My 10 Basic Salad Essentials: Simple Staples for Orgasmic, Health-Boosting Salads

A salad a day sounds banal, but with planning it's absolutely never boring. The trick is playing with the textures for diversity, and beautifully enough, all the flavor-boosting ingredients below are also incredibly health-promoting! Use the shopping list below to keep your fridge and pantries stocked with everything you need to make your salads exciting.

1) Greens: Your base. Use kale, romaine, spinach, romaine, micro-greens, or mesclun
2) Nuts or Seeds: Use a couple tbspns of raw sunflower/pumpkin seeds or raw almonds for protein
3) Sprouts: Adds great texture and ample protein
4) Nutritional Yeast: Delicious cheesy flavor and packed with vitamins
5) Chipotle, Cayenne, Black Pepper: Boosts metabolism and adds smokey, spicy flavor
6) Cherry Tomatoes: Simply cut in half and toss on your salad, adds sweetness and a lycopene boost
7) Olives, Sauerkraut, Kimchi or Capers: Adds tang, salt and probiotics for healthy digestion
8) Shredded Carrot: More tasty texture and nutrients
9) Avocado: massage your greens with half of an avocado for a creamy, dreamy "dressing"
10) Olive Oil and Apple Cider Vinegar: Stir 3 tsps vinegar with 1 tbspn olive oil for a classic vinaigrette.

Play with different mixes to come up with unique flavors and textures for your salad. Try Kimchi and almonds on a bed chopped bok choy for an Asian-inspired salad or slice basil on a tomato, olive and romaine mixture for something Italian-style. I love fresh corn, tomato, nutritional yeast, and avocado for a Mexican-inspired salad. The possibilities are endless! It's a fun and delicious way to add nutrition to your day.

Do you have any salad favorites you can't live without? Or dressing recipes? I'll update with more dressing recipes into the future. I love making creamy honey mustard, ranch, and other staples, naturally.

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

How to Eat Raw Vegan on the Cheap: Discount Shopping Tips + Closing Reminder

I wanted to wrap up this Raw Vegan re-cap series with a quick chat about adding more fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds to your diet on the cheap-- and why it's worth the extra expense versus eating processed food to save money. We're not discount machines,  you are worth the extra expense for quality food! And it tastes better too, win/win. You can eat healthy for less, here are some suggestions for saving:

Clockwise: greens and herbs from my garden, bulk discounts at a nearby farmer's market, veggies and freebies from my kitchen job, and cutting delicious veggies at the kitchen job. Instagram shots.

Gardening: Join a community garden, a community shared agriculture group (CSA) or check out your local farmer's market.

Buy in Bulk: Buy in Bulk as often as possible for the bulk discounts, freeze any excess if you fear fruits or veggies going rancid.

Buy Frozen: A great way to save on bulk fruits, veggies, and berries. You can stock up for your smoothies or other dishes and keep it all fresh.

Volunteer: Some community gardens, farms, kitchens and more will offer food in exchange for money. Stamp a "Will Work for Food" sign on me, I'm very easily food motivated!

Work Discount: I get a discount on meals and bulk grocery items at my part time kitchen job. If you're in the market for a new part of full time job, perhaps consider one with a farmer's market, CSA, natural grocery store or anywhere that can translate to food savings? FOOD for thought, ho ho ho, my puns are amazing...

Skip Organic: Organic is preferable of course, but don't sweat it if you can't. It's better to have non-organic fruits and veggies than none at all!

Skip "Superfoods": I love to experiment with them but they're not necessary, save money and skip them if necessary.

Food Vulture: Whenever someone offers free veggies (excess from their garden, food the kitchen was going to throw out, perhaps) I swoop in for the kill. No shame. I always find a way to use and eat it.

Feel free to e-mail if you have any other suggestions for eating on the cheap- or questions on being raw vegan, vegan, vegetarian, or just healthier at all. It's not easy for me to continue this series because from a business/blogging perspective I see my blog visits and comments take a big hit. My favorite part of blogging is the interaction and feedback with readers so it sucks to feel like I'm proselytizing on a deserted island sometimes.

I know the majority of readers skip these posts, but on the flip side I've had people stop me on while I'm out and about to tell me my posts have made them healthier and incorporate more freshness into their lives and their children's lives. (And of course, some grateful e-mails, too!) I'm glad to spread the hippie influence. I wanted to finish this series to answer the common questions and have a nice backdrop for reference for when/if I decide to continue sharing recipes.

/Comments Off

The Raw Vegan 101 Series: 
Part 1) What is it and Why is it Good for You? + Another Raw Info Post
Part 2) My Raw Routines and Tips to Stick to It
Part 3) Essential Raw Vegan Tools, Books, and Resources 
Part 4) Pantry Staples for Creating any Dish you Crave Rawfully
Part 5) Adding More Raw Healthfulness to Your Diet On-The-Cheap (You are here)
Extra) Straightening Out Misconceptions and My True Mission

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

Pantry Staples: Spices and Condiments for Creating any Dish you Crave Healthfully

I've been cooking mostly healthy vegan and "raw" for 2.5 to 3 years at home and for over a year professionally in a raw vegan kitchen* and I've learned a bout how keeping your pantry stocked for making any dish you crave along the way. This is a great guide for anyone just trying to incorporate more home cooking into their life, too. Print and use it as a shopping list next time you're out. I like to buy herbs in bulk from places like Whole Foods and Native Sun (local) but Mountain Rose Herbs has excellent selection and quality herbs and spices as well.

An earnest peek at some pantry staples in-use in my kitchen right now. Spices above mixed with my roomie's meat marinates. Not a discriminative household! All kinds of cooking going on in here.

* Make sure all the nuts and seeds you use are raw, untoasted, and unprocessed. We like to soak them for at least a couple hours to remove the enzyme inhibitors, start the germination process and make them easier to blend and work with but it's not necessary, 

Nuts: Buy 'em in bulk by the pound at Whole Foods if you have one near your or order in bulk to save money. I don't keep all of the nuts below in my fridge myself, I just buy in bulk as needed and store them in glass jars in my fridge until they're needed. You can freeze them to keep them safe as well.

* Almonds, * Brazil nuts, * Cashews, * Shredded Coconut, * Pecans, * Sunflowers Seeds, * Walnuts, * Pine Nuts

Seeds: Again, easy to buy these by-the-pound in bulk as needed from a health food store near you. I'll comparison shop online and see what websites offer the best deals on delivering bulk nuts, seeds, and spices. I want to work with people to provide national discount bulk nuts, seed, herb and spice shipment options- you game for that? E-mail me! I can't prove we should do it without proving the need.

* Chia, * Buckwheat groats, * Hemp Seeds/Nuts, * Pumpkin Seeds, * Quinoa, * Sesame Seeds, * Sunflower Seeds, * Wild Rice

Dried Fruit: Many delicious raw deserts will call for dried fruit- and they're wonderful to snack on when you're traveling. You can also buy and order these in bulk.

*Cacao powder and nibs, * carob powder, * cranberries, * dates, * mangoes, * raisins, * sun-dried tomatoes

Oils: You can also buy oils in bulk (bring your own glass jars) at some health food stores. These add creaminess and flavor to a lot of healthy recipes. Sesame is a must for a lot of Asian dishes. Store your cold-pressed oils in the fridge to keep them from spoiling.

* Coconut oil, * olive oil (extra-virgin, cold-pressed if possible), * Sesame oil

Sea Vegetables (optional): We rarely use these in our kitchen but sea veggies are full of minerals and iodine and if you enjoy sea food (like I did!) they're delicious. Bonus points for being crazy low-calorie and thyroid/metabolism regulating. These veggies are bought dried, soaking them in water reconstitutes them. I love kelp noodles for pad thai and asian noodle dishes, nori for wraps, and we use irish moss as a thickener.

* Kelp noodles, * nori sheets (can be raw or toasted- toasted is much easier to find), * wakame, * irish moss

Sweeteners: I prefer stevia (preferably green powdered but use the white powder as well), it's zero calorie and doesn't register in your body as sugar at all. It should be the only sugar alternative versus the unhealthy aspartame filled Sweet N Low style varieties. The syrups below are natural and lower-glycemic, but the best sugar for us is straight from ripe fruit.

* Agave Syrup, * Brown Rice Syrup, * Maple Syrup (B grade), * Stevia Powder (pref. green unprocessed powder. You'll likely have to order it online.)

Spices: This is what really transforms a raw, vegan, or healthful dish into a dish resembling flavors you remember from your favorite foods. I assure you, you can make any dish you crave "more healthy" and still flavorful if you're using the right spices. These are my go-tos.

Middle Eastern/Mediterranean: Sala, Cumin, Paprika, Curry Powder
Mexican: Chili Powder, Chipotle Powder, Cayenne
Italian: Oregano, Rosemary, Ground Black Pepper, Sage, Basil, Thyme
Savory: Onion Powder, Ground Black Pepper, Himalayan pink sea salt
Deserts: Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Vanilla (powder, alcohol-free extract, and beans), Ginger & Stevia Powder, Cocao and/or Carob Powder

Herbs: Fresh herbs aren't necessary but they can really make a difference in a dish. These are my go-to favorites. Use these as a guide for planting some herb seeds perhaps? I love picking herbs right from the garden and adding them to dishes.

Italian: Flat Leaf Parsley, Basil, Sage, Oregano
Middle Eastern: Curly Parsley, Spearmint, Cilantro/Culantro
Mexican: Cilantro, Oregano
Other Favorites: Chives, Green Onion

Condiments: These keep indefinitely in your fridge. I personally will cut the amount of salt in a recipe when I make it these days but it's nice to have nama shoyu or Bragg Liquid Aminos on-hand for flavor. Nama Shoyu is simply a raw, unpasturized soy sauce and Bragg Liquid Aminos is gluten-free, salty and similar to soy sauce but with a slightly different flavor. Try both and see what works for you. Miso is a fermented, cultured, salty food that adds soupy or "asian" flavor to a lot of dishes. Nutritional yeast is cheesy, delicious and full of B Vitamins.

* Apple cider vinegar, * bragg liquid aminos, * miso (unpasturized, preferably white), * nama shoyu, * nutritional yeast.

*I Used Ani's Raw Food Essentials and my experience working as a raw vegan chef as my guide. Great book!

* The raw vegan kitchen I work in part time, by the way is Shakti Life Kitchen. We deliver our food to almost every health food store in town, we're not a restaurant. Check out the deli of Native Sun and Grassroots to try the amazingly delicious food! You can also order dishes for delivery to your door. They're only local, sorry the tease! Just answering a frequently asked question. I can't share recipes from the kitchen, either but they do have a lot of delicious ones on their website. Nope, not paid to share any of this.

* Final Note, again, I'm not a stickler for being fully raw or organic. I just like to share ideas and information that help people live healthier. I had good results and want others to as well.


The Raw Vegan 101 Series: 
Part 1) What is it and Why is it Good for You? + Another Raw Info Post
Part 2) My Raw Routines and Tips to Stick to It
Part 3) Essential Raw Vegan Tools, Books, and Resources 
Part 4) Pantry Staples for Creating any Dish you Crave Rawfully (You are Here)
Part 5) Adding More Raw Healthfulness to Your Diet On-The-Cheap (April 22)
Extra) Straightening Out Misconceptions and My True Mission

Got any pantry staples/tips to share? I didn't include it but I do eat popcorn when I'm busy, not ideal but high in fiber, at least. Would a discount bulk nut/spice/health food staple service be something you'd use? Let me know, you gotta speak up if you want it.

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

Raw Vegan 101: My Recommended Tools and Accessories for a Healthier Lifestyle

Technically, all you need for a healthier lifestyle is a good knife, a cutting board, and ample whole, unprocessed food... but the tools below make being healthy quick and simple, perfect for busy people (like you)! These are the tools and accessories I love to use daily for adding more fruits and veggies into my diet- or ones I've learned about working in a raw vegan kitchen for over a year. I'm not fully raw at the moment and no one needs to be fully raw to be healthy, but I stand by the health-promoting power of adding more veggies to your life. These tools make it easy.

1. High Speed Blender: I highly recommend the Vitamix (buy here for free shipping), I use mine daily. I'm told Ninja Blender Set is just as good but didn't have ideal results with my basic Ninja. It will blend your greens and fruit, maybe better than a basic blender, but not to the smooth perfection of a high speed blender. I wasn't able to experience raw recipes the way they were intended until I upgraded. If you get a Ninja, try the best one you can get. You won't regret purchasing a high speed blender of any brand, though.

2. Juicer: I'd really like a slow juicer, much easier to clean and use than the standard variety. (I'll post in the future on using your Vitamix and strainers to make green juices. That's my method at the moment.) A juicer isn't necessary but green juices are an easy way to get in a lot of nutrition quickly. You can use the pulp for very delicious recipes, too. I have my eye on this Omega Slow Juicer good quality and lower-priced than others on the market. (Like this Kuvings Whole Slow Juicer, amazing but higher-priced.)

3. Food Processor: We use a Robot Coupe BLIXER4 at the raw vegan kitchen, great to pulverize huge batches into submission, but a simple Cuisinart Food Processor would be sufficient ($99 vs over $1,000) for making more textured-items (like pie crusts) or larger batches of thick things like cashew cheese.  I use my vitamix for food processing but it's not ideal, I'll invest in a simple processor soon. A word of caution: load these guys gingerly and process small batch at a time. I broke a blender AND a food processor making raw recipes! Also this Ninja Blender Set comes with a food processor. I used my standard cheapest-in-the-store Ninja as a food processor and it worked well- which attests to it's uncanny ability to keep things "chunky"! It's bad when your blender makes a better food processor.

4. Spiralizer: Create veggie pastas (like zucchini noodles) quickly and easily with a Vegetable Spiralizer. I love this tool! Definitely try this one, much easier to use and not too expensive. I used a cheaper one and regretted it, ended up having to upgrade anyway!

5. Dehydrator: The Excalibur Dehydrator is the best of the bunch but any dehydrator can do in a pinch, though they may be trickier to use. I don't dehydrate my own raw recipes but we use our dehydrators constantly at the raw vegan kitchen I part-time at. A must for the best quality kale chips and many different savory and even desert recipes. (Like cookies we dip in chocolate. Holy hell, so hungry now...) Don't forget your Dehydrator sheets.

6. Strainers Use it to remove the extra pulp from juices and other recipes needs. A simple, inexpensive one will do.

7. Good Kitchen Knife & Cutting Board: The better the quality, the longer your knife lasts. You spend less in the long run with a good one.  I have my eye on a Shun Knife that slices anything like butter, but currently a similar one my mom thrifted for me. flexible cutting boards are convenient for folding slices veggies or fruit right into your blender or processor.

8. Utensils: Measuring Cups (flat topped standard ones for accurate measuring), Measuring Spoons, and Spatula. Your spatula will get a work out scooping cheeses, puddings, crusts and more out of blenders and food processors. Here's a perfect Measuring Cup & Spoon Set and great spatulas. And of course your standard pyrex measuring cup for liquids.

10. Mason Jars and/or Thermoses: I save and reuse sauce jars for my mason jars to store juices and smoothies for when I'm on-the-go. I've tried vintage thermoses but they're sometimes hard to clean and the glass tubes inside shatters incredibly easily. Use with caution! I suppose they were phased out for a reason. You can buy a set of mason jars online, too.

11. Spice Jars: I like little ones similar to these ones (mine are from Joann's and are smaller) because I can use them for homemade toothpaste/deodorant recipes too, but you'll likely need bigger ones than that! Like this Glass Spice Jar Set. Bulk buy spices are fresher and cheaper, they have them at Whole Foods (and Native Sun if you're local) or you can order them from Mountain Rose Herbs.

12. Glass Straws: A fun way to drink your smoothies without creating waste from plastic straws, just rinse and re-use. Fruit juices and smoothies can be rough (and staining) on tooth enamel, a straw helps bypass that a little. Here are some Simple Glass Straws. These Acrylic Straws are cheaper.

13. Big Bowls: You'll need some huge bowls for your salads and mixing needs if you have some already. Easy to thrift for! I'm keeping my eye out for some big wooden ones. (Like this large wooden bowl.)

14. Raw Books I Love: All of Ani Phyo's books are excellent, easy-to-follow recipes, great photos, great attitude. I go back to Ani's Raw Food Essentials and Her Detox Book the most. I do edit a lot of the recipes to include less fat. Megan Elizabeth has a beautiful set of eBooks on her website for a low-fat raw vegan diet and whole lifestyle. Mimi Kirk is in her 70s but looks at least twenty years younger, her book Live Raw is also awesome. I'll come back with more recommendations as I read more raw books!

Keep your eye out at the thrifts for some necessary supplies, hunt at WalMart or your local kitchen supply stores or use the links above. Speaking from personal experience, I went on a city-wide (I live in the largest city in the US land-wise so it was a trek) hunt for some of these items and they cannot be found locally! Particularly the spiralizer! You may be better off ordering some of these online.

The links above other than the Mountain Rose Herbs and Megan Elizabeth book links are affiliate links. I'm a Vitamix Affiliate and the other links are Amazon affiliate links. To tell the truth on both of those I never even check to see if I make profit from those, it's more important that I'm spreading the word on simple ways to eat a more whole diet. If you're in the market for anything above you directly support me and Thrift Core when you buy through the links in my posts. I should check on those meager "profits" now, haha... Oh and to clarify, none of these machines have been sponsored for me. If I buy or recommend it, it's something I truly love and/or use often.

The Raw Vegan 101 Series: 
Part 1) What is it and Why is it Good for You? + Another Raw Info Post
Part 2) My Raw Routines and Tips to Stick to It
Part 3) Essential Raw Vegan Tools, Books, and Resources (You are here)
Part 4) Pantry Staples for Creating any Dish you Crave Rawfully (April 15)
Part 5) Adding More Raw Healthfulness to Your Diet On-The-Cheap (April 22)
Extra) Straightening Out Misconceptions and My True Mission

/Comments Off for this post so I can really focus on getting caught-up on posts, pricing things and maybe fit in a bike ride if the weather will be nice. But I will respond quickly via Instagram/Facebook/Twitter. I have a Spring Cleaning series on the way for the new season, too! E-mail me if you have any questions or kitchen supply recommendations! 

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

Raw Vegan 101: My Raw Feeding Routines and Tips for Sticking to Healthier Eating

I'm three years into living a vegan, "natural" lifestyle and I absolutely love it. It's simple, fast, clean, inexpensive and just feels so natural for me now- in more ways than one. Here are the routines that have evolved over the years, I'm always trying new things. If you have any tips or suggestions please send them, this is simply what works for me personally.

1) Wake Up: 4 Cups of Water / Tea or Coffee (Going to phase this out again. Don't want to become dependent.)  I take 1 prenatal vitamin for hair growth. Works!
2)  Smoothies: 2-4+ all day. 2 cups fruit, 2 cups water, stevia, 2 TBSP nuts or seeds, sometimes greens
3) Salad, Bitch: At least one giant salad a day. The bowl is a chip bowl nearly the size of my head. Chopped greens & whatever veggies I have on-hand with homemade dressing. See good ones I used to enjoy here. Kristina has some delicious ones in a video here. I love making honey mustard variations, mustard is my favorite dressing! Mmm...

Sometimes I have sweet potatoes (fries, mashed) or brown rice and veggies for dinner. Sometimes I make date rolls or raw cakes. I need to work on a consistent routine, but keeping to the 3 steps above keeps me feeling healthy. I have little cheats like vegan chips/dips and cooked sweets on rare occasion.

I'm going to experiment with more organic brands in time, but these are my current go-tos. 

1. Wash face and body with Dr. Bronners - Tea Tree Oil Soap at night. Shave with the same soap. I wash my face twice. Try it, skin looks better and it knocks out break-outs.

2. Shampoo and Condition with Griffin Remedy (shampoo / conditioner) once a week. My hair is curly, dry, and fragile so the less washing, the better. I use my roommate's flat iron once a week after I wash my hair.

3. Brush with my homemade mouthwash and toothpaste. Recipes here.

4. After shower I apply Ann Marie Gianni Herbal Facial Oil . (I love Theraneem oil, too.) I wake up with even-toned, balanced, blemish-free skin and can just wipe my eyes and go. No morning washing, no make-up. It's awesome.

Oil Note: I have very oily skin and like most afflicted with it, used to wash with lots of face wash and toner morning and night to "fight" it. This makes your skin produce more oil to make up for the drying alcohol-laden conventional soap and I always looked like an oil-slick. Washing twice, applying oils at night, and not washing in the AM stopped the cycle! Now my skin appears "dewey" and even. Sorry for putting you to sleep with skin care tips, zzzz...Photo above right after waking up and having my water. I just wake up and go.

5. Apply a little alba un-petroleum jelly to face and body as-needed. A little goes a long way.

6. Deodorant none! You smell less the cleaner you eat, I swears it. I apply this homemade one when needed.

Everything takes minutes and I feel much better about my skin/hair than I did when I was doing a lot more (toner/lotion/soap/eyeliner/concealer/zzzz/no more) as a teen and in my young twenties. Drinking lots of water and eating lots of veggies has made a big difference. Less is more! 

(Speaking of Simple & Clean it's the title of the prettiest video game song you'll ever hear. Listen before bed. You will dream of unicorns and rainbows. Any Kingdom Hearts fans here?)

1) Eat the "Good Stuff" First: Eat your salads and smoothies before your burger and fries, you'll find you'll have little room to eat as much "bad" food as you used to.

2) Keep The Kitchen Stocked: Keep your cabinet and fridge stuffed with dates, fruits, veggies, and the whole plant goodies you love to eat. When it's empty, you'll get oh so tempted to cheat.

3) Cook Ahead: Have homemade cookies, burgers, and more ready to go so the healthy snacks are at arm's reach.

4) Eat, Eat You Fool: Don't starve. Ever. Your body will try to compensate for the "famine" by leading you to the Burger King Drive Through. Extreme calorie restricting won't work long-term. Stuff yourself with fruits and veggies guilt-free 'til you're comfortably full.

5) Have Fun: Eat only what you love, there are so many delicious recipes. Play with it, do whatever it takes to make it enjoyable to you, personally.

6) Replace: Replace your favorites with healthy versions. While transitioning I replaced my burgers with morning star (Couldn't eat now! Ow!) frozen veggie burgers loaded with lettuce and tomatoes. Helped me switch-over.

Vitamix Recommendation: I highly recommend the vitamix blender, I use mine every day. If you buy through my affiliate link you not only help support me (I get a small commission), you also get free shipping! I used to use the Ninja blender and it's competent but you won't look back after the vitamix, it's improved my raw recipes 110%, it was impossible to get my soups and smoothies smooth before it.

More body care and recipe posts shall come into the future. Do feel free to share any recommendations and tips, I love learning from you!

The Raw Vegan 101 Series: 
Part 1) What is it and Why is it Good for You? + Another Raw Info Post
Part 2) My Raw Routines, FAQ, and Tips to Stick to It (You are here)
Part 3) Essential Raw Vegan Tools, Books, and Resources (April 8)
Part 4) Pantry Staples for Creating any Dish you Crave Rawfully (April 15)
Part 5) Adding More Raw Healthfulness to Your Diet On-The-Cheap (April 22)
Extra) Straightening Out Misconceptions and My True Mission

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

Raw Vegan 101: Straightening Out "Diet" Misconceptions and My True Mission

I'll get back to my scheduled Raw Vegan 101 programing this time next week. First I wanted to clear the air about why I'm writing this series. I occasionally sound like I'm evangelizing raw veganism as the "only way" to healthy body heaven, that's not my intent. That was me attempting a fun writing style on- what's to many, a boring-ass topic. I want to get to the root of why I choose to share "raw vegan'' recipes and information on Thrift Core. With embarrassing old photos! Lookie:

Dear god, those under-eye bags though. Wasn't kidding when I said I don't sleep. Next hurdle to clear...

First of all, I don't diss meat eaters or say that it's unhealthy to eat eggs, dairy, or beast of land and sea. There are plenty of healthy omnivores. My boyfriend, roommate, and family all eat meat- no one I know in my personal life outside of my co-workers at the lovely raw vegan kitchen I part-time at are vegan. Just putting that out there, I'm not trying to convert the unwilling- especially if you're healthy. I feel it's especially important for the meat/dairy/eggs we eat to be ethically sourced because America's meat-processing is filthy and hormone/chemical-laden, but we do the best we can.

Yesterday's lunch. Smoothie and popcorn. I mix raw and cooked, haven't found the best way to feed yet. 

I get resistance for these posts and in day-to-day conversations on my lifestyle. I'll hear stories about your friend's grandpa, the 110-year-old lumberjack with chiseled abs that smokes 2 packs a day, washes with gunpowder, thrives on a diet of bacon grease and farts spring daisies. Well, if that bacon grease is from ethically sourced pigs it's a whole food and it's better than living off Doritos. Seriously. The problem is not meat, eggs, and cheese, the real problem is the mass production of it and heavily processed food with less nutritional value than it had 40 years ago.

My twin older bros (yes, biological, frequently asked childhood question). I'm 9, they're 14. Slim & Healthy, we didn't eat perfectly but did eat less processed food.

I stand by plant foods being healing inside and out. If you can't shed weight, often feel sick or sluggish, this may be what you need. It does not need to be raw, cooked will help, too. My mission is to inspire others to put some more plants in their life to feel/live healthier.

Me, 11ish with my mom (woman with her arms around me) and her friends. Still a string-bean.

There is no universally agreed-upon way to eat healthfully in science circles and different camps will hotly debate it. I want to bring up stats I've read about the American diet being lower in nutrition, causing us to overeat because we are seeking the nutrients we're missing, or how we're 20 lbs heavier than we were on average since the 1970s, but those can be backed up by anything else someone dredges up from the web and turn into a zero sum game. But think about it: diet books were hard to find before the 1980s.

My bros and I on ample processed food. What happened? Aaaah! Arms crossed over my middle in conscious I-gained-weight-don't-look teenage fashion. We'd continue to gain from here. I'm about 14 here, bros about 19. I know you gain as you age but this was not healthy weight gain.

This is why I choose to write from my experience. When I was 14 I abruptly switched to a mostly processed food diet. I guzzled more Mountain Dew Code Red than water. In the months that followed I gained weight rapidly, was often sick with a cold and began to develop debilitating back pain. When I couldn't walk without limping like an octogenarian, hand on my arched back, mom took me to the emergency room. I was poked, urine/blood-tested and x-rayed. The doctor pointed to cloudy miasma in my lower torso on the x-ray and said that it was stool. 

Yep, TMI, sorry. I hadn't crapped in who knows how long because I was eating nothing but junk and I was lucky my body gave me a sign quickly! I was so congested from processed food I could barely move without feeling sharp pain. Others don't receive any (or ignore) daily pains, eat poorly for years then bam- heart attack!  The doctor didn't discuss diet. He didn't tell my mom to make more salads, he prescribed castor oil and that was that. The answer was simple and delicious: plants! 

Left: I try to add as many veggies into my day as possible Right: I still eat cooked vegan treats occasionally. I go back and forth between fully and partly raw.

I wrote about my journey to healthy food/weight loss in detail, but to recap, adding as more plants and water to my diet helped me finally lose a stubborn thirty pounds and feel much healthier. I'm rarely sick, rarely have pains. I stand by the plants! They are my friends, I will eat them and roll around in a field of them and hug them and murder their brethren so they may heal my insides. I'm not trying to come at you as a holier-than-thou figure or make you feel guilty for your food choices. I was there, I loved my delicious frozen dinners, soda and nearly-daily hamburgers and paid the price for it. I still have weight to lose from those times. I just want to share what helped me and inspire others than need help, too. You don't have to cut everything you enjoy cold turkey, in fact that rarely works. It's all about moderation and adding healthy alternatives, and I shall continue to share those alternatives and tips here on Thrift Core.

Note: I feel you can be healthy/happy at any size. I was decently confident 165- but hated taking photos. I'm the same size in these side-by-sides, definitely look bigger on right, right? Taking photos was unpredictable. Now I don't fear the camera! When I set out on my veggie eating journey my goal was to get healthy, the weight loss was incidental.

But of course, I'd love to hear YOUR thoughts on what's work for you. Thrift Core is a not a podium for me to prosthelatize, it's a forum from discussion and you teach me, too. Would love for us to discuss ways to be healthy frugally in the comments. And if you think I'm wrong, feel free to let me know. I will listen.

I usually turn comments off on these posts because no one comments on them so I don't see the point of allowing conversation but I would love to start one, do discuss what works for you or ask any questions below.

The Raw Vegan 101 Series: 
Part 1) What is it and Why is it Good for You? + Another Raw Info Post
Part 2) My Raw Routines, FAQ, and Tips to Stick to It (April 1)
Part 3) Essential Raw Vegan Tools, Books, and Resources (April 8)
Part 4) Pantry Staples for Creating any Dish you Crave Rawfully (April 15)
Part 5) Adding More Raw Healthfulness to Your Diet On-The-Cheap (April 22)
Extra) Straightening Out Misconceptions and My True Mission You Are Here

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