Raw Foods to Eat
Okay, so now that you are on your way we need to talk about the foods to eat.
Personally, I found that simpler is better. I first started with Raw and went crazy thinking I needed to be knowledgeable in every way to sprout, dehydrate, juice, etc. It is just not the case. Getting back to basics felt the best for me. But that is the best thing about eating RAW… you have so many possibilities.
It is so fun trying new recipes, going online and seeing all the endless recipes for fun and amazing dishes, and experimenting on your own. Let the creative juices start flowing!!!
Most people live very busy lives with little or no extra time. So, as not to stress yourself out… start easy and with what you know, and gradually add on.
My method over the last year has been my 3 staples:
TWEAK - WEAN - EXPERIMENTI TWEAK my dishes to make them a little healthier each time that I eat them. This is not an overnight thing. I gave myself many tries to get used to it… I WEAN off the ingredients in my dishes that are not raw and I EXPERIMENT with different ingredients. |
For example: I love tofu, but it is not raw. I used to pile that and tempeh on my salads along with my favorite Goddess dressing. Instead of quitting everything all at once… I weaned myself off of the tempeh first… and ate it that way a few times… then I left off the tofu and ate it that way a few times… and then finally the dressing… substituting a beautiful cold pressed olive oil for it. It took my taste buds a second to get used to it and now after only a few times of eating it this way, I am loving it and my body is happier for it. Just give yourself time to adjust. Make up your mind to change and your habits will follow.
It does not have to be an all or nothing type of change in your life. Just start looking around your grocery store differently. Explore your produce section. It is your new best friend.
Try an experiment… go one day to the market and buy only produce. That is it. Just fresh veggies and fruits. Bring them home and put them all over your counter and see how beautiful and colorful they are. I always like to go ahead and spend the extra time with prepping the veggies, so it saves time when I am rushing to make something to eat. Wash and clean and cut your carrots and celery and other things you picked out. Put things in different Tupperware for your juices & salads, so you have them at the ready. Stock your “cleaned out fridge” with all of this amazing produce. You will be so proud of yourself for the effort you are making for your life and your body. 
It is a true reflection of how you see yourself and feel about yourself. Your fridge is very telling.
MAKE IT BEAUTIFUL LIKE YOU!!! YOU DESERVE IT!!!!
Create and have fun experimenting with your foods. Really pay attention to all the magic that you are buying for your body, for it to be at it’s optimum health. This is the “SUPER- HIGH FUEL AISLE FOR YOUR BODY”. This is the high quality gasoline you need to be putting in your body… not the middle aisles with all the packaged food that you can’t pronounce the ingredients in.
Don’t buy into it… LITERALLY!!!!
Look at the hundreds of different foods in the produce section. It is amazing when you really start to check it out. It really is all you ever need. You are basically shopping through your medicine cabinet. All those beautiful foods are healing and so healthy for your body. It is easy and inexpensive.
It is also exciting. A whole new way to live and feel!!!
Shopping List
I want to give you and idea of what my shopping list looks like and of course I TWEAK it weekly when I go to the market, if they have fresh stuff in that looks great and fresh. But I keep this as a basic list that might help you in making yours:
Veggies/Fruits
Blueberries… I am always grabbing a handful and tossing them down… soooooo good for you and a wonderful antioxidant, great for your smoothies also!!!
Bananas… I always buy two bunches… one to peel and freeze for quick, “grab and go” smoothies and the 
other bunch to leave out, to have on hand to “grab and go” in their most simplest solo form… and then add a little organic almond butter and you have a super treat!
Strawberries, Pineapple, cantaloupe, melon, kiwi, mango, papaya… get em’ all and experiment. My very favorite thing in the world for breakfast is a beautiful plate of cut up fruit. It is incredible all of these amazing colors and shapes and sizes and tastes all in one sitting. Try it… you won’t want anything else, I promise!
Apples… great to just grab and go.
Lemons… great to add to your first cup of water in the morning and a super flavor to dressings.
Coconuts… I know I know… do not be afraid or intimidated by these little fellows… You will absolutely fall in love with them… they are awesome and so easy to open.
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This YouTube video shows you how to open their little tops and get the absolute SUPERFOOD out of them for a fruit plate, smoothie, or plain scoopin’ out of the nut and having a ball!!) Get the ones with the pointy heads in your refrigerated section of your produce aisle or order some in bulk online. Asian or Thai coconuts are what you are looking for. Also, press on the white cover at the bottom of the coconut to look for firmness. It should be hard and not spongy. If it is spongy, there is a good chance that the coconut is over ripe and should not be eaten. When you scrape out the white coconut meat, it should be firm and white, not bluish or spongy.
Dates for added sweeteners in a lot of your raw dish recipes. Good stuff!! Or eat plain for a sweet treat.
Avocadoes (4 or 5 at a time) great for salads and guac. YUM!!! Easy stuff!!!
Tomatoes… large and small (great for salads, or my favorite a plate full of fresh basil and cut up tomatoes, salt & pepper with a dash of olive oil…KILLER!!!!) … a meal in itself and so quick & easy.
Kale (I buy lots of this great stuff!!! Who knew Kale was so amazing? It is the darkest greenest bad boy in the veggie department and filled with more good stuff for you than you can even imagine!!!! I make a killer Kale salad that makes my mouth water just thinking of it… recipe to follow)
A large bag of spring salad mix so I always have beautiful lettuce for a salad at any given moment.
Any of the lettuce family are beautiful. I added arugula to my mix last night and it changed up the whole salad.
Spinach is so your best friend. Toss it for a salad or throw it in a juice and you just gave your body something extra special.
Cucumbers
Asparagus
Red onion & yellow onion (I get 3 or 4 to keep around, it always adds to any dish)
A big bag of organic carrots… (I juice these awesome sticks of gold with some ginger everyday and also throw them in my salads for great fiber and vitamins)
Celery (salads & juices)
Broccoli (all by their lonesome with some olive oil, lemon juice, sliced almonds & a dash of salt YUM!!! I have a great broccoli salad coming up)
Cauliflower… cut it up real small and throw in your salad. EXPERIMENT!!!!
Button mushrooms (great for a zillion dishes-usually sliced)
Peppers (I get all of the happy colors Red, yellow, orange, & green) makes for a happy, colorful salad.
Yellow squash (angel hair pasta anyone?)
Zucchini (salads or yet another veggie to make your pasta with)
Bean sprouts for salads
Cilantro… for many dishes coming up. Sooooo good!!!
Fresh garlic for everything under the sun
Head over to the fresh herb aisle and grab the basics… rosemary, sage, mint, tarragon, oregano… chop different ones in a salad each night and check out which ones make your taste buds dance.
DRY GOODS
You don’t have to go crazy in the nut section, but I definitely would get several types of nuts because they are soooo good for you and so good in your basic salad and also they are in most raw recipes you will find or just great grabbing a handful to go.
So try any of the following and remember to buy RAW (it has to say that on the label, or they are not RAW… read carefully to see if they have been roasted, therefore not being raw).
(Some of these are for soaking after buying…remember….)…sounds like a lot to remember, but it really isn’t. I promise. I got overwhelmed with all of this in the beginning and then a very smart RAW chef that I was listening too, said he only soaks what he needs for the next day in his windowsill. So, I soaked a couple bowls, before I went to sleep and when I woke up, 
drained them and I was good to go for whatever I was making for the day for myself. Just plan a day ahead, for that kind of stuff… it literally took me two seconds to figure out I was going to need… some cashews or almonds (for milk) the next day and throw them in a bowl of water to wake those guys up overnight!!) You can do it!!!!
Brazil nuts
Cashews
Almonds
Walnuts
Sunflower seeds
Hulled sesame seeds
Flax seeds
Pine nuts
Hazelnuts
Just a few to try at first.
I would also grab as my staple some cold pressed olive oil for your salads and recipes
I like dried cranberries, dried strawberries or plain ol’ raisins for my salads.
You guys, there are so many options and different ways to have fun with this. It is YOUR way. Whatever works the best, easiest and tastiest for you and your bod and your taste buds. Like I said in the beginning…I am constantly tweaking my list, my recipes, my ideas, my grocery experience, my EVERYTHING, and it is so fun. Experiment with everything and anything.
Example: I didn’t feel like going to the grocery store last night so I looked in the fridge and got creative. I had in there, carrots (which I shredded), zucchini & squash, which I cut up, celery, mushrooms, sesame seeds, a yellow pepper, cashews all cut up and married nicely with each other, threw on some olive oil and curry powder, salt & pepper and Baby, I was at the cazbah!!! It was great, filling, I felt very creative and so good that I came up with a fun dish all my own and it looked pretty too!!!
This is fun and you can do it!!! You SHOULD do it, as a gift to yourself, because you love yourself and want your body to be the best it can be…and it is so easy.
Remember my three rules to make it easy for yourself: What are they?
TWEAK - WEAN - EXPERIMENT...& one more… Have a ball!!!! |