Need a LOT of Help going raw

I have run into several problems going raw and could us some help.

1. I waste a lot of food, I need recipes for one (please that taste good) 2. I work 2 jobs so I need food I can prepare on the weekends that will last at and quickly get when I come in at night, so I am not tempted by fast food (cereal). 3. During the day I am in my car alot so food that I can carry.

I know I am asking for a lot and would appreciate and help you can provide.

Thanks so much. I do have a dehydrator.

Comments

  • Hi, I don’t do alot of raw food recipes. I stick to real basics. I buy cantaloupe, raw cashews (I don’t do well with other nuts), grab a salad, etc. I have a Whole Foods store near me so I can buy cut up peppers, cauliflower, fruit, etc. It gets costly so I don’t do that all the time but if in a hurry its better than turning to other foods that end up making you feel crappy and costing money also. I would think something like the raw crakers, granola (recipes on this site is stuff you could make on weekend and add to the fresh stuff). Hope this helps some. cajcookie

  • You’re right that going raw can be difficult when you’re not home much. It took me a while to find some recipes that fit my sechedule. Every two days I make a batch of pate or dressing and and put it into several glass jars. Then I make carrot, zucchini, and celery sticks and shove them into the jars on top of the dressing or pate. Sometimes I make a date or chocolate frosting to dip apples slices into. This is very portable. A jar of dressing and a whole cucumber is also nice.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Hi Z~ A suggestion for a way to make a big batch of something that will last the week is to marinate it. Rawozzy posted a recipe with a great marinated mushroom & onion recipe. You can probably also use other vegis. You can find it at: http://goneraw.com/recipes/254-Spaghetti-Marina…. You can add this to additional fresh vegis or by itself. You can also chop up (I prefer shredded) a bunch of vegis on the weekend, put them in ziploc bags. That way they are grab and go or you can pick a few out from different bags to make different tasting salads each day. If you seal the bags well, the vegis will last atleast most if not all week long.

  • Raw_ChocoholicRaw_Chocoholic Raw Newbie

    This is one of the reasons I like to recomend a book called The Thrive Diet. In it there are recipes for energy bars, salad dressing which are quick to make, tasy, and long lasting, and the recipes themselves are pretty simple and tasty. Also, you don’t need a vitamix to make them. A coffee grinder and hand blender are usually enough.

    You can also make raw burgers and freeze them, then take them out in the morning and serve them with a salad for dinner.

    Gabriel Cousens also has some recipes for vegetable jerkeys. I haven’t tried them yet but I’ve been meaning to. If you’re interested I can post them.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    lol z~ I reread your post… I don’t think anyone here would knowing suggest a bad tasting recipe to you. lol In that vain, what are your favorite things to eat? What things do you not like to eat? The same if there are texture issues. That will help to focus on a solution that works for you. :-)

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    1—WASTE: since you have a dehydrator: a trick i learned is that any leftover greens you have can be dehydrated whole until they get really brittle. then crumble and put into a bag. this is homemade green powder, ready to stir in to soups or smoothies.

    also, try taking some of the veggies (in combos you would normally like to eat), shred or dice, or stick in a cuisinart type machine, mix with soaked pumpkin seeds. do the seeds in batches so some become “buttery” and make the batter adhere. spread on teflex sheet. i do them either thin like cracker batter, or roll into small balls that i lightly flatten like a burger. the “crakers” will be more like a tortilla consistency (not brittle), and i like the burgers a little underdone—this takes about 5-6 hrs i think (using the cousens method of 135degrees for 3 hrs, then down to 115).

    2—the crackers and burgers will last a while. you can smear some avo and a sliced tomato on top for a quick delicious dinner. ALSO, do you like dates? if the alternative is SAD cereal, i’d say make some date bars. 1 1/2 cups of nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc or combo) & 10 dates. you can add some other dried fruits, some carob powder, cinnamon, etc… blend in cuisinart until they form a solid mass. this should last at least 3 days.

    when i come home after a long day i tend to go for a frozen smoothie. this never goes bad. i freeze any bananas that are getting too ripe and blend with some fruit on hand (or frozen berries).

    3—although most of these suggestions are dehydrating suggestions, the best and most convenient foods are WHOLE foods. bananas, oranges, etc… have their own biodegradable wrapping and are great on the go. do you have a cooler? or freezer bag? just grab a large assortment when you leave and store in your car for the day.

    that was a big long winded, but i hope it helps =)

    p.s. i don’t think it’s so much that being raw is HARD, it’s just anything is difficult to rework into our schedule when it isn’t the MAIN priority. once you get into a groove with it, i trust it will be just as simple, and so much more rewarding.

  • Thanks so much for all of your help!! :-) I already started drying the mushrooms. I only asked for tasty recipes because all of the recipes, because I am really looking for foods I enjoy. And while I like nuts, I don’t seem to enjoy them processed. I am fortunate, I love most vegetables and fruit. The just don’t seem to fill me up and I am not feeling satiated. I will also order the Thrive Diet. I thought if you cut veggies in advance they lose nutrition. Am I wrong?

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    hey z-

    if the veggies and fruit aren’t filling you up you probably aren’t eating enough. it’s scary how much fruit and veg one can consume when one goes raw. my appetite has decreased slightly though, i think because i was used to an intake that was so calorie-dense and my body was trying to make sense of the change. you’ll read stuff on this site like “10-25” bananas for lunch. when i was transitioning i found “manna bread” to be helpful. i have some first hand experience eating this in the car actually. it’s not raw, but it’s better than most bread, and after a while i didn’t need it anymore.

    i would argue that cut veggies do lose some nutritional value, but not nearly as much as veggies through in the garbage. also, they lose nutrients from the moment they are picked from the earth, vine, or tree they came from…

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    z~ I fully understand about getting recipes you like. :-) It is just funny (a humanism) when something like that is said. We are all looking for recipes we like. It would be really funny to find a recipe that has a comment that the recipe tasted like crap… try it. lol

    If you cut up celery and carrots, emerse them in water when you put the cut vegis in the fridge. I usually do this in a tall glass. This will prevent the vegis from getting limp… noone wants a limp vegi, right? ;-)

    Tell us how the mushrooms go…

  • pianissima, all of your suggestions are very good and workable for me. I will now check out manna bread. You are proably correct, about me not eating enough. I guess I get beside myself trying to incoporate variety and maybe I should just focus on staying raw and not so many choices.

  • pianissima, all of your suggestions are very good and workable for me. I will now check out manna bread. You are proably correct, about me not eating enough. I guess I get beside myself trying to incoporate variety and maybe I should just focus on staying raw and not so many choices.

  • Z, I also recommend The Thrive Diet, all the recipes aren’t 100% raw but he offers raw options or low temperature cooking. I have made quite a few recipes from The Thrive Diet, my favourites are the low-temp pizzas, sweet red pepper pesto and the raw burgers. I have the raw burgers for lunch and pack them in a container on a bed of greens with burger toppings like avocado, tomato and onion.

    I also find that Ani Phyo’s recipes are good and portable, I make her coconut breakfast cakes and divide them in smaller batches for the week, also her breakfast pate travels well. Good luck, the portability thing is hard for me too. You just have to get a repertoire of a few things that work for you and it will be so much easier!

  • kandacekandace Raw Newbie

    Wow, sounds like you are quite busy, zrcarter. I’ve found myself moving from working at home (and dehydrating all the time) to mostly making food on the weekends. It has helped even to chop up a bunch of vegetables in a big tupperware and have a home-made raw dressing available to toss with. Also, the cherry nut bars are very filling and easy to travel with. Actually, perhaps making recipes out of the travel category would help as they can be carried around in the car. Also, you could put a small cooler in your car for refrigerated items. Best of luck to you!

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