RAW LIVING FOODS LIFESTYLE
WHERE TO START???
The easiest thing seems to be making your breakfasts and dessers raw.
For breakfast, you can always whip up a smoothie- and possibilities with those are endless! You can make a fruit salad, juice, almond milk with raw granola (you can buy it at the store or make your own with dehydrated buckwheat, nuts and seeds). Or you can simply eat a piece of fruit!
For dessert, you will definitely NOT be deprived- make some quick raw treats (like almond rolls in our recipe section), or a pie or a cake! You can also make ice-cream. The easiest way to do that would be to blend some frozen bananas, scoop it out of your food processor and top with some nuts, dried fruit or chocolate sauce you can make yourself!
As you're getting off dairy, you could find a nut cheese recipe you really enjoy. My favorite one is cashew-based and has nutritional yeast added, which makes it really cheesy.
WHAT EQUIPMENT DO I NEED?
I started on my raw journey only with an old garage-sale blender and a bad set of knifes. Eventually you'll want more complicated recipes and would want to buy a nice big food processor (about 8-10 cups) since this is what you'll use to make pates, nut cheeses, cake crusts, and everything else that you wouldn't need to liquify (which a blender does). You can go to any big store in your area and find a processor for about $80-150 that works great. You can see a best food processors report HERE
For a blender, there is no need to invest in a Vitamix or any other expensive kind right away. Choose a blender at a store that's at least 500 watts, has a glass jar and sharp looking blades. It really doesn't have to have more than 2 speeds. A good one i use is Oster with a metal base- it's about $60
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Eventually, you'll be ready to invest in a dehydrator! These are simply amazing and expand your food variety greatly- you can make crackers and crusts, mock patties, or simply warm up dishes. Excalibur is a great choice, however there are more brands now that compete with excalibur and are cheaper: Good4U and VegiKiln (that's the one I have). The most important detail is to have a thermostat so you could regulate the temperature on your dehydrator (the cheap ones you might see at WalMart are usually round and don't let you control the temperature, so it might be way over 118 degrees).
Do you need a juicer? Not necessarily, but you might truly enjoy and want one at some point. The Green Star seems to be the ultimate and it will work fantastic and last you a lifetime. I still own a very cheap juicer i got as a present once. If i feel like getting a shot of chlorofyll, i'll juice some cucumbers, celery, and greens. Cheap juicers can waste more of your produce (the pulp that's left is still moist) but if you don't juice much, that might not be all that crucial. I enjoy green smoothies a lot so my juicing is minimal. If i want a sweet juice, i simply use my hand citrus juicer for some orange juice!