Which appliances do I need?
So which appliances do I need?
This is one of the great things about this eating style, you don't need a lot of different "stuff" in your kitchen, and you'll spend WAY less time preparing, cooking and cleaning food.
There are two appliances that will make this journey easier and more enjoyable for you. We strongly recommend you obtain a high speed blender, and a quality dehydrator. Optional items include a food processor and a juicer, but the blender and dehydrator are really musts.
Your first purchase should be a high speed blender. You may be thinking "but I already have a blender, I bought it for $50 at Wal-Mart and it works great". Regular blenders will work fine for small, easy jobs. If you want to make a very basic smoothie with some juice and a little fruit, or if you just want to blend up Chocolate Bliss by the gallon, a regular blender will work fine. But that's about as far as it goes.
If you want to make a serious green smoothie or super soup you will blow up most regular blenders. Literally. You'll burn the engine out so if you try, ensure your fire extinguisher is close at hand. Here's a recipe for a super soup that we really enjoy:
In your blender, put 12 ounces of water and then add to it spinach, avocado, celery, cucumber, bell pepper, lemon juice, EFA Oil Blend and some Fiesta Mole and Sunfire Salt. Pack it all in tight and then turn the blender on. Most regular blenders won't be able to get going unless you chop up all the veggies into very small pieces. And even then, you'll be left with a pretty chunky result. With a high speed blender, we'll simply cut the veggies up just enough to fit more efficiently into the blender. For example, we'll put in several whole celery stalks or take a cucumber and cut it in half down the middle and just put the halves in. It takes very little prep work, no dicing required. And then the end product is absolutely smooth and creamy and uniform, nothing is left unblended.
Or let's say you want to make a green smoothie with greens and frozen fruit. One of our favorites is to take about 12 ounces of water, 12 ounces of raw juice like pomegranate, then add in frozen blueberries, cherries and mangos along with big handfuls of spinach and kale and some celery. With a regular blender, you may be able to blend it all but you're going to have chunks of the veggies in your smoothie. With a high speed blender, the veggies just disappear and your smoothie is, well, smooth!
Get the idea?
If you want to make flax crackers (recipe coming), there is simply no way to use a regular blender. A high speed blender is a must.
Then why a dehydrator? It's a very versatile appliance that allows you to make activated nuts and seeds that are terrific snack items. We'll be putting recipes for those up soon, as well. You can also use them to make flax crackers, dried fruits, the possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
So, which items do we recommend? For blenders, we recommend either a BlendTec or a VitaMix. Some people swear by one, some by the other. Here is a nice link that shows a comparison between the two models. Honestly, you can't go wrong with either.
For dehydrators, we only recommend one, the Excalibur 9-tray. Excalibur is the dehydrator of choice for virtually all raw foodists, and after reviewing the different models, the one that makes the most sense is the 9-tray. You can save a little money getting the 5-tray unit but it will take up about the same amount of counter space, it's just not as tall. So for an extra $20-30 you get almost double the capacity.
We also recommend that when you buy a dehydrator you get Teflex sheets. These will allow you to work with liquids.
We are working to find re-sellers for these items that will give our clients a modest discount, but for now, do some comparison shopping and see who has the best deals at the time you're looking to buy. Two reputable companies we've done business with are Harvest Essentials and RawGuru.
If you have any questions these two items, feel free to email us at info@blissfulfoods.com, we're here to help!
