Finding the time to make a variety of raw dishes

[Maria]

Hi everyone, I've been raw since Jan. 1 and I really like it! I don't have a lot of cravings at all for regular food. "Cooking" raw is a whole new learning curve for me, and I work long hours 6 days a week. I have a dehydrator and I've made flax crackers out of Alissa's book. (Delicious!) My problem is to find the time to make the recipes, and I end up eating a lot of smoothies, salads, and green juices. Nothing wrong with that, but it gets a bit boring. I'm going to start sprouting more grains and dehydrating on my day off. Any suggestions for easy recipes that don't call for gazillion ingredients? More often than not, I don't have many of the ingredients on hand when I'd like to make something. How do you best get organized?
Thanks,

Maria :)

[Rawmney]

Hi Maria,

I strated about 3 days ahead of you, so here are my thoughts from "experience" LOL!

I try to sit down on Sunday and plan the dinners at least for the week, then shop and prep some things that can sit in the fridge. Maybe if you plan a bit, you can add more variety even to the simple smoothies or salads you are having.

My problem has been taking on too many new recipes and feeling like the kitchen slave (I'm also cooking for my husband, although we might share a pesto or pad thai sauce, for example). Seems to me I need to repeat some of the recipes I have learned each week and only try to add one or two new ones. The familiar ones are quick to add to the shopping list and to prepare. I'm also more likely to remember any advance soak times or other prep on these.

Glad you started this thread. I'll look forward to what others have to say.

Best,
Rawmney

[karenisraw]

Maria,

Here is one that you will always be able to make, no matter what you have in the fridge, (assuming that you have "something" in the fridge). I call this my "good stuff kibbles". All you do is take a some of everything in your fridge, It doesnt matter what it is, (produce) and chop it up VERY VERY fine, diced, even the lettuce and herbs. Then you make a dressing of whatever you can throw into the blender or shaker, (I usually use olive oil, garlic, ginger, turmeric, salt, pepper and a little vinegar and sometimes basil or cilantro). Throw the dressing into the "kibbles" stir and eat or let marinade. I make a HUGE bowl that lasts me 2-3 days. It tastes great and the tiny diced veggies makes a very pleasing and interesting texture.

If you buy different produce every week then your "good stuff kibbles" turns out different every week.

Yeah!

k
:p :p :p

[SamuelWilson]

A good suggestion is freezing portions of raw food meals, like soups. As far as I know, freezing only destroys Vitamin E in nuts. I think the damage is minimal. So for example, on your off day, you could make one of my raw soups. You just use the SEARCH button (banana icon) from the main menu of the rawfoodtalk.com website. You then type "SamuelWilson" and this will show you all my threads and posts.

I would make an extra large batch of any raw soup of choice and then freeze them in portions. Then, take the portion(s) you want and put them on the counter. By the time you get home from work (even if it is 12 hours later), the soup should be thawed and ready to eat. This will allow you to have a satisfying meal with out having to worry about spending all that time to fix it when you get home.

On the dehydrated items, I would get a dehydrator with a timer if you don't have one already. I ordered the Excalibur 9 tray with a timer. I will be able to set it and forget about it. If I am not able to get back to my dehydrator in time, at least my items won't be over dry. If they get cold, I can just simply turn the dehydrator back on until they are warm.

[RawTruth]

Go for the fast and easy recipes in Alissa's book. They are:

*Mock Salmon Pate
*Portabella Mushrooms stuffed with Guacamole
*Broccoli Soup
*Collard Wraps (stuffed with marinated mushrooms, guac & chopped veggies)
*Onion Dip
*Angel Hair Pasta w/Marinara
*Pesto-Stuffed Mushrooms

There are 7 recipes that I guarantee have few ingredients and can be whipped up in 10 minutes. You will have enough for a few meals with each recipe. And ... several of them are really versatile ... the pate and the dip can be used as dips or in wraps or on top of a salad or scooped up with crackers or celery sticks or .... use your imagination.

So ... these are two weeks worth of recipes easily. Just jot down the ingredients, make your shopping list, stock your kitchen with them and you're all set to augment that basic smoothies & salads routine you're now in.

And ... if you're wanting sweets, you can't beat the Date Nut Torte and the Fudge Balls for simplicity -- 3 ingredients max!!

How can anyone say it's hard to be raw?

[Sarah]

Onion dip?!! Gosh, I wish my book would hurry up and come! ;)

[Maria]

THANK YOU ALL for your suggestions!! I will try organizing meals for the week and mark those in Alissa's book that you suggested. I just feel a bit overwhelmed, but I know as I get more into preparing these dishes the mystery of the uncooking will unfold. Yeah! Raw is being a happy camper! :) My body feels peaceful and free of the struggle of digesting food that only made me feel bloated, sluggish, or down.

Maria

[exurb]

Maria, my organizational uncooking trick is that I get up earlyish on Saturday morning, then do a few recipes all in one go, which gives me some staples for the week. I vary what I make but it's usually three things: a cracker, a nice cookie type thing, some burgers/neatballs/patties/faux crab cakes/etc. (or sometimes pizza crusts), Then I whip up a seed pate or hummus or something like that, and I'm done for the day. A few days later I might make a nut cheese for pizza or another gourmet recipe, but I'm pretty much good for the week for dehydrator stuff and "staples" after Saturday morning.

[Maria]

Exurb, you're wonderfully organized. I realize I have to get organized to the variety I need. I did sprout a bunch of buckwheat and wheat these last couple of days ot make up some recipes for the dehydrator on Sunday. Alissa's book is great, but it takes a lot of time to go through the recipes and decides. You guys have helped me a lot by pulling out the easiest for me to try now.

Maria -- grateful for the advice.

[RawTruth]

Maria -

You needn't try to tackle Alissa's book on your own -- just turn to page 61 and she has your 4-week shopping and food prep guide all done for you. There's the shopping list for each week and every single recipe - what to fix for the week. And there's soo much food left over that you'll be able to treat those around you!

So, that takes the thinking out of it -- just do what she says and you're set for a month.

[michigan roman]

maria, i was just gonna post this idea when i read your post so i"ll post it here also . i always chop up tomatoes then cover them for my salads every night in a olive oil , garlic , basil , oregano , pepper , sea salt , splash of apple cider vinegar dressing . well tonight i was thinking about an earlier post i made about a pizza type trail mix when i was making my tomato and dressing combo for salad and i decided to try filling a ceral bowl half full with raw sunflower seeds then spooning on a bunch of the marinating tomato mixture and its good . its like pizza or pasta , boy i love it . and it takes zero time . this next bowl im going to try adding in some brocoli , and maybe raw mushrooms and green pepper . and you could make enough of this marinating tomato mixture to last for a few days in fridge then just spoon it over your seeds and if vegis when eating .

[eachpeachpearplum]

Have a read of my reply to this post:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10706

Also as i have need less sleep now I find I do most of my prep work & meal making at night after everyone has gone to bed.

:p

[eachpeachpearplum]

Maria,

Here is one that you will always be able to make, no matter what you have in the fridge, (assuming that you have "something" in the fridge). I call this my "good stuff kibbles". All you do is take a some of everything in your fridge, It doesnt matter what it is, (produce) and chop it up VERY VERY fine, diced, even the lettuce and herbs. Then you make a dressing of whatever you can throw into the blender or shaker, (I usually use olive oil, garlic, ginger, turmeric, salt, pepper and a little vinegar and sometimes basil or cilantro). Throw the dressing into the "kibbles" stir and eat or let marinade. I make a HUGE bowl that lasts me 2-3 days. It tastes great and the tiny diced veggies makes a very pleasing and interesting texture.

If you buy different produce every week then your "good stuff kibbles" turns out different every week.

Yeah!

k
:p :p :p

I did this today - great idea, loved it!!! :eek:

[JinxieKat]

Portabella mushrooms with guacamole is sooo easy it is silly. Took me all of 10 minutes to make the other night. I think it is going to be my Friday night staple as I work 11+ hours that day and come home zonked. It sounds like for the most part you are ok with the simple fair you are eating so far. Perhaps take your one day off to do a full fledged meal for the week, then keep the rest of the week simple. Could keep the bordom down for you?

Jinx

[exurb]

Maria, your post reminded me of another little organizational thing to save time/hassle/washing sprouting vessels, etc...

If you're using buckwheat, you can soak enough for two batches of stuff, and make both a sweeter cookie/bar/granola/whatever type of thing out of half of it, then a pizza crust or cracker out of the other half. If you make the sweet one before the savory, you really don't even have to rinse out the food processor as well.

[Maria]

Thanks again for all of your suggestions. I've made crackers several times, and I put everything on those. I tried the guacamole stuffed portabellas, and they are YUMMY! I've also tried the collard wraps, but I used romaine salad leaves instead. Made soaked cashew milk this morning with dates and poured over dehydrated sprouted wheatberries. They came out too chewy in my opinion. It was almost like chewing non sprouted wheat berries. For a horse maybe...
I've made marinara sauce and that's a dream. I've been soaking stuff overnight and then before I go to work, I put things in the dehydrator and they are ready to eat when I get home around midnight.

Again, you all inspire me and keep me going on this new adventure. Six weeks and counting, and I feel good.

Maria

[danened]

I have been struggling because I am so used to defrosting something in the morning and then cooking it... I now have to think differently so that will jsut take time to learn new habits and unlearn old ones...

To help my mind wrap around what I need to do, I made a spreadsheet, but a plain old calendar would work just as well. On my spread sheet I have the days of the week- I plug in what I want to have on what day and then I back track on the sheet and plug in if that meal needs sprouting or dehydrating. I plan a week at a time and then I can look at each day and know if I need to get something ready for a later meal.

I would love to get to the point where I am organized enough to do my preparation on the weekend like some of the members posted. I just haven't learned how long things last in the refridge and what things freeze well etc.

Hope this helps!

[exurb]

danene, on what you said, you can also freeze some prepared stuff like your nut burgers if you desire that "having something ready to go in the freezer". Raw crackers, cookies, pizza crusts, bars, stuff like that will last really well even just in the cupboard, it's the other stuff that gets more tricky and variable as to how long they last.

The focus of my Saturday morning uncooking is the staples, so I'm stocked for the week with some basics. Then other cooking is more optional and fun and based on whatever whims are flying around.

[RawTruth]

Made soaked cashew milk this morning with dates and poured over dehydrated sprouted wheatberries. They came out too chewy in my opinion. It was almost like chewing non sprouted wheat berries. For a horse maybe... Buckwheat will do the trick here -- sprouted & dehydrated. Just toss it with some date puree, cinnamon, vanilla, a little sea salt, some seeds and nuts -- I guarantee it won't be too chewy, but, rather, crunchy and granola-like. A perfect foil for the cashew milk.

[Maria]

Thanks, Rawtruth, for the buckwheat suggestion. I really like the idea of cereal in the morning and the protein in the nuts really holds you over to lunch, or whenever you get the munchies.
Found some "blood" (red) oranges today, which I LOVE. And raspberries! :)

Maria

[Maria]

Danened, spreadsheet sounds like a very good idea. I've been sprouting everything in sight and then I go look for a recipe to fit what I sprouted, but it should be the other way around. I KNOW THIS, yet.... Uncooking is not that complicated; it's just changing one's thinking. It's like learning cooking all over. I made wheatberry/flax seed crackers today, and they are good.

Question: I had to interrupt the dehydration today and the crackers weren't completely dried. I then put them on another cycle when I got back from work. Is there a problem with doing something like this?


Maria

[RawTruth]

You should keep dehydrating straight through. It's okay to run the dehydrator when you're not at home.

[Maria]

I made Alissa's Raspberry Banana Cream Pudding Pie today. It tasted heavenly but came out soft like a trifle.

Also made some nut balls of my own invention of sprouted pumpkin seeds, walnuts, Brazil nuts, carob, dates and honey. I froze those to have a single treats because they were so sweet. I hope they will be okay frozen?

I also realize that raw foods can be too rich and sweet for my stomach, just like SAD diet. It feels a lot better to eat single raw fruits than it does to eat desserts.

[Maria]

Oh, the wheat/flax crackers tasted great but the wheat berries were hard as rocks. Could cause dental problems.

[theresaann]

the menu planning thing works well for me. THis is what I do with a chart i made up:

along the top I have

mon tues wed thurs fri sat sun


bfast

lunch

dinner

soak

dehydrate

buy

ON sundays I create the basic plan for the week, then write down what I need to soak on a given day for the next day, what needs to be dehydrated on what day, what I need to buy and when, etc. It makes it so much easier for me.

[Maria]

Theresann,

Thank you for that chart. I think it's a great idea. I've been working with Alissa's weekly menus and followed the shopping lists, which has helped with organizing my meals. However, my stomach can't handle the unsprouted nut pates and dips, or the Alfredo. Is it okay to use sprouted nuts in the recipes that call for unsoaked nuts or will they lose "body"? I find many of the recipes heavy as I have a delicate stomach. The more ingredients I mix, the harder they seem to be to digest. I'm a bit discouraged because I've lost so much weight. I try to eat heavier meals and my stomach acts up. I lose weight very easily and I was thin to begin with. My friends are worried about the weight loss so I don't get any support from them. (I don't have any kind of eating disorder.) Anyway, I'm okay with salads and fruit, but they aren't satisfactory all the time, and I don't want to lose any more weight. Any suggestions?
Thanks,

Maria