I Am About To Begin My Raw Food Journey, But...

[corndancer]

HELLO EVERYONE I AM CORNDANCER OF APACHE DECENT.
I AM SO EXCITED I AM ABOUT TO CHANGE MY ENTIRE LIFE
BEGINNING MY RAW FOOD SPIRITUAL JOURNEY.
I AM TIER OF BEING SADLY TIER. I REALIZE I LOST TOUCH WITH MOTHER EARTH AND ALL THE FOODS SHE BARES FOR ME TO EAT, BEING CONSUMED BY TOXICITY EXISTENCE, BUT NOW I AM 100% COMMITTED GETTING READY FOR A NEW LIFE, FEELING ALIVE.
I AM TRULY INSPIRED BY ALL THOSE WHO HAVE OPENED THE DOORS FOR ME, READING THEIR BEFORE AND AFTER STORIES HOW RAW FOODS CHANGE THEM ADMIRABLY.

THE ONLY PROBLEM IS I AM STUCK ON WHAT APPLIANCES TO BUY; WHICH VITA MIX, DO I BUY AND DO I NEED A WET AND DRY BLADE, A 5 OR 9 SHELVE FOOD DEHYDRATOR, A FOOD PROCESSOR, A GRINDER FOR MY NUT MILK, I DON'T KNOW?
I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING AND SEARCHING BUT I AM REALLY CONFUSED? I WANT TO MAKE SURE I AM PREPARED TO MAKE MY RAW FOOD MEALS ALL DAY EVER DAY.
THIS RAW FOOD TRANSITION SHOULD BE SIMPLE YET I KNOW FRIENDS WHO TRIED TO TRANSFER FROM COOKED FOODS TO RAW FOODS AND IT WAS TOO DIFFICULT TO STICK WITH; BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO PREPARE RAW FOOD MEALS, IT WAS SALADS AND FRUITS THEY PREPARE, SOON AFTER, THEY BECAME BORED WITH THE SAME SALADS AND FRUITS THEN THEY WENT BACK TO COOKED FOODS. KNOWING THEIR OUTCOME I WANT MY EXPERIENCE TO BE DETERMINE, DISCIPLINE AND FOCUS ON ENJOYING MY RAW FOODS BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER, SNACKS AND DESERTS.

CAN ANYONE GIVE ME ANY SUGGESTIONS BEFORE I SPEND TOO MUCH MONEY I DON'T HAVE ON APPLIANCE I REALLY DON'T KNOW ABOUT?
AH HO!
CORNDANCER

[RawFoodGrl]

Ah Ho!! Blessings to you this equinox, Corndancer!!

I would suggest NOT buying anything right now except a blender and perhaps a food processor.

Most people I know starting raw have transitioned slowly, and started simply, buy replacing their morning breakfast with blended smoothies (fruits or veggies), and added salads and other raw items (such as blended soups) to their regular lunches and dinners (eat your raw food before your cooked!).

Over time, add one entirely raw meal a week, then two, try new recipes, try new salads, and give your body time to transition. Besides giving yourself time to try new recipes and get a lot of options under your belt before going 100%, it gives your body time to heal more, transition more, and when you fully transition the detox will be less intense.

Most people I know do really well when they eat a lot of leafy greens (plus veggies), more so than eating a lot of deydrated things, which mostly include a lot of nuts and seeds. Juicing is wonderful, but it's also not entirely necessary, to my understanding. I don't have a juicer (yet) and eat lots of salads and some fruits, a few deydrated or premade raw things (like flax bars, raw breads, and raw food bars) and am doing great.

If you can get an Excalibur deyhdrator, everything I've heard about that says it's the way to go (be sure to get some teflex sheets to go with it!!).

For the juicer, while many people I know recommend the Champion, I am thinking about the Green Star. But the thing is good juicers are VERY expensive (as is the Excalibur), so just start going raw, see what you're interested in, take time to do some research.

I think a blender is key, as well as a cutting board, a knife, a bowl, a fork, and measuring spoons. A food processor is REALLY handy for shredding, slicing and mixing things that you don't want liquified.

(Anything that will be "liquidy" such as sauces, creams, soups, smoothies, salad dressings, goes in a blender. A blender needs a bit of liquid to function without overheating the motor. Anything "solidy" like pates, stuffings for things like Rawvioli, faux meatballs, faux burger patties, goes in a food processor. Food processors like a bit of moisture, which can even be from something like avocado or cucumber, as well as oil or water (unlike a blender) but do really well with less moist items.)

The other thing is don't be afraid of spending a smaller amount of money on something less than the "best" or has been used. We're getting a lot of good use out of our round deyhdrator. It's not an Excalibur, it doesn't have temperature controls, it doesn't have teflext sheets, it takes a bit more effort, but we can make crackers, warm through foods, make small tortillas, make "neatballs" and "rawvioli", just fine in it - and it only cost $3.00 new from a thrift store.

A while back a friend of mine gave me a juicer for free!! (He got a more powerful one and didn't need his old one.) Unfortunately that was way before I was into raw and don't have it anymore, but still, I had it, it wasn't the top of the line, but I sure wish I had it now as it would work fine for most things!!

I think the thing is to find out what you really want to do, what your needs really are, before buying something.

Yes, eventually we want to get an Excalibur and a great juicer (whatever brand we choose). But I'm finding I really prefer salads and whole fruits to anything dehydrated or juiced (or even blended, for that matter.) So even if we got one tomorrow, it wouldn't be put to all that much use. It would just make our current way of eating raw a bit easier in some respects. Perhaps we'll do fine never getting either.


At any rate, to get to your last comment - there are SO MANY WAYS to do salads, smoothies, desserts, all kinds of things, all kinds of salad dressings, all kinds of ways to mix things up, you can have a really wide variety of experiences - and you don't always need a juicer or a high end dehydrator to do it.

[corndancer]

Originally Posted by RawFoodGrl

Ah Ho!! Blessings to you this equinox, Corndancer!!

I would suggest NOT buying anything right now except a blender and perhaps a food processor.

Most people I know starting raw have transitioned slowly, and started simply, buy replacing their morning breakfast with blended smoothies (fruits or veggies), and added salads and other raw items (such as blended soups) to their regular lunches and dinners (eat your raw food before your cooked!).

Over time, add one entirely raw meal a week, then two, try new recipes, try new salads, and give your body time to transition. Besides giving yourself time to try new recipes and get a lot of options under your belt before going 100%, it gives your body time to heal more, transition more, and when you fully transition the detox will be less intense.

Most people I know do really well when they eat a lot of leafy greens (plus veggies), more so than eating a lot of deydrated things, which mostly include a lot of nuts and seeds. Juicing is wonderful, but it's also not entirely necessary, to my understanding. I don't have a juicer (yet) and eat lots of salads and some fruits, a few deydrated or premade raw things (like flax bars, raw breads, and raw food bars) and am doing great.

If you can get an Excalibur deyhdrator, everything I've heard about that says it's the way to go (be sure to get some teflex sheets to go with it!!).

For the juicer, while many people I know recommend the Champion, I am thinking about the Green Star. But the thing is good juicers are VERY expensive (as is the Excalibur), so just start going raw, see what you're interested in, take time to do some research.

I think a blender is key, as well as a cutting board, a knife, a bowl, a fork, and measuring spoons. A food processor is REALLY handy for shredding, slicing and mixing things that you don't want liquified.

(Anything that will be "liquidy" such as sauces, creams, soups, smoothies, salad dressings, goes in a blender. A blender needs a bit of liquid to function without overheating the motor. Anything "solidy" like pates, stuffings for things like Rawvioli, faux meatballs, faux burger patties, goes in a food processor. Food processors like a bit of moisture, which can even be from something like avocado or cucumber, as well as oil or water (unlike a blender) but do really well with less moist items.)

The other thing is don't be afraid of spending a smaller amount of money on something less than the "best" or has been used. We're getting a lot of good use out of our round deyhdrator. It's not an Excalibur, it doesn't have temperature controls, it doesn't have teflext sheets, it takes a bit more effort, but we can make crackers, warm through foods, make small tortillas, make "neatballs" and "rawvioli", just fine in it - and it only cost $3.00 new from a thrift store.

A while back a friend of mine gave me a juicer for free!! (He got a more powerful one and didn't need his old one.) Unfortunately that was way before I was into raw and don't have it anymore, but still, I had it, it wasn't the top of the line, but I sure wish I had it now as it would work fine for most things!!

I think the thing is to find out what you really want to do, what your needs really are, before buying something.

Yes, eventually we want to get an Excalibur and a great juicer (whatever brand we choose). But I'm finding I really prefer salads and whole fruits to anything dehydrated or juiced (or even blended, for that matter.) So even if we got one tomorrow, it wouldn't be put to all that much use. It would just make our current way of eating raw a bit easier in some respects. Perhaps we'll do fine never getting either.


At any rate, to get to your last comment - there are SO MANY WAYS to do salads, smoothies, desserts, all kinds of things, all kinds of salad dressings, all kinds of ways to mix things up, you can have a really wide variety of experiences - and you don't always need a juicer or a high end dehydrator to do it.

You gave me lots of information that could help me along the way..
I really appreciate all the tips and knowledge you shared with me.
I am a vegetarian and transfering to raw food 100%.

Thank you very much.

[RawFoodGrl]

After travelling and getting my raw salads in restaurants, I can certainly see how people would have difficulty in sustaining that!

Also, if your salads always have everything, lots of ingredients, they can start tasting the same all the time. I've been doing this just a few months and every day look forward to my arugula cumin salad. I even stopped trying new salads because I love this one so much! When I want something different, I'll find a new salad in the book or online. Same with my dandelion salad. YUM!!!

Having organic produce really helps, I think, so things are more fresh, vibrant and alive. There's definitely a different energy vibration to it. And after eating these kinds of things for a while, your body really wants it, so it always tastes great.

But you do need to know your body and do some research to find out what all you need nutritionally. I had a really hard time transitioning over. I later found out because my body cannot really handle eating grapes and especially bananas, I need several superfoods to help provide me with vitamins and nutrients my body has long been missing, and that I need a bit more iron, protien and fat than many raw foodists do.

Without knowing those things I was never able to successfully be raw, I couldn't even go a full day on raw food. That's my journey, everyone has their own.

And I'm still learning things - Friday night I found out pure cane juice hits me even harder than bananas (but kale will help restore my balance after that), and that during my recent traveling I probably didn't get enough iron, so it was suggested to eat dulse and avocado when my body gets out of balance as it did the last day of the trip.

So, it's entirely sustainable, but it helps to learn and read, to take your time to figure things out. Your body will love you for it!

Ah Ho!

[dandelion]

A plain electric coffee grinder is one thing we could not do without. It will help to grind some seeds, like flax seed and sesame seed for example, which are super for salad dressings. My favorite food is raw broccoli with ground sesame seeds! We also use it to grind dried chili peppers, although not so much lately.

A juicer would be great. You can go for the best one, but I would suggest to start out with a cheap one, then you can decide if you like it or not. People are against centrifugal juicers, but I have cured my (chicken egg large) goitre with centrifugal juices, so that was not too bad. We moved on to the best one available, but you don't need to start that way! You can even grate vegetables and squeeze juice with your hands as one of my patients has done effectively.

A blender is great, especially for green smoothies, if you can afford one, but a simple food processor also goes a long way. We have a type with a small container which works almost like a blender, and it was pretty cheap (second hand).

A food processor will save you a lot of work obviously when you are going to do a lot of salads.

Initially my husband built our own dehydrator with about 10 trays. But to be honest, we now hardly ever use it, except for making dried banana chips for our daughter and for drying herbs and that kind of thing! I just feel that dehydrated foods is not the way to go. Initially we did a lot of potato chips and that kind of thing, but we have grown out of that....

Just our experiences....

[RawFoodGrl]

I think that's the thing, and points out each person has their own preferences, so it's good to take time to figure out what yours are.

I have a food processor, but NEVER use it for salads!

I do use the food dehydrator from time to time.

But I really like chewing my food, so I'd be less likely to use a juicer.

I do have a coffee grinder - I agree that that's very handy!

So, we're all different! We each do what works best for us.

[corndancer]

Originally Posted by RawFoodGrl

I think that's the thing, and points out each person has their own preferences, so it's good to take time to figure out what yours are.

I have a food processor, but NEVER use it for salads!

I do use the food dehydrator from time to time.

But I really like chewing my food, so I'd be less likely to use a juicer.

I do have a coffee grinder - I agree that that's very handy!

So, we're all different! We each do what works best for us.

I am new to replying so I hope I am doing this right, anyway thank you for all the information and how do I get the arugula cumin salad recipe it sounds yummy. so a coffee grinder is good because I was about to buy a Vita mix with the wet and dry blades but the cost is Wow!
ah ho!
corndancer

[corndancer]

Originally Posted by dandelion

A plain electric coffee grinder is one thing we could not do without. It will help to grind some seeds, like flax seed and sesame seed for example, which are super for salad dressings. My favorite food is raw broccoli with ground sesame seeds! We also use it to grind dried chili peppers, although not so much lately.

A juicer would be great. You can go for the best one, but I would suggest to start out with a cheap one, then you can decide if you like it or not. People are against centrifugal juicers, but I have cured my (chicken egg large) goitre with centrifugal juices, so that was not too bad. We moved on to the best one available, but you don't need to start that way! You can even grate vegetables and squeeze juice with your hands as one of my patients has done effectively.

A blender is great, especially for green smoothies, if you can afford one, but a simple food processor also goes a long way. We have a type with a small container which works almost like a blender, and it was pretty cheap (second hand).

A food processor will save you a lot of work obviously when you are going to do a lot of salads.

Initially my husband built our own dehydrator with about 10 trays. But to be honest, we now hardly ever use it, except for making dried banana chips for our daughter and for drying herbs and that kind of thing! I just feel that dehydrated foods is not the way to go. Initially we did a lot of potato chips and that kind of thing, but we have grown out of that....

Just our experiences....

thank you so much for all the information, I will buy a food processor and a blender but does it need to be a Vita Mix or an expensive one?
ah ho!
corndancer