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I swing a stocking around my head when I wake and stroke my blender with love and whisper sweet nothings to it every morning. I thank it for pre-digesting my food for me and for not conking out just yet. People get very excited about equipment needed in a raw food kitchen. Buzz words are handed around such as vita-mix, green power kempo and excalibur. They are exciting words. I particulary love vitamix. And I look forward to using it in my kitchen. It’s just that I am still loving my freebie blender from the dump; with one shorn off blade leaving three still intact, Philips home blender.

I get told by people that the reason they aren’t going raw is because the equipment’s too costly. It really doesn’t need to be so. I think for the first few months of experimenting, you can probably beg, borrow and get free from the tip, most equipment you need.

The Vita-mix by the way, is a turbo powered blender with enough horse power in it to make juice out of a brick! In the lifetime that it’s fancy price tag will give you, you could pulverise your home! Not only does it perform virtually every food prep task you can imagine, but it increases bioavailability, meaning your body is able to absorb more nutrients. But still not a have-to-have when you are first starting out experimenting with raw foods.

A juicer’s great. Again, you can find these anywhere these days. I often see them at our local tip … but I bet you can find one lurking unloved at the back of someone’s well intended and stocked graveyard-kitchen-appliance cupboard. I use a Champion juicer. Extremely efficient and can make nut butters and ice creams too! But I also have a basic Philips centrifugal juicer which is super speedy… even if it doesn’t keep all the nutrients in tact. The bottom line in the early days is that it gets you drinking freshly prepared juices.

The Excalibur is a raw foody’s low-temperature oven. It slowly ‘bakes’ food without killing vital enzymes. Biscuits, breads, pizzas, cakes and crackers keep you sane in the early days of transitioning, giving you the crunchy bite that cooked food has delighted us with…it took me two years to finally get one. I ate alot of salad. However, there are cheaper brands available…or use your conventional oven on the lowest setting and leave the door slightly open for similar results.

And a food processor is handy… you can get them with blenders, coffee grinders and a variety of blades that make prepping raw foods speedy and fun. The more powerful the better, simplifying your time in the kitchen, enabling you to spend more time playing.

At the end of the day, a couple of sharp knives, a grater, a vegetable peeler, morter and pestle, a mandoline and even a pop sock will save you money from the Super Gadgets. Loving life with raw, living foods is about keeping it simple and hassle free. Look to your kitchen and make it work for you … however much you think that Vita-mix will change your life!

Sarah Lea

ps/ A stocking can transform into an instant sprouter or enable you to get milk from a nut. It also keeps grannies feet warm!

pps/ For anyone signing up to Eat More Energy, my 4 week part-time online course, this is a run down of equipment needed to assist you in gaining more energy.

ppps/ Sarah’s LoveLifeRaw Introduction to Raw Foods precedes her hand-held 4 week online ecourse. Sunday 30th September 10am-2:30pm Lunch included. Takaka. $95

November Online Course: Eat More Energy – A 30 day nutrition plan to re-energise your body, mind and soul – with Sarah Lea

Win a free place on this course!  Check out course details to find out how!

We all wish we had more energy right? I’m always wanting more, and I have enough to light a whole town!

I’m offering you a 4 week part-time course showing you how to access more energy than you thought. More energy to fit in a couple more lifetimes into your ever expanding schedule. More energy to ignite your dreams. More energy to play like children.  Find out more about the course.