Raw Food Diet – Free recipes and tips by The Rawtarian

Stocking a raw food kitchen is one of the toughest parts of starting the raw food lifestyle.For many people, raw food staple ingredients are unknowns to them.

Some new raw fooders get overwhelmed by the recipes that call for a number of ingredients they don’t have on hand or have not even heard of. Here are a few tips on stocking a raw food kitchen.

I’ve broken down this post into two sections: required kitchen implements and required raw food ingredients. This list is based on my personal experiences starting out as a raw fooder.

Required kitchen implements:
For a detailed discussion of kitchen implements, see my raw food how to post.

Sharp knives
Cutting boards
A blender
A food processor
A dehydrator (optional)
A coffee grinder for small seeds (optional)

Example twenty-item shopping list for stocking a raw food kitchen:

1. Seeds – Such as pumpkin, sunflower, or chia seeds (seeds are more affordable than nuts)
2. Basic nuts -  Such as almonds, walnuts or pecans (can usually substitute these for one another)
3. Creamy nuts – Such as cashews or macadamia nuts (creamy nuts are more expensive and should be used sparingly if you’re on a budget)
4. Sea salt
5. Spices – Cinnamon, Italian spices, Cumin, Cayenne pepper, Curry powder (buy as needed)
6. Olive oil – Or another oil
7. Apple cider vinegar
8. Garlic
9. Flax seeds – Used as binding agents in many recipes to hold food together
10. A concentrated natural sweetener – Such as agave nectar or stevia
11. Nori rolls – Sheets of seaweed to make sushi-type rolls
12. Dates – Medjool are best, be sure to remove the pits (dates are used as natural sweeteners)
13. Bananas – Add creaminess and sweetness
14. Apples
15. Avocados
16. Lettuce
17. Tomatoes
18. Cucumbers
19. Onions
20. Your favourite fruits or vegetables – Such as fresh pineapple, kalamata olives, celery, kale, strawberries and/or grapes or whatever you like!

What do you think? When you started out stocking a raw food kitchen, what did you include? What couldn’t you live without?

Photo credit: Spices