Raw Food Recipes

successfully_raw_pyramid_3Get the look and health you always wanted!

As a mother, daughter, wife helping my friends and family starting a raw food diet is becoming more and more frequent because everyone seems to want to lose weight, detox or just become healthier these days! And starting a raw food diet can become extremely stressful because this time you want “success”, right?

There are so many diets, theories, recipes, and books floating around that it’s easy to get overwhelmed by it all. And NO ONE has the time or energy to sort through the countless number of websites trying to piece together the perfect diet for you.

1316You deserve to look and feel great!

And you can. But it doesn’t have to be time consuming, nor stressful – not with this website helping you! As you look through these pages, you’ll find the best, easiest and most irresistible raw food and vegan recipes, juices, smoothies, ideas, menus, shopping lists, tips, diet plans, videos, articles, kitchen equipment, and everything else you need to get the look and health you always wanted!

Quick, easy, healthy and delicious is the way to go whether you want to enjoy raw food regularly, every day or for a lifetime.

You don’t need special equipment and tons of time to make raw food. Check out these easy raw food recipes!

Raw food can seem a little bit intimidating, right? So many raw recipes call for special equipment and hours of preparation, it makes eating raw seem like something that’s just for folks with lots of time on their hands, but that doesn’t have to be true!

Sure, you can get yourself a food dehydrator and spend 8-12 hours making crackers, but if time is not your greatest commodity, that doesn’t mean you can’t get in on the raw food action! Many raw food recipes seem like they take a long time to make, but a lot of that time is what I like to call “passive cooking.” You’re not really involved – the ingredients are just soaking or marinating, but you can be asleep or at work while that happens.

Why Raw?

Why even take the time to include more raw food in your diet? The answer is in the nutrients. When you cook food, it can destroy certain vitamins and minerals, and upping the raw, plant-based foods in your diet can even help prevent certain cancers.

When you think of raw food, you probably picture a lot of crudite and salads, but that’s not all that raw foodies eat! With a little bit of imagination, you can whip up all sorts of fun dishes from soups to pastas to tacos.

What is a Raw Diet?

Raw foodies generally agree that anything heated above 118F is not raw food, which is why a food dehydrator is a common tool in raw cooking. You cook the food at a very low temperature over a longer period of time to preserve the nutrients. In the spirit of keeping things simple, none of the recipes I’m listing require a food dehydrator.

You don’t have to eat a completely raw diet to eat more raw foods. Some folks strive to eat 50 percent raw, some go for 90 percent raw or even higher.

How much raw food you eat is really up to you, and so is how you get there. I’m a firm believer in small changes, so I’d try incorporating a few more raw dishes each week until you hit your goal. You’re going for a lifestyle change here, not a crash diet, and taking it slow sets you up for success.

Ready to try eating more raw food?oran

How To Make Smoothies

Would you like to know how to make smoothies from vegetables, fruits, super foods, wild plants, seeds, nuts, herbs and juices? Would you like to make irresistible raw pates, dips and soups? Here you’ll find STEP-BY-STEP instructions and everything you need to start blending.

Smoothies are a terrific way to boost your health.

Now, let’s get started!

How to make smoothies

  • Wash the vegetables & fruits.
  • Pre-cut the vegetables.
  • Put food with the highest water content (i.e. apples) first.
  • Make sure you add enough (purified) water for blending. This usually means that most food is covered with water. If you don’t use enough water, the produce, nuts or seeds don’t blend well.
  • Blend long enough so your foods will be really smooth, but not so long that they get warm. (Unless you’d like to make a warm soup of course).
  • You could warm up soups or drinks by blending for a few minutes.

Benefits of Blending

Once you know how to make smoothies you’ll be rewarded with the following benefits:

  1. Better absorption. Green leafy vegetables such as lettuce and spinach are hard to digest when raw. Today, people don’t have jaws that can break the cell walls of these foods into a creamy substance.
  2. If you use a high speed blender such as a Vitamix or Blendec blender, the blending will break the cell walls of the produce. Even the cells of tomatoes and carrots break. Thus, you’ll absorb the lycopen and beta-caroten easily. This way you make it easy for your body to absorb all the wonderful nutrients of the vegetables and fruits.
  3. A smoothie uses the whole food, no waste.
  4. Unlike juicing, with a smoothie you keep all the fibers of the food.
  5. Smoothies are a great way to eat your vegetables. Greens are the most alkalizing, mineralizing and healthiest foods. But not always the most palatable. By blending them, you can combine them with fruits or herbs for delicious tastes.
  6. Blending is the quickest and easiest way to prepare (large amounts of) raw food. Virtually no preparation time. You can make the most delicious smoothies in just minutes.
  7. No pans to scrub. Blenders are very quick and easy to clean.
  8. Smoothie recipes are easy to find and to follow.
  9. Because blending retains the fibers, smoothies stay well (in the fridge) for up to 24 hours. So you could make them the night before, or bring them along when you travel.

Considerations

High speed blenders are the best if you want to learn how to make smoothies. They make the best quality and smoothest smoothies. They actually break the cell wall and thus increase the absorption of nutrients such as beta carotene. However, they are somewhat of an investment. The Blendtec and Vitamix cost 300-600 USD depending on the country where you live. Absolute worth it though. You’ll use them daily.

Green Smoothie Recipes

Try the best green smoothie recipe ever! We drink about two full blender jars of these drinks a day. They are healthy, easy and quick to make and absolutely delicious.

Each green smoothie recipe below is chuck full of healthy minerals (e.g. calcium and iron), vitamins, co-factors, life force, fiber. And very important, they are alkalizing. Green smoothies are critical for health.

To make these recipes, all you need are the ingredients and a blender. A high speed blender such as Vitamix or Blendtec is best because they break the cell wall. This way you absorb the nutrients easily. But if you’re just starting a raw vegetable diet, any other blender will do too.

All recipes serve about 2-3 people and can be kept for up to 12 hours as long as you add enough water (great when traveling).

Common Ingredients:

  • Two or three any fruits
  • 1 bag of  any frozen berries
  • 2.5 cups pure water

Optional:

  • 1 teaspoon super foods of choice or
  • 2 tablespoons any hulled  seeds or nuts or
  • small bunch of any green leafs or (wild edible greens) instead fruits.

Directions

  • Put all ingredients in a high speed blender.
  • Add enough water so that all ingredients are covered.
  • Blend well.
  • You may want to add a little more water if you like your smoothie thinner.

This is a great way to add (wild edible greens) to your raw food diet. You won’t even notice it.  And I feel great that I give my family a smoothie full of important minerals, vitamins, healthy omega three fats, fiber, protein, enzymes, that is hydrating and easy to digest!

Raw Food Diet Conversion Chart

You are interested in a raw food diet. Now you have to decide what to eat. To help you with the transition from cooked to raw, here’s a raw food conversion chart.

The chart has the following categories:

Food
Beverages
Condiments and Spreads
Special Treats
Supplements
General Guidelines

1. Food

Bad Better Best
Sugar All forms:
– Dextrose
– Corn syrup
– Rice syrup
– Malt		 Raw honey
Raw Agave
Maple syrup		 Raw fresh fruits
RaisinsStevia
Vanilla
Cinnamon
Dates
Sweeteners All forms:
– Aspartame
– Splenda		 – Xylitol Stevia
Vanilla
Cinnamon
Salt Table salt
Iodized salt		 Unrefined sea salt
Unrefined Celtic sea salt		 Organic salt from plants:
Celery
Seaweed
Phytoplankton
Flour White flours from:
– Wheat
– Corn
– Rice, etc.		 Organic whole flours from:
– Buckwheat
– Millet
– Brown rice*
– Other non – Spelt*
– KamutQuinoa
others stored grains		 Buckwheat flourAmaranth flourSprouted grains
Almond flour
Coconut flour
Bread From supermarket Home made
Health store
Sourdough (Yeast free)
Wheat free
Sprouted		 Dehydrated flax crackersLettuce wraps
Pasta White pasta Organic spelt or buckwheat
Sprouted pasta		 (Raw) spaghetti made from squash
Fat Butter
Shortening
Margarine
Chemicals
Trans fats
Animal fats
Fermented fats		 Cold pressed coconut oil
Avocado oil
Hemp seed oil
Flax seed oil		 Whole hemp seeds
Whole organic flax Seeds
Nuts
Fresh coconut
Meat Cold cuts
Processed meat:
Hot dogs
Bacon
Salami, etc.		 Wild
Nitrites free
E-numbers free (EU)
MSG free, etc.		 Vegan nut pate’s
Raw “meat” balls
made from nuts/seeds
Fish Farm raised fish Wild fish
Not endangered		 salmon Krill Oil
Eggs Conventional eggs Organic farm free eggs Egg replacers:
– Agar agar
– Flax seed
– Psyllium fiber
Cheese Cheese
From cow
Pasteurized
Not organic
Homogenized		 Organic raw goat cheese
Organic raw sheep’s cheese		 Nut cheese
Seed cheese
Milk & Yogurt Milk, yogurt
From cow
Pasteurized
Homogenized		 Organic milk
Raw goat’s milk
Almond milk from store
Rice milk
Coconut milk		 Raw almond milk
Raw milk from nuts
Raw milk from seeds & grains
Home made Kefir
Raw coconut juice & milk

2. Beverages

Bad Better Best
Water Water from tap Plastic bottled water
Evian, Poland Spring, Fuji Water		 Distilled water
Low mineral spring water
Bottled in glass
Thee Black tea Herbal teas
Coffee Coffee
Decaffeinated coffee		 Coffee replacer Raw “hot” chocolate milk
Soft Drinks Lemonade
Jam
Soft drinks
Fruit juices		 Organic fresh juices
Flash pasteurized		 Freshly squeezed juice:
Fruit juice
Orange Juice
Vegetable juices
Green powder juice
Juice fresh from juice bar
super foods drinks
Coconut water (fresh)
Smoothies
Home made lemonade with stevia

3. Condiments and Spreads

Bad Better Best
Tomato Ketchup Tomato ketchup
From supermarket		 Organic, sugar free ketchup
Home made ketchup		 Raw ketchup
Mayonnaise From super marked Organic, no sugar added
Home made		 Raw home made mayonnaise
Raw mayonnaise made from avocado
Raw mayonnaise made from nuts/seeds
Pasta Sauces From package
Cans
Mac n cheese
Ready made		 From health food store
Organic
Home made
Pesto sauce
Tomato sauce
Organic Cheeses		 Fresh Raw Tomato Sauce
Raw Pesto
Nut Cheese
Salsa
Bread Spreads Cold cuts
Processed meat
Jam
Chocolate spreads
Cheese		 Organic almond butter
Jam/Jelly 100% fruit
Raw honey
Raw cheese		 Avocado
Pesto
Tapenade
Salsa
Guacamole
Nut pates
Nut cheeses
Coconut butter

4. Special Treats

Bad Better Best
Candy Candy from supermarket
Energy bars
Diet bars
Chips
Cookies		 Organic from health store:
– Candy
– Chips
– Cookies
– Popcorn		 Raw Cookies
Raw cakes
Fresh fruits
Dried fruits
Dehydrated crackers/chips
Cookies, Cakes Cookies from super marked
Cakes from super marked		 Organic from health store
Home made cookies
Home made cakes		 Raw cookies & cakes
Raw cakes & pies
Dehydrated cookies

5. Supplements

Bad Better Best
Supplements
Vitamins		 Supplements
Vitamins
From supermarket
From drugstore		 Supplements from some small companies Whole foods supplements
Super foods
Green powders

6. General Guidelines

Bad Better Best
Resources Grocery store Health store Home made foods
Green/farmer’s market
Grown Conventional grown Organic foods
Naturally grown
No pesticides, herbicides, chemicals
Local farmer’s/green market		 Wild
Local and organic
Own garden, sprouts
Processed Junk
Pre-packaged
Fast food
Grilled
Microwaved
BBQ
Fried		 Steamed
Cooked
Stir fried
Baked at low temperatures		 Raw
Juiced
Blended
Dehydrated
Ingredients Many ingredients
Conservatives
Sweeteners
Chemicals
E-numbers
MSG, flavor enhancers, etc.		 Few ingredients
Ingredients you can pronounce		 Home made
All fresh ingredients

One to one coaching in my session  is a great way to get the personalized guidance you are looking for.