Raw Food Cookbooks (well uncook books)

[peanutterb]

any recommendations? Let me know what's good and I'll head down to Barnes & Nobles today.

[FrankieL]

Way to go...that's gotta feel good, I'm only on day 11 of my first but I'm planning on sticking with it until my tongue turns pink and if it takes 20 days - then so be it....I can honestly say after my rocky start that I feel better then I have in years, plus I'm dropping weight

God Bless - Hugs to you

[peanutterb]

thanks. and congrats to you for sticking at it.

[Supercleanser]

I read a post on this site that suggested "Rawvolution" by Matt Amsden. I got it and it's beautiful and the recipes look delicious (there are pages and pages with pictures of the cute chef, was that really necessary?) And alot of good info about eating raw in general. alot of the recipes call for using a food dehydrator, which I know nothing about, but it sounds expensive (so was the book). And there are a few ingredients that sound interesting that I've never used before that I'd like to try. I also can see where you have to plan way in advance b/c the recipes that have dehydrated parts, can require up to like 36 hours! then again, that might be good for the slowing down and being more conscious about food. There's an onion bread in their that you make with the dehydrator that I would LOVE to try! (right now!)

Has anyone out there ever used a food dehydrator?

-Beth
aka superlceanser

[peanutterb]

will have to check it out on or after the 15th =) thanks love.

[rawlime]

any recommendations? Let me know what's good and I'll head down to Barnes & Nobles today.

Go watch Alissa Cohen for FREE on her DVD on myspace.com
http://www.myspace.com/100649597

Her whole 3 hours are on myspace. They will be up all weekend.
http://www.myspace.com/100649597

[peanutterb]

http://www.rawbc.org/raw_books.html


12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Addiction to Cooked Food
by Victoria Boutenko

Victoria Boutenko's book, Twelve Steps to Raw Foods, helped me to change my diet and my health. Since switching over to a raw foods diet, my illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic acne, and major mood swings have all but vanished. I have lots of energy, can sleep like a baby, my skin is clear, and I'm a much more peaceful and happy person. Ms. Boutenko's book has been an integral part of my healing process, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's ready to look and feel better! -Lark Mobley


Available at: North Vancouver City Library, Vancouver Public Library



Eating Without Heating
by Sergei and Valya Boutenko

I read your book, Eating Without Heating. It's inspiring to see you and your sister writing a book like this. It's great to have male and female co-authors, everyone can identify!! I'm 38 years old but your book speaks to me quite clearly as well. -Mark, Hawaii


Available at: Surrey Public Library, Vancouver Public Library



Living foods for optimum health: staying healthy in an unhealthy world
by Brian R. Clement with Theresa Foy DiGeronimo

Did you know that what you eat could be making you sick? It's true. Some foods clog your body with energy-depleting fats, toxins, and chemicals. Where can you find the optimum nourishment your body needs to stay strong, healthy, and vigorous? For millions of people, the answer is in the health and healing properties of living foods—foods that are eaten raw and produced without dangerous, nutrient-robbing chemicals or additives.


Available at: Burnaby Public Library, Richmond Public Library, Vancouver Public Library



Raw Family: A True Story of Awakening
by Victoria, Igor, Sergei, and Valya Boutenko

From the Author:
Raw Family is our message to all the people who are suffering from different health problems. We honestly describe our journey from desperation to total health. We show how a family has successfully stayed on a 100% raw diet for seven years, and how it enhances our life.


Available at: Vancouver Public Library



Raw
by Charlie Trotter & Roxanne Klein

From the Author:
"In RAW, Trotter collaborates with Klein to produce a collection of over 100 recipes—the ultimate tribute to the culinary heights that this dynamic cuisine can reach. The chefs exalt the innate wholesomeness and beauty of fruits and vegetables in such innovative, remarkably flavorful dishes. Artfully presented, healthful, and deeply satisfying, raw food is not about austerity, but rather the celebration of food in its glorious natural state. In such skilled hands, it’s nothing short of a revolution in the way we cook and eat."

Out of all the raw books, this must be the most beautiful pictorially.


Available at: Vancouver Public Library


Raw Gourmet
by Nomi Shannon

Great tasting and easy to follow recipes are contained in this eye appealing book. For the beginner in this type of eating some of the ingredients may be a bit challenging to find if you don't have access to a quality health food store, but a little perseverance is well worth the effort. -Joseph V. Egan


Available at: Burnaby Public Library, North Vancouver District Public Library, Richmond Public Library, Surrey Public Library, Vancouver Public Library



Raw: The UNcook Book
by Juliano

"Gourmet raw cuisine"--if that sounds like an oxymoron, you'll be amazed by the creativity of the recipes in this book. If your imagination stops at alfalfa sprouts and grated carrots, hold onto your cutting board. Juliano's recipes include Butternut Squash Soup, New Moon Fruit Stew, Thai Green Papaya Salad, Living Buckwheat Pizza Crust, Mango Essene Bread, Mock Salmon Sushi, Raw Spring Rolls, seven varieties of burritos, nine varieties of pizza, and nine unusual smoothies. There is also plenty of information about preparing raw foods, including how to soak and sprout beans, grains, seeds, and nuts. -Joan Price


Available at: Burnaby Public Library, Vancouver Public Library



The Wheatgrass Book
by Ann Wigmore

Ann Wigmore gives a thorough analysis of the incredible powers of wheatgrass and how it can improve your health. I must say this book changed my life: wheatgrass juice will improve your health, boost immunity, aid in weight loss, and more. I even feed it to my parrots, and they are ten times healthier now--I haven't lost a single baby bird since I started feeding the parents wheatgrass. This inexpensive of book will save you oodles of money--far fewer medical bills!


Available at: Burnaby Public Library, Vancouver Public Library



The Sunfood Diet Success System: 36 lessons in health transformation
by David Wolfe

"If you buy one book on raw foods, I recommend this one. I find myself using this book as a constant reference. It picks up nicely where "Nature's First Law" leaves off, with practical and well written advice on how to make the transition to a raw living diet. It also gives specific advice for individual problems such as losing weight, gaining weight, correcting imbalances and deficiencies. It even gives advice for dealing with the reaction of others while making the changes to your diet and lifestyle." - Reader Review, Amazon.com

[peanutterb]

Ok I've been meaning to write a review of the books I bought but have been distracted everytime I start.

The book I kept was The Complete Book of Raw Foods. it has info on the equipment, the food, recipes and such. Alot of the recipes don't require any equipment and quite a few only require a blender or food processor. Also, the recipes are taken from different people and different books so it's a good mixture. It has alot more recipes than the other books, and in paperbavk, with few pics, cost much less, so it's a better value. Plus it has more things with ingredients I'm familar with and that are easily accessible.

I bought but returned Rawvolution by Matt Amsden, Eating in the Raw by Carol Alt and Raw: the Uncook book by Juliano. Those weren't what I was looking for. Either too gourmet and slick and glossy, or just not enough recipes I could make or that excited me. Carol Alt eats raw meat and dairy and I'm vegan so that wasn't for me. Plus 75% of the book is her biography then the rest is raw info and recipes. Snooze.
As for Rawvolution and the Uncook book - they were def too slick and glossy and a little self serving. I'd like a book I'd be okay with flipping thru with food stained fingers and those were just too pretty for me to even break the spine. The info (how to be raw and why) was okay though, but I found more info in The Complete... Raw Foods and in this book called The Raw Gourmet by Nomi Shannon. I didn't buy the latter, but liked what I read in the bookstore

Also highly recommended from my online research, Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen and Eating without Heating by Sergei and Valya Boutenko and Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 people by Jennifer Cornbleet.

I did alot of research on the reviews of stuff on Amazon and let that help me make my decisions. I also sat in the book store and went thru the books and the recipes. Some were just pretty pictures and nice paper. I felt that's the only reason it was $30. Some I took home and read and spent more time with and still didn't feel like they were for me. And that's looking at what I like to eat, what I like to cook and the equipment I have and am willing to buy.

I'm going to get a juice or a dehydrator. Right now I'm thinking dehydrator because I like the smoothies I get in my blender. I saw a dehydrator that got good reviews on amazon for $56. That'll do me just well with the basic things I plan to make.

So here's my mini quicky review on raw food cook books.

websites with recipes:

http://www.loloville.com/rawfoodrecipes.htm
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/
http://freedomsrawrecipes.blogspot.com/
http://www.rawfoodsupport.com/list.php?4
http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/home/home_a.html
www.living-foods.com/recipes/

[peanutterb]

found it! :)

[TeePee]

I actually have Matt's RAWvolution book and I love it. It is "pretty" but since I am new at this, it is nice to have a picture clue to see if what I make turns out anything like it is supposed to!! I also love his icons to show the level of difficulty and the equipment needed for each recipe so you can decide if you have the time and means to do it without reading thru the whole thing. I have made his FAMOUS ONION BREAD which is :D fabulous!!! I have also made one of the dressings=awesome and the eggless egg salad is also great!! (Especailly on the onion bread with greens and tomatoes!!) I haven't had eggs in over two years, so this was so welcomed. It is made from macadamian nuts and tumeric basically. Tonight I actually made the soft tacos for my boyfriend (meat eater) and myself. They were incredible. THe "meat" is made from ground up walnuts. I fresh ground the coriander and cumin and it was so amazing. It is spread on leaves (collard, romaine, etc) and topped with homemade salsa. Also made guacamole. Everything I've tried so far has been extremely easy. The onion bread preparation is very simple, it is just the dehydrating takes a long time. Definitely worth it. I took it to work where no one is vegan or raw, or even vegetarian for that matter. No one could get enough of it!!

[TeePee]

Living Cuisine- The Art and Spirit of Raw Food by Renee Loux Underkoffler is a wealth of information. Almost like an encyclopedia of techniques, ingredients, equipment, etc. No illustrations. Very informative. Almost 500 pages paperback.

[peanutterb]

bumping up to page 1

[peanutterb]

thought this was appropriate for this thread too

Hello, lemonheads!

Now I'm here to plug Jennifer Cornbleet's book (thanks, Sim, for that!): Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People. I started with Cohen's Living on Live Food, which I love. And then I ordered Cornbleet's book and Amsden's book at the same time. I'm sure I'll get around to Amsden, but so far Cornbleet keeps making everything so easy and tasty that I can't seem to get past it! :)

One thing I just love is that in the front section of the book she tells you how to "make" staples: like almond milk, almond butter, ground almonds, frozen bananas, sprouts, crushed garlic (!), lemon juice (!), minced parsley, minced onion, etc. And she tells you how much to make and how long it will keep, so you have it on hand when you want to make something to eat. What a concept! :)

And then everything I've made from the book has tasted yummy and been prepared quickly and easily.

One thing I'd heard about but hadn't tried is collard wraps. Basically, you take any kind of spread like toona, or walnut pate (or even peanut butter and jelly, for that matter, LOL) and wrap it up in a large collard leaf. Well, I'm the poster child for cooked collards, but I never thought I'd like them raw. But they're great! Today I had them with toona in one and cauliflower tabouli in the other. Yum!

Her desserts are great, too. Basically, I haven't found anything I haven't liked in there. I think it would be a great beginner book, especially for someone who's the only "raw one" in their house.

And I just have to say how incredibly grateful I am to this list! I never in a million years would have predicted I'd end up eating mostly or all raw foods, and yet here I am, loving every minute of it. It's so much fun to share and learn on here!

http://www.freesmileys.org/emo/dance006.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org/)

[Lindsey]

I need a recomendation on a dehydrator and juicer..... any particular brands or features i need to make sure it has. whats everyones favorites? oh and i probably wont take the time to make my own:)

[Ginger]

The two brands I hear are the most popular are the excalibur dehydrator and the champion juicer. I don't have either, I use my vitamix for juicing. But I plan to buy the excalibur.

[Lindsey]

thank you for the response!!!!

[Erawtica]

The Excalibur 9-tray! Wouldn't have anything less.

Juicer? Mostly depends on what you'll be using it for. The Champion is great for carrots and making fruit "ice creams". The Sampson and Green Life/Green Star/Green Power (whatever they're calling it now) is best for everything including wheatgrass juice.

Personally, I rarely use my juicer. I put everything in my Vita-Mix (except wheatgrass) and blend. Don't strain as the fiber is necessary for bowel health.

E.

[Erawtica]

For books, Alissa Cohen's Living on Live Food AND the dvd's are a must! Jennifer Cornbleet's is GREAT for 1 or 2 people; quick, simple, delicious recipes. You might also consider Storm and Jinjee's ebooks (www.thegardendiet.com). They don't use a dehydrator.

E.

[Kathryn_P]

Matt's Book, Rawvolution, is a must have in my home... I have used it so much that the binding has given way and my pages are falling out! Which is a super bummer cause its a signed copy.... He signed it when I took his class...

I am lucky enough to live in California where he is based and am close enough to his restaurant that when he offered personal classes, I was able to attend one. WOW! I learned soooo much! I have to credit him for 95% of my skills in the "Raw" kitchen. I would not have the ability, well the faith in my abilities, to work with the fresh items the way I do now. And I honestly can live out of his book.

I have his stuffed mushrooms and breakfast bars in my Excalibur right now, lol. I also have a ton of left over marinara sauce left over from the zucchini spaghetti we had for dinner last night... I'm going to use it to make lasagna tomorrow. I feed my hubbie, my 11 year old and a 15 year old... who scarfed down the spaghetti! 3 servings! lol

The Chicken salad is a MAJOR hit and that Onion Bread is Fantastic! Making the Pizza with it is out of this world! and you've never tasted better humus in your life! not to mention the egg less egg salad! I swear its an amazing book! The seed cheese is super as is the thai cole slaw and the chili is something else! Now with a food processor a vita mix and a dehydrator.. you can make them all... and honestly.... I was living out of this book without the dehydrator for months! I just skipped a few things.... There are plenty of meals in there that you can make without it.

I have yet to find simpler recipes... Or better tasting Raw Food! Its simply perfect! Matt's food is as good as they say... there's a reason people all over the US are ordering his food!

All I can say is... CUT THE LEMON AND GARLIC! In half! lol Otherwise it comes out REALLY strong! Like scrap it and start over strong! take my advice! you can always add it in, but you cant take it out! lol

I have a juice man juicer! lol, I don't do wheat grass... so I never bought one... but I say go Excalibur and spring for the timer and everything! Its awesome

[vip]

.
I'm going to get a juice or a dehydrator. Right now I'm thinking dehydrator because I like the smoothies I get in my blender. I saw a dehydrator that got good reviews on amazon for $56. That'll do me just well with the basic things I plan to make.

What deyhyrator did you get/or are you thinking of getting? I want one, but the range is mindboggling. I'm thinking I'll get a small inexpensive one just to see if I really do use it. $56 isn't too bad. Thanks for any info you share!

[TeePee]

For sure, go for the Excalibur.

[vip]

For sure, go for the Excalibur.

Well, I've priced those and it's a bit steep when I don't know that I will use it all the time. It's just hubby and me at home now, so how much dehydrated food can two people eat? :p

[Res]

;) You would be surprised.

[mtmouse]

It's not so much how much dehydrated food will you two eat (you don't have to fill the dehydrator every time), but how many delicious raw food recipes call for dehydration. (And that's a lot, LOL.)

There are just two of us here also. I have a huge dehydrator that DH and I home-built 30 years ago. It has seven trays, each 2 feet square. Sometimes I put one little veggie burger in it to warm up for dinner. Sometimes I have every tray filled with red dragon crackers. But I probably use it at least 5 times a week. I often dry a lot at once and then freeze it for later.

If your hubby is handy, then the instructions for building a dehydrator like mine (or any size) are still available. (Check out amazon.com for "Dry It, You'll Like It" by McManiman.) It cost us $50 to make, but of course would be a bit more now. :) It isn't fancy, but it does the job!

If you don't feel up to that challenge, though, then you might as well jump for the Excalibur. If you don't use it, you could probably sell it fast on eBay. (Or here, for that matter! :) ) You can also go with a cheaper one first and see how it goes. But I suspect that would just make your eventual dehydrator cost more! :)

I used my dehydrator even when I wasn't eating raw (natural fruit leathers, dehydrated homemade backpacking food, jerky, etc.). But now it's really getting a workout.

Anyway, just my experience! :)

[vip]

Thanks mtmouse! My husband is very handy and I'll have him look at the plans for building us one. That would be a good way to have just what I want too, as far as size goes. My guess is that I would end up using a dehydrator a lot. I've been browsing books and there are a lot of great sounding recipes out there! And on this board too.

[ninab64]

i've had my dehydrator for around a month, and have made several things in it, not as many as i would like, but as my schedule permits. just need to plan ahead for soaking time before i assemble the ingredients together. anyway, i bought my dehydrator and juicer from Vitality Plus, they had the best prices i could find. i'll provide a link if it's allowed. very fast shipping too, and no taxes

[ninab64]

ok, so it seems like there are raves for Alissa Cohen's book? and what about the DVD, i've read mixed reviews on that, and since they both cost the same (and not a small chunk of change), i only want to buy the book and DVD if it's worth it.

well?

:)

[mtmouse]

I only bought the book, not the DVD, and I'm doing fine.

However, I will say that I am a very experienced and comfortable cook, so I don't need to see someone showing me how to do stuff.

That said, I love watching Ani Phyo's videos on her site!

So if you know your way around a kitchen and aren't afraid of trying new things, then I don't think you need a DVD and could save yourself some money. But if you're timid and inexperienced and might throw something away if you did it "wrong" (almost impossible with raw food, by the way--it always tastes great even if it doesn't look great), then you might lose more money that way than by buying the DVD and learning from her.

But either way, you'll get lots of great-tasting stuff!

[ninab64]

i'm very comfortable around a kitchen, so i think i'll go for just the book. and i had read some iffy reviews about the video, so that's my decision

:)

[Res]

But if you're timid and inexperienced and might throw something away if you did it "wrong" (almost impossible with raw food, by the way--it always tastes great even if it doesn't look great),

EXCEPT for Green Smoothies!! http://www.kurts-smilies.de/undwech.gif

[mtmouse]

Res,

You always give up too soon and spackle the house before you need to!

:D :D :D

[Balance]

I like the books by Natalia Rose. Her book, The Raw Food Detox Diet is super easy to read (not weighed down with a lot of jargon) and none of her recipes require a dehydrator. You can read more about her and her books at www.rawfooddetoxdiet.com

One cooking tool i have instantly bonded with on my raw food evolution is the spiralizer! It turns vegetables like carrots, zucchini, cucumbers and squash into angel hair pasta! Toss it with your favorite raw pesto, lemon or thai nut dressing and it is heaven....!

Cheers!;)

[Res]

Balance:

Thanks for that info on the book, and also the spiralizer. Ani Phyo's recipe book just came in the mail today and out of all the recipe books I have I think I like hers the best! It's easy and pain free. She uses sunflower seeds in her "cheese" instead of macadamias and that can help cut down on the cost of food. I'd rather save the macadamias for her dessert recipes. :) But mostly it's because she uses less ingredients to get the same results as Cohen.

Love,

~Res

[Res]

Weird, bumping this up because it's not in the Raw Forum list. Sticking this thread.

[hairpin]

I don't know if this has been mentioned before. You can go to epicurious.com and search for recipes labeled as "raw". There were quite a lot of recipes. (Not all of them are raw. You have to read the actual recipe to determine. But still I thought this was a great resource.)

http://www.epicurious.com/tools/searchresults?search=raw&x=0&y=0

[hippimom]

I have found a ton of recipes online, just google raw food blogs and a million pop up. I love (I'm not giving the links b/c I just don't have the time) Sunny raw kitchen,Heathy's raw godess,Raw freedom community and more. On the Raw Freedom Community, a lot of the members have awesome raw blogs with tons of knowledge. I have yet to buy a single un cook book, just because of all of the recipes online! The other thing I love is the webisodes on Freshtopia, they are fun and easy. :)

[MsSpiritualDiva]

I read a post on this site that suggested "Rawvolution" by Matt Amsden. I got it and it's beautiful and the recipes look delicious (there are pages and pages with pictures of the cute chef, was that really necessary?) And alot of good info about eating raw in general. alot of the recipes call for using a food dehydrator, which I know nothing about, but it sounds expensive (so was the book). And there are a few ingredients that sound interesting that I've never used before that I'd like to try. I also can see where you have to plan way in advance b/c the recipes that have dehydrated parts, can require up to like 36 hours! then again, that might be good for the slowing down and being more conscious about food. There's an onion bread in their that you make with the dehydrator that I would LOVE to try! (right now!)

Has anyone out there ever used a food dehydrator?

-Beth
aka superlceanser

Yes, I have used a food dehydrator. I have a degydrator.

[MagicOPromotion]

Wow, you must be in tune with me. Since I finished my second 10 day cleanse on March 29th, I have been eating raw I was looking at the books on-line but couldnt decide. I need some recipes. Any suggestions? So far I am just eating salads and munching on vegetables. I am in school and working full-time so dont have a lot of time to prepare food.

Thanks for all your wonderful support. I could have never done the cleanses without you I am on my way to being a new person.

Gratefully,
Starz

[dannydesiliva]

I just got Ani Phyo's Raw Kitchen and I absolutely love it. It's fantastic! I've only made a couple of things and I've already made them several times each. The garden pate is sooooo goooood!!! And so is the taco nut meat and the corn salsa. I also think her raw recipes seem less time consuming than many other raw recipes.

My first (and only other) raw cookbook is Jennifer Cornbleet's Raw Food for 1 or 2 People. I really like this, too. It's a good first raw book. However, after getting Ani's, I can say that Jennifer's is more basic, while Ani's is more...exciting. More like what you'd get in a raw restaurant.

However, you can't beat Jennifer's raw desserts...her raw cookies are so delish and so easy to make. Ani's raw desserts seem really decadent so I haven't made any yet.

[otis]

I have a ton of raw uncookbooks.
My absolute favorites are all of matthew kenney's. His easiest is everyday raw and the other two are a little more complex but so good it is worth all of the effort! I make his recipes daily. I have ani's books as well, I have made the polenta which was good but I really like his foods the best.

I also have a book called sweet gratitude that is put out by cafe gratitude in Ca. Desserts to die for. I really don't mess with the easier books because I like the more complex recipes with the spices, herbs and ingredients. Extremely satisfying. In matthew's .. raw food real world book, the recipe for the lavender icecream with blueberry puree and candied walnuts is unbelievable! I am not even a huge icecream person but I make this everyweek. I am addicted to it. Also the dark chocolate ganache torte is another favorite.

Regards
Lynda

[MikeSlough]

I read a post on this site that suggested "Rawvolution" by Matt Amsden. I got it and it's beautiful and the recipes look delicious (there are pages and pages with pictures of the cute chef, was that really necessary?) And alot of good info about eating raw in general. alot of the recipes call for using a food dehydrator, which I know nothing about, but it sounds expensive (so was the book). And there are a few ingredients that sound interesting that I've never used before that I'd like to try. I also can see where you have to plan way in advance b/c the recipes that have dehydrated parts, can require up to like 36 hours! then again, that might be good for the slowing down and being more conscious about food. There's an onion bread in their that you make with the dehydrator that I would LOVE to try! (right now!)

[Res]

I read a post on this site that suggested "Rawvolution" by Matt Amsden. I got it and it's beautiful and the recipes look delicious (there are pages and pages with pictures of the cute chef, was that really necessary?) And alot of good info about eating raw in general. alot of the recipes call for using a food dehydrator, which I know nothing about, but it sounds expensive (so was the book). And there are a few ingredients that sound interesting that I've never used before that I'd like to try. I also can see where you have to plan way in advance b/c the recipes that have dehydrated parts, can require up to like 36 hours! then again, that might be good for the slowing down and being more conscious about food. There's an onion bread in their that you make with the dehydrator that I would LOVE to try! (right now!)

The onion bread is amazing, especially with the raw toona. It's an investment all right but the dehydrator stays with you for a lifetime. You can find instructions online for building your own.