Hi, I'm not new to raw food and it's been an off and on struggle for me. However, I just finished a very successful 7-day juice fast and am determined to stay at least 90% raw.

It's amazing what you can do when your mind is completely made up and you've decided to stop selling yourself short.

Ok, so I've been looking at recipes and food ideas.....so many of them are quite complex and I'm not sure if I agree that many of the ingredients are really 'raw' or fit into the scheme of what is generally accepted as 'raw'.

Anyway, I plan to keep my diet to the following structure:

Breakfast: Lemon water followed by fresh squeezed organic juice.

Lunch: Nice green salad with dressing (very versitile and easy to take to work)

Dinner: Try some basic simple recipes and a salad (my favorites) are always good at this time too.

Snacks: Smoothies, raw nuts, dehydrated fruit, organic chips and hummus

Occaisionally: Go out to my favorite Vegan restaurant and eat a cooked vegan meal (though I know that soon my body will not want it)

Any suggestions on other things I can add or other ways to keep it simple?

Thanks! This board is very helpful!

Peace, Love, and Happy Raw Year !!!

I'm all for SIMPLE!

I never got caught up in all that dehydrator/pate/multistep food prep stuff, because I'm basically totally anti-kitchen and lazy as can be where it concerns food prep. Saw too many episodes of "Hell's Kitchen" to want to mess with food!

It kills me to make my favorite chopped salad! Takes FOREVER to chop tomatoes, cukes, lettuce, onions...but it does last a while eating it.

So, I'm all for just eating a piece of fruit, or munching carrots, cukes, and peppers with only minimal cutting, etc.

Even my green smoothies are spartan; I only chop what I have to in order to fit all the stuff into the Vitamix.

You are on the right track, IMHO. I will mention, if you have a decent thermos, you can put half of your green smoothie in it and it keeps just fine (cold and fresh-tasting) for up to 24 hours. I just had a 24 hour one, and it was still totally cold and delicious. And the color did not change from when I originally made it. I do smoothies in the AM, and take the 2nd half to work for my lunch. Even less to do that way.

Good luck, and happy new (raw) year to you, too!

Oh, thank gawd...other people who do little more than peel bananas. This is truly the ultimate in fast food

jackie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm all for SIMPLE!
>
> I never got caught up in all that
> dehydrator/pate/multistep food prep stuff, because
> I'm basically totally anti-kitchen and lazy as can
> be where it concerns food prep.
>
> It kills me to make my favorite chopped salad!
> Takes FOREVER to chop tomatoes, cukes, lettuce,
> onions...but it does last a while eating it.
>
> So, I'm all for just eating a piece of fruit, or
> munching carrots, cukes, and peppers with only
> minimal cutting, etc.
>

Oh totally, that's exactly how I am!

And I have no concept of formal mealtimes anymore, either - it's so liberating.

I don't do dehydrators. But I do make elaborate salads, both fruit and veg. And I confess, all that washing and chopping is a total PIA. And shelling nuts, etc. Not to mention the hauls, it takes many trips of very heavy bags from the marketplace to the car, from the car to the fridge. All those bags can sometimes approach my bodyweight.

But the alternative is worse.

Sometimes when I am really tired, from my one or two physically demanding jobs, I will just look at the contents of the fridge and get so tired just looking that I shut the door again. But another hour or two later, the hunger will win out over the tiredness and I go through the motions in a stupor and make my frigging salads.

I do eat some plain fruit in between meals, though. And I bring fruit, nuts, and a nutcracker to work.

Thanks everyone for your responses! I'm looking for some 'Cook'books that will help me learn to prepare foods....any recommendations?


I don't mind preparing food, but I don't want to have to use 50 million contraptions just to make my meals....ya know!


Thanks for the input.

Seajaee

I used to put so much time into food prep. I still do actually when i am using meals for entertainment. But most of the time I just grab some fruit.. this makes up most of my diet and so it really cuts down on the food prep time. I do like smoothies with bananas and one other fruit, but this is pretty fast prep. I like to eat heads of lettuce or bunches of celery as is, which doesn't require any prep either.

Love,
Uma

Yeah, the more involved dinner-style recipes seem like an "every now and then" type thing. Although I did just get a spiral slicer & I love it for squash, beet & daikon radish. I've been making a fairly time-consuming fruit salad for breakfast, but since I'm self-employed it really doesn't matter how long it takes. Thank goodness.

Judy

There's a recipe book by Frederic Patenaude that he boasts as being all about simple. Common, easy to find ingredients, little preparation time. I forget the name of the book. I've never seen any of recipes nor eaten any of them. I used to read his website.



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

i used to bake and bake and bake.... my friends family and husband used to call me martha stewart or betty crocker ( i look back on that now and shiver)

so now.... yes i still have ALL my fancy equipment... but i NEVER use it..... except for holidays or sunday dinners wtih guests....

I hate to chop stuff for salad too... but i just do it once every two or three days....

i blanch some green beans
chop 1 red peper
chop 1 green peper
chop 1 orange pepper
chop 3 tomatoes
chop 1 cucumber
chop 1 head brocoli
chop 1 head cauliflower
slice off two ears fresh corn
1 can garbonzo beans, rinsed

so i mix this all up and put in large bowl in fridge just scoop out what i want on top of salads.....

the other stuff ( that my family doesnt like) like mushrooms, onions and pine nuts i just have in the fridge to reach and add....

so i just do the chopping every 24-72 hours... saves me TONS of time.....

also, i don't cut my leaves either...i just put in a BUNCH of spinach and kale and red leaf lettuce or whatever.. then use my kitchen scissors to work through the bowl from the top.. then add my toppings... dressing and toss and serve...

so that is the MOST work i do except for the one cooked meal a day i make for my family who is about 50 percent raw right now....

for the other 23 hours in a day.... it is all peeling of the nanners...

tiffntwins