Hi everyone. Im a 25 year old female from Canada. I have tried dabbling in raw several times and I love it. Im looking to go mostly raw in the coming months to lose weight and feel great before my wedding. The big problem I find is that my Fiance isnt a suitable candidate for raw. He's a meat and potatoes kind of guy and I could never see him eating mainly raw at this point, So I'd be preparing meals for myself only mostly.

One thing I do see that will either be a big advantage or a big disadvantage is that he is a truck driver and away most of the time.

On one hand, I love that I will be preparing meals for myself only and dont have to make two meals accomodating each of our preferences. But Im used to making up a big casserole for dinner and freezing most of it for him to take with him. I worry that preparing single servings of raw might be harder than preparing larger portions since I wont have as much choice in freezing items and I will have the choice between having a small variety of produce at a time, or dealing with large amounts of spoilage.

Am I wrong in this? I mean, Im thinking that if I buy a cabbage, I'll have to incorporate it into every meal to ensure it gets used while its good and fresh and all.

Are there any single serving preparers out there with any advice on how to balance variety and spoilage?

Also, are their any resources out there that would include some sample meal plans (maybe for like a week or so). Ideal if they would include a shopping list as well?

Thanks so much for any input in advance,

Kait

Hi there! Welcome!!

My husband is not into raw foods either. (He says if I will blend up a rare steak with some veggies, then MAYBE -haha).

I am not 100% raw yet, but so far I have been having a green smoothie for breakfast and a raw lunch of fruit and a cooked dinner. But here is what I always have on hand:

1. Stuff to make green smoothies: I always have on hand about 2-5 heads of greens (which means shopping at least every 3-4 days). I personally think green smoothies are the foundation of a successful raw diet for me and many others - you may want to read more into purchasing a good quality high-speed blender, and read "Greens for Life" by Victoria Boutenko. I routinely use spinach, kale, romaine.

2. 1 bunch of bananas - eat these anytime, but at least 1 in a smoothie each day (those will last a week)

3. 2 bags of frozen strawberries from Wal-Mart (best price) - for eating plain or flavoring smoothies. (this lasts about 2 weeks)

4. 2-4 bags of frozen blueberries and/or raspberries - for eating plain or flavoring smoothies (this lasts about two weeks)

5. 1 jar of raw almond butter for dipping whole apples (this lasts about 2 weeks)
apples (5-10 will last 2 weeks - more if picked in the most recent season and stored in a cold dry area like your garage)

6. 1 cabbage for about every 2 weeks

7. cold-pressed olive oil (have had the same jar for 3 months)

8. Frozen mangoes from Wal-Mart (2 bags per month) for eating plain or going in smoothies

9. Carrots to eat or juice (1 bag per week)

10. Tomatoes (get 3-5 every week or so)

11. Avocadoes (get about 5-7 each week)

12. Oranges (get about 5 each week)

13. Apples (good cheap way to flavor smoothies and dip in other stuff like nut butter

It takes a while both to develop a menu full of things you enjoy, and learning what store sells what produce and when it will be ready to eat (since most stores pick things early). It's like a well-choreographed ballet!!

We set our refrigerator a little lower, and things seem to stay longer in the back. You mentioned cabbage - I've had some last for 3 weeks. A good recipie for cabbage is just mixing tomatoes and cabbage together with a bit of cold-pressed olive oil - DELICIOUS!

Oh - and as you can see I can't afford to do the organic thing yet - so hence the stuff from Wal-Mart.

Also other people do a lot with sprouts and soaked nuts - I haven't gotten too into that yet but plan to sometime in the future to eventually go 100% raw.

Good luck, and welcome to the community!

Angie


Me (30), Joseph (24 mo.) Jeremiah (4 mo.)

We are enjoying spring and being outside!!!

Hi there
hehe dealing with your husband and meat..

I still eat meat. What i do is i take a fresh piece of steak and cut it into strips then i marinate it with a mixture of lemon juice, olive oil, wostershire sauce,garlic,ginger,salt,pepper and fresh coriander leaves. leave it to marinate for a few hours and its delicious. I know most people dont like the idea of eating raw meat but honestly with this marinade the meat is almost cooked by the time you eat it. I even used some of the marinade as dressing for my salad. Goes well with a tomato, avo and onion and mushroom salad.

Hi,

I would recommend Sage's idea for meat - if you can make a raw zucchini pasta and a creamy pinenut sauce, voila! beef stroganoff!

Also you could try a raw mashed potato recipe - I don't have it with me now, but it's basically blended cauliflower and cashews, with oil, garlic, herbs if you like...yummy! For gravy you can use the creamy pinenut sauce as a base and add balsamic and/or worstershire sauce for a darker color and flavor.

Bon appetit!
Tandi

hi everyone,
i'm from philly, just finished my first 10-day master cleanse and feel simply wonderful-to be honest i'm a little leary to start the raw food diet, over the yrs i've given must harmful foods but still love a cup of decaf in the morning-any advice. i need some help in taking this final step

Hi sage and tandi,

This is a vegan forum, and while non-vegans are welcome to participate, the posts and the subject matter need to be kept vegan in nature. Thank you for your future observation of our forum rules.

i'm a single-prepper! and if you're anything like me, don't worry about the cabbage thing... i go through a head each of red and green cabbage every 5 days or so. i think i ate 5 zucchini today... yikes!in other words, even though i've got a full size fridge and a coffee table stacked high with fruit for myself and my five year old daughter, i worry much more about running out of food than i do about throwing it away.

totally do-able, and it is fun to prep meals just for yourself, and you learn a lot too. i can really run with what my body wants, not what i think will taste good to someone else. I would never have made that red cabbage smoothie if i were responsible for someone else sharing it with me, but my body thought it was perfect...