteria was whether something tasted good. he'd have loved raw and it is such a shame he didn't know about it. Too late now.

I grew up cooking and preparing food from a very early age and also growing our own veggies, fruits and sprouts so for me it is all an everyday thing without anything intimidating at all.

But I am doing something new. I have never made my own green juices because I have never had a juicer that will juice greens. I just bought a manual one and it should arrive next week.

[Daisyhead]

I am intimidated by anything that goes beyond wash and enjoy. I am not the cooking type. I am only on my 5th day, and I figure I will buy a dehydrator and/or a vitamix for myself as a reward if I am still raw by Mother's day. I need to learn to do the uncooking part of things. Oddly, I am fine with opening the coconuts. I watched a video on YouTube. I'm glad you found them. They are a gift. I love them so much. I make my kids a Shrek Smoothy with Coconut, Pineapple, Banana and Spinach

[smiley]

For me, it is making chocolate and working with irish moss. I love chocolate and desserts with irish moss in it. I even bought a package of irish moss once and it sat for a long time before I gave it to a friend (and I think it is still in her cupboard). With the chocolate, the tempering process (of heating the chocolate) is intimidating to me. So, I just buy what others make...but one of these days, I will tackle it. :cheer:

[MysticTree]

For me, it is making chocolate and working with irish moss. I love chocolate and desserts with irish moss in it. I even bought a package of irish moss once and it sat for a long time before I gave it to a friend (and I think it is still in her cupboard). With the chocolate, the tempering process (of heating the chocolate) is intimidating to me. So, I just buy what others make...but one of these days, I will tackle it. :cheer:

Tempering chocolate isn't a raw technique

[snoops]

Irish moss - have some in the pantry for about 2 years now.

[DebB]

I'll go with the Irish moss too - I still don't care to work with it because I'm not happy with the results a lot of the times.

Others were growing wheat grass and making sauerkraut and other fermented veggies and drinks.

[MysticTree]

Irish moss - have some in the pantry for about 2 years now.

It keeps well so you could give it a go. If nothing else, it adds nicely to smoothies. I tink I have some in my cupboard too but I have never used it blended to a gel. I always just soak, snip it up and eat it.

[Evie M]

I haven't even bought Irish moss yet. I'll try that next. In the meantime for dinner tonight I'm making a carrot/lime/ginger soup with some of the coconut meat from this morning. Can't believe I've been strong enough to leave some for the soup. It's sooooo good.

[breathless]

I'm intimidated with the idea of sprouting. I would love to start, but I'm overwhelmed.

Evie, congrats on opening the coconut. I have always been intimidated by opening coconuts as well, but it doesn't matter since I have not been able to find any Thai coconuts in my area. You have inspired me though. The minute I see one, I will buy it and not be intimidated.

[PansyLo]

I'm overwhelmed by most things. Like sprouting. I have tried it but I'm terrible at it and honestly I think a lot of spouts taste horrid. I liked alfalfa but the others I tried (or bought ready done) I had to work on masking the taste with something else to even eat them.

I totally googled how to open a coconut too haha.

I've always been a good cook so mostly raw is about learning and getting used to this way of "cooking" things.

The things that intimidate me most involve growing things. That is not my forte. I kill houseplants and goldfish. Thankfully my mother is getting pretty good at it and I'll be living with her for at least the summer.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

Others were growing wheat grass

That makes me feel sad when l read this. Such a pity you gave up on the wheatgrass. Deb, l would definitely give it another try if your climate isn't too stifling hot, it is sooo worth it, the most worthwhile food of them all...perfect to have in the morning to set up your day, and definitely recommended if you are doing a fruitarian diet (wheatgrass would enhance the fruitarian diet dramatically). There are lots of different ways to overcome the growing problem and l am more than happy to help you sought it out so you get the grass growing right. l recall you mentioned that you had problems with white fur, if so, it can be fixed. l recently made a post in the sprouting section about such an issue. lf you want to give it another try and want some help, please ask me.

Remember...hydrogen pyroxide is our friend.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

I'm overwhelmed by most things. Like sprouting.
Please don't be overwhelmed by sprouting, just give it time to sort the problems out by experimenting with it. Just make sure you have good seeds. Also try taking the time to read the sprouting topic here, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Sprouting is cheap, and they are the most nutritious land food on earth, no other health foods come close except for water based algaes and seaweeds.


I'm intimidated with the idea of sprouting. I would love to start, but I'm overwhelmed.


See post above.

[MysticTree]

sprouting really isn't difficult and there are so many different seeds to try sprouting.

You can even get automatic sprouters but it really is an extravagance and uses electricity and is fundamentally un-necessary; seeds want to grow. It is the one thing they are programmed to do so take a look at some you tube videos of people growing sprouts and please try again.

[PansyLo]

Everyone says it's easy but so is keeping a pet goldfish.

Me and growing things are not friends. That said I'm going to try again using the detailed instructions in the "Sprouting Thread". They're more specific than the instructions on the back of the seed packets etc. Maybe I'll have more luck yet.

That also said in the past I've looked up exact instructions on how to best care for goldfish and they still always died...

[MysticTree]

Everyone says it's easy but so is keeping a pet goldfish.

Me and growing things are not friends. That said I'm going to try again using the detailed instructions in the "Sprouting Thread". They're more specific than the instructions on the back of the seed packets etc. Maybe I'll have more luck yet.

That also said in the past I've looked up exact instructions on how to best care for goldfish and they still always died...

Try these videos ... I love his soothing voice as well as the sprouting. I'm wondering what time of year you've tried sprouting before. http://www.youtube.com/user/sproutpeople

How warm has the place been where you have kept your sprouting sprouts?

If you have a freestanding fridge then you can use the heat generated by it to help your sprouts grow. My father wrote a pamphlet about it many years ago but I don't have a copy any more ...

Basically it runs as follows.

four suction feet or large blobs of blu-tak.
Stiff wire - even wire coat hangers if that is all you have.
Clear polythene - you can get from a ironmongers or garden supply place.

Use the wire to make a box-frame about the same size as the top of your fridge or freezer.

Use the polythene to cover making sure the back piece has a flap that goes back and against the wall (use tape if need be) to allow hot air from the metal fins on the back of the appliance to rise into the makeshift greenhouse you are making.

The front needs to be another flap that allows you access to the sprouts for daily rinsing and also to ventilate the greenhouse and to stop it getting too hot.

I'll see if I can find a picture.

[MysticTree]

and this is an example of an automatic sprouter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PJP4yUco6E&feature=related

i (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PJP4yUco6E&feature=related)f a machine can do it then it must be easy!

[rawconvenience]

Have been slowly converting to raw so I also am a little intimidated going forward. My menu is pretty much the same week over week so reading about new ideas is welcome. A little intimidated? I'd say a lot intimidated; but I'll get over it.

[Evie M]

And that's just why I asked this question. I can make a souffle and tempura and fabulous pot roast. But I'm not making those kinds of things anymore. Raw food is mostly about the quality of ingredients but it really can get boring without looking for new recipes and techniques to prepare that fabulous food. It also would get very expensive to buy what is really easy to make at home - once you know how. I'm surprised at how much people will spend on Rejuvelac when it's one of the easiest "fix it and forget it" recipes. There have been so many recipes I wanted to try that included fresh coconut meat. Now I know I can make them.

The first raw cookbook I bought had beautiful photos, but it was like reading another language (dehydrator, spirooli, agave, raw pasta, hemp!!?, enzymes, etc.) I returned it after a few days then bought it again a year later. I use it quite a bit now.

[Raw Angel Mom]

So funny, it took me a while to finally do a water fast. Two years of thinking about it and finally did it. For the coconut, after watching Alissa's dvd, i felt inspire and gave a try quite sooner, I DIDN'T know we could eat the meat, it is only a few years after, i finally did it the right way and make recipe with all of it.

Congratulations on opening your first young coconut!

[adobegirl]

I am intimidated by fermented food. I have made Kimchi many times in the past before but I fermented it in the fridge for the most part. At one time, years ago, I tried to make Kombucha but I got paranoid that it was going to get a bacteria that would kill me (which is my overall issue with fermenting) and I ended up throwing it away. I saw a sauerkraut recipe on here once and tried to make it but after it sat on my counter for a few days, I got too paranoid and couldn't eat it. I want to make it but I'm a scaredy cat... I have no problem eating fermented food made by other people though.

[BlackKat]

I guess I'm intimidated most by dehydrating although it's probably one of the easiest of the "raw appliances". I've done blending, juicing, sprouting. Once I get one and experiment I'm sure it's easy to get the hang of. The other thing I'm intimidated is the more extravagant gourmet raw dishes. The ones i've tried haven't really come out too well, but I guess i just need practice and to find the things I like best.

Oh and I'm intimidated by gardening. I really REALLY want to start my own, but I know nothing about it, no experience whatsoever so it will definitely be a learning experience.

[Evie M]

BlackKat,

I don't know a thing about gardening either. I've planted a few things in the past and had a few tomatoes and peppers. But I think it was just dumb luck that I had anything to harvest. I'm going to try again this year.

Bet the animals eat everything before I get my chance.

[walnutty]

My very first green smoothie...lol...I put just a couple of leaves of spinach...ha ha ha...now I put a whole pound of organic baby spinach in my green smoothies!