Simplifying your diet? Raw foods?

[MiniMum]

We just found out DD is allergic to cow's milk. She has really loved dairy.. but no more tummy aches makes it worthwhile to give up, she is only two but she clearly understands this. Otherwise we have been eating mostly vegetarian.. but it's obvious there is going to be some changes in our diet. I have decided to give up dairy products as well. We will still eat goat's milk cheese and buffalo mozzarella. 

But I've become really interested in changing our diet towards more raw foods. I don't want to cook complicated things twice a day and neither myself or DD are big on warm, cooked meals and on often we eat a cold lunch. I'm not going to go crazy and jump into 100% raw diet, but I'm definitely going to simplify and have more natural, fresh, unprocessed foods. Lots of fruits and salads, and I have to try recipes for other raw meals beyond salads.

Has anyone else come to a point in their simplifying journey when they suddenly wanted to change their diet too? 

We are already buying lots of organic foods and healthy foods, but I've been making lots of pasta etc. for dinner and we have eaten lots of dairy, cheese, yogurt, milk with muesli etc. Also bread but not tons of it. 

I just want to substitute more fresh produce and eat less stuff that is processed or cooked a lot. I want to sprout seeds and beans. I have been brought up with the idea that kids need two warm meals a day, the society has all but brain washed me into thinking that cow's milk is a health drink, and I also don't want to deprive my child, my husband (nor myself) so I want to go about this slowly and flexibly. 

I like bread, and baking is fun and not something I'd see myself giving up any time soon, so we will still have bread occasionally. I'm thinking I should probably keep it in the freezer and just take out what we eat any given time, because bread tends to go moldy or rock hard before we can finish it!

[diana_of_the_dunes]

We've simplified our diet, but in a different way.  It's become important to me not to eat animals that were raised inhumanely or produce that has traveled more than 100 miles to get to me.  So we got chickens for eggs, buy meat that was raised locally, grow some of our own produce, and buy just about everything else that we need from our farmer's market.  I also can, freeze, and dehydrate foods that are in season to eat later.

I try to cook from scratch as much as I can, but with a FT job and a toddler, that's sometimes easier said than done.  We do still buy some processed foods, but we have cut way back from where we were a few years ago.  But I like to cook.  Not everyone does.

It hasn't really simplified our eating, except that we know exactly what is in the foods we eat and it has fewer ingredients than the processed alternatives, but it's simplified the process by which the food gets to us.  It's also simplified my thinking.  I don't worry about what's on sale when and where.  I go to the market or walk outside and eat what's in season.  

On a side note, have you considered raw milk?  A lot of people with dairy "intolerances" and "allergies" can often consume raw milk because of the beneficial enzymes and bacteria that pasteurization kills.  It doesn't work for everyone, since there are people who are truly allergic, but it might be worth a shot if your DD loves milk and dairy that much.  We are part of a dairy association, since that's the only legal way to "buy" raw milk here.  I personally consider raw milk a health food, since it contains lots of vitamins, essential fatty acids, good bacteria, and other compounds not found in store-bought milk.  But I don't drink a massive amount each day, and I certainly consume less dairy than the USDA recommends.

[ExOfficia]

I'm trying to simplify in another way too.  I have always been the type to like stocking a very complete, full pantry, so that I could whip up anything at the ready.  I'm also watching the deals, so when something I use goes on sale, I load up.  I don't crazy-hoard like Hoarders or anything, but I do keep a full pantry and freezer/fridge most of the time.

Thing is, I've found that life gets in the way and the best laid plans often go awry.  I don't end up cooking that broccoli, or that leftover pasta gets shoved to the back of the fridge and the leftovers go bad before they get found.  My new strategy is to first eat out of my pantry and freezers as much as possible over the next while, and then simply keep less food on hand.  What's the point of stocking up if I end up wasting more food?  My goal is to not waste food, and efficiently use what we do have.  I suspect in the long run too I'll end up saving more $$$.

[MiniMum]

I try to bulk buy dry goods  (nuts, beans, seeds, dried fruit, raw cocoa etc) and I just actually found a great e-shop that is having a 20% off everything birthday sale, and they had good prices to begin with. 

I try to be careful with perishable food so as to not waste. But I also want to have plenty of fruit and veggies on hand at any time.. But I'm okay with going to the store even every day, or every other day as it's just a short walk away and it's something to do with DD. She can push a tiny cart around and I put things there :)

Any fruit that is about to go bad can easily be made into a smoothie..

Regarding milk, she is happily drinking veggie milks and doesn't ask for cow's milk at all after the first day. 

[PoetryLover]

Originally Posted by MiniMum 

I try to bulk buy dry goods  (nuts, beans, seeds, dried fruit, raw cocoa etc) and I just actually found a great e-shop that is having a 20% off everything birthday sale, and they had good prices to begin with. 

I try to be careful with perishable food so as to not waste. But I also want to have plenty of fruit and veggies on hand at any time.. But I'm okay with going to the store even every day, or every other day as it's just a short walk away and it's something to do with DD. She can push a tiny cart around and I put things there :)

Any fruit that is about to go bad can easily be made into a smoothie..

Regarding milk, she is happily drinking veggie milks and doesn't ask for cow's milk at all after the first day. 

What shop is this? Thanks!