I’m shaking. I’ve just forked over a fair chunk of money to some guy on the phone. He was a nice guy though. He works for Raw Nutrition in Quebec, a hop and a skip away from me. I love that I was able to buy "local" (local being within the country, not necessarily the same city/region). I shopped around and found that the best deal for me was to get my items all from the same place. With free shipping and three free extras thrown in (bonus!!), I’m happy. Happy but poor and so hoping I don’t wake up tomorrow with buyer’s remorse.

So what did I buy? A refurbished Vita-Mix Super 5200, a 5-tray Excalibur dehydrator, and a Spirooli fruit/vegetable spiralizer. I do not currently eat 100% raw nor is that my goal. Obviously I do eat foods in their raw form but only the "usual" ones. I do want to branch out though and start eating a few raw meals a week as well as more "natural" foods. I don’t buy very many packaged or processed foods; our consumption is pretty healthy due to the changes I made in B’s diet a year or so ago but I’d like to make a few more changes. Changes like making the following at home: crackers (both dehydrated ones and baked), flours (including bean, nut, rice, and millet), nut milks and butters, and fruit and vegetable "chips". Some of these things I could technically make now but these new additions to the kitchen will make it so much easier and therefore, hopefully, a very regular occurrence. Gena over at Choosing Raw posted about making an interesting "bread" with a dehydrator that was gifted to her (lucky girl!) and I can’t wait to try it out. I already have a juicer (not a top-of-the-line model but it works pretty well) and an awesome Bravetti food processor with blender jar that I love (and both the bowl and jar are thick glass, which is what sold me on it) as well as a cheap Nesco round dehydrator. I will either sell or Freecycle my Nesco to make room for the Excalibur. Just this week I gave away my microwave (I know! Extreme!) and I’m looking forward to living without it. I didn’t use it all that much except and am really liking the extra counter space I now have.

There is so much inspiration and encouragement to be found online that’s it’s hard to know where to start. Green Smoothie Girl is an amazing site (and check our her blog too). Choosing Raw is a wealth of knowledge even if you don’t eat raw. Blaq Berry over at Hi-Rawkus is also very informative and has a great basics page here and a wonderful "getting started" page here. Ariane over at Neat & Simple Living has a good summary post on the joys, benefits, and simplicity of the Vita-Mix. There are several models available; I chose the Super 5200, which has the improved lid (easier to use than the previous ones) and the extra "dry" jar for making flour, etc.

Raw Nutrition was a terrific place to buy from. Granted, all I’ve done is place a phone order at this point but the customer service was incredibly pleasant, helpful, and knowledgeable. They also threw in three free ParaFlexx™ sheets for the Excalibur since I was buying a Vita-Mix as well. The Excalibur comes with two sheets and I had three extras in my cart as well but they included them free of charge, a $29.97 value. Shipping was also free so all I pay is the cost of the items and GST (no provincial sales taxes charged for most provinces). Buying "local" also means no brokerage or customs/duty fees, which as anyone ordering from the States into Canada knows, is often a huge chunk of change (as is shipping itself) relative to the cost of the item being shipped.

Now I’m watching my mailbox. It should be here next week. Eeeek!