Raw Food Haven

Archive for May, 2011

When one first goes on a Raw Food Diet, they may find it quite easy to eat whole fruits, vegetables, salads and nuts for the first few weeks. Just the fact that preparation is much simpler than a cooked food diet, not to mention the way it will improve their health is a wonderful incentive to do well with it.

Within the first week of starting a raw food diet, most will begin to feel the positive effects to their health and wellbeing. That becomes incentive to stay on the diet knowing it is helping to somewhat detox your body and improving your health. After a while though you may feel that you are eating the same things repetitiously and may tire of it.

If you are planning on staying on a Raw Food diet for more than a few weeks, or even years, you will find it necessary to look for a variety of different recipes. You may be really gung ho at first about starting your raw food diet, but if you don’t vary your foods or eat the same things all the time you may get bored and give up. You will find if you research and learn what nutrients come from what, you will be able to put together a balanced raw food diet that you can be happy with. If you don’t, you may start craving unhealthy foods again, and you don’t want that.

If you do your homework, you will find there are Raw Food diet recipes that can be substituted for much of the different types of cooked dishes that you now enjoy. You don’t have to live on just salads! There are appetizers, main dishes, and a vast amount of desserts you can make. Smoothies made with whole fruits and green veggies are both delicious and packed with vitamins, minerals and nutrients essential to good health. You can make raw food diet bars that are pleasing and filling. You can even make vegan pizzas by using a nut base for the “dough”.

You should start out your raw food diet with a plan to cover all of your nutritional needs. There are websites for people who want to track their success in losing weight, or just those who want to keep track of what they eat. These sites often offer a printable spread sheet so you can keep track of and monitor what you are eating and what nutrients you may be lacking in your raw diet. You can make a food diary and follow it for a couple of weeks until you are certain you are eating healthy in your raw diet. One such website is fitday.com. Check it out; you may be glad you did.

In the case where you find you are lacking certain nutrients, you’ll have to do your homework and find a raw food source that contains what you lack. There will be some foods that contain a certain nutrient you lack that you don’t care for. This is where the raw food diet recipes will help you. There may be a certain combination of the food you don’t like, prepared with other foods you do like so you don’t really taste the one you don’t like. When there’s a will, there’s a way, so to speak.

Your nutritional needs may not be fully met on a raw food diet, so in that case, you may have to find another raw source. Raw food diets generally don’t have enough calcium for our body’s needs. What the Government recommends in the amount of calcium we require is not agreed by many. Some raw fooders believe that meat eaters lose absorption of calcium into their bodies due to a substance in animal products that blocks it. There is nothing however that confirms this claim.

You may find some die hard raw fooders who use raw dairy products to supplement the calcium they are lacking. This is very dangerous however, as salmonella, e-coli and other dangerous and often deadly bacteria’s may be present due to the lack of pasteurization. Some may go outside the box for this and use a calcium supplement although not raw, safer. There are certain fruits and vegetables very high in calcium that could simply be eaten more of such as broccoli, cabbage, oranges, raw almonds to name a few. By adding extra of these raw foods in the daily diet you should cover the deficit.

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Nothing tastes as good as fresh homemade butter on your garden veggies or just made whipped cream to dollop on your home grown strawberries. You can make your own butter from raw cream from your cow or a share in a cow from a local homesteader. You can also use cream from the store if raw cream is not available, just remember, it doesn’t have the same health benefits as raw cream. It can be a good place to start learning if you’ve never made your own butter before. Making your own ensures you avoid preservatives and additives that cause many health problems.

How to Make Homemade Whipping Cream

Pour the raw cream (any amount) into your KitchenAid mixer, blender or food processor. Add a few teaspoons of raw honey or cane sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla. Blend on high for about 2-3 minutes and stop when the cream has developed stiff peaks. If you go past this phase, you are on your way to butter, so don’t over mix.

How to Make Homemade Butter

You do not need salt to make butter, but if you like flavored butter you can add sea salt or kosher salt to taste. You can also add minced garlic, 1-2 cloves, for garlic butter. Add this in at the beginning.

Pour the cream (any amount) into the mixer or blender and blend on high for about 5-10 minutes. The process will go through 3 phases: first the whipping cream phase, then the crumble stage where it resembles feta cheese, and then you will see the liquid splash out of the ball of butter. At this stage, turn off the mixer and remove the butter into a dish. Pour the liquid into a separate jar to use as buttermilk in your favorite recipes.

Take the butter into your hands and squeeze and knead like you would clay or playdough to remove more liquid. Shape as desired into a ball or use pretty butter molds.

Store your homemade butter in a jar or a butter bell on your counter where it will stay soft and ready to use. If you keep it in the refrigerator, it will harden and you will have to set it out several hours before use. Butter will keep in the refrigerator for 6 months and the freezer for up to a year.

Fresh homemade raw butter is healthy and delicious to spread on steamed vegetables and homemade breads. When you make your own butter and whipped cream, you know they are made with wholesome ingredients and can avoid dangerous additives and preservatives.

©2011 Shanna Ohmes

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Raw foods can be thrilling when thoroughly explored. However, it can also be daunting to those first learning about them. Many recipes include the use of several kitchen appliances that are not the staple of every household including dehydrators, food processors, and Vitamix blenders. Such factors can deter many new raw foodies who simply looking to find raw food recipes for beginners that are quick and easy to manage.

Though these recipes may be intimidating at first glance, there are four easy tips that can help beginners navigate complicated recipes and create simple raw food recipes for beginners.

Tip #1: Recipes that require a dehydrator. Many recipes require the use of a dehydrator in order to achieve different textures and allow for the illusion of “warmth” without actually heating food above temperatures that denature a food’s enzymes. While a dehydrator could be an investment you may want to make in the future, many raw food recipes for beginners can be made by substituting a dehydrator for a conventional oven.

Though it will be more difficult to monitor the “exact” temperature of a conventional oven, one can achieve very similar results by setting the oven to its lowest setting and cracking leaving the oven door ajar by about one to two inches. One can use an oven thermometer if “exact” temperature measurements are important. Follow the original recipe in regards to time needed for proper “dehydration.”

Tip #2: The Magic Bullet Solution. Whether you are preparing an advanced gourmet recipe or simple raw recipes for beginners, you will undoubtedly encounter recipes requiring the fine chopping and grinding of nuts and seeds. Many recipes may call for a coffee grinder to accomplish this task, and while this is certainly a viable option, there are many people who do not own a personal coffee grinder. (And those that do may not be particularly fond of using it to grind nuts.) The Magic Bullet attains the same results as a coffee grinder and can serve a dual purpose of blending and mixing for other recipes.

Tip #3: Pre-planning and Freezing. A common difficulty encountered with many recipes is what to do with the leftovers. Because Raw Foods are devoid of any preservatives that would prolong their shelf life, they often need to be eaten immediately or soon after preparation. What is one then to do with the leftovers of such Raw Food Recipes for beginners? Pre-planning for meals is one simple answer. Do your best to be aware of how much of one recipe you are making and don’t be afraid to cut a recipe in half (or in fourths!) if you are afraid you will not consume the entire thing. But as life is often unpredictable, freezing can be another viable option to elongating the life of your food. For instance, many raw soups and pates can be frozen after preparation, as can any fruits or produce that may be threatening to spoil.

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