Hello from Vancouver, Canada!

I'm a longtime vegetarian (former vegan), and I've decided to start having one raw food day a week. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm on a fairly tight budget, so I'll mostly be eating fruit, veggies and raw seeds/nuts from my local grocery store, plus some beans I'm sprouting at home.

A question: is tofu considered raw? When I used to make it at home I remember that it wasn't boiled.

Anyways, any and all suggestions welcome!

Natalie

Tofu isnt raw and is a soy product, which genrally most people stay away from because of the dangers, gm farming etc. Worth looking into but can certainly be an option if you are looking for transitional stuff- most people use things like wild rice, a little steamed veg etc for those.

Upto you entirely to set your own boundries, some transition for a few months whilst others go 100% raw overnight.

As far as sticking to a budget

Try bulk buying- fruits- oranges, apples, banana's

Your local store or organic greengrocer should be able to sell you a case a bit cheaper.

Grow your own if you are able/have space or can use someones allotment

You will find a good rhythm after a few weeks and learn how much you need and whether its easy to buy weekly or every few days.

I manage fine on £10-£15 per week.

Completly depends on your own situation- family etc.

Anyways hope that gives you some ideas.

All the best

Raw_dancer

My first raw meal that wasn't a giant salad was courgetti (courgette sliced with either a spiral slicer or potato peeler) and marinara sauce (tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, sundried tomatoes, herbs etc). It was super yummy!

Another fave of mine from being raw in days past, was buying a bell pepper, slicing off the top, and stuffing it with a mixture of grated carrot, sprouts, sunflower seeds, shredded greens and pretty much whatever else was available!

It may be worth doing the rounds of your grocerers, minimarkets and health food shops and buying reduced-price stock. I bought a huge bag of passion fruit from the farmer's market for about 70 pence (UK) recently. Look out for buy one get one free offers etc. I personally don't like taking much business to supermarkets, but if you're dead set on being raw and you're on a very low budget, there are often bargains to find there.

Finally, look out for stinging nettles, dandelion leaves, wild blackberries and other fruits that you can eat for nothing :-)

hey you im in Mission, BC

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I made my first raw food day all fruit days. I was so shocked to find out I could eat as much fresh fruits and veggies as I wanted..so that meant watermelon, strawberries, raspberries, bananas, pineapple, blueberries, mangos, grapes, etc...

Make it an all fruits day!

Love,
Prism

Thank you very much for all the replies. So far it's going well. Best wishes!

I have a family of 4. My husband words in DC and only comes home during the weekends. My daughter 17 will eat whatever I feed her (too lazy to get up and get her own food) and my son 12 really likes his junk food. We only eat healthy at home, mostly vegetarian, so he is only in danger during school days and when he goes out with friends. But it really is a lot harder when you have to prepare 3 different meals everytime. Any suggestions?

new2green Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have a family of 4. My husband words in DC and
> only comes home during the weekends. My daughter
> 17 will eat whatever I feed her (too lazy to get
> up and get her own food) and my son 12 really
> likes his junk food. We only eat healthy at home,
> mostly vegetarian, so he is only in danger during
> school days and when he goes out with friends.
> But it really is a lot harder when you have to
> prepare 3 different meals everytime. Any
> suggestions?

what is your question, new2green?

if it's "how do you prepare 3 different raw meals all the time",
my answer would be

- don't.
- or do it if you want to

but the raw diet in it's simplest form is just eating raw fruits and veggies just as they are. no preparation required.

there's nothing really difficult about it, except the letting go...

trying to get the kids to eat raw if they don't want to is a different subject...

fresh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> trying to get the kids to eat raw if they don't
> want to is a different subject...

THAT`S my problem! i can get grapes, cantaloupe, watermelon, nanas, sometimes apples down them and that`s about it. they will also eat corn but it must be cooked.
patty

Don't they like smoothies made with mangos, coconut water/flesh, and other fruits? Have you tried green smoothies, like spinach, sprouts, blueberries, and bananas?

Love,
Prism

Prism Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Don't they like smoothies made with mangos,
> coconut water/flesh, and other fruits? Have you
> tried green smoothies, like spinach, sprouts,
> blueberries, and bananas?
>
> Love,
> Prism

to be perfectly honest i have never made them a smoothie i know, bad mommy. i will find out tomorrow! if they see the spinach go in forget it! LOL
patty

Mercola.com has a number of articles about soybeans and tofu.

The following is one of them.

Wishing you vibrant health

I started writing a response to the questions about feeding raw kids but it got so long that I decided to start a new thread, Raising Raw Kids. So if anyone wants to share experiences or ask questions about feeding their kids raw, let's meet there.

Love, Francis