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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookHelp! I am a mother of four and have been 100% raw with them and my husband for the last 4 days - TOO MUCH WORK! Soaking this and that - dehydrating this or that to have in time for meals - it's crazy! Am I doing it wrong? I am sick of eating nuts and seeds and if I make one more thing out of cashews I'm going to puke! If there are any of you out there have big families that you're doing this with do you have any words of advice?
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Do a google or yahoo search for a raw family... the mans name is Storm and his wife is GINGEE Or Jingee Not sure on the spelling of her name. They have a lot of great info on raw with a family.
If you feel you are using so many nuts to try to make raw versions or what you used to eat... Why not just stop. RELAX and try doing simple raw meals that don't take mush prep?? I have been known to eat just a peach or banana...an avocado with a few tomatoes mixed in adding a squeeze of fresh lime. Keep it simple and ENJOY your new way of eating. Raw should not add stress to your life...it should add health! HUGS Jodi
Did you go from 100% SAD to 100% raw all at once? If so, you might consider slowing down a bit. Try breakfast and lunch raw (smoothies, salads, whole foods) and then a more traditional but healthy supper (salad, steamed veggies and little or no meat). Then work into more raw with supper. Not everyone who's raw fixes fancy or complicated dishes every day. I rarely fix any, but then I'm a family of one. I know of several who plan the basics for the week, then spend Saturday doing the prep work for the coming week (soaking, dehydrating, even dicing veggies and vacuum sealing them).
Depending on the age of your children, you might want to include them in the preparation. Kids can be pretty creative. If they are teenagers, we have several teenage users on the site who offer suggestions and submit recipes. Preparation could become a family affair. If you feel your family needs more than raw whole foods, you could search the site for "easy" recipes. Click here if you need some tips on navigating the site (searches - reply #2 and #3).
The recipes are nice, but not necessary for a raw lifestyle. Try to keep it more simple. Do the more complicated things for special occasions . . . or once or twice a week. Ask questions. Experiment. There are plenty of members here with a wide variety of experiences. We love to share.
To me it seems like you need to shift your focus from so many nuts and seeds, deydrated, and complicated to more fruits & vegetables, and easy. Find meals you don't have to dehydrate (me and my finacee are 3 months raw, and don't have one) and reserve nuts for garnish or snacking.
Here are some recipe ideas for tried and true favorites that would scale great for a whole family
Pad Thai
http://www.goneraw.com/recipe/pad-thai
Avocado Leaf Wraps
(i can't seem to find the recipe. its somewhere here on goneraw)
Mash up 2 avocados
mix in a bunch of cilantro
add lime, garlic and onion
add sliced/diced veggies if you want.
Heaping spoonfuls on the the Big Leaf
Roll up in collard leaves or other big flat leafy leaves.
Mango Salsa!!
http://www.goneraw.com/recipe/sweet-mango-salsa
We make this at least once a week.
Just cut up Jicama into slices for "chips" to spoon the mango salsa on. We usually have a bowl with nuts/seeds to eat with it. or whatever else.
Spinach Thyme Soup
http://www.goneraw.com/recipe/sumptuous-spinach-thyme-soup
Substitue hemp oil for olive oil if needed.
Cut up chunks of avocado, peppers, other veggies to throw in the soup. This makes it FANTASTIC. it's spicy but with other veggies, it evens out all the flavors.
We made this yesterday
It was AWESOME on apples.
http://www.goneraw.com/recipe/basic-sunflower-seed-butter
Stuffed Peppers with Pesto or nut filling.
PIZZA!
This has got to be one of my favorites lately. it's actually a hybrid that we've created. keep forgetting to add it to the recipes.
Portobello Mushrooms 1 per person
These are the bases for your pizza
Pizza sauce - Blend up Sun dried tomatoes, dates, garlic, onions, and pitted tomatoes (no insides) for a thick paste.
Top with tons of sliced vegetables and top with a nut sprinkle cheese that has nutritional yeast ground with nuts.
We made a curried rice dish.
Parsnips make the best rice ever! Grate or cut into pieces and throw in the food processor.
you get the idea. this makes being a raw foodist EASY.
Guess there aren't many athletes here? I couldn't handle the junkfood you're all speaking about. I suggest either cooking your food, or simply eating fruit and greens. Nothing is easier than taking a watermelon, splitting it, and eating it, also, nothing is more nourishing, or great for the human body, (as all fruits are.) Good day. EDIT : I suggest trying out natural hygiene or low fat raw veganism, google it.
You'll find athletes here and there. Look at the "What Did You Eat Today" thread and you'll find some high fruit low fat raw foodists. Others do eat processed and fatty and dehydrated foods on here, and many of us transitioned that way, too. But some of us are just as happy as you eating good, ripe, water-intact fruit. :)
To the OP, cut out the nuds, seeds, and oils immediately and transition to lower fat using avocados (1/2 of one per day or less) only and eat as much sweet fruit as you like, non-sweet fruit, green leafies, etc. Nuts and seeds and oils and salts and dehydrated foods are not optimal for your body. You need water and fructose and the minerals from greens.
The59sound- I am an athlete who trains everyday. I get so much pleasure eating plain fruit and vegetables! My favorite meal with cutting a cantaloupe or watermelon in half and scooping the "meat" out with a spoon...YUM! It's so simple to be raw when you eat the food as it is.
I don't have a big family but since you're getting a lot of responses from the high fruit/low fat crowd, I thought I'd pop in.
You sound like you're flying by the seat of your pants! Making raw meals that are pleasing to multiple palates will probably take more planning and forethought, like Emtpdmom said. I go to the farmers' market on Sundays usually and that's how I plot my week. For example, I'll make onion bread, flax crackers, crepe wrappers, or corn chips in the dehydrator and we'll have a lot of sandwiches and nachos and such during the week. If the zucchini or beets look good, we'll have a lot of pastas (do you have a spiralizer?) Otherwise there will be soups, salads, sushi rolls, zucchini hummus, lettuce tacos, kelp noodle dishes (because I can buy kelp noodles from Whole Foods if all else fails), and other easier dishes to last through the week. (And sometimes if we have a big lunch, a chocolate or fruit smoothie is all we feel like having for dinner.) I also don't sprout or soak anything much, unless a particular recipe calls for it.
So you might need to take a piece of paper and write down what you need to do for the week, and use time-saving tricks like cutting up veggies in large quantities and using them for a few days, or making extra portions at dinner so you have leftovers for lunch, or spending some quality time in the kitchen on the weekend so you're more prepared for the week to come. In the long run this will probably make life simpler and easier.
Hope this helps...four days is NOT long at all so I completely understand how overwhelmed you may fee!
I think the high fruit/low fat folks need to remember that there are kids in the family and kids have different needs compared to adults.
Also, 4 days of fully raw is incredible; I've spent the past 2 months transitioning down into the raw lifestyle that I'm in today - which is still only raw through dinner. Some days I eat 100% raw, but on most days I have some form of cooked vegetable for dinner. I do have a high fruit/low fat diet, but that's only because I adore fruits compared to vegetables and for this, I end up taking a multivitamin to make up for my loss in minerals.
Keep in mind that it's OK to transition into a raw lifestyle and probably better for your bodies if you do. I know that when I decided to go raw, I just took a leap in the first week and went 100% all the way, got very constipated and shirked by the detox effects, then eased myself out of the 100% raw to where I'm at right now (and I still flub up!). I guess it's all about your body's reactions and how you handle things - same with your hubby and kids - so while raw is preferrable, don't go overboard at first; you didn't spend the last couple decades of your life on raw and you won't switch overnight either. Baby steps!
Misty
Not only do children have different needs than adults, but every adult has different needs as well. I don't think anyone would dispute that, nor contradicted it in their post.
I live on smoothies. I make them for almost every meal. They're very easy to make and it's the fastest way to get a lot of calories and feel full without consuming any fat. Mostly I make green smoothies but sometimes I make them just with fruit.
I have 6 children (3-13) plus my husband and I. We try to eat as raw as possible. For us adults its about 85-95%, with some days at 100%. For my children its 50-75%. However, the portion we do eat thats cooked is not processed, not does it come from an animal, and no refined sugar or other foods. The portion thats cooked is usually ezekial bread, baked potatoes, veggie soups, etc. Very basic.
The kinds of foods my children enjoy raw are... fruit smoothies/shakes, peaches and "cream" w/ raw oats, veggies trays with guacamole, veggie lettuce wraps, green smoothies, raisin/nut/coconut trail mix (or other dried fruit at times), raw pizza, raw tacos, lots of raw "cookies". I think you get the picture. I haven't actually tried raw soups yet, but I'ld like to. I also make raw almond milk and my children love that. I use my Vita Mix to make vanilla "ice cream" using the almond milk.
I think like others have said, try to sit down and plan a little what you'll need for the week, think more simply, and try not to do to many nuts. Cashews can be acidic. And sometimes just fruit is fine for a meal (for the kids), but they'll probably want to eat some almonds or something not to long after. My children eat often. We have our normal breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then they snack in between these meals. Usually fruit, nuts, or something like that (not something I have to make :)
I hope that helps,
Blessings,
Cathy