One of the biggest hurdles to accomplishing a raw diet is the time it takes. Here are a few things you can do to seriously cut back on the amount of time you spend in the kitchen, raw diet or not.
1. PRE-CUT FRUITS & VEGETABLES
Chances are you will be eating more frequently when you are on a raw diet, so in order to save time in the kitchen & make it easy for you to bring your food to work, pre-cut everything. Carrots, celery, peppers, and broccoli are great to pre-cut and store in bags in the refrigerator. You can easily put a variety in baggies to take to work to eat with a creamy raw dip (recipe below).
2. MAKE A CREAMY DIP
Cashew based dips make a great snack and can even substitute for a meal in a pinch. My absolute favorite raw dip is perfect with chopped vegetables. Here's the recipe:
- 1 pint raw cashews
- olive oil
- water
- 1 lemon
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 bunch dill
- salt & pepper to taste
- In Vitamix or similar, put in cashews, a healthy dose of olive oil, dill, garlic, juice of 1 lemon, and spices. Fill Vitamix with water until it covers cashews. Blend until smooth and creamy. May need to add additional water or olive oil if too thick. Should be the consistency of peanut butter.
- Store in refrigerator.
3. MAKE A VARIETY OF FRUIT & GREEN SALADS
It's this simple... Get a bunch of mason jars. Get a couple of BNTO cups to store the dressing. You can do this with anything from veggies & dip, to guacamole & chips, granola & yogurt, or a veggie salad. Just layer the fruits &/or vegetables (wet on bottom, leafy greens on top). Take to work and enjoy!
One of my favorite things is making salad dressings. My little piece of advice to you would be to stop buying food store brands and start experimenting in your kitchen. With just a few ingredients you can make a wide variety of dressings from oil based to creamy. Here's a list of ingredients you can use in any combination to make delicious salad dressings:
- organic, raw olive oil (Bragg's is a good brand)
- apple cider vinegar
- balsamic vinegar
- cashews (to make creamy)
- pine nuts
- flax seeds
- lemon
- lime
- grapefruit
- oranges
- onions
- basil
- thyme
- sage
- garlic
- salt & pepper
- mustard
- honey
5. Stock up on fresh juices! This is one of the main reasons we freeze our juices. It makes fresh juice so convenient when you can store them in your freezer and pop one out to thaw each day, or whenever you want one.