Hi there. How much do you spend a week on raw food? I spend about $45 on fruits and veggies, and $7 on nuts, seeds, figs, dates, and prunes. Does that sound about right? BTW, it's not organic. I can't afford it yet. I'm married to t-rex. Meat is expensive.
Also, do any of you have to cook for someone? How did u slowly improve their diet? So far, I'm veggie juicing for hubby everyday.
Thanks
Pame'la Vik'toria

http://whatchickstalkabout.blogspot.com/

Hi y'all *waves*

I've been 90+% raw for the past two weeks. . . I've "gone raw" 5-6 times over the past couple of years, never lasting more than a few months. My goal is to turn this into a lifestyle - not a diet - but each time I struggle with the response I get from my family and friends.

Sometimes, they act like it's almost a personal insult to them when I don't partake in whatever they're eating; other times, they roll their eyes in a "here she goes again" way. My mom came to visit last weekend before she even set foot in the door she started in on me because I let her know upfront that I'd love to go out to dinner with everyone to socialize, but I'd be eating raw before we went.

And don't even get me STARTED on the snide comments my co-workers make about the food I keep at work. They came up with some. . . creative descriptions for the bag of dates I had at my desk last week.

I'm embarrassed to tell anyone that I'm doing this, knowing that they're expecting me to break and go back to the SAD lifestyle again. Even the more accepting of my friends talk about "when you're done with this raw thing, there's this great Italian place I want to try!"

I've tried making raw food for my friends and family to sample, and it's bombed each time.

I know that my success on raw depends on ME and my committment, but I'm a born people-pleaser and was raised in a typical southern family that believes food is the bedrock of relationships. Cravings for processed food is hard enough, but when you add in ZERO support, it kills me each time.

I guess I'm discouraged. Has anyone experienced similar reactoins?

Could anyone help....im wanting to invest in a good raw recipe book but it needs to have lots and lots of inspirational photos of finished dishes....so i can just flick through the book and see what takes my fancy. Im not really interested in the content of the recipes, just the photo of the food - then i can improvise to suit what i feel like.

Anyone know of any books? I dont want to go buying somehthing only to find out ive wasted money on a book with nothing but text text and more text!

Thanks guys,
x x

Hi everyone. I'm after some raw recipe help!
Here's my background......... In some ways I'm new to raw veganism, in some ways I'm not (I've been reading up on it on the net for a couple of years now and trying it out, but never seem to be able to stick with it long term due to busy lifestlye, lack of money and inconsistent motivation/will power) I am already a vegan, though not a very healthy one, something I would like to change. I was first drawn to raw veganism because I found that I had trouble digesting some foods like grains (even whole grains, and especially flours - even though I used the healthier gluten free flours and avoided all 'white' flours like white rice flour & all purpose GF flour) I also wanted to eliminate sugar from my diet, and all processed foods. I did not really have a a problem with cooked things, though I now believe foods closest to their natural state are healthier, I still don't really see cooked things as 'bad'. I've found that a lot of raw recipes are really high in fat, I know that a lot of raw fooders are not phased by this but I am. I view fat as more of a condiment. If I eat too much I don't feel well. I also felt that a lot of typical recipes had a lot of special ingredients/superfoods, which may be healthy but I don't believe they are worth the money and believe that people can be healthy with more local ingredients, no supplements necessary. I then discovered the low fat raw vegan/811 principles which I was excited about but I honestly feel it's a bit over restrictive (I like that its low fat but I don't think its necessary to go as far to eliminate spices, vinegar, etc.) I think it is overshooting my original goals.

So I'm looking for the middle ground I guess. I'm not even concerned about being 100% raw. I just want healthy, unprocessed, grain free, sugar free, mostly raw, low fat but not fat phobic, vegan food that is fast to make (ie low dehydrator usage, food prep mostly done on chopping board or in food processor), using ingredients available at my little local health foods store or green grocer (no buying off the internet). Is that too much to ask? lol.

To clarify how much fat is too much: Anything that uses nuts as a principle ingredient unless its recipe for dressing or a conidment, anything that uses more than 1/4 C nuts per serve. I need to use nuts sparingly because I can't afford to buy many so any traditional raw pie crusts, crackers, breads, etc are out.

I just feel like there is a gap in the raw foods movement - at the moment there seems to be 2 extremes but no middle ground for what I feel would be a more balanced, user friendly, approach to raw foods. (this is just my humble opinion!) Does anyone agree with me? Disagree?

So I'm wondering if there are any resources (websites, recipe books, blogs) that cater to this idea of middle ground. (maybe not specifically). Or any suggestions/help you guys can offer?

Howdy,

I've made corn chips twice, once way too sweet & not crispy, i tried another recipe where they came out better, not as sweet, however i
cooked them for 19 hours @ 105 & still they were chewy & not crispy (& i don't believe they were too thic, they were very thin but thick enough to hold salsa, unlike the 1st one's i made were paper thin & could not hold salsa) that is wayyy longer than it says to cook them & still chewy.

I tried making Alissa Cohens recipe for pizza crust & you cook at 105 for 2 hours, take out turn over & cook a few more hours, then add the sauce & cheese & cook for longer, however i cooked for 9 hours & it was still too "fall apart & oily" to even take off the teflex sheet & flip over to the regular one & continue to cook, i tasted it @ that point & it tasted really good, however the wild rice never did sprout but i used it anyway but it was sooo hard, i ended up just throwing it because of that & because it seems like no matter how long i cooked it, it would not get firm enough to take off the teflex sheet.

I feel really disapointed since i am new to raw & the few things i have tried to make in the dehydrator i don't even want to eat because they don't turn out right.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had these problems or any advice/help!

Thank you.

Lisa