Hey everybody, I just wanted to post some of the ideas, and resources that are available to the aspiring vegetarian/vegan/raw foodist. Let me know what you think, and share your ideas! Hopefully I will be able to share some of my favorite recipes with you guys! Here is a letter that I sent to another member of Talkbass.com (which I frequent) about Raw foods:
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I had the same concerns when I was first starting to look into raw foods. The first and easiest way to look at it is eating lots of vegetables, dark leafy greens (spinach, kale), fruits, and nuts and seeds. I would say the bulk of my fat intake is from nuts and seeds. It can be challenging at first to come up with interesting ways to get everything you need in a day, and it does take some work (especially getting out of the "I have to have this now" mindset, because things in the RAW world move at a much slower pace then commercial America). I also sprout my own grains and beans (like buckwheat germ, garbanzos, adzuki) and others like that, but not as often because they take longer to germinate, and then to use.
I use a lot of all kinds of nuts; brazil nuts, cashews and macadamia nuts are the most common for the use in "cheeses" and "milks," but also almonds (make great milk, and are great for snacking). Flax seeds are kind of ubiquitous and are used in most faux breads and wraps (they help bind products together, but you will probably need to get a spice grinder to get them smooth, or better yet a vita-mix ). Sunflower seeds are also used a lot for cheeses and things like that as well.
As for excluding meat. A part from the obvious environmental and moral atrocities that the modern day meat production system creates, it also take a tole on our bodies. I do not think that our bodies were meant to process meat, especially not the way we do here in America. Your body has to try a lot harder to digest meat then it does raw food. The energy that your body puts into a) figuring out what the meat is (your white blood cell count goes up when you eat meat, preparing for an invasion), and b) and then digesting the meat is better used on a RAW diet. Your body doesn't have to use excess energy to digest raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds so the energy that you get from those RAW foods goes straight into helping your body run more efficiently. I lead a very active lifestyle as well, and I was wondering about the effect my sudden drop in carbohydrates (from breads and rice) would have on my body. A couple of the books listed below (The Complete Book of Raw Food, and Skinny Bitch) go into more explicit detail about this subject.
Check out some of these books to help get you started and to bring you up to speed on the RAW lifestyle:
The Complete Book of RAW Food by Julie Rodwell
-->A great place to start. TONS of info here.
Raw Food, Real World by Matthew Kenney and Sarma Mengailis
RAWvolution by Matt Amsden
RAW: The UNcookbook by Juliano Brotman
^^All of these authors are big chefs on the RAW scene^^
Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman
-->Not necessarily a Raw book per se, and it is definitely aimed at the female population, but it has a wealth of information about modern commercialized foods and how terrible they are for our bodies.
There is a TON of awesome RAW material on the web too:
--->I highly recommend looking into this site. The juice feasting period will help to purge your body of processed foods and will allow your body to kind of reboot itself.
Documentaries:
-->A well balanced documentary about commercialized food here in America. Great blend of factual information and direction without getting to hippie
-->A great documentary about how corn has taken over the diet of America. This was the film that jump-started my movement towards RAW.
I hope this helps get you pointed in the right direction...even if it was a bit long winded
Just don't be afraid to experiment and to try no foods and ideas! Good luck!
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Phew! I know that was long, but here are some more links, to at least get you hungry:
Some great vegan books:
Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Isa Chandra Moksowitz
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World by Isa Chandra Mokowitz, Terry Hope Romero, and Sara Quin
Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero
Please Feed Me: A Punk Vegan Cookbook by Niall McGuirk
Vegan With A Vengence by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
I can't help it if Isa's books a terrific!
And here are some of my favorite Vegan Blogs:
Alright so, my girlfriend and I are both chefs, and we are both foodies, so if I got a little too excited....I apologize...either way I love those sites and books!
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