Now that ya'll have had lots of time to get into your raw food diets, I was wondering if you could give me an idea on which of the Cookbooks (and authors) are your favorites and why. I know with me, sometimes I'll like one really well at first, but as I get on with it, I find it's not that great after all, and a different one is the one I use all the time.

Cris, you were right about the raw food diet. That seems to be pretty much where I'm headed! My diet is NO sugar, NO meat, NO dairy, NO processed foods and NO gluten.

I've never done gluten free before and am still learning about the gluten (the weirdest thing to me is some brown rice has gluten and some doesn't. WHAT?) anyway!

Since several of you on here had been doing the raw foods and had books, I was wondering which ones are your favorites? This diet is very strict, so I know I will have to make adjustments to some of them. (I am allowed stevia and agave nectar--will be interesting to try them out. Think I'll wait on sweet stuff though till I am TOTALLY out of sugar mode. It will just feed my craving!)

Thanks for any tips you can give me!!!!

Your question prompted me to update my website since I keep coming across this question and re-writing my list. Here's what I posted:

Green For Life, by Victoria Boutenko: The first raw food book I bought. It's all about Green Smoothies, tells all about how nutritious greens are and includes recipes. It also describes the Boutenko family's experience in converting to a 100% raw diet and how their health improved, ridding themselves of excess weight, diabetes, asthma, allergies, hyperthyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis, arrythmia, and edema. Green Smoothies were my first step into the raw food lifestyle. A green smoothie is my breakfast. A quart lasts me until lunchtime.

Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People by Jennifer Cornbleet. This was in the second batch of raw books that I bought. The book truly makes the raw food lifestyle easy to do, tells you how to get started. The recipes don't require anymore equipment than most of us already have in our kitchens. The book contains a staples list to take to the grocery store so you'll have the basic ingredients on hand when you decide you want prepare a particular recipe. Each recipe notes which equipment you need, for example, cutting board, 5" serated knife, 8" chef's knife, mandoline (optional.) The Zucchini w/Marinara Sauce is awesome!

The Sunfood Diet Success System by David Wolfe. I bought this book because David Wolfe is touted as being one of the premiere raw food gurus. Lots of people love and suggest this book. I'm not as thrilled. Not that it's a bad book but it's got a lot of his philosophy in it. I didn't want a philosophy book, I wanted a recipe and how to book. I do like all the Kirlian photography in it. I won't get rid of the book but I won't read it either unless I've nothing else to do.

12 Steps to Raw Foods, How to End Your Dependency on Cooked Food by Victoria Boutenko. I bought this book because I was amused that it seems everyone is 12-stepping everything these days and because it's by Victoria Boutenko. I like her curious mind, her dedication, and her success story. The book did help me to become aware of some of the pitfalls on the way to becoming 100% raw and how to overcome them. Much to my dismay, it helped me to admit that I was/am addicted to cooked food and the Standard American Diet. :-/ Recipes are included.

The Raw Gourmet by Nomi Shannon. This was also in my second batch of books. I bought it because I like to consider myself a gourmet food lover. I wanted more than carrot sticks, apples, and nuts in my diet. This book contains a 3-week meal plan and other good information on how to get started on raw foods. The ingredients, recipes, and equipment are more complicated so it would be more difficult for a person to remain committed. I like the book because there are some great recipes but it wasn't a really good starter book for me.

Raw by Charlie Trotter & Roxanne Klein. This was a gift from my son. It's a gorgeous book with beautiful pictures. I'm using it as a coffee table book while my grandson is gone for awhile. Charie Trotter owns a restaurant in Chicago; both writers are raw chefs. I've not tried any of the recipes because they seem complicated with extremely lengthy ingredient lists. One day when I have more time, I'll crack this book open in the kitchen.

Green Smoothie Revolution, The Radical Leap Toward Natural Health by Victoria Boutenko. This was a gift from my boyfriend. He knew I was eagerly awaiting it's release. It tells you why and how to do Green Smoothies. Some of the information is duplicated from Green for Life but needed to be included so the book is stand-alone. It's got 200 Green Smoothie recipes and some success stories in the Afterward. I drink a green smoothie every day so the recipes are inspirational for me.

Fresh, The Ultimate Live-Food Cookbook by Sergie & Valya Boutenko. These are the Boutenko "kids" all grown up. They explain how to survive graciously as raw foodists in a cooked food world and how they did it as children and teens. The chapter on what to eat while travelling intrigued me because my last trip was torture. I was jonesing for Green Smoothies and had heartburn every day. The book contains 250 simple yet sophisticated recipes.

Raw Food Celebrations, Party Menus for Every Occasion, by Nomi Shannon & Sheryl Duruz. This was also in my last batch of books. I was intrigued because I've always loved to cook holiday meals. The holidays are coming up and though I'll most likely cook the traditional holiday meals for my family this year, I'd like to be able to introduce them at some other time when they're not counting on the traditional stuff. The book takes you through the steps with a timeline so you're not left needed something to have been sprouted 2 days ago. There are some things that can be done well ahead of time and you're left to enjoy your guests at party time.

Frugal Raw, Raw on the Cheap at it's Finest by Matty Lee Thompson. This was in my latest batch of books as well. I bought it because I keep getting comments that raw food is so expensive. It's not, I tell them. I don't buy meat or cheeses which greatly reduces the food bill and leaves room for fresh produce and nuts. Nuts are expensive but a pound of them lasts for several meals, not just one like a T-bone steak. Also, buy produce in season and on sale, for example. The author tells us that she asked her husband for $10 to last 2 or 3 days -- that's cheap for one person but it was for two. Of course, she didn't do much organic but raw non-organic is way better for us than cooked non-organic. Don't not do raw because you can't afford it. If you're paying for food now, you can afford it.

Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen. I bought this book most recently as well. Alissa is a writer, speaker, and raw food consultant. The book is a comprehesive guide to the raw food lifestyle and an un-cookbook as well. There's a 30-day menu & shopping plan designed to correspond with her 30-day online raw food challenge. Her recipes are simple but you'll want all the raw food equipment for this one. Her deal is preparing food twice a week and making lots of it so you'll be satisfied and have some to share. Fill-ins on non-prep days are leftovers, salads, and mono-meals. It's 4.5 pounds of comprehensive, a big book. My grandson likes that she's sitting on a tomato on the front cover.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Cris,

Cris, that is a gold mine of information: Thanks!

Love to you.

Thanks a lot, Cris! I have the Cornbleet book, and so far I like it. I ordered 4 books, and she's the only one I've tried so far. I don't have any of the Boutenko books; will try one of them next.

I got Raw Food, Quick and Easy by Mary Rydman. There's a recipe in there for pineapple pate I'm going to HAVE to try (even if I have to soak cashews and ss seeds to do it)!

I also have the David Wolfe book but didn't find much on recipes in there. I mean, if you're already sold on raw, do you NEED that book?

I lost 11 pounds my first week, and 5.5 pounds last week, so hopefully this is going to be really good for me. I feel GREAT!!! I am eating a bean soup for supper every night, but as I get more used to raw cooking, should be able to cut a lot of that out. Just got back from the Health Food Store (I usually don't go at all, my sister does all my shopping for me). And I found that in their deli they have at least 4 different salads I can eat that are raw. They come small or large, so I can get them to take to work and supplement my raw veggies in the small container. COOL!!! (Two were expensive and two weren't, so they cancel each other out pricewise! YAY!!!!)

Since I'm off the sugar my tastebuds are working again, too, so that helps out a lot!

Thanks for putting this out there for me to use; it's very helpful.

Anybody else know of any must have books?

quote:

I feel GREAT!!!

THAT'S the important part. The weight loss WILL happen but it's incidental.

My doctor is really after me about the weight loss thing. He said that all the weight is the reason for the estrogen dominance, and hopefully if I get rid of it, my estrogen won't be so happyhappy, and I'll get ''better!''

I remember when I started eating partly raw, I did it because of my heart (back in 1998). I started feeling so good, and the weight came off so easily, that I turned it into a weight loss marathon. I'm glad to see that I've at least lost SOME weight. You always hear everyone say it's so much harder to lose as you get older. And I'm 52 now, so considerably older than when I was 41! I'm really glad you have done this and have advice for it! I don't know anyone who is really raw! (or actually, even PARTIALLY raw!)

You're right. Excess body fat contributes to hormone imbalance.

I've been trying to be raw for quite some time but continue to fall off the wagon. I've been mostly raw for almost a month again.

CRIS Thanks for the list of books. If you had to chose just one, which one would it be?? Gord

I'd chose Raw Food Made Easy for 1 or 2 People by Jennifer Cornbleet. It's a great starter book.

Now that I've gotten some practice preparing raw food and have most of the equipment, if I had to get rid of all but one, I'd keep Living on Live Food by Alissa Cohen.

Cris Thanks again, this makes a newcomer on the subject easy to decide. Gord