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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookHi everyone! My partner and I, after years of being vegan, have decided that our new direction in food is raw. We are both very excited about this and I’m trying to learn as much as I can from reading all your posts.
I have a few questions, however.
What does your daily menu (breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack) look like? I’m trying to figure out ideal items to start us off on each of those meals.
What do you consider to be your STAPLE raw food items? In the cookbook I got, there is great mention of almonds, sunflower seeds and of course is heavy on the organic produce. What items do you find you just HAVE to have in your pantry?
What do you do to keep costs back? We are both students and don’t have a large food budget. We live in Canada and don’t have the best climate for half the year for growing things. Any little tips or tricks to share?
Thanks so much.
Crystal / RaspberrySwirl
Comments
Hey raspberryswirl, glad you’re both so excited, nice to be able to do it together. If you’re just starting out I wouldn’t worry about getting it 100% right at the very beginning. I’m a year into it and learning every day. You’re going to need to decide if you want to ease into it or dive into it. If you dive into it you will probably feel the detox more and may have some tough weeks to get through, so if you don’t have time for extra rest, need to be on your toes I would ease into it. It’s easier on your body if you don’t choose 100% and then fall back into cooked because it was too much.
In the beginning I did a smoothie for breakfast – cacao with berries, greens, hemp seeds, whatever good stuff was on hand – maca, bee pollen, etc. My husband still drinks this every day. Smoothies are a very personal thing and your calorie needs will differ depending on your lifestyle. Your taste will also differ, you might not like the greens at first, or may need it really sweet, which may change with time. That would keep me going until lunch when I would have either a salad or a wrap, then I would need a sweet in the afternoon like almond butter with agave and dried cherries. Dinner would need to be something acceptable to the whole family so it could be any raw entree for variety, and then I always needed a sweet at night – for me tahini with honey and dried figs. My way was not an economical way to eat, just to be clear.
Now I’m evolving after a year and I start the day with lemon water and/or green juice. I’ll have something a bit heavier mid-morning, salad or wrap for lunch, afternoon snack depending on how I’m feeling, green juice before dinner, raw entree for dinner and still need a dessert for my sweet tooth, but leaning more towards a lighter chia pudding than a heavy nut butter dessert.
I have to have lemons and limes, lots and lots of greens, parsley and cilantro, avocados, bananas, olive oil, at least one nut butter (I like Better than Roasted brand – expensive but GOOD) and frozen berries. Those are my most basic but I have much more on hand, typically. If you have a Trader Joes nearby you can get truly raw almonds called “Valencia” for a reasonable price, organic produce and organic frozen berries. Otherwise check out a farmers market for good prices, local organic farms, coops, etc. Also, if you invest in a dehydrator you can load up on flax crackers which are fairly affordable to make. You can check out Vitamixes and dehydrators at eBay or Craig’s List and the recipes here are free as opposed to buying lots of uncookbooks, I rarely use a book. You can also dig back through the subjects for more ideas because this has been addressed before and there’s lots more great advice.
Have fun!!
Raspberry Swirl – I’m only 6 weeks into being 100% raw (after being vegan for a year and a half), and I love it! I definitely started out way too fancy because I thought I needed lots of taste variety. Now I’m keeping things a lot more simple.
Breakfast : Water with lemon, and then a green smoothie. I usually go with a base of 2 cups of water, 2 handfuls of spinach, and 2 bananas, and then I toss in any other fruit or herbs that I feel like. Kale and mango go together really well too. And mint gives your smoothie a great “zing!”
Lunch: Usually some sort of raw soup (plenty of recipes on this site). I like to make a huge batch on Sunday and it usually lasts me 4-5 days, and then on the weekend, I’ll indulge in leftovers or some sort of lettuce/cabbage wrap with a nut pate or cheese.
Afternoon snack: Lots of fruit! I always try to bring a couple different things with me (like today I have a baggie of red grapes and an orange).
Dinner: During the week, when I’m both busy/lazy, I go for a huge salad. I once read somewhere that if you just stick to 4-5 salad ingredients, you can make an endless variety of salads through-out the week. (I.E. have 2 different greens (spinach, arugula, spring mix, etc), different veggies like cucumbers, tomatoes, fresh corn, sun-dried tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, etc, different nuts or seeds like sunflower, pumpkin, walnuts, pine nuts, etc. and just pick 4-5 of those ingredients for each salad. Then the next night, pick 4-5 different ingredients. It keeps it simple and different!) Or, you can make up a couple different dressings and change out herbs to add variety to your salads. On the weekends, I’ll pick something a little more complicated to make like a veggie chili or alfredo sauce with zucchini noodles.
Just switch it up as much (or as little) as you need to!
My staples: olive and flax oil, lemons, limes, almond butter (I stuff dates with it for a sweet treat or make a raw version of ants on a log, and I use it as a base for most of my dressings), raw cashews and pine nuts, plenty of greens, bananas and apples, and garlic.
Raspberry Swirl, I started out spending soooo much money, but after only a few weeks, I realized I can eat far less than I did on SAD. I bought tons of different kinds of raw nuts (so very expensive), then realized a little goes a very long way! I also went crazy wanting to try all the cool recipes from this site in my very first week. Believe me, you can’t possibly eat it all, and you may work yourself into exhaustion. Now I try to keep it very simple, and add in the fancy recipes when I’m craving something really different.
For breakfast, I love the “nana milk” recipe from this site, but I double it. If you throw in just a couple tablespoons of nut milk, it can keep you going almost to lunch. And, of course, I often throw in a handful of spinach if I have it. For a snack, I usually have fresh fruit or carrots, or if I’m really ravenous, a handful of raw nuts. For dinner I typically do a simple salad (love heyenglish’s advice on salads), and I have tons of fun making my own raw dressings. If you stick with one dressing per week and make enough to last all week, you can enjoy it until you’re tired of it, and you don’t have to put in the time/money to make different ones every evening!
Some of my raw staples are: sunflower seeds, pine nuts, medjool dates, walnuts, pecans, greens greens greens, bananas, agave nectar, whatever fresh fruit is in season, tomatoes, avocados, cacao nibs and powder, sea veggies (kelp, wakame, dulse, nori), carrots, celery, and probiotic powder.
Another thing I do to keep an eye on the finances is make a menu each week and only shop for my menu. When in doubt, buy less, not more. If you run out of something, you can always run to the market on your way somewhere to pick up what you need. If you over-buy raw ingredients, you’ll lose a lot of money (and nutrients!) on spoiled stuff. It also helps keep you “on the path” since you aren’t making last-minute meal choices. Personally, if I’m really hungry and I don’t have a plan for dinner, I’m much more likely to make unhealthy choices in the name of convenience!
My advice is to build your “raw pantry” gradually and don’t overspend unless you can truly afford it. Use up whatever non-raw things you have leftover and gradually introduce the new lifestyle as you are able and inspired.
WOW! You guys rock! Thank you so much for sharing all this info. This is going to help me heaps and bounds.
I’m going to slowly starting add raw items into my pantry and eventually get myself up to 100% raw after I use up all the regular groceries I have at home (no sense letting them go to waste!).
Thanks so much again everyone so far for your input. x
Growing sprouts is a great way to get started… inexpensive and you can have year round. There is a post on my blog for how to do it here: http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/2008/04/this-is…
Green smoothies and green juice are a part of pretty much every day for me. I like them for breakfast and snacks (green smoothies make a great light lunch or dessert, too!) The alkalizing effect is truly amazing and addicting. I feel on top of the world :) Plenty of recipes for both of these on my blog, just do a search. I’m sure there are many on this site as well.
Loads of good ol fresh fruit and veggies make Raw very easy :)
Tips for buying organic on a budget on my blog here: http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/2007/12/going-o…
And, last but not least, a popular blog post of mine for How To Make Raw Food Easy: http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-...
Cheers, Kristen Suzanne
Like most people, I became a vegan on my way to raw. I basically read a whole lot of articles as well as posts on this site. The more I read about the horrible food the more I was against it and naturally, week by week, I was taking things out of my diet. Every time I went shopping I would be dropping several items and adding new ones I hadn’t tried. Within 2 months, I was “100% raw”. But it is always a process, and I put 100% in quotes because even today I am still weaning myself off of things that regular society considers harmless. I wanted to be a true raw vegan so now I toss 2 dates into my smoothie (if I want sweetness) instead of adding a little honey or cooked agave.
A lot of people on goneraw seem to have gotten simpler as they progessed, and the same holds true for me. Some weeks the most complex thing that I eat is a smoothie with 2 pieces of fruit and an orange.
I just want to show that it is a process with no rules. I won’t say don’t pressure yourself, because without pressuring myself at some point, I wouldn’t have learned the goodness of raw foods and how great they make me feel. Stop the pressure at the point of stress, because once you stress out, you have reached the point of diminishing return and the stress is more harmful than some cooked (healthy) food.
My staple smoothie: 1 med-large banana, 1/3 cup orange juice, 5-7 ice cubes, and a kiwi-sized piece of any fruit (mango, kiwi, pineapple work well – but anything will do – some fruits just need sweetner – you can throw in a date). During transition and stressful times in general, I just drank this whenever I was hungry. Sometimes I have 4 (absolute max) of these smoothies in a day – and there is no harm.
Other staples: mangoes, limes, dates, pineapples, kiwis, some sort of greens, olive oil to make dressings
Just buy the raw stuff that looks good to you.
What does your daily menu (breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack) look like?
breakfast is green smoothie and maybe a banana too. lunch and dinner are interchangeable: big salads, collard or cucumber wraps, raw pate with salad, chili, curry, and dessert. if i have had a low-calorie meal i often have raw desserts.
snacks are fruit most often.
What do you consider to be your STAPLE raw food items?
lots of fruits and veggies, sunflower seeds, raw almonds (make sure they are really raw), walnuts, hemp or chia, flax seeds, dates, shredded coconut, agave, cider vinegar, raw olive oil.
What do you do to keep costs back?
there are lots of threads on this. there is one started recently in the “being raw” section. basically, i shop around, look for deals, order online, it gets easier once you know what you like. oh and plan ahead so stuff doesn’t spoil.
raspberryswirl – My lists are sort of an amalgam of all of the lists above, but I would just like to emphasize how versatile zucchini’s are - you can make:
zucchini pasta—in sooooo many ways!
zucchini hummus (there is an excellent recipe on this site)
zucchini ‘crackers’ or zucchini ‘bread’ using a dehydrator
stuffed zucchini with other veggies or one of the great nut or seed cheese recipes on goneraw. etc… etc… etc… Gee, can you tell it’s one of my favorite vegetables? grin :)
Best wishes with your gone raw experiences!