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Struggling to go Raw

Hello,

Perhaps I am simply looking for some encouragement. I am having a hard time going raw. One problem is having raw foods on hand to eat when I’m hungry. I need more than smoothies, salad and juices. The only recipe that I have been able to make well is the raw brownies. The carrot chips went straight from the dehydrator to the trash so did the carrot cake. The pizza supreme crust I made does not look so hot but I will give it a try. Any help with sticking with it?

Comments

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    yeah, it is tough starting out. nothing tastes right!

    a good dehydrator recipe is the onion bread one on this site. or another type of raw cracker with avocado fills me up. also the no-cook falafel bars. i’m sorry your carrot chips were not so good. i use my pulp from juices which has ginger, carrot, and celery and add flax seeds.

    i use raw revolution bars and lara bars to fill in when I’m on the go and starved.

    some other fun/easy things are different pates in a collard wrap, kelp noodles with some type of sauce.

  • rachel_akikorachel_akiko Raw Newbie

    guacamole, any kind of sauce on noodles made from zucchini with a vegetable peeler, a spinach salad with avocado and tomato with olive oil and sea salt massaged into the spinach to make it soft… there’s LOTS of tasty recipes

  • sweetpeasweetpea Raw Newbie

    Hello, setting a little time aside to make some kind of dehydrated food will help and then the rest is easy if you have smoothies, salads and fruit. Make up some fruit/seed balls too as a filling sweet treat.

     

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    you’ll find it very very hard to mess up flax crackers. They’re gorgeous although very simple. Why not make them and have a batch of cheese and then you can have sandwiches whenever you want. The cheese is here and it is so easy and quick to make: http://goneraw.com/recipes/1619-Cheese-with-Spr… We sell loads and loads of this, everyone loves it. It is very versatile you can do all different flavours, read the comments after the recipe to see what other people have done with it.

    Here is a flax cracker recipe, it is one of the more complicated ones but it is amazing. http://goneraw.com/recipes/656-Renee-s-Crisps

    Try this pizza, or at least the crust, it never goes wrong either: http://goneraw.com/recipes/362-Shazzies-Pizza

    This cake is easy peasy and delicious: http://goneraw.com/recipes/515-Walnut-cream-cak…

    This curry sauce is great over spinach green apple and red pepper http://goneraw.com/recipes/391-Some-Like-It-Hot… All of these are off my profile page, I say if I got them off books, that might help you to find a good recipe book. Also check out my husband’s recipes on his profile, they are very, very popular, the fake meat one is one of our best sellers, it is fabulous on top of bread and cheese as a meaty hearty sanwich. Here he is: http://goneraw.com/account/show/506

    When a recipe messes up put on here exactly what you did and then we can help to find out what went wrong.Everyone on here is obsessed with making raw food, we LOVE to talk about it alot ;)))

    Me and Chris took a very long time to work out our own recipes, and we made many mistakes and threw loads of food away along the way. But every now and then you make something amazing and it is so inspirational and keeps you going. Now we both can rustle up anything and everything really easily. You do have to learn how to make food in a totally new way, but it is very do able, and there is a lot of help, recipes, and support here and all over the internet for you. Let us know how you get on.

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    I never liked any of the recipes that were supposed to mimic cooked foods, either. Now, I like some of them, but just for what they are, not because they really taste like carrot cake! My recipes are made to please people not yet used to eating raw, & they have been pretty successful :) The nuts used in my pie recipes are not really raw unless you order them online – try www.realrawfood.com when/if you ever want to do that, but if you’re not yet 100%, you might try them with whatever nuts you can get locally until you know if you like the taste? The only brand of cacao I use now is from www.sunfood.com and the agave nectar is Madhava brand and labelled RAW on the label.

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    Nut burgers are delicious. taste them before dehydrating… add more herbs/spices if needed. you don’t necessarily need to dehydrate nut patties… just add less liquid if you don’t. don’t get discouraged… uncooking will get easier!

    edit I added my favorite burger recipe to goneraw just for you! Sizzling Walnut Patties

  • Girlfridae1Girlfridae1 Raw Newbie

    I try to come on this site everyday and find something that looks tasty to make. I also go to freshtopia.net to find stuff as well. Once a week I try to make a hearty dip and keep veggies handy to dip in to. Also in the beginning, I would take 2 tbs raw almond butter and mix it with a tbs of coconut oil and a 2 tsp of agave. I ate this gooey concoction twice a day for the first month. Now I find it’s way too ‘much’. Hang in there it will get easier and the changes you will see in yourself will amaze!

    You can do it!

  • thecavsmanthecavsman Raw Newbie

    Fruit, fruit, fruit. Maybe it doesn’t work for everyone, but the best way for me to replace SAD was good quality mangos, pureed dates, greapfruits, etc. I had to learn how to load up on fruit until I was full. Most people have a deep psychological belief that they can’t fill up on fruit. In fact, my friend said to me “I could eat like you, but I’m just always hungry and I know I would be if I ate what you ate” even though I physically eat more than him on a lot of days. I was trying to explain to him that if you eat enough fruit, you will be full.

    So my advice is just to experiment with fruit and eating fruit until you don’t want any more. Sometimes it’s better to be simple. I didn’t even make my first recipe until a week or so of fruitarianism with some nuts – then everything else was added.

  • thecavsmanthecavsman Raw Newbie

    Just to add…maybe you should try some puddings? My favorite is the “no crust key lime pie” but there are others on this site. That recipe was really important once I started preparing food since I could throw it in little Rubbermaid containers in the fridge and then throw it in my bag along w/ fruit.

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    Chocolate pie, chocolate avocado pudding, cauliflower &/or cabbage marinated in something yummy – lots of seasonings & experimenting with different flavor combinations until you find something you like – that’s what seems to make me happy with raw plant foods. I have to feel free to create & have all kinds of yummy flavors. If you like the brownies, make them often while experimenting with other things along the way – I once went for a week or more of eating just huge salads (varying the veggies & dressings), young coconuts and raw chocolate desserts (which included avocado &/or nuts &/or coconut). It was a wonderful week…Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

  • WinonaWinona Raw Newbie

    Take veggies or savory fruits (cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, etc) add oil, lemon juice, and herbs. You can’t go wrong! dill+cucumber, tomatoes+basil, bell pepper+parsley, cabbage+cilantro, etc. Throw it on a bed of lettuce or a flax cracker and enjoy!

  • I tried doing it over night but it didnt work out. The detox was to much and my kitchen wasnt ready for a raw diet. So for now we are doing 95% Vegan and raw Wed. and snacks. This has been working out fine for 2 weeks now and I plan on keeping this up and adding maybe every month or so more and more raw.

  • ap you are not alone. I have an impossible time with raw just due to the shear magnitude of planning you have to do. I am not a meal planner. I am not a fruit/veggie person and I am pretty close to giving up as well. These folks are a great help though and with trial , error, and lots of thinking ahead we can do as much as we can do. I’m with those who are content to gradually increase raw/ I actually ate raw all day yesterday just by accident. Eventually it has to stop being an obsession with food and just what you put on your plate. I’m not sure if I am encouraging you or me but rambling on sometimes helps to sort things out in my mind. Anyway eat well, and be happy cause that’s all that matters in the end.

  • Fruit salad is really satisfying for me right now. I just grab one fruit of each one I have on hand and cut them up into bite sided pieces. When I eat it I eat one bite (one fruit per bite) at a time. I feel so satisfied by the range of delicious flavors I get, and I eat like 2 full cups of it so I get pretty filled up ;)

  • bittbitt Raw Newbie

    i am so tired at night after work i really don’t like to cook much. most nights lately i have a green smoothie. i just throw a bunch of great ingredients in the blender and press 2. it’s so easy and delicious. for lunches i have a salad. i have more complicated things on the weekend. you don’t have to be a gourmet chef to be healthy.

  • So far I’ve been over 75% raw for a month and I haven’t touched a smoothie, hardly had juice, and barely touched salad. For breakfast I soak steel cut oat groats in water for about 20 minutes, mix in fruit, agave nectar, and nuts, lunches I’ve been eating mostly chopped veggies and fruit, lots of nuts, some lettuce wraps, and making all sorts of raw meals for dinner. (relying on Gone Raw for lots of yummy recipes!) I don’t even own a dehydrator (though I have one in the mail right now!!!!!) or a juicer. What helps me is to pack a hefty raw lunch to take to work, and snack throughout the day. Get that three-meals-a-day dogma out of your head. That’s not how all other animals eat, why should we? Raw foods digest quickly, so you need to refuel on a regular basis, like every couple hours. However, if you are switching over from omnivore to raw, I suggest going vegan first, with a little raw mixed in, and take baby steps so you don’t overwhelm yourself.

  • I think it’s important, too, to decide for yourself what works best. Are you a meal planner, crazy recipe-lover? Or do you like simple, spontaneous and easy? Do you like shopping at the grocery store, visiting farmer’s markets, and natural foods stores? Or do you want to get in and get out? If you are a planner, than plan out your week’s lunches and dinners and make up your shopping list. I find it helpful to put a note next to the recipes that require advanced prep. Then I write on my whiteboard something like this:

    Sat: Soak nuts at lunch so they are ready for dinner Sun: Start dehydrating onion bread recipe so it is ready for Monday’s dinner

    If you aren’t the planning type, then just grab and go. It’s always easy to grab a handful of raw vegetables or raw fruits, some nuts or seeds and just eat. You don’t even have to mix any of that together if you don’t want to. It’s like living outside! You just grab and go!

    If you like grocery shopping and visiting different stores, do a bit of research and see what is in your area and check some of the places out. If you aren’t so keen on that idea, then you can do a lot of ordering online. If you order enough, many sites will even make shipping free for you. That’s one way to avoid the hassle of dealing with going to the store.

    As for quick snacks, I always have nearby the following: nuts, fruit, and lara bars. Every day when I come in to work, I bring a small paper bag with with me that is filled with fruit and some bars. I keep big bags of nuts on my desk at all times. Pick things that are easy- a banana, some grapes, an apple… trying to peel and eat a cactus pear at your desk at work might be hard. :D

    As for wasting food, I’ve been working on eating about 85-90% raw for about 5 weeks now, and I’ve wasted my fair share. I think it’s just part of the process. It’s kind of like when you first move out on your own. You have the good ‘ol standby meals from Mom, but then you start experimenting on your own. Some are winners, some losers, but you never know until you try. There are so many recipes out there, I don’t think I’ve repeated a single one yet (well, except for my green lemonade every morning!). Just keep a binder or something like that together somewhere and put your recipe print-outs or cards in there. If you try something, and you don’t like it, just take that one out of the binder. As time goes on, you’ll fill that binder up with a plethora of recipes that you love!

    Best of luck!

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