Nearly Raw Food Gadgets

Creating the recipes in this blog is simple. If I have to spend more than 30 minutes prepping dinner - forget about it! We're ordering pizza. On a Nearly Raw Foods diet, this is a BAD IDEA. Pizza that comes from a driver in a red and black shirt out of an oven bag is NOT HEALTHY, even though my mother would argue that it has the basics - tomato sauce is a vegetable, cheese is dairy, the crust is grains, and the pepperoni is meat. See? All the food groups.

Sorry, Mom, not quite. :o)

Quick and simple cooking means quick and simple gadgets.The kitchen accessories you should have on hand should include a blender (the more "umph" the better), food processor with both an S blade and a slicing blade, and a cutting board with sharp knife. We also have ramekins for dipping sauces, a hand blender for those smaller jobs that you just don't need the full sized blender for, and lots of containers for soaking nuts and storing nuts and seeds.


Even so, there's a few kitchen gadgets that I simply covet. I know, I know, "Thou shalt not covet," but they're just so nifty!

1. First, second, and third, I covet the VitaMix. This is the single most amazing blender I have ever seen. Unfortunately, with all the bells and whistles costs almost as much as a month's rent. However, I WILL purchase a VitaMix. Not today, but soon.

2. The Spiralizer. I haven't been able to find one by the name "Spiralizer," but a spiral slicer sure looks cool. For now, I make my veggie noodles from a cheese grater, which works absolutley fine, but this sure looks like a fun little gadget. This one got the best reviews.

3. The Dehydrator. There's a lot of really yummy-looking raw cookie recipes out there that require a dehydrator. This is relatively low on my list, but maybe someday. For now, I'm completely satisfied with my raw tarts. :o)

4. The Chopper. How nice would it be to keep the little buggers in one place while dicing? This is not an expensive little toy by any stretch of the imagination, I just haven't picked one up yet.

5. The Juicer. Nothing fancy, but it sure beats lemon and lime juice in the paper cuts accumulated from my day job. Besides, who wouldn't love fresh-squeezed orange juice with the Green Smoothies for breakfast?

The more I experiment with raw, vegan and vegetarian cooking, the more toys I covet. I'd love to read your comments with other Nearly Raw Food gadgets that make raw cooking even more fun!