DISPELLING THE MYTH THAT RAW FOOD IS COMPLICATED

DISPELLING THE MYTH THAT RAW FOOD IS COMPLICATED

My life is all about simplicity – my favorite motto is ‘keep it simple.’  When somebody tells me that the raw food diet is difficult, something I’ve been eating for over ten years, it makes no sense to me.  It surely wouldn’t fit into MY lifestyle if it were!

I recently sat down to give this comment some serious in-depth consideration.   How could something so simple be complex?

I guess this way of eating can be difficult if:

      you were

-  trying to prepare a wide “variety” of recipes

-  preparing ‘gourmet’ type recipes

-  using elaborate preparation methods

-  lacked the tools to efficiently prepare the food

-  using hard-to-find ingredients

-  pushing yourself to 100% raw too quickly

This way of eating could be difficult for the person who is  used to purchasing large quantities of food and storing them indefinitely in the pantry – but gosh, food left on the shelf gets old!  I prefer to have food that is fresh, aromatic, and ‘bursting with flavor’ in my kitchen, on my table, and in my body!  If what I eat is not fresh, is preserved with chemicals, is not nutrient rich, and is not free of harmful substances, what’s the point?

I guess it could be difficult if you’ve been ‘conditioned’ to run out to one of the fast-food franchises for ‘fast food’ when hungry. If you haven’t tried something as simple as grabbing a handful of berries, a large apple or several bananas to ‘fill that void’ then I highly recommend you do so.  It’s not only faster, cheaper, lower in calories, higher in nutrients, but you can eat lots of it and still not come close to the calories found in fast food meals.  I like to eat, and though I eat a lot of food I remain slim, healthy, and full of energy! 

HOW EASY IS IT?

Most raw food recipes are prepared under 15 minutes (5 minutes if you’re a veteran of eating this kind of food), and use 5 ingredients or less.  With the use of just a couple of handy appliances such as a high-speed blender (the Vita-Mix for example) or a food processor your meals are typically cut, combined, mixed, and finished in one easy process.  If there’s a better example of ‘easy’ I haven’t discovered it yet.

Cleanup is even easier. With just a drop of liquid dish soap and a quick rinse under hot water your equipment is cleaned and ready to be used again!  How easy is that?  No baked on food residue, no oily/greasy mess to dispose of, and no cooked-on hard gunk to scrape off your dishes or pots/pans, no burned meals! 

Keeping raw food preparation uncomplicated makes this diet simple to do. Save the ‘gourmet’ dishes for special occasions or when you have the time, inclination, and need to make them.  In the meantime, save yourself:

-     Time

-     Money

-     Stress

-     Extra Work

-     Confusion

-     Waste

by keeping things “SIMPLE.”  

 

Let YOUR new motto be:  “KEEP…..IT….. SIMPLE”

Bon A Petite

Beth Wilke, Raw Food Chef & Teacher