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He'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain....

spiritedmamaspiritedmama Raw Newbie

...So I need to rally my troops! My husband told me yesterday that he is frustrated that we all eat different things now (my brother is visiting, who eats ABSOLUTELY NOTHING healthy, I eat raw, and my family eats only whole foods). So, he said that from now on, whatever I make he and my children will eat too- even if it is RAW!! I am so excited, but don’t want him to change his mind. So, I need some seriously man-friendly recipes. I can tell you that he has tried the raw pizzas and breads and they are a no-go (I still haven’t found any that I like either). But, he does like crazy bread crackers…who wouldn’t! He also likes green smoothies, & walnut taco filling. He has said he will not give up his coffee, or potato chips.(I hope everyone doesn’t mind that I am thinking this through out loud).

Here is a possible game plan: Make lots of green smoothies and raw salads during the day. For dinner, make either a veg. meal with lots of raw foods (i.e. springs rolls with veggies, the rice paper isn’t raw but it’s a step in the right direction, and a raw dipping sauce; or maybe a veggie stir-fry where I cook the rice, but the veggies are raw, etc.). Then, of course seal the deal with an amazing raw dessert.

I really need some help here for recipe ideas specifically for moving people out of a meat-based dinner meal. Thanks in advance! I really feel hope for a raw- or mostly raw- family!

Comments

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    Make big, chunky meaty burgers and serve with raw ketchup, mayonnaise, lettuce and pickled cucumbers. Tortilla recipes are good too. Try the dehydrated and marinated mushroom recipes, they taste and have the texture of meat, Chris posted one which we eat a lot. You can make kebab out of them. I think the amzing dessert idea is great, it always makes people feel filled up and as if they have been decadent. Soups which have chunks of avocado, broccloi, onions and spring onions in them are filling and satisfying too. Chilli is a good one too, very ‘manly’. I’ve found that non raw food eaters always LOVE the banana crepe recipe, it is so gorgeous and easy to make. Good Luck, I hope they all turn raw!!

  • kandacekandace Raw Newbie

    Awesome! It really helps to have the person you are living with supporting you and, better yet, eating with you! Ray and I ate quite a bit of sushi, mexican food, middle eastern and thai before going raw. So, we now make raw feasts with a theme.

    For a thai dinner, try pad thai and one of the coconut soups. Or a suhi-like nori rolls with a cucumber salad. Or create a mexican feast (make guac, taco meat, pico, tortillas, etc).

  • jenergyjenergy Raw Newbie

    Spiritedmama, that is so exciting!! I wish my husband would eat like me, but he’s a staunch omnivore. I have been serving a big ol’ loaded up veggie salad with dinner every night, though, and I do a lot of raw fruits for snacks & lunches on the weekends, so his level of rawness is higher than it used to be. I still haven’t gotten him to try a smoothie, but I’m not giving up!

    I think about things like, what about when I’m 80-something and in fabulous health and raring to go, do I want him to be a disease-riddled, cranky old man I have to caretake, or do I want him right there along with me in good health? Well, DUH. There’s a no-brainer. So I’m doing what I can to sneak in healthier foods (stealth-health, HA!... sorry… ;o) without nagging him to death. Because as soon as my concern is perceived as nagging all he hears is “Blah, blah, blah…” and he digs in his heels and crosses his arms and that’s the end of it. Hrmmmph.

    So I don’t really have any food suggestions, being brand-new to this whole thing myself, but I wanted to say congratulations to you and just how awesome it is that your family is coming around to your way of living.

    We all become enlightened at a different pace. And I’m persistent. ;o) Heh.

    Love, Jen

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    Bt the way Spirited Mama, men often say that going raw does wonders for their, ahem, sexual performance…appealing to the nether regions is such a great motivational tool!

  • Hi,

    That is so funny! I just read that pecans in particular have the male function capability to the point of curing impotence! I am also trying to get my boyfriend and parents to eat more healthy. I’ve had the same experience so far that the walnut taco meat stuffed in marinated mushrooms was a big hit. I put toothpicks in sideways so they could eat them better because the mushrooms were really slippery. I had some fancy ended ones that also made it more fun. I was just over at my moms for a couple days while her dog Pom Pom was having boxer puppies. She is in a wheelchair since her achillies tendon snapped. The puppies are all healthy and cute. We didn’t have time to cook during something like that which was all afternoon and night. We had a great marinated salad of corn, vidalia onions, and cherry tomatoes that was great, a fruit salad with mangoes and kiwis, and the stuffed mushrooms. Today I’m going to try the mushroom recipe from this site on my boyfriend, Al to see if he can eat it more regularily. I told him if he could cut down by 75% that would be great because he eats as much meat as a small village- he thought that was funny. I am going to experiement with making my own spiral pasta from spiral sliced veges on the dehydrator. The idea is to make a raw pasta salad that people who aren’t excited about vegetables can eat.Yours truely, Liz..=)

  • spiritedmamaspiritedmama Raw Newbie

    Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions. It is going to be a little challenging, but I know once he has tried it for a week he will feel the benefits 3 fold. As for my 13 year old son, as my husband said…he will just have to deal with it. I know it would be even better for him because he has sensory processing disorder. We have managed it very well by only eating whole foods (no chemicals, hyrdro. oils, etc.) from the time he was 6. But, with puberty starting to kick in, all that effort is going down the tubes as his body chemistry is changing. So, time for another change. I KNOW this will help him tremendously as I know in my heart (and from all the kids that I treat in my pediatric occupational therapy practice) that the reason we have such an increase in diagnoses such as ADHD, sensory processing disorder, autism, etc. is because we as a nation are poisoning our food supply and thus, ourselves.

    o.k. off the soapbox. I am just feeling so hopeful for the health of my family. Thank you all again for the great suggestions, and please keep them coming!

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Have you made him some raw potatoe chips yet? Not the greatest raw thing to eat but if he won’t give up chips at least he can munch on some healthier ones! I make Alissa Cohen’s Sea Salt and Vingear ones – they are so good! They are easy to make too.

    Have you tried making him some ‘rawsage’? It is supposed to resemble meat and you can make different flavors. There are a few ways to make it. My bf makes it with mostly soaked flax seeds, adds the spices, shapes it into a sausage and dehydrates it. He has made Italian, Mexican and Polish and a few others. There is also a recipe by the Bouentkos in one of my books – I have not tried that one yet but you can make it Italian or Mexican or whatever(just add the proper spices). If anyone is interested, I’ll post the recipe.

    Raw fettucine alfredo is super filling too. I do mine with spirilized zucchini and super rich pine nut alfredo sauce.

    I second Kandances’ comment about the Mexican Feast – nothing is as filling as that. I make a sever-layer raw Mexican dip – it is basically raw ‘refried beans’ or my Brazil Nut cheez, avocadoes, my raw sour cream, tomatoes, green onions, olives, shredded lettuce. Super filling! Serve with raw chips or veggies.

    Oh, about the comment about the “male sexual performance” – I can vouch for it. It is almost TOO good for it IMHO. :)

  • I love to make stuffed peppers-I mix the walnut taco meat with raw marinara sauce and top with more marinara on top and dehydrate until warm. Very hearty!

  • Hey queenfluff! That raw sausage sounds awesome! I will try it this weekend!

  • spiritedmamaspiritedmama Raw Newbie

    I have tried one recipe for rawsage that was from The Complete Book of Raw Foods, and it was HORRIBLE! I ended up throwing it away. I would love to try another recipe if you have one queenfluff.

    I think I will for sure try the mexi. layer dish, it sounds wonderful. Thanks!

  • queenfluffqueenfluff Raw Newbie

    Spiritedmama – yeah, that was the recipe I was thinking of from the Complete Book of Raw foods. I won’t try that one than – too bad – most of the recipes in that book are great! It is probably my favorite raw book I own!

    Ok, for the ‘rawsage’: my bf said he needs to dig up the original recipe with the measurements but -here are the ‘base’ ingredients for ‘rawsage’.

    -Soaked flax seeds (you can use brown or golden – golden would be for a lighter colored sausage like bratwurst or summer sausage – brown for like Polish)

    -Sun-dried Tomatoes (these are to give the rawsage a sweet taste as sausages normally have some sweetness to them)

    -Shitkate mushrooms and Burdock root (these, my bf said, are the key to getting a ‘sausagey’ taste)

    -Fennel seed (he told me what this was for but now I forget)

    The soaked flax it what will hold it together. Like I said, I don’t have the exact measurement right now. I have no time this week to play around with it (it has been awhile since we made rawsage and the recipe is buried somewhere!) but next week I’ll fiddle around with it and see if I can come up with some measurements (unless my bf finds the recipe).

    The best way to do it is to combine all the ingredients and run it through a juicer like a GreenStar to get ‘sausage’ look and consistency (I think you would use the blank?). If you have a good strong blender that can handle soaked flax seeds and you can get it smooth that way, that should work too.

    To the ‘base’ you would add whatever spices you need for what sort of rawsage you want to make like for Italian you would add some dried Italian seasoning (or fresh like basil, oregano, rosemary etc). Mexican you could add chili powder, jalpenos etc.

    Also, Ume Plum Vinegar will give it a sweet taste too – like for a bacon-y taste.

    You can shape it into sausages whatever shape you like and put in the dehydrator to remove some of the moistuer (not sure on time unfortunately) – you don’t want it too dry though.

    It doesn’t have a ‘casing’ part – so it will be softish and the soaked flax tends to give it a little gooey-ness.

    It is a interesting dish – some people love it and some people don’t. We used to bring it to raw potlucks and the ones who liked it the most were the little kids! :)

    When I get the exact measurements I’ll post it as a recipe. :)

  • spiritedmamaspiritedmama Raw Newbie

    Thanks! I may give it another try.

  • jenny2052jenny2052 Raw Newbie

    I love the ideas here! I’ll second a few suggestions—-My bf (a BBQ-obsessed Texan) has gone crazy for mexican 7-layer dip with flax/corn chips and pad Thai. He’s actually gone so far as to bring home ingredients for the pad thai and request the recipe so he could make it, so that is very encouraging!

    We also had something amazing at a restaurant a while back that I’ve been trying to duplicate (when I perfect the quantities, I’ll definitely post the recipe), but it was this incredible salad made of:

    -matchstick julienned asian pears (granny smith apples or pears on the underripe side would be a good sub) -matchstick julienned cucumber

    This very simple pair was dressed with a vinaigrette of:

    -white truffle oil -mirin (ACV might be a good sub for this if you prefer) -minced shallots -chopped parsley (flat-leaf) -minced jalapeno -black pepper

    It sounds like such a bizarre combination, but it was amazing. It was light and refreshing, yet the truffle oil gave it this hearty savory flavor that made it seem more substantial. I think it would make a fantastic spring roll filling! We both loved the crunch of the veggie/fruit combo as well—neither of us are big fans of zucchini pasta. But now that the weather is warming up, I could eat this every day.

    As an aside, I’ve found that anything with truffle oil (Trader Joe’s has it at a very reasonable price) is great for transitioning meat-eaters, since it has such an earthy flavor. But I was really inspired by seeing it paired so well with some lighter flavors and textures!

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