Baby Steps

Happy Easter to all! I am sure most of you had a wonderful time Easter egg hunting and visiting with family. So yesterday I told you I would talk a little about the essential equipment for a raw food kitchen. The most important two to make sure you have are a good sharp knife and cutting board. If you try and un-cook with a dull knife i will heed you warning, THEY ARE VERY DANGEROUS!so it is very important to make sure the blade runs all of the way through the handle and is sharpened as often as needed. After you make sure you have that the rest of the equipment you probably already have, it lust might be in the cupboard and a little dusty.

The rest of the essential equipment are as follows:
1. juicer ( to juice your fruits and veggies)
2. a dehydrator ( to make buns,chips, breads, reduce water content,ect.)
3. blender ( to make smoothies, make nut milks, blend items for recipes, ect.)
4. food processor ( to blend items but not as finely as a blender )
5. vegetable spiralizer ( to make veggie noodles with )
6. mandolin (to get those really small slices, but be VERY CAREFUL!)


(This was a juicing demo we were doing in class one day. More on juicing another day!)


Now those items plus your measuring spoons/cups, spatulas, mixing bowls, ect. vuala! You will then have everything you need for a raw food kitchen! Some people get caught up on which brand of whatever appliance it is is what they need to buy, and I say whatever you have to work with at the moment will be fine. As time goes on and you find it a need, go ahead and shop away! Like I said though, don't get to caught up on brand names right now.

Ok, so now that you have your list of things for the kitchen I want to give you guys a heads up about raw foods. So it is extremely important to incorporate raw foods into every meal because of the nutritional density of the food. Now when you eat raw foods your body gets super excited and just takes in all of those nutrients and since they aren't cooked and damaged enzymes and nutrients it's easier for your body to recognize and digest properly. Thus you get more energy, you become more vibrant, the pounds shed off and the list goes on and on.

Great, since were getting an idea of what is essential in the kitchen i'm sure most of you are thinking, " ok man, you have us look for all of this equipment, but what is it good for if I don't have anything to un-cook?". Well, your quite right! Lets get started on it then. The recipe I am about to share with you is the first actual meal I tried out when transitioning into raw foods and wouldn't you know it I fell in love. So here it is, make it with love!

First Timer's Raw Spaghetti

Noodle:
1-2 yellow squash
1T olive oil ( cold pressed )

SET UP- cut the ends off of the squash, place onto spiralizer or peel with pealer to make alfredo strips, place now "noodles" into bowl, add olive oil and pinch of pepper if you like. don't add salt, it will make the noodles' cells break down to produce water which will dilute sauce.

Spaghetti Sauce:
3-4 roma tomatoes (roughly chopped)
3-4 sundries tomatoes ( soaked for about an hour so they will blend more smoothly)
1 clove of garlic
1T of dried basil (1-4 leave of fresh basil to taste)
1T oregano (if fresh, add to taste)
fresh cracked pepper to taste
pinch of SEA salt to taste

SET UP- place all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth, or if you like it chunky all the more power to you!

*optional- roughly chop up your favorite mushroom to make a cup and marinate in
1 cup balsamic vinager
3/4 cup olive oi (cold pressed)
add your favorite herbs
salt and pepper to taste

let marinate in fridge or dehydrator (105-110degrees), drain, slightly dry if wet, serve with dish!

DISH SET UP- place spaghetti on plates, add sauce and enjoy!

I really hope you enjoy this simple yet delicious recipe. I encourage you to experiment as much as you want! Thanks everybody.

peaceloveandrawspaghetti!

ps. leave a comment on what you did differently or ask any questions you have!