Almost Raw Vegan

In addition to my blender & juicer here are some of the other Gadgets I use in my Almost Raw Vegan kitchen.

Knife Set:

There’s no doubt a good knife set is helpful! Not only your smoothie creations but for all your kitchen prose.  We have a set of Henckel Knives and they have done us well over the years.  Henckel Knives are great as are Wusthof and Messermeister.  Take care of them, sharpen regularly and they will do you no wrong!!

Cutting Board:

A good cutting board is a must in the kitchen.  I personally love bamboo cutting boards, they are eco-friendly and easy to clean.  You can buy high-end or lower-end, every price point is available to match your budget. But if you already have something on hand, stick with what you have! No need to buy unless it’s time to replace or upgrade.

Peeler:

If I buy non-organic produce my peeler is your best friend.  I always peel my non-organic produce to reduce the amount of pesticides.

Coffee Grinder:

I don’t use my coffee grinder for coffee – well, truth be known we have two coffee grinders – one for coffee and the other to grind seeds.  Every week I use our coffee grinder to grind a batch of flaxseeds.  I store them in a small jar in the fridge for the week and use the ground flax in my smoothies and salads.

Mason Jars:

I use mason jars ALL the time.  I mostly use the 500ml and 1-litre size.  When I make smoothies in the morning I pour them into mason jars and bring them to work in a cooler with ice packs. Also, when I’m following a Green Smoothie Cleanse I will make a big batch of smoothies twice a day and store them in mason jars.  It certainly makes my life easier.  That said, you don’t need to invest in mason jars, you can use or recycle any jars that you may have.  Make sure you fill them right to the brim and screw the lid on tightly.  Filling as full as possible will minimize oxygen exposure as it’s exposure to oxygen that will eat up the enzymes.

Vegetable Noodles (Spirooli & Spiral Slicers):

There are two tools I use for making vegetables noodles.  Spiral Slicer – Joyce Chen (right) has 2 settings and creates more of a light Angle Hair noodle.  The 2nd setting makes wide slices that remain attached. Where as the Spirooli Slicer (left) includes 3 blade options that allow you to create 2 different thickness of noodles plus one that makes larger spirals (see apple slices), all thicker than the Spiral Slicer provide.  I love using both tools depending on the texture of noodle that I want.  I used the smaller noodle size to make this Zucchini Noodle & Cherry Tomato Salad! If you don’t have a spirooli/spiral slicer and it’s not in your immediate plans to get one, you can also make noodles using a vegetable peeler – you could make more of a thick flat noodles by, for example, “peeling” a zucchini lengthwise.  There’s always a creative way to create the same effect so please don’t feel like you need all of these tools.

Mandolin Slicer:

I love my mandolin slicer for making sweet potato chips!!  Yup, thinly slice sweet potatoes, toss with a little olive oil and pepper and bake until crisp!  My favourite.  The trick with Mandolin’s is they are very very sharp, so you have to be very careful.  If you don’t have a mandolin you could use a potato peeler to make the slices very thin, or a good knife and a steady hand but there’s no doubt it’s a lot easier and fast with a Mandolin slicer.

Citrus Juicer:

Ok, I’m totally in love with my new citrus juicer (although mine is white, not yellow).  Hubby bought it for me and I’d never seen this style before.  At first I thought it was a little odd, but oh my gawd I so love it!  It’s fast, so easy to use and easy to clean.  I don’t think twice about using fresh squeezed lemon/lime juice now. Where as my old juicer was a little time consuming to use and a mess to clean so there were times I skipped the fresh juice.  This style wins my vote hands down!

Food Processor:

Next to my Blender I think I use the food processor most often. I do love my food processor and I’ve had it for the last 25 years!! (yup I was 2 yrs old when I bought it )… or not!!  It has been amazing and I use it for so many things – I use it when making Pizza Dough, Whole Wheat Bread – it helps to “kneed” the dough by twirling the dough around, making dough/bread making easy peasy and no breadmaker required!  Other recipes for the food processor include Thai Pesto, Kris Carr’s Tuna Salad, plus many of my sweets like Cashew Cranberry Chews and Raw Vegan Chewy Brownie Balls.

Dehydrator:

Although the Excalibur is my desired dehydrator, I really wasn’t sure how much dehydrating I would do, so instead I opted for the Nesco Dehydrator as it had great reviews and was much cheaper than the 9 tray Excalibur.  And I must say the Nesco has served us very well.  And truth be known I don’t dehydrate on a very regular basis, so I’m ok with not having an Excalibur.  Although I can see how the square shelves of the excalibur would be a lot more convenient than the donut-style shelves of the Nesco.  That said, my favourite thing to make in the dehydrator are my Flaxseed Crackers and Multi-seed Flaxseed Crackers.  There is no comparison with home made flax crackers to the health food store version.  But I guess that goes for most things – better made at home!!

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