Raw Food Haven

Archive for October, 2011

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One of the best things you can do to have success on the Raw Food Diet is to make sure your kitchen is well stocked. Having what you need to make delicious raw food recipes at your fingertips is essential for those weak moments when you are craving an old favorite cooked dish.

Below is a list of what I normally keep stocked in my pantry at home. Maybe this will give you some ideas on how to set up your own personal pantry space to ensure your raw food success!

Of course you should always buy raw, organic versions of these foods, but it is also great to find out a little more about the companies who make these foods. Discover which ones are doing the most in their communities and choose them over others to support their efforts. When it comes to the dried fruits, you should get unsulphered, unsweetened ones. These are sometime difficult to find in stores, but online you should have more options.

I did list snacks and other packaged foods at the end because in most cities these days you can buy pre-made raw snacks and even sometimes meals from health food stores. However, these are also easy to make in large batches at home to keep stocked in your pantry. This way it is cheaper and usually tastes better anyway.

The List:

1. Nuts/Seeds

• Almonds, nut and nut butter
• Cashews
• Walnuts
• Sunflower Seeds
• Flax Seeds
• Hemp seeds
• Pecans
• Macademia Nuts
• Brazil Nuts
• Chia Seeds
• Pine Nuts

2. Dried Fruits

• Raisins
• Dried Cranberries
• Dates
• Figs
• Dried Cherries
• Dried Apricots
• Dried Strawberries
• Dried Blueberries

3. Superfoods

• Cacao: powder, nibs, butter
• Dried Coconut Flakes
• Goji Berries
• Maca
• Mesquite Powder
• E3 Live BLue Green Algae
• Lucuma Powder
• Dried Carob Powder
• Raw Protein powders or Meal Replacement powders

4. Grains

• Raw oats
• Buckwheat groats
• Wheat berries

5. Sweeteners

• Agave
• Yacon root syrup
• 100% Maple Syrup (not raw, but commonly used by Raw Foodies)
• Raw Honey

6. Seasonings & Condiments

• Celtic Sea Salt
• Other favorite dried spices (I use cumin, coriander, and cinnamon the most!)
• Coconut Butter and oil
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
• Nama Shoyu (raw soy sauce)
• Nutritional Yeast (not raw, but sometimes used by raw foodies)
• Stone Ground Mustard

7. Snacks & Packaged Foods

• Kale or other veggie chips
• Cookies, fruit and nut bars, chocolate bars, other desserts
• Breads and crackers (I love Manna bread, which isn’t 100% raw, but is cooked at low temps and is delicious as a snack now and then!)
• Granolas

The more raw recipes you make, you will begin to know which foods you need to keep more of in your own kitchen. I hope this list helps you decide what foods would work best in your pantry at home.

Jenni Weems is the editor of http://www.theRawFoodEffect.com your go-to guide for transitioning to a raw food diet and all the latest raw food information. Some delicious but simple Raw Food Recipes using the foods from your well-stocked pantry can be found at http://www.therawfoodeffect.com/simple-raw-food-recipes.html – Copyright: you may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, the active links and this copyright notice remain intact.

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Thousands of people are quickly learning that a raw food diet is essential to a healthy immune system as well as maintaining a healthy weight. However many people are not aware of how to prepare raw fruit and veggie recipes or they have never even seen this type of recipe book. If you are not used to (not) cooking with raw food, you may not find the plant based diet to be tasty or worth continuing. This is why it is so important for you to find a good collection of recipes before you actually do begin a raw food diet. If you have a large selection of delicious food that is easy to prepare you will have a far greater chance of continuing with the diet. As you begin to expand your Raw Food Recipes you will be able to create more tasteful and creative dishes.

The most common raw food recipe is a salad. There are different types of salads with numerous ingredients. Some salads are simply a mixture of fresh greens and there are others that use nuts and cheeses and fruits. Really the only limit of raw foods to be used in your salad is up to your imagination. To add taste, you could get creative and add some raw fish or a dressing. Try a healthy option like a dill dressing, mango ginger dressing, or cilantro pesto and use fresh pieces of fruits like mandarin oranges and apples for additional taste. It is important to find ways of spicing up your food. This keeps the excitement and joy of eating alive. Remember that being healthy does not have to be boring,

A salad is a great way to start a meal, but for some, there needs to be more. An entree is going to provide more filling nourishment and the list or raw foods entrees is long. As you begin to work with different raw plants, you will learn the qualities that each one has and the list of nutrients they have to offer. This will allow you to create a custom creation for each day of the week and help to keep everything interesting. If you do not work on finding delicious raw food recipes you may give up on the Raw Food diet, so this is an important area to really focus on when creating a diet plan.

There are other recipe categories in the Raw Food Diet that include desserts and drinks. Just because you eat healthy foods does not meant that you have to be deprived of delicious meals. Even desserts can be healthy, nutritious and great tasting. These items can be made from almost all raw foods. This can include fruit sorbet, berry cream cake, and even carob sauce. Drinks may include ambrosia, a chai smoothie, a cucumber cooler, carrot and orange juice or papaya sunflower nectar. Here are some ideas for raw food dishes, but this really is just the tip of the iceberg, the possibilities are nearly endless.

* Chocolate Smoothie

* Muesli with: Raw Oats and Fruits

* Lots of dried or Fruits and Nuts

* Cashew Ice-Cream

* Italian Noodles

* Noodles with Pasta Sauce

* Fruit Juices with soy protein Powder

* Guacamole Salad

Todd Butcher is a former diving instructor, bartender of 13 years and more recently spent 12 years as an IT pro. He now works from home as a promoter of healthy products and writes articles on numerous subjects focusing on the benefits of a raw plant based diet.

An avid runner, vegan and 3-time Ironman Triathlon finisher, he focuses on cultivating a society of happier people doing the things they want to do rather than what they have to do. His philosophies on life are taken from the teachings of Buddhist Grand Master Wei Chueh of the Chung Tai Chan Monastery in Houston, TX. Living the right way means settling the mind and enjoying life.

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If you are considering or already on a Raw Food Diet, you may find one of your best allies is a dehydrator. With tons of recipes available for your food dehydrator that are excellent for a uncooked food diet, you will not only get delicious, fresh and healthy meals that are part of the diet, you will save money and easily preserve your raw foods for future meals. Even if you are not on a raw diet, these dehydrators are great for vegetarians and vegans as well! One of the best brands on the market is the Nesco food dehydrator.

Crackers

Crackers are great to make in a Nesco food dehydrator and some of the most delicious and healthy are flax crackers. Tasty flax seed crackers are a perfect snack for those on an unprocessed diet and taste great with salsa or hummus. A perfect recipe for these flax seed crackers is as follows: in a bowl, soak 2 cups of whole flaxseeds in 2 cups of water for about 1 ½ hours. When the time is up, it should look like goo. Stir in ¼ cup of Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, a pinch of sea salt and 1 tablespoon of raw fresh herbs. Spread this mixture on the Nesco food dehydrator teflex sheets and dehydrate for 4-6 hours at 110 degrees F. Turn the mixture over and dehydrate for an additional 3-4 hours. Break your crackers into pieces and enjoy with some homemade dip or put into soups.

Kale Chips

An amazing super food, kale is the superstar of the raw fare diet. Making kale chips in your dehydrator is an excellent way to get enough of this amazing green in your diet. To make kale chips: tear small pieces of kale onto your mesh dehydrator tray. You should use approximately a bunch of green, leafy kale. Sprinkle the kale with ¼ tsp of sea salt and place in your Nesco food dehydrator for an hour at 145 degrees F. Turn the trays around after the 1st hour and lower the temperature to 115 degrees F. Check them at this point. If they are at the desired crispiness, remove, cool and eat. If not, put them in for another hour. You can further spice them with salt, pepper, or your own mix of favorite seasonings.

Fruit Leather

A great and healthy snack that is not only uncooked but a hit with kids is fruit leather. They are extremely easy to make, taste great and you can customize them to your own tastes. For a mixed fruit leather made in your Nesco food dehydrator: Cut up and puree 4 apples, 2 mangoes and 2 bananas. Make sure it is extremely smooth with no chunks of any kind. Spread the mixture on a teflex sheet and dehydrate for about 8 hours at about 115 degrees F. Both you and your children will love these!

Raw Food Cookies

On to raw rations dessert, making cookies in your Nesco food dehydrator that are uncooked is a favorite of many on the raw diet. Here is a recipe for lemon cashew cookies: Process 2 cups of raw cashews in a blender until it is a fine powder. Add the juice of 2 lemons, 1 ½ cups of raw shredded coconut and 2 tbsp of raw honey. Stir and drop onto teflex trays and dehydrate at 115 degrees F for about 6 hours. These cookies will be a hit at any party or just to keep around the house to nibble on.

There are many recipes that are fantastic for a diet such as this. A quick trip to your local book store or a browse on the internet will give you many recipes in addition to the ones shared above. There are recipes for any occasion and those to please any palate.

If you are on the Raw Food diet and in the market for a great food dehydrator, try the Nesco food dehydrator. For more information see this website: http://www.nescodehydrator.com/.

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The purpose of a raw food cleanse, sometimes called a raw food detox, is to eliminate and cleanse the body of stored toxins. This is accomplished using only raw and preferably organic foods. A raw food cleanse can last anywhere from 7 to 90 days depending on what particular cleansing instructions you choose to follow. The goal of a raw food cleanse is not only to eliminate stored toxins, but also to give your organs such as your kidneys, gall bladder, intestines, stomach, pancreas- all your organs- a rest from the efforts of processing hard-to-digest food products. This type of cleanse will result in a higher level of noticeable wellness and health.

Specifically, a typical raw cleanse will not only utilize 100% raw natural foods, but will also eliminate foods such as meat, dairy, grains, sugar, flour, cooked foods, preservatives, artificial additives such as MSG, coffee, other types of caffeine, soda, artificial sweeteners and alcohol. Just removing all of these foods from your diet will naturally elevate you to a healthier state of being. The most effective food to cleanse the body is raw, unprocessed, natural food. This is because raw organic food has about 80% fewer toxins than standard processed foods.

Raw food is an ideal internal cleanser. This is because raw is natural food. Unprocessed/unheated food is unharmed by the damaging effects of heat and in this perfect state, can effectively help the body release toxins and also nourish and heal the body.

The raw unprocessed, natural food used in this type of cleanse should also be organic. Organic foods are “clean foods,” and are free from the harmful pesticides sprayed on conventionally grown foods. The pesticides used on conventionally grown foods also depletes the soil of nutrients. So when choosing organic you are not only “eating clean,” but the level of nutrients is greater, which is important, especially during a cleanse.

Another important part of this type of cleanse is simply pure water and lots of it. Since you are encouraging your body to release stored toxins, drinking water helps to flush these toxins out of your body through the kidneys and even your skin. Water is a vital component of skin tone, brain function, metabolism, digestion, every organ system of your body. While pure water should be an important part of every day living, drinking water during a cleanse is more necessary to thoroughly rid your body of wastes and toxic materials.

Fasting may or may not be a part of a raw cleanse. Water-only fasting is an ideal way to quickly rid the body of toxins. Combining a single day or even a few days of water fasting with a raw detox plan is less severe and more gentle to the body than fasting for several days.
Another important component of a raw detox is exercise. Exercise moves the lymph fluid though our body, helping to remove cellular waste products. Exercise is the only way to move the lymph. Exercise also helps to tone the body while you are losing weight and aids in reducing any uncomfortable side-effects of the raw cleanse, such as a possible bout of constipation.

Who Should Do a Raw Food Cleanse?

A raw cleanse or detox is beneficial to anybody who wants to be healthier and wants their body to operate at peak performance. This internal cleansing will show on the outside and some of the noticeable benefits of cleansing internally will manifest themselves in better looking skin, weight loss, more energy and healing.

Even if you are eating totally raw now, doing a raw cleanse is helpful because this type of cleansing gives you different tools to add to your raw food diet. Some of these “tools” can be a day or two of juice feasting, a day or more of water fasting, a day of eating concentrated greens, and so on. The different tools will vary according to the type of raw food cleanse that you choose to do. No matter where your health is, cleansing using raw food for a specific amount of time will help you to achieve your optimal level of health.

Benefits of a Raw Food Cleanse

When you start to cleanse or detoxify your body you will notice numerous wellness benefits including weight loss, a better complexion and increased mental clarity. Some people have reported that aches and pains are reduced or eliminated and other health challenges have cleared up.

A raw cleanse is an excellent weight loss diet since it is both very safe and extremely effective. For those who do not need to lose weight such as athletes, pregnant women or those at their ideal weight, but want to be more healthier, feel better and look vibrant as well as other health benefits including ridding their body of toxins, a Raw Food Diet cleanse is ideal. All you have to do is simply add more calories in the form of nut milks, juices and/or greens.

A raw cleanse is beneficial for health and wellness for those don’t want to go totally raw with their daily diet. Doing a raw food cleanse for a week or more will not only cleanse the body of stored toxins, but will contribute to overall wellness since it offers the organs a rest from the difficult task of digesting hard-to-digest substances and those lacking in nutrients such as meat, non-raw dairy products, processed and cooked foods. A raw cleanse is also an ideal, but not a necessary way to start a raw food diet. After finishing a raw food cleanse, you have the option of continuing to eat only raw food to help you go on to better health and wellness.

How Often Should I Do A Raw Food Cleanse?

The choice to cleanse your body is totally up to you. While some do seasonal house cleaning, others think of an internal cleansing as “personal house cleaning” and do a cleanse seasonally. Others may do a cleanse whenever they feel their body would benefit from it. The exact frequency and times of cleansing is totally personal and up to you. Your body will thank you and reward you every time you do a cleanse.

How Do I Start A Raw Food Cleanse?

If you are interested in doing a raw food cleanse, my advice is to seek out a knowledgeable person who will help you in doing a cleanse. This can be a holistic doctor, a naturopath, a health coach or someone who is simply helping others to eat raw and has helped other to do raw cleanses. You should not make up your own type of cleanse, especially if you have never done a cleanse before. Your cleanse instructions should include a specific meal plan for each day of your cleansing so that you can have your food prepared. I had the opportunity to interview Jinjee Talifero, creator of the 21 Days Raw Cleanse. Read that interview and learn about the raw cleanse she has successfully guided many through at http://www.raw-food-diet-magazine.com/raw-food-cleanse.html.

No matter what particular type of raw cleanse you do, a raw food cleanse is a gift that you are giving to your body and your body will thank you by giving back better health and vitality.

Mary Jane Humes is the creator and webmaster of http://www.raw-food-diet-magazine.com

Mary Jane is a former LPN, has a BA in Biology and a keen interest in creating, maintaining and enjoying the benefits of wellness using natural means. She has always been interested in natural health and healing. While researching natural health supplements, Mary Jane realized that food was the best supplement. This food needs to be raw in order to give the most healing benefits. Her raw website was created to educate others, especially beginners, about a raw food diet.

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