Your whole food, plant-based life.

Raw Food on the Radio

Pine

I am traveling again, thus the picture of the pines in the high country just outside of Frisco, CO. This trip was a driving trip from Minneapolis to Boulder, then on to Frisco. Visiting my youngest in Boulder is always a great time. It was hard to leave but it was time to move my oldest daughter into her new digs in Frisco. Full of friendly people, fun shops and very close to many major ski areas, Frisco is a special little town. The mountain air is always revitalizing although raw food is more of a challenge when traveling.

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I did my first radio interview on Wednesday night. Steve Boss of KRUU spent an entire hour picking my brain and asking great questions about raw food preparation. Some were easy, some a bit more challenging. All in all, it was a fun but exhausting experience. An hour is a long time to be interviewed! We will be getting a link soon if you would like to listen!

I thought I would share with you a couple of the more interesting questions that came up and my thoughts. The questions came from Steve, who showed great interest and excitement about raw food, and his co-host, who admittedly enjoyed playing the devil’s advocate. She did ask some great questions that were thought provoking. I don’t have a transcript so, I can not offer you these word for word but I will give you the general question and answer.

On Raw Food and Cold Weather

Since the weather in Minnesota has been unseasonably cold (the second coldest fall in history) my thoughts have turned to hearty, warm raw foods a little earlier than usual. As you know, I have been posting a lot of recipes that reflect this. Eating raw doesn’t mean having to exist on cold salads and fruit all year. We have so many wonderful foods at our finger tips. And with the use of the dehydrator or other methods for gentle warming, and the addition of savory herbs and spices, you can have food that not only warms you up but is satisfying, even on the coldest day. In the winter, denser foods help satisfy so that is the direction I like to go. Adding seasonal foods such as squash and root vegetables make for savory winter dishes that can be served warm but still have all of their nutrients available.

On Losing Touch with Preparing Food

For one of the hosts, being in touch with her food and food preparation meant pots simmering on the stove, and smells coming out of the oven. She thought when preparing raw foods, you would lose touch with the essence of food. I have found the opposite to be true. I am more in touch with the food I am preparing than when I was “cooking” it. There are more challenges with creating raw food recipes. You just can’t throw something in a saute pan with butter. You need to be very creative. How will the spices and herbs work? How can you achieve a great mouth feel? How will the flavors balance.  Developing raw food recipes requires more thought, more tasting, and more balancing to achieve great results. That said, the preparation can be wonderfully easy.

Raw Food vs Live Food

This is a question that comes up occasionally and unfortunately, I hadn’t done much research on it. I have heard the term used interchangeably, many times, as most do. I have found out that there is actually a distinction. Living foods refer to foods that still have the enzymes flowing in them. When we refer to raw foods, we are talking about food that has been grown in the ground. There are raw animal produces, meat, eggs, etc. but. traditional raw food is vegan based and does not contain animal products. All living foods are raw but not all raw foods are living. Cacao would be an example of that. Lentils would be raw but not living until sprouted and revitalized.

Do you have to have a dehydrator to make the dehydrated items?

I can’t even begin to tell you how many times, especially on this blog, that this question gets asked. I wish I could say,  just crack your oven door open, turn down the heat and you will get the same results. You won’t. You might get close, but unless you put a oven thermometer in and watch it closely, it would be very easy to go over the 116 degree temperature, and destroy all of the nutrients that you are trying to protect by using a temperature controlled dehydrator.

The other problem I have with this method is that I think that it is wasteful as far as energy use is concerned. Running an oven with it’s door open for hours can not be a good practice. Dehydrators are a closed unit, so they make better use of the heat being produced. If you are want to incorporate raw food dehydrated recipes into your diet, you will need a dehydrator. As far as kitchen equipment goes, they are not that expensive. Check around to see what you can find. Just make sure that the one you buy has a temperature control. You can see more on dehydrators here.

All in all the show was very fun to do, although exhausting. It was a little tough to be “on” for an entire hour especially when you had no idea what question was coming next. Hopefully more people will learn about raw food from listening. It is a great way to improve your health and enjoy wonderful food at the same time.

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7 Comments

  1. El wrote on November 9, 2009

    Congratulations on your interview! My husband bought a dehydrator last year and we’ve been using it like crazy. Love it.

    Reply
  2. Julie wrote on November 8, 2009

    I love that you make a difference between raw food and living food. I have been thinking about that lately too, seeing to add more “life” in my diet instead of focusing only on raw. But, there are some food considered living food that are not necessarely raw, like miso, where the soy and grains are coocked before the fermentation process starts. Then being fermented and full of enzymes and friendly bacteria, we consider (in “alimentation vivante” at least) that it is living food… Unless we consider the beans and grains of miso, mearely a support for the bacteria that is, in itself, the living food. Ayways, I have to think about it a bit more 🙂 But I liked reading you and seein I’m not the only one thinking about the distinction between raw versus living 🙂 Have a great week.

    Reply
  3. Leighann Garber wrote on November 8, 2009

    Found your website through a stupid comment by someone on Twitter. 🙂 Goes to show that even stupidity helps drive traffic. Anyway I love the look of your site, and the great content.

    I discovered raw food several months ago at Cedar Springs in Sedro-Woolley Washington, while WWOOFing. I met some amazing people and learned a lot, including that raw food is surprisingly delicious, filling, and makes you feel great! I’m not completely raw or vegan/vegetarian, but I have appreciated learning about these different ways to interact with my food. It does make you appreciate things more. One of these days, I’m going to get some good equipment and recreate the smoothies and other recipes for my family.

    I wanted to mention something about the dehydrator: we had several ladies that were interested in making raw food a major part of their life (Cedar Springs is a holistic weight loss retreat), but they were concerned about the expense and big size of a dehydrator. The kitchen chef, Sage, had this great advice: get rid of your microwave! It’s unhealthy for you anyway, and a decent dehydrator fits in the empty space. And with a dehydrator it is easy to “fix and forget it” like a crockpot, since many take so long to finish. It also helps you to make warm raw recipes like cookies and lasagna that are comforting but still good for you, keeping you from rebounding.

    Reply
  4. joanna wrote on November 7, 2009

    ooh, very interesting points! I never realized the difference between raw foods and living foods either… Hm.

    I caught your radio interview, and I must say that it was wonderful! You are so natural as well as knowledgeable. Thanks so much for all you do!

    Blessings,
    Joanna

    Reply

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