Organizing a Raw day in the raw kitchen

lzhptlzhpt Raw Newbie

Lately I’ve noticed some of what frustrates people is preparation time for recipes involving soaking, sprouting. I wonder what tricks do you employ to keep your favorites ready when you need them? For me, certain things I use frequently are always soaking—almonds and sundried tomatoes. I have fresh fruit at all times, obviously. One trick I use is to soak those raw almonds overnight. They’re ready for me when I need them for recipes. I don’t have great success with sprouting.

Comments

  • clr-1976clr-1976 Raw Newbie

    I could really do with some help in this dept as I have a hard time staying raw with my work life balance and need to get organised!!

    When you soak your nuts/tomatoes do you have to use them the next day?

    I was wondering how long they last once soaked as this would be really handy for me too.

    Do you just store them in the soak water?

    Sorry, lots of questions!

    P.S, last time I tried to sprout – they got maggots!! What the hell?? I think a little fly must have got through the holes in the top of the sprouter, was gross!!

  • jellibijellibi Raw Newbie

    This can seem daunting to me too, and I’ve had the whole summer off; I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like when things start up again in the fall. Some things that have helped me out this summer is:

    -Every Sunday I go to the farmers market and get all of my greens for smoothies and salads. When I get home I wash them all, tear ‘em, put them through the salad spinner, and then they all go into a HUGE tupperware that barely fits into my fridge. I love it because it is usually a mix of kale, spinach, basil, mint, romaine lettuce, a little carrot tops, sometimes beet tops, parsley, etc. and it usually smells divine and looks so beautiful. I know it’s best not to wash your greens until right before you eat them, but this ritual just works so well for me.

    -A few nights a week (usually every other night) I put out almonds to soak before I go to bed and then make almond milk the next morning, and then put the leftover almond meal in the dehydrator to make almond flour. When the almond flour is done I mash it with a banana, some almond butter, salt, and a dash of vanilla and make little cookies for my daughter. I put these in the dehydrator to get warm and firm but we usually eat them all before they are done :)

    -Every Sunday night I make a flax cracker mix, leave it out to ferment a little overnight, and then put it into the dehydrator the next morning. I might make a seed cheese at this time too because my husband likes to have those on his flax crackers.

    Most days we have smoothies, salads, and just plain fruits and veggies to eat all day. Every other day I might make something like pasta, etc. and on those days I try and think about what I might have to soak around lunchtime. Again, I’m not sure what I’ll do about that when my schedule starts up again though. Maybe we’ll just have pastas, etc. on the weekends? We’ll see.

    Hope this helps. I’d love to see what everyone else does and maybe get some more ideas. Especially those of you who work and esp. ideas for kids lunches (school is just around the corner!)

  • angie207angie207 Raw Master

    I buy big containers of organic Spring Mix greens & keep avocados on hand to add to my salads. When I make salad dressing, I make a big batch. I put sunflower seeds in to soak in the morning and make “Cheese With Spring Onions” in the evening – takes maybe 10 minutes to make, including cleanup. I make Brazil nut pancakes – very quick to make after the nuts are soaked, too. For the pancakes, I put the nuts in to soak in the morning, mix up the batter at night, and they’re ready the next morning. I keep lots of fresh fruit on hand, too. I also keep plenty of fruit in the freezer, and I make fruit “ice cream” by mixing frozen fruit with a little agave & water in the Vita-Mix. I like to make pasta sauce in big batches, too, so then I can make pasta by just shaving the zucchini & topping it with pasta sauce, seed cheese & maybe fresh parsley. Crackers once in a great while – again, large batches are my friends so I can have enough to last for a while.

    I would love ideas for kids’ lunches, too!

  • lzhptlzhpt Raw Newbie

    I’m always using the SD tomatoes for dressing or pesto so yes they get used the same day or I refrigerate them and use them the next day. As for the almonds, I make almond butter the next day, a pate or I season them and dehydrate them in a large batch. Thanks jellibi for your ideas. I am the only raw foodist in the house. We have one vegan, one vegetarian and 2 SAD teens. Meals are not as bad as one would think, but my choices are limited in the evening to cooked stir-frys for the cooked eaters who either add the meat separately or leave it out, or chili. Best thing for me to make is a raw pesto or pasta sauce—the cooked people put it on their rice pasta and I put it on my zucchini noodles. My kids make their own lunches and have since they were five so I don’t participate in that.

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