Making the kitchen raw friendly ???

[karahbell]

I read in another thread that someone was going to make their kitchen raw friendly...

what exactly does that entail? besides the obvious to me, raw foods.

Is there a creative / particular set-up that makes it easier? All I have is a vitamix blender, a juicer and a fridge... lol

Any tips on this? I want to make eating raw convenient for my son and hubby, they will eat junk if I don't make their food for them... :(

I was thinking of cutting up veggies and dipping sauces ready to go in the fridge...

What are you guys doing if you don't mind sharing? :)

Thank you!!!!

(i usually eat only 65% raw, last night & this morning I ate 100% raw and I feel like I can kick through the wall like the kool-aid man! loving it)

[Frugal Raw]

My first question would be is your son old/interested enough that he would help you prepare things?

I am in a similar boat with my hubster. He says he is "transitioning" and we currently live in shared space, so he deviates at times. What I am doing and will continue to do, is that when I go shopping, I buy ONLY raw things - produce. I do all of the prep - be it just cut up fruits/veggies on a plate, a salad, or things more gourmet or complex.

My stipulation to hubby is that if he wants something cooked to get it and have it elsewhere. We will be moving into our own space in early September, and we will be keeping it as a raw only house. I plan on covering the stove to use for counter space. The day we move in, we'll be starting our day with a run to the farmer's market!

In our house, it's smoothies for breakfast, solid fruits for lunch, and salads or veg pastas for dinner. :) Keep.It.Simple.Sweetie.!

[robh]

The person was probably talking about getting a blender, food processor, juicer, dehydrator, sprouting gear, etc. Another possibility is that they are going to stock it with all the essentials.

[Raw Angel Mom]

It could be a kitchen from temptation free and practical.

As for being practical. I stored my pots and cooking hardware away (i keep them because there are people in our family that come to stay and don't do raw food). I turned off the breaker of my stove and use my stove for storage, i place all of my cake pan there. It is for baking but i use them to make raw desert.

The area of my pots use to be, i have my juicers, blenders, etc..... I bought from Costo, two set of fruit hangers basket. It is a sort of a rack and has three fruit hangers per rack. Very useful, i use mango in my smoothie and many time, they aren't ripe, so i let them ripe there. I use it for my bananas, oranges or any fruits that need to ripe. It is close to the window with a lot of sun.

My stove is flat so i use it to do food preparation. I have two dehydrator, one in the place of the microwave ( i Have no microwave) and one on my counter. My food pantry is mainly use for storage. I have only food to make raw food such lentils, sprout seed, herbs, etc....

I wish i would have the space for two fridges in my kitchen because my fridge is my pantry. I have a full fridge downstairs. My patio porch is decorated with plant basket but the plant are herbs. My plant pot, have tomato, cucumber, peppers, grape and strawberry plant.

I am going to re-organized my kitchen again to have it even more practical.

All the best!

[MysticTree]

I don't have a kitchen. I have 2 work surfaces and a table plus a couple of shelves under a sort of opensided roofed area like a car port outside the caravan. It works ok for us at the moment.

[karahbell]

Raw Angel Mom that sounds like a great set-up! Thank you so much for sharing! I dont have a microwave either... they scare me...lol I need to learn more about preparation so I can make deserts. I am going to make some changes this weekend to my kitchen, thanks a million!

@ Mattye Thanks for the ideas too! My son is 12, and it's so hard to get him to eat certain veggies, however he does prefer them raw, so that's good. I would love to find some good books showing the scientific side of how bad foods effect the body on a cellular size, and how healthy food heals the body... that way when they come home with potato chips or fast food they know exactly what they are doing to their bodies. I showed my son a video of what happens to your colon if you eat dairy and red meat... he was so grossed out! LOL but that worked and now he is mindful of it.

[michigan roman]

http://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Vegetable-Juices-Norman-Walker/dp/B001D0BLW2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343425428&sr=8-1&keywords=norman+walker+fresh+vegetable+and+fruit+j uices

[michigan roman]

http://www.amazon.com/The-Vegetarian-Guide-Diet-Salad/dp/0890190348/ref=pd_sim_b_2

[michigan roman]

those 2 books by norman walker switched me from vegan to raw vegan , ecspecially the raw fruit n vegi one .
notice at raw fruit vegi link the 33 reveiws at page bottom . ive given away at least 20 of them as gifts
over the years because i like walkers outlook so much

[michigan roman]

raw friendly : one thing would be a couple giant cutting boards as have to do alot of vegi / fruit cutting .
another would be giant stainless steel salad bowls , ive got about 6 around 20" or more in diameter not only for
salads but because theyre great for holding fruit - tomatoes - onions - garlic-avacado-etc in around my dining / kitchen counters / hutches

[michigan roman]

these are type salad bowls ive got , but i get cheap at a local and awesome dollar store called DOLLAR TREASURE (one of a kind store thats awesome) for $10 .
link : http://www.amazon.com/Qt-Stainless-Steel-Mixing-Bowl/dp/B000UBC3EA/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1343425989&sr=8-10&keywords=stainless+steel+salad+bowls+large

[michigan roman]

at link is a stainless pet bowl , its too small for salad bowl but im linking it to shoe the best kind of salad bowl to buy imo , this because as compared to first link this bowl has much larger diameter bottom which makes it more stable sitting on table / counter , its the type i have about 4 of = favorite . mine are about 20" in diameter :
http://www.amazon.com/Indipets-Stainless-Steel-Extra-2-Quart/dp/B0033PR750/ref=pd_sbs_hg_45

[karahbell]

Thank you!!!! I have only 1 good stainless steel bowl, the rest unfortunately became dog dishes... lol
I needed to buy some. thanks for the links! I will have to get those books too! I think Jamba Juice sold one of them for a while.

[michigan roman]

also alot of beverage pitchers of choise as keeping ice water in fridge makes drinking healthy quick .
alot of people make ice water with fruit n herbs added into pitcher , this makes more attractive to
your two little bambinos :D

[michigan roman]

heres link to water which i speak http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150978082177436&set=a.114480717435.99528.104062822435&type=1&theater

[michigan roman]

and since you speak of italy you may like this recipe http://radicaleats.blogspot.com/2008/06/texas-chili.html

[MysticTree]

I use my saucepans as bowls and pick up old stainless steel bowls in charity shop for very little money.

[michigan roman]

raw friendly also could be about setting up some type sprout rack in kitchen / utility room : http://sproutpeople.org/

[MysticTree]

I converted a saucepan stand into a sprout jar stand :)

[Frugal Raw]

@ Mattye Thanks for the ideas too! My son is 12, and it's so hard to get him to eat certain veggies, however he does prefer them raw, so that's good. I would love to find some good books showing the scientific side of how bad foods effect the body on a cellular size, and how healthy food heals the body... that way when they come home with potato chips or fast food they know exactly what they are doing to their bodies. I showed my son a video of what happens to your colon if you eat dairy and red meat... he was so grossed out! LOL but that worked and now he is mindful of it.

Very cool! I would suggest "The Live Food Factor" by Susan Schenk. Sounds like it is just what you are looking for!

[Raw Angel Mom]

I want to recommend Alissa's book and especially her dvd, not because this is her site but because in my opinion she is good, lol...

She makes it simple.

Basic thing: Most of the appliance and tool, you most likely have it in your kitchen already but extra, that you many not have would be:


-A nut bag (you can use a nylon gift bag or sow it yourself but most healthy food story sell it now)

-Food processor (no need to be expensive, it cans be just a 30 dollar one, i did two years with a $40 one and it worked great).

-Look into investing into a juicer, you can go with a simple centrifuge one, they tend to be fast but the juice should be drank within 20 min typically, down the road if you are into juicing, you can invest into a more expensive one and low speed such the type of an omega 8000 series or green plus twin gear (great for leafy greens and greens). Both of those juicer are versatile and you can make icecream, nut butter too, but this is an example they don't have to be that brand, i named them so you can look up and know how they looks like.

-A good blender also down the road, a regular blender will do the trick but a very good one such a vitamix or blendtech or ommega (they seem to have a very interesting blender) or whatever brand you find. I like my vitamix they have great warranty and i like to have the variable speed but some, are more then content with a blendtech.

-Wood cutting board (i use a regular cutting board for garlic/onion so i can wash it in my dishwasher but fruit/vegies i love the wood one)

-Knives that work well. No need to pay a tone of money. I paid $17 for a set that i bought at Cosco, they were like different color knives and they work like charm and far better then my other knives. They come with a cover and this is handy when you want to travel.

-I store my nuts in my fridge but my seeds or beans, i use a glass jar and keep them in my food pantry, if i would have space, i would put them in my fridge too.

-Filter your water, if not your body will have to do it for you.

-I love my fruits rack not only i can put them near the sun now, but i have the extra space on my counter.

All the best!