Essential Tools for a Raw Food Diet

As I've been preparing raw foods the last several weeks, I haven't gone out and purchased a lot of tools. I've generally been making do with what I have. This enabled me to dive right in without creating an expensive barrier to entry for myself, but it's also added to some of my kitchen frustrations as I've found myself limited more than once.

If you can get your hands on some or all of the tools listed here, I think they will make the difference between getting by and thriving on this diet. I have spent a lot of extra time in the kitchen trying to make it without some of these things, or I have just had to avoid certain recipes all together. I would much rather be able to have the resources to do everything and anything that I want.

That being said - you don't need them; they just make things easier. You don't need anything fancy to throw together a salad, or prepare a big bowl of fruit. Personally I've found that I've outgrown my hillbilly appliances these last almost-8 weeks, and it's time to upgrade a few things. But I'm kind of glad I've gone about things THIS way instead of making a major investment right up front.

It's kind of like a gym membership - it's better to get one after you've outgrown your living room and gotten tired of running around the block, instead of signing a year contract thinking THAT is what's going to motivate you. Outgrow what you have - and then reward yourself with the extra resources. You'll be much less likely to take them for granted, and much more likely to use them.

Vitamix - or other high-powered blender

Okay, it's time for this girl to break down and sell a kidney or something so I can afford to get a Vitamix. That's a really high-powered blender that will make my life so much easier. The other day, I spent almost two hours making a "quick" pumpkin pie recipe that should have taken about 30 minutes tops. Even after all that, the pie still wasn't creamy enough and I hated the texture, which wasn't helped by the fact that I didn't peel the pumpkin first (I didn't know I was supposed to; I guess the person writing the recipe didn't consider that there are Gwens out there that need even the baby steps spelled out).

In addition, my almond yogurt is just crap because I can't puree the mixture fine enough with my blender.

Spiralizer

I also must have a spiralizer. I'd already been thinking about it, but the deal was sealed earlier this week when I went to a raw restaurant and tried the zucchini noodles with cashew Alfredo. It was a party in my mouth! The cafe was selling the spiralizer for $50, but that's too expensive; I'm ordering mine here for about $35. Also, you can see a video recipe using one on my last blog post.

Mandolin 

This is something that will cut your foods almost paper thin. I haven't felt at a total loss without one, but I've passed up a lot of good looking recipes since I don't have one. I recently saw a ravioli recipe that calls for thinly sliced jicama, so I'm considering this much more seriously now. The alternative is to cut your vegetables by hand, but I just can't seem to get my ingredients thin enough.

Big Butcher Knife


I'd also like to get a big butcher knife, like this one. This would help when opening up the young coconuts. I'm getting pretty good at opening them without this tool, but it's cost me my Miracle Blade knife that I've had for years, so now I'm in the market for a new knife anyway. I'm currently using a sharp knife to cut away the husk on the top, and then smacking the dome around the edges with the back of a hammer. It's very effective, but probably not as sanitary as using something that has been through the dishwasher. You can see a video on how to easily open a coconut here.

Dehydrator

I use this almost daily. There are a wide range of models out there, and a wide range of prices. I bought mine off of craigslist for about $15 and it was like new. Used dehydrators are like used bread machines - they're as good as new because the person that bought them had a world of good intentions, but never figured out how to use them. Lucky me!

I've used this a lot, and I plan on using it more as I branch out and try new things. I had some raw nachos at a raw restaurant earlier this week, so now I'm itching to try some chips. I've made burgers, sun dried tomatoes, and kale chips very regularly. I'll be trying some raisins tomorrow since I have two bags of black grapes that aren't good for anything else.

Food Processor

This is invaluable - especially if you're not ready to invest in a Vitamix. Sadly, I just have this sorry little contraption called an Ultimate Chopper. Don't get me wrong - I love it; but it's so SMALL. It fits about two cups of content, which is NOT enough when you're trying to make raw food dishes. You should have seen me making my pie this week. I knew that I wouldn't be able to get everything pureed using the blender, so I chopped everything before throwing it into the blender. But since my UC is so tiny, it took several chopping cycles. Load, chop, dump; load, chop, dump - it drove me nuts!

I'm going to invest in a much bigger chopper very soon.

Juicer

I have a juicer, but it's in storage at my sister's house in Oklahoma, so I haven't been doing any juicing yet. I feel like this is a must, though, because I've been struggling getting as wide of a variety of foods and nutrients that I want. Almost, all the raw food gurus I've subscribed to really make a big deal out of juicing. The other day, I was literally craving a beet, so I just pureed it in my blender, then strained it through a nut bag. This worked well enough, but it was messy and required several more steps than if I'd just had my juicer handy.

This will also be a great way for me to get in some of the fruits and vegetables I don't actually want to eat. I can just juice them and blend the flavors with other things that I enjoy.

Need vs. Want

All that being said, I would encourage you NOT to put off taking the plunge until you have these tools. If you see these tools as a barrier to entry, then you'll be much more likely not to do it at all - or the opposite will happen. You will go out and spend $500 on all these fancy contraptions with the best of intentions, and then donate them to Goodwill a year later because you found a million other reasons not to get started.

Hmmm - on second thought, you go right on ahead and make the investment. I'll be gleaning your goodies soon ;)

In Which I Keep it Simple, Slay a Beet, and Disclose Another "Bonus"

Today will be the end of week six on the raw food diet. I'm still (miraculously) going strong. I have no idea how I've made it this far, but I'm very grateful. All I can really say is that I felt a calling for this. I don't know how else to describe it. So, I'm sticking with it for the entire six months. My last day will be February 21, 2014, and it will be very interesting to see how I feel about it at that time. Will I go longer? Will I be relieved? I'm not sure.

Right now, I'm feeling pretty comfortable in this lifestyle. I still have moments of shock, wondering what the heck I'm doing, and I have times that I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. But mostly, I'm really happy to be doing this.

K.I.S.S.

One of the biggest factors in my success this far, I think, has been to just try to keep things simple.
When I first started getting into this, I was excited to try new recipes, and anxious to reassure myself that I could still have a lot of amazing foods. And that's true! And I still enjoy trying new things. However, the more that I rely on those fancy concoctions, the more discouraged I get because of the amount of time it takes, and the number of failed experiments.

Objects in this photo are larger than they appear.

I mostly try to mono meal on fruit throughout the day, and have a huge salad in the evening. What I've consistently been doing is starting my day with half of a seedless watermelon. Then, I might make a meal out of a bag of grapes; if I get hungry later, I'll have four bananas or so. Then, for dinner, I make a huge salad. At first, I couldn't figure out why I was running out of salad dressing so fast, since I'm not usually a big dressing person. But then I had a DUH! moment when I realized that if I'm eating five times the amount of salad I normally do, then of course I'm going to zip right through my dressings because I'm using it up five times faster!

80-10-10

The basis for my current structure is the 80-10-10 raw food diet, as designed and discussed by Dr. Graham. My husband thinks I'm crazy because of the amount of fruit sugars I'm consuming, and I'm sure there are a lot of people that will disagree with THIS formula for a raw food diet. However, it's the one that's really resonating with me. I intuitively made the decision to go to raw foods for healing, so it seems only right that I'll pick WHICH raw food dogma I want to follow intuitively, too.

I will say that I'm a HUGE sugarmonger, and I have not had a single sugar craving since going raw. I mean, I was super addicted to sweets. I am in awe that I have not had a single temptation for those foods I used to eat on a regular basis. I take that as a sign that I must be doing something right.

Well, 80-10-10-ish...

Even though that's the formula that I've roughy following, I need to emphasize that I'm ROUGHLY following it. I'm not tracking my calories or anything, and I'm sure I'm still consuming more fat than is recommended. My salad dressings all have oils in it, and I usually eat about one avocado per day. But I don't really care at this point. I'm glad to have a baseline ideal, and I'm glad I'm still raw. Beyond that, I'm just doing the best I can.

I've also made some raw burgers that are AMAZING. I am so in love with them. I made some for my trip a couple weeks ago, and made another batch over the weekend. I've been having one of those for lunch, wrapped up in some lettuce leaves with a yummy garlic-sundried tomato-basil spread we found at a little produce stand on Friday. DELICIOUS. The flavors just burst in my mouth, and it's all I can do to just limit myself to the one burger.

Cravings

The bloody trail left over
from my beet juice.

My cravings have been very moderate. I often have a dull aching for cooked foods, but that's more of an emotional yearning. Sometimes I feel bored on the raw foods because I'm used to the stimulation that comes from eating junk food. I am a huge emotional eater. I reached for the crap when I was anything but baseline. If I was happy, it was time to celebrate. If I was sad, it was time for "therapy." If I was bored, it was time for "entertainment." Sugar had the unique ability to be all of those things.

But now, it's just me and my issues, facing off each day. There is no burying them under food. There's only looking at them, getting to know them, marinating in them.

This is a GOOD thing, but not a good experience. Frankly, I preferred the sugar.

But speaking of cravings, I was TOTALLY craving some beets today. And I don't even like beets! But my body was definitely telling me I needed something more. I haven't been doing any juicing, since my juicer is in storage at my sister's 2000 miles away, and I think that's taking its toll. Today, my body was really craving a steep infusion of goodness.

So, I pureed a beat and a carrot in my blender, then strained the pulp off using a cheese bag. Then I gulped it down. Technically, I think I'm supposed to sip and chew my juices to keep them from affecting my blood sugar too much, but that wasn't really an option for me. Like I said, I don't really like beets. It was gulp it or puke it.

A Cool Finding

There's also been one more finding that I'll share. I've been craving brain food like crazy. I mean, I have almost no appetite for movies and shows (we don't watch TV anyway). All I want to do is watch documentaries and read, read, and read. I like this :)

Fighting the Cravings

I went to bed last night and stayed up late reading. As I leaned over to turn off the light, I was hungry. But when I considered my food options, I was not motivated to go get something to munch on. In fact, I had a little bit of a panic attack, feeling like there was nothing in the world I could eat.

It was late. I knew I would feel better in the morning. And thankfully, I did. I started off my day by taking my sun dried tomatoes out of the dehydrator and having the rest of the kale chips I made the other night. Then, I walked down to the health food store and bought a bag of organic carrots and a pack of organic grapes to keep me fueled until I could make it to my destination.

What was my destination, you ask? FIGS! And there's only one place I get them - the farmer's market.

On my way there, I stepped into a vegan restaurant to see if they had some raw options. But as soon as I stepped in and glanced at the menu, I knew I had to get out of there. It was vegan - it would have been just too easy to rationalize ordering something that was NOT raw. In fact, I had my sites set on the very thing I wanted. I could almost taste it!

So, I turned on my heel and left - on to the figs.

But in order to get to these tasty morsels, I had to wade through the other food vendors. Oh, my senses were on fire. My mouth was watering, and I was just trying not to stare too long. I just thought about those figs - just a few short booths away. It became a mantra to get me through. Figs, figs, figs....

Figs. Life just doesn't get better than this!

This was one of my first times venturing out into the world, walking down the streets where I could smell all the foods I used to eat. I did have some fleeting moments of, "Look me in the eye again and I will tear that piece of chicken from your hand and run" urges, but I'm happy to report that I did make it safely to the fruit stand. And once I was there, I only had eyes for these dew drops from heaven.

Back Home on Safe Ground

I came home and made my first batch of almond milk, which was a huge success. It's so delicious. I could probably thin it out a little, but...it's so delicious! I think I'll keep it nice and thick. Especially since I'm mostly using it for my tea.

Next up is a new recipe for my almond yogurt - it's actually just using the milk instead of the whole almonds. That's why my yogurt is like ricotta cheese - all the pulp! And no thank you. I'd much rather have it creamy. I'm not a fan of having to chew my yogurts, juices, or anything else you're supposed to be able to just swallow. I am NOT a fan of pulp.

But other than that, I think I'm done with experimenting for a while. Now I just want to stock up on the things that I love, and keep them handy. Unfortunately, I'm having a bit of a shortage at the moment. That's putting me into code red, I'm afraid.

It's 9:50 p.m. and my day has wound down. I'm home alone, and all I want to do is snack. I want to be able to go to the kitchen and pour a bowl of cereal. I want to pop open a package of cookies. I want to order some Chinese food and savor every bit of it.

I want, I want, I want...

And it kind of feels like last night, when I started to feel a little panicky over what I'm doing. But it's more like, "WHAT AM I DOING??"

The temptations and the shock of what I'm doing are usually happy to take a backseat and let me do this thing. But there are times that they just sneak up on me and scream in my face. It's very jarring. It's very hard.

But, I'm doing this for a reason, and that reason is just going to have to feed me for these next 5 and a half months. That reason is going to have to give me the strength to turn on my heel, and keep walking - over and over again.

I'll be okay.

*sigh*

I'll be okay.

All About Food

Almond yogurt with fresh strawberries
and a touch of raw honey. 

My life is kind of revolving around food at the moment, so it's appropriate that I dedicate a post to the details.

The Yogurt

Today has been full of some food experiments. The almond yogurt wasn't quite done last night, so I let it sit overnight. I had my first bowl this morning, and honestly, I'm wondering if the probiotics worked, or if I'm just eating something that was left on the counter too long. (I'm mostly joking...)

The yogurt was...not yogurt. But it wasn't bad! I blended in some raw honey and fresh strawberries, and it made a good breakfast. Even though I'm going to have to get used to the flavor, I was craving it throughout the day, which I take to be a good sign.

It's a little mealy (like the texture of ricotta cheese), and I can definitely pick up that fermented flavor, which is almost a little cheese-like. This actually gives me some ideas of other things I can use it for. I have a friend that's been doing this raw thing for a couple years (and was actually the one who took me to see the presentation that inspired me to do this), and he said he uses a probiotic that results in a better flavor, and the result isn't as mealy - the same brand featured in the video below.

Hmm... I will have to try that, but I'm definitely skeptical about whether it's just a matter of the probiotic I'm using. After all, this was my first try, so I'm thinking of all the things I may have potentially done wrong. I think I'll try another batch in the next couple days, once this one is gone, and see if I can get a different outcome. For one, the skins were really hard to take off of the almonds, so I'm wondering if I just hadn't soaked them long enough. If so, then that could be why the concoction wasn't creamier.

In addition, I've discovered I don't even have to remove the skin. Here is a video of Lou Corona, the man that inspired me to finally do this, going over the basics of this yogurt stuff:

Kale Chips

Homemade "cheesy" kale chips - delicious!

As of three minutes ago, this has been my most favorite discovery so far. The reason is not so much because of the kale chips, though, as much as it is the nutritional yeast. I had heard that this yeast has a cheesy flavor, but I'd never had it. Until just now! And I mean JUST NOW. I took a picture of the kale chips being dehydrated for this post, and noticed that they looked done. I popped one in my mouth and literally gasped.

Wow! These are soooo delicious, and they really do taste cheesy! I am in shock. I am in love. So I'm posting THIS picture instead. I intend to eat every last one of these things before this post is published. Here's the recipe I used, but I subbed the walnuts for sunflower seeds, the olive oil for coconut oil, and I also added some cayenne, since I like some spice. I know - I might as well have just given you my own recipe, but I'm too lazy. You'll get the idea... Also, I think the reason my "cheese" clumps are so big is because the sunflower seeds were too wet. Next time I'm going to try to make it more crumbly.

Other Foods I'm Loving

In my first post, I published a picture of some eggplant chips with fresh guacamole. I really loved these, and now I'm trying to make the same recipe with zucchini. I cut three zucchinis in three different ways, to give it some variety and see which ones I prefer on the dehydrator. I cut one in small circles - like chips; one in long, thin slices; and one in "sticks". I'll give a report tomorrow on the one that I prefer. I'm hoping for something crunchy, so we'll see!

My new addiction.

I am also drinking a looot of red tea, which is really high in antioxidants, and just makes me happier about this whole thing. When I'm feeling discouraged, or at a loss of what to make, it's tea time. And as I sip on this yummy goodness, going raw seems much more doable.

I had this for the first time several months ago at a friend's house, and I loved it so much she sent me home with my own stash. I'm now running fairly low, after drinking it like crazy this past week, so I tried to find some more at Sprouts. I found a Celestial Seasonings variety with some vanilla - which was the purest blend I could find. I couldn't find JUST the tea, and the other brands had other things like cinnamon and cloves added to it. I may try those in the future, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I just want the straight tea.

NOTE: This is purely an herbal tea. It's not actually from a tea leaf; the Rooibos is its formal plant name, and "red tea" is just a nickname. So there's no caffeine or yucky acids to deal with.

UPDATE: A friend just referred me to the BEST TEA SHOP EVER, where I can order this tea is so many different delicious flavors. I think I'm going to have to make some exceptions to my tea-only rule. You can check out that site here:  http://tinroofteas.com/rooibush-teas/.

A Confession

So, here's a little confession. When I started this raw journey, I'd just gone grocery shopping like two days earlier, so I had an unopened carton of Almond Milk in the fridge. What to do, what to do? DRINK IT! I've been putting a splash of the milk in my tea, which is probably cheating, but I know the milk comes from raw almonds, so I can easily rationalize this (= rational ' lies). But, I probably won't buy more. Instead, I'm hoping to find an easy recipe for making my own. If you have an opinion on this, or a great recipe to share, feel free to leave that below.

My Golden Rule With Food

I've quickly realized that one of the keys to my success is going to be avoiding things that I hate. I COULD eat some of this crap for health's sake, but why do that to myself? Chances are, there is always something else just as healthy that I could be eating instead.

For instance, the other night I tried my hand at making marinara sauce over zucchini spaghetti. It wasn't spaghetti, and it was crunchy and cold. Gross! So, being a college-educated woman with a truckload of wisdom, I decided what I really needed to do was use spaghetti squash next time. Which I did the next day. The result? It was still crunchy, cold, and gross. I ate a few bites, feeling sorry for myself and wondering what the heck I was doing trying to go raw, when I realized that I didn't have to eat it.

"But it's so healthy!" I argued. "It's raw! This is my life now - I just need to get used to this!"

I struggled through another bite or two before I realized that if I am going to do this raw thing, I'd better be eating foods that I really enjoy - and there are plenty of them! So I quickly tossed the impostor and made myself a huge salad - something that is SUPPOSED to be crunchy and cold, and is just as healthy.

So, that's been my motto. If I don't like it, move on to the next experiment. The flip side of that is that I'm making an effort to keep things on hand that I know that I love. This includes avocados, watermelon, young coconuts, eggplant chips, herbal teas, sun-dried tomatoes, and fruits galore.

Even still, I'm committed to experimenting and trying new things every day. In the process, I'm discovering more foods that I both love and hate - and recalibrating my experiments accordingly. So, we'll see what new flavors tomorrow holds.

Told'ya

And So It Begins...

My fridge.

I'm going 100% raw for the next six months, and I have mixed feelings about it. But luckily, I'm sitting more on the "I'm totally committed" side of the fence, than the "WHAT HAVE I DONE!!" side.

Most of the time.

There are times that I stand aimlessly in my kitchen and whimper at the shock of it. But mostly, I'm excited to explore this new world of flavors and creativity. I'm learning to use a dehydrator, making raw almond yogurt, and buying ingredients I never even knew existed. Eating raw is like an art form.

Although at the moment, it often feels like a part-time job.

The Learning Curve

But as discouraging as it can be, I know this is just the learning curve. We went through this 11 years ago when we first went vegan (although it's been several years since we claimed that lifestyle). Actually, I guess it was closer to a raw diet, since we were striving to eat all living foods as often as possible. That's when we first swapped cow's milk for soy milk and started buying fridge-loads of vegetables that would mostly just go bad before I could use them.

I had no idea how to cook that stuff. Heck, I barely knew how to cook at all, having just gotten married six months earlier at the tender age of 19 (oh, I dare my daughter to try that one...).

But over the following months, we started to taste the cereal through the soy milk until we didn't even taste the milk at all. I started to find new and delicious ways to create vegan dishes that did not revolve around trying to copy my "regular" menu. I started to love making the food, and even began to enjoy eating it.

A learning curve - that's all.

Home-made guac with spicy eggplant chips -
fresh from the dehydrator.

So when we decided to go vegan again 12 days ago, it kind of felt like coming home to myself. After all, that's how we mostly eat at home anyway, since that's how I learned to cook. Besides, in California, there's no shortage of places that cater to that lifestyle. And I also left the door open for processed sugar - Icees were still on the menu. Not bad.

But then we went to a raw food presentation by this man, and I sat there the whole time thinking, "I could do this. I could do this!"

There were a world of excuses that kept trying to weasel their way into my mind, but it was like they were just flies buzzing around my head. Nothing ever felt like it was my own thought - I never made an emotional connection with the excuses. Instead, I just felt inspired.

That night, my husband and I stayed up late discussing the possibility of going raw. Could we? Would we? Why?

The Why 

There are several reasons. For starters, my husband and I both have various health problems that we hope the raw life style will help us overcome. In addition, we both have always intended to go back to eating the way we used to all those years ago, but meat and ice cream kept changing our mind.

I can't speak for my husband, but the thing that really inspired me to take this jump is the fact that we are trying to have children. There's a much longer version of that story, but the point is that I've always known I would go back to a living diet when I had children. I can't conceive of feeding my children anything less.

And since we're trying to have children now, this seemed like the most appropriate time. Especially because I don't want to change my lifestyle while I'm pregnant because I'm nervous about whether that would cause all of my dumping toxins to go into the fetus. I don't know if it really works that way, but why take chances? My husband and I already have a few odds stacked against us when it comes to genetics. Why take the risk?

The Time Table

Raw tacos from a restaurant my husband found. Yum!

So, we set the finish line to be six months from August 21. Emotionally, that's as far as I could handle. If I was getting into this on a "forever" basis, I would probably just buckle in a couple weeks and go get lost in a candy store somewhere. (Or at Fogo de Chao!)

However, I do expect that by the time we finish this challenge, our tastes will have changed and it will be easier for us to maintain a more moderate diet of living foods. I'm not even going to start setting goals that far out, though. For now, I'm just focusing on getting to tomorrow.

Even though I'm familiar with the principles behind eating raw, I've never been 100%. Ever. Not on my best day. So now I'm having to learn, unlearn, and re-learn so many things that I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the task ahead.

My Greatest Support

I am tremendously grateful that my husband is doing this with me. Otherwise, there would be no way I could do this. The moments that I sink onto the couch in despair are the moments he steps in and makes our meals like a hero. In addition, I love to cook for him. When I would be more likely to grab a couple carrots and a handful of nuts for dinner, I am much more willing to try new things when I'm cooking for him, too.

So far, this has been fun, amazing, discouraging, challenging, motivating, and surreal. But more than anything, I am just grateful that I have made it an entire eight days.

Eight down, 172 to go.