Hi everyone,

Can any of you refer me to where I can go to get a basic pantry and fruit and veg list to get started?

I will probably not be able to get a hold of exotic items but if I want to stock up on items I can purchase so that I have and get all the nutrients I need can someone refer me to a page on this website, another site or somewhere I can get a list of what I need.
Thanks, Deika

The Complete Book of Raw Food
by: Baird & Rodwell

is a great book to get started, and has a list of basic pantry items.

Hope this helps!

If anybody could help us come up with just such a basic list, we would definitely like to add that to our soon-to-be-added Frequently Asked Questions section, in order to better help newcomers to the raw lifestyle!

There was a list in the Alissa Cohens living on live food book. The ingrediants for the first week were simple and some things you probably have. I don’t have the book with me right now but I believe some of things were garlic, onions, red bell peppers, almonds, dates, avocado, tomatoes, lemons, goji berries, vinegar, and more. I didn’t follow her recipe list because some of the meals she had to prepare for week one required a food processor, and I didn’t have it yet. What I did was get things that were easy, I got grapes, oranges, grapefruits, apples, tomatoes, avocado, kale (and other greens), celery , almond butter, almonds, cucumber, honey, cashews amd strawberries. I found easy recipes (salad dressings) that only required a blender. I made salads, salad dressings and ate fruit and nuts that I added a little flax oil with a tad of sea salt for a snack. I didn’t know what to do with the almond butter and it tasted flavourless so I added a little sea salt a lot of cinnamon and a little honey and I would eat that with the celery and apples.

It was easier for me to find simple recipes such as apple sauce or salads, and buy ingrediants based on that. Also another thing that helped me the first month is I found recipes that had similar ingrediants so I know I won’t waste alot of my food if I buy in bulk. Something I have been buying a lot lately that last awhile in my fridge is carrots. I hate carrots but I juice them turn the rest into pecan carrot burgers or just add it to my salad and I have actually started liking it a little.

Spiritmama and joesc thank you,

spiritmama I ordered that book today, and today I selected several recipes which seemed easy, some fruit and some veg and made myself a list of what to buy. Thank you both, people are so friendly and helpful on this website. :)

Hi deasmiles,
We have a thorough ingredients list on Purely Raw, http://www.purelyraw.com/ingredients.htm
Michelle from SAD to raw has a good section on getting started haven’t been on her site in a while but am sure it is still on there: www.fromSADtoraw.com

We started off with a food processor and nothing else for ages. But once we got stuck in we found a dehydrator essential for making food reminisant enough to cooked food – like bread,pizza etc, to help us stick to raw.And combat cravings. For me and Chris, our transitioning bit was all about pleasure and decadence, and feeling like we were treating ourselves and not missing out or punishing ourselves, so we needed our dehydrator!

We got a Champion Juicer but we hardly ever use it. Handy for juicing grapes, apples and carrotts now and again, but to be honest I prefer doing green drinks in the blender.I don’t like skipping all the fibre which the Champion spits out.

Have just got a wheatgrass juicer off ebay, can’t wait to try it. I have never even tried wheatgrass juice before!

I am happy to help deasmiles!

Zoe that website Sad to raw I have been looking for it. I found a recipe I wanted to try and didn’t remember what it was called. Thanks.

I liked wheatgrass because it gave me a lot of energy. I just drink 1 oz shot when I can.

Hmmm.. in the rare chance that it is helpful, i will make a list of what i purchased last night [i began eating as raw as possible yesterday, so this was a very important shopping trip!!!]

i try to buy as much organic as possible.. but not all things are available to me.

greens [spinach, cabbage, raddiccio, endive, cilantro, parsley]

green, red and yellow onion

red, yellow and green bell pepper

cucumbers, asparagus, broccoli, tomatoes, avocadoes, carrots

kiwis, oranges, strawberries, bananas, grapefruit, apples, pear

cashews, dates, almonds, tahini, hempseeds, figs, dried mangoes

lots of spices [cayenne, blk pepper, coriandre, cardamon, paprika, cumin, Bragg’s all purpose seasoning, and others i’m sure].

I feel like there was more, and there probably was, but hopefully this will give someone a small idea of what to get when trying to start the raw journey.. at least this is what i’ve done. (:

Here’s my shopping list:
Nuts: pine nuts, walnuts, almonds.
Seeds: buckwheat, wheat berries, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds
Fruit: tomatoes,strawberries, grapes,dates, apples, oranges,pears, avocado, melon.
Vegetables: courgettes, spring onion, kale, letiuce(can’t spell it though!), mushrooms, garlic, red onion, white onion, carrotts, red bell pepper (green bell peppers are unripe don’t eat them!).
Seasoning: cayenne pepper, sea, rock or pink hymalayan salt, garam masala, tumeric, cinnamon, curry spice blend, oregano, basil, lime leaves, chillie peppers.

Thanks everyone for the lists, I went shopping today. Lots of vegetables, unfortunately here in Sicily I cannot find certified organic produce, but a lot of it local and one hopes…
I also bought fruit berries, bananas, apples and oranges. Day 2, going ok, I did have some soy milk and I realize it is cooked but I had just recieved a shipment of it 1 week ago. Muesli w/sliced strawberries and soymilk and an orange for b’fast, big glass of water. Salad of fennel, lettuce, tomatoes, raw eggplant and mushrooms marinated in lemon juice, soy sauce, and origano. Olive oil and lemon juice dressing. Help they do not have avocadoes here, can you believe it? The grow them here, but import them all up north as there isn’t a market for them here. I am going to have to find a grower and broker a deal….anyway..I put in the food items on fitday and its just over 900 cals, is this why people lose weight? B’cause they consume so few calories? I did a yoga dvd this evening and I feel great but lightheaded. I just got laid off this past friday, and I do not know many people here, nice to have some fellowship. Thanks all, I think I will be able to do this but I am worried about up coming trips…I will just eat lots of salads, fruit and bring my own nuts etc…

I can’t even find a juicer or a dehydrator here…but its early days. Once again, thanks for the help, the lists, the encouragement and the camaraderie. :) Deika aka deasmiles