EQUIPMENT & RESOURCES

Which tools do I recommend?

Since raw veganism involves no cooking, lots of traditions kitchen equipment are not required for this lifestyle. You can start a raw vegan diet without any special equipment and get some fancy tools along the way. I started making smoothies with a hand blender and it worked fine and I made raw pasta with a classic julienne peeler. Today, there are some things that I would not want to miss in my daily routine and which make my life a lot easier (though are not necessarily required). I love my Vitamix blender to make smoothies since they get real creamy and you can even throw in your whole apples, carrots and so on. I love my spiralizer too to make zucchini, carrot or beet pasta and I love my wooden utensils like my small dessert bowl, my spoons and salad servers. I think big wooden bowls would be awesome too and I am saving money right now to get a juicer at some point.

What do I buy in addition to my fruits and veggies?

For my recipes, I sometimes use nuts and seeds, spices, sweeteners or similiar things and I will show you below what my stocks on these things are.

In general, I try to buy as much seasonal produce as possible and to buy in bulk to save some money. I stock up on fresh spices and herbs like ginger, garlic, onion, basil, parsley and mint and I always have some dried spices at hand as oregano, curry powder, pepper, cinnamon, paprika, sea salt and nutmeg. I always have some almonds, raw cashews, unhulled sesame seeds and sunflower seeds at home too, to make nut butters or raw desserts. For those, I also use vanilla extract, raw coconut oil, raw cacao or carob and dates or agave syrup.

Which sources do I recommend?

To me the most inspirational and important books to learn about this lifestyle were "The 80/10/10 diet" by Dr. Douglas N. Graham and "The China study" by Dr. T. Colin Campbell. 

I also have tons of different "uncook" books and started with "Ani's raw food kitchen" by Ani Phyo, "Raw food cleanse" by Penni Shelton and "Raw food-a complete quide for every meal of the day" by Erica Palmcrantz and Irmela Lilja.

I get my everday inspiration also from various other people, blogs and pages, to name just a few (in no particular order): Megan Elizabeth, Fully Raw Kristina, Fragrant Vanilla Cake, This Rawsome Vegan Life, With Raw Intentions, Ascension  Kitchen, Nordisch Roh (an amazing German blog) and Talesofakitchen. 

For recipe overviews and general inspiration I love: Raw Food Rehab, Raw Guru, Raw Food Recipes and Sprout Living.