Hi everyone! My partner and I, after years of being vegan, have decided that our new direction in food is raw. We are both very excited about this and I’m trying to learn as much as I can from reading all your posts.
I have a few questions, however.
What does your daily menu (breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack) look like? I’m trying to figure out ideal items to start us off on each of those meals.
What do you consider to be your STAPLE raw food items? In the cookbook I got, there is great mention of almonds, sunflower seeds and of course is heavy on the organic produce. What items do you find you just HAVE to have in your pantry?
What do you do to keep costs back? We are both students and don’t have a large food budget. We live in Canada and don’t have the best climate for half the year for growing things. Any little tips or tricks to share?
Thanks so much.
Crystal / RaspberrySwirl
Comments
Raspberry Swirl, I started out spending soooo much money, but after only a few weeks, I realized I can eat far less than I did on SAD. I bought tons of different kinds of raw nuts (so very expensive), then realized a little goes a very long way! I also went crazy wanting to try all the cool recipes from this site in my very first week. Believe me, you can’t possibly eat it all, and you may work yourself into exhaustion. Now I try to keep it very simple, and add in the fancy recipes when I’m craving something really different.
For breakfast, I love the “nana milk” recipe from this site, but I double it. If you throw in just a couple tablespoons of nut milk, it can keep you going almost to lunch. And, of course, I often throw in a handful of spinach if I have it. For a snack, I usually have fresh fruit or carrots, or if I’m really ravenous, a handful of raw nuts. For dinner I typically do a simple salad (love heyenglish’s advice on salads), and I have tons of fun making my own raw dressings. If you stick with one dressing per week and make enough to last all week, you can enjoy it until you’re tired of it, and you don’t have to put in the time/money to make different ones every evening!
Some of my raw staples are: sunflower seeds, pine nuts, medjool dates, walnuts, pecans, greens greens greens, bananas, agave nectar, whatever fresh fruit is in season, tomatoes, avocados, cacao nibs and powder, sea veggies (kelp, wakame, dulse, nori), carrots, celery, and probiotic powder.
Another thing I do to keep an eye on the finances is make a menu each week and only shop for my menu. When in doubt, buy less, not more. If you run out of something, you can always run to the market on your way somewhere to pick up what you need. If you over-buy raw ingredients, you’ll lose a lot of money (and nutrients!) on spoiled stuff. It also helps keep you “on the path” since you aren’t making last-minute meal choices. Personally, if I’m really hungry and I don’t have a plan for dinner, I’m much more likely to make unhealthy choices in the name of convenience!
My advice is to build your “raw pantry” gradually and don’t overspend unless you can truly afford it. Use up whatever non-raw things you have leftover and gradually introduce the new lifestyle as you are able and inspired.
WOW! You guys rock! Thank you so much for sharing all this info. This is going to help me heaps and bounds.
I’m going to slowly starting add raw items into my pantry and eventually get myself up to 100% raw after I use up all the regular groceries I have at home (no sense letting them go to waste!).
Thanks so much again everyone so far for your input. x