Hi Everyone!

I have been reading Living and Raw Foods on and off for over three years now.A huge part of me believes that living and raw foods are what we are truly meant to eat. I have been really hesitant to try though because it seems so time intensive...and I don't always want to be "obsessing" over food.

So I have never really committed myself. And then I look at all of your pictures. I think that raw foodists are so beautiful. It is like a "glow beneath the glow" shines in you when you commit to raw. Raw food makes sense to me but it seems like so much effort and I am not so disciplined.

Could you recommend simple, nutrient-rich recipes that I could make using only a blender and a knife?

What have you found to be the pros and cons of raw?

Why have you committed?

With respect,

Sunrise

Hi Sunrise!

I am the laziest person when it comes to food, I just CANNOT be bothered with food prep - neither before raw nor now... before raw I ate raw fruits & veggies plus canned seafood alot because that was something that required NO prep time, and whenever possible I'd buy the cans with the lift-off lids, so I wouldn't have to bother with the can opener even. My raw diet is just as easy (and far less gross, yech canned seafood, I can't believe I used to like that!), except instead of opening cans I just run a fruit or vegetable under the faucet. I don't find raw to be obsessive, either, except in the beginning when I was transitioning I def was, because it was a new thing for me and in order to get the hang of something I have to really focus. Now it's like riding a bike - it doesn't require conscious effort. And I allow for cooked food, I find that when I allow it, I tend to choose fruits & veggies anyway.

Good luck in your food endeavors!

xo
Sunshine

I am spending WAY less time preparing food. We are a family of five and meal prep used to cconsume quite a bit of my time. I actually like to cook or uncook and sometimes I will spend a little more time making something special because I want to and it is still quicker than cooking a big meal like I did in the past. I think of food differently now. It is more about nutrition than about fulfilling some craving. I am spending more time doing the things I love, like painting and being outside. We mostly grab fruits, nuts and vegetables. The time preparing usually consists of cutting a cucumber or something. Raw has been very liberating for us.

you've spend 3 years on a computer but raw food is time-consuming?

the only thing that takes time for me is cleaning my juicer. hate that &^@#, there should be a big centralized one in every city, like the big engine thing in Lang's "Metropolis".

'glow' is proportional to the lack of complications and contraptions

I hate preparing foods.

I my diet consists of plain fruits, salads, juices, and smoothies.

even still it's rare I make salads because i'm just that lazy. =|

I mean preparing foods is cool, i just don't like to live in the kitchen I guess. Its really fun, but then I feel bad about eating something that took forever to make. I'd rather frame it, and then if I'm going to frame something I'd rather paint it.

i go in and out of preparing stuff. most of the time i just make a salad or wash a piece of fruit. other times, like today, i enjoy making simple things. today i made zucchini hummus..took me about 15 minutes. i'm not big on the really time consuming preparations like lasagna, but fast simple things like hummus, soup or smoothies i manage to do.

Thanks everyone! I am going to go for it!

Anaken...interesting point...I never though of it that way! I've speant three years reading about raw food and I worry about the time it takes to "prepare it" without actually doing anything about my curiosity! It's funny how we perceive our time!

And now to the recipe thread....

Sunrise

haha. yeah I re-read what I wrote and I thought it sounded kinda rude...i'm glad you interpreted it the way I meant it

I think with recipes one important consolation is the recipe probably won't 'fail' if you don't use all the ingredients, unlike say: baking a cake. you can decide for yourself which 'specialty ingredients' you want to have around your cupboards etc...and over time you will figure out whether those things are helpful and/or healthful for you or not.

One of the things that I'm SO glad I don't have to do anymore that was really time consuming...... scaping the cooked on food off of all of those #@$% pots and pans!!!!

I love just grabbing fruit or veggies when I'm hungry.



KelBel

Yes -- it is funny because when people think raw is time-consuming, I think they are forgetting about the time they used to actually cook, simmer, clean pots & pans.

Zucchini pasta is simple and when I spiralize, I do enough for a few meals. Same with the raw tomato sauce: throw in blender: handful sundried tomatoes (can soak for about 1 hr first), garlic clove, 1 roma tomato, handful basil, red pepper flakes, 1/4 onion, celtic salt, tsp agave (if needed to balance acidity), 3 T EVOO.

Again, if you don't have roma tomatoes, substitute. Don't have basil, what about parsley or cilantro. Don't like spice, skip the pepper flakes. Have sweet bell pepper lying around, through that in. Add nuts if you want.

Yum!

Oh there are a ton of recipes without a knife or blender. But once dear you find out what a vitamix or champion do, you will want one. I started out simple but then went hi tech,its worth it/

ANyways, there are a billion zillion raw food recipes just using a knife. Marinated veggies, fruit salads, smoothies. You can go to juice bars and eat fruit bare handed.

Doug Graham has a recipe book called the High Energy Recipe Guide I think, it's on his website foodnsport.com .. i think there's going to be a new recipe book in a few months as well.

But anyway his motto about a recipe is that it: cost no more than 5 dollars, have no more than 5 ingredients, and not take longer than 5 minutes to prepare. It's a good one.

Love,
Uma