Watch amazing healthy-living documentaries, for free!
Hey peeps! I want to share the low-down on an awesome site I was turned on to by my buddy Glen Colello of Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe. It’s called Top Documentary Films. At Top Documentary Films you can watch amazing documentaries for free!! This amazing resource uses video content that has been shared through other media sharing websites such as Vimeo, YouTube and MegaVideo to bring you an incredible assortment of brilliant documentaries and also provides a place to discuss the documentaries you’re enjoying!! Browsing through their Health category I’ve found ‘Food Matters’, Micheal Moore’s ‘Sicko’, ‘Super Size Me’, ‘McLibel’, and many more! One that caught my eye recently is ‘Simply Raw : Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days’. This film is amazing! Incredibly inspirational and very entertaining to watch! Be sure to check it out and the many other awesome titles this resource has available! So cool to see this great information being spread to an even wider audience!
Much love and happy movie-goin’! ~ Rory :0)
Givin’ some more!
Hey my friends! I’ve been having such an awesome time giving out copies of my raw dessert recipe e-book, Sweet Support, this week! The feedback has been incredible!! I’ve received so many emails from people who’ve picked up a copy! Emails telling me how the e-book give away coincided with them just recently deciding to give raw living a go, having been re-inspired to get back into it, and people happy to have it as they are looking for healthier dessert options and gluten free treats. It’s been very awesome for me to hear from you all!! Happy to have shared the e-book with you and so happy to have heard your stories!
This has been such a fun and touching experience for me, that I want to do even more. My e-book, Gettin’ Raw, has been gettin’ awesome reviews and kudos from many peeps in the raw community and with each copy that goes out I often get emails back telling me how the book has made gettin’ into raw living so much more do-able, affordable and accessible. I’ve been told many times that $14 is an amazing price for a book that is 180 pages long, loaded with full color photos and tons of information and tips on comfortably transitioning to a raw diet. But, after this awesome experience of sharing Sweet Support, I wanna make Gettin’ Raw even more accessible. So for the next three days it’s going to be on sale for $10.00!! This sale ends on Monday at 12 am.
After the three days are up, I’ll be putting it back to its original price because its sales and the donations I receive allow me to keep spreading the raw goodness via this site, my recipe videos and the time I spend sharing tips, strategies, recipes and information through various routes online! Thank you all so much for your support , wonderful words of praise and for sharing your stories! Much love my friends and tasty raw eats ~ Rory :0)
Epic Raw Meal Time!
What up players and haters? Rawdawg Rory back up in this piece again. I’m a hardcore food geek, so even though I rock the raw thing, I still like to check out all the awesome food shows out there. I don’t discriminate, I love ‘em all. Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations”, Andrew Zimmern’s “Bizzare Eats”, Adam Richman’s “Man Vs Food” and Gordon Ramsey’s “Kitchen Nightmares”… I’m in! Then in my online rambling I stumbled on Epic Meal Time. For those who haven’t seen Epic Meal Time, you’re in for something. These dudes have basically done for cooking shows, what the Jackass crew has done for sports television. The show itself can be a bit offensive (especially for the vegan community), but none the less funny! Creating gigantore meals of foods questionable enough to make Paula Dean herself cringe with terror, the Epic Meal Time crew push the boundaries of just how much greasy, fatty, junkish food one can eat and live to talk about. The narration’s are ridiculous and watching the dude’s chow down on the finished masterpieces will either leave you nauseous or hungry, depending on your sensibilities. After enjoying a marathon of their videos, I thought I’d rock out my own version with a raw twist.
They say nobody doesn’t like Sarah Lee, but I know something else nobody doesn’t like more, a big a$$ banana ice cream cake, loaded with raw chocolate goodies! Get ready for Epic Raw Meal Time…
Peace out my friends! Hope you’ve enjoyed! :0)
Experimenting in the kitchen with friends!
Hey Everyone! Amanda, Isabel, Shadow and I spent last weekend In Medford, Oregon hangin’ with our new friend Josephine and her family. Josephine has been rockin’ the raw scene here in Medford for years now! With an ever growing group of individuals she has put together regular potlucks, recipe classes, and lectures with awesome info and amazing turnouts! Bringing the community together and sharing the raw love… awesome work is all I can say… very awesome work!
Speaking of work.. Josephine asked if I could make the cheesecake that I had made at Catch a Healthy Habit Cafe the day that Shazzie dropped by! You know me and goofin’ off in the kitchen… I’m in! So I got started right away!
Josephine and her husband Wayne have been rockin’ the rawness for a while now and grow loads of their own organic eats! Wayne took me for a tour of their intensively planted garden beds and we harvested swiss chard, collards, squash leaves and some lambs quarters and stinging nettles (to get that edible weed goodness going!). After gathering this awesome assortment of greenage we headed inside where Wayne blended up a tasty and powerful green smoothie! “That’s your superfood!” Wayne said as we enjoyed it. I couldn’t agree more!
Greens galore!
Strawberries growing in bags on the garden's fence.. no space left unused! I love it!
The weekend with them was awesome! Saturday I went hiking with Wayne and his friend Larry through some of Oregon’s gold mining historical sites! That evening we all sat at the table sharing stories and shooting the breeze about going raw, as Larry is gettin’ into it. He sampled the cheesecake and thought it could use a lil’ salt. So I tried a sprinkle of sea salt on my slice and it was a nice addition. Then Larry tried the cake with a drizzle of Indonesian Style Soy Sauce. I put a lil’ on a bite…it was interesting and tasty! Josephine tried it as well and we pondered a raw version of this sauce and cheesecake combo.
Sunday morning we got to playing in the kitchen! I whipped us a cacao/maca/mesquite/lucuma smoothie to to get us going. Josephine had looked through my book and wanted to try my Turkish Style Cauliflower Patties (recipe in Gettin’ Raw) with Creamy Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce, so we whipped up a batch together!
Cranking out some Turkish Style Cauliflower Patties!
Fresh and warm outta the dehydrator!
We were thinking of what to do for dessert and remembered last night’s experiment. Jose suggested we make a version of the Indonesian Soy Sauce with a lil’ cacao thrown in… for good measure! So we put together this awesome dessert topper ”Cacao Fig Vingarette Syrup”. The taste was freakin’ incredible! I’m always up for experimenting with wacky combos and this one took the cake… the cheesecake to be exact!
Cacao Fig Vinagerette Syrup... sooooo good!
Cacao Fig Vinegarette Syrup ~ An unlikely yet ridiculously tasty combo. I even used it as a salad dressing. It was so good we had to share the recipe!
Ingredients ~
4 Tablespoons melted coconut oil
3 Tablespoons cacao powder
3 Tablespoons agave (could substitute honey)
2 Tablespoons of Fig Vinegar (if this is hard to find I would try blending a couple of dried figs with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar as a substitute. It can be blended right into the mix in your blender!)
Splash of balsamic vinegar for a lil’ tang!
1/3 teaspoon of sea salt
Wisk thoroughly together in a bowl or blend in your blender! Serve slightly warm as it will harden when cold. This effect makes for an awesome topping for a chilled dessert such as that cheesecake…
Give this syrup a shot and lemme know what you think! Speaking of chocolate we’re going to be back at Josephine’s September 8th as she’s giving me use of her home and kitchen to hold my Raw Chocolate Workshop!
She has previously hosted Elaina Love and Carmella, so I’m psyched to be rocking it out at her place! As we head off to visit more friends in Oregon we look forward to hanging with Josephine and Wayne again, an awesome dynamic duo!
Mint Cacao Ice Cream…oh yeah baby!
Heya Peeps!! I’m always playing around with ways to get more minerals into my raw treats and after an experiment with Lydia’s Green Power (one of the awesome goodies donated to our trek by Natural Zing!) I created a Mint Cacao Ice Cream that is out of this world! I know some might be thinking “Green powder…in ice cream?” , but take it from a foodie, it’s delicious!
Minty Chocolaty Ice Cream... with Green Goodness!
You can make this in a high power blender such as a vita mix or with a standard issue blender and an ice cream maker. I’ll give you the procedures for both!
Here’s the ingredients ~
1/2 cup of water
1/4 cup of raw almond butter
1/4 cup of coconut oil (or coconut butter!)
1/4 cup of honey, date syrup or agave (whatever floats your boat!)
3 Tablespoons of Lydia’s Green Power (or any mild tasting green powder of your choice, wheatgrass or barely grass blends, you can even do spirulina or chlorella containing mixes, but you may want to up the mintiness a lil’ to cover it up!)
2-3 Tablespoons of cacao nibs or powder
4-9 mint leaves (depending on size or 1-2 drops of food grade essential oil of peppermint)
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla bean powder (or 1/2 teaspoon extract)
Pinch of sea salt
Place all these ingredients in a vita mix (or other high power blender with ice cream making capabilites) and blend until smooth and creamy. Now add about 3 cups of ice and, according to the blenders recomendations, blend again into a thick frozen goodness!
For a standard blender add all the ingredients plus 3 cups of ice water and blend until thoroughly smooth and creamy. Pour this chilly mix into your ice cream maker and prepare according to the manufacturer’s direction.
If you don’t have an ice cream maker, this blend would make awesome creamy popsicles!!
Have a minty fresh day! ~ Rory :0)
Kudos to all our awesome hosts!
Hey Peeps!! I’ve been MIA here online for a few days as we’ve had the opportunity to stay with a couple of friends here in Springfield, OR! Kim and Roy (who we got to meet at Tim Van Orden’s event) hosted us before, during and after my ”Gettin’ Raw the Fun Way” workshop (which was held at their place …they freakin’ rock!!). The workshop was a blast and some friends from Raw Food Rehab showed up as well!
Roy and I being goofballs as usual!
We all had a great time as we talked, goofed off and whipped up some tasty raw goodies together over those several days. Cashew based cheesecake and Cacao Mint based raw ice cream(with fresh mint from their garden!) were some of the faves! Shadow and I went running with Kim and Roy, Isabel made a new friend with a neighbor’s granddaughter, and Amanda got some much needed rest to recover from a bought with asthmatic bronchitis. Thankfully she’s feeling a bit better and will be hitting up the doc’s soon to get a new inhaler. Despite feeling under the weather Amanda had a great time talking, at a whisper, with Kim and friends until the wee hours! This was yet another one of the beautiful intermissions on our journey!
Creamy, Icy, Minty Goodness...Oh Yes!
We are blessed to have awesome peeps lending their time and opening up their homes to us and we love making these connections. I feel like our family is growing all the time! We hope to reconnect with everyone we’ve stayed with again and are often bummed to leave our new friends… so if you see us lookin’ a lil’ bit sad as we head off, it’s not dreading going back to the van life, it’s from wondering when we’ll catch you again. It fades gradually as we realize that we are making such awesome friends all across the country and hopefully, after we settle down after the trek, we’ll get a chance to have them over someday!
Isabel chillin' with some new feline friends
Much love everyone, and to all who’ve hosted us, we look forward to catching up with you again! ~ Rory :0)
We Like It Raw Rocks!
Hey my friends! If you dig raw and healthy foods, fun active lifestyles and havin’ a good time you gotta check out We Like It Raw. Organized by Dhrumil Purohit and Philip McCluskey, We Like It Raw is a community hub and blog that highlights peeps in our extended online community of health and life loving peeps and is also a blog featuring recipes, articles, inspiration and some awesome information!
Dhrumil Purohit is an amazing guy! He’s constantly working guiding people through the wholistic healthy living world and bringing people together in the community. He put together WLIR back in 2005 as a place to achieve these community building goals!
Goofing off with Phil and friends at Raw Spirit Festival East
Philip McCluskey is pretty darn incredible himself! He’s a healthy living motivator and raw food expert. Back in 06′ Philip was 400lbs and decided to take to raw foods, well he lost 215lbs and has become a shining example of what is possible when we take our lives in our own hands and enjoy the bounty of awesome raw eats that are available! Philip can be found online sharing the raw love all over the place and on his site Loving Raw! Be sure to check out his story and tell him Rory says Hi!
These two cool mamajamas and other contributors have created a great place to check out some peeps from all over the world who share common goals and interests, drool over some tasty recipes, and learn something new…so go check it out! While you’re there be sure to check out some of the fun articles I put together for the WLIR crew! Like ~
Gettin’ Ripped on P90X and Raw Foods (lot’s of info on how I got pumped up with raw eats and Tony Horton’s fun workout tutorial!)
Banana Ice Cream Split (fun, easy and tasty raw dessert recipe!)
Banana Ice Cream Split...Oh Yes!
My ‘My Way’ article which gives you a lil’ in depth look at some of my past adventures on our Live My Life NOW Trek ..including my bungee jumping experience!
Keep exploring and reaching out to the awesome community that surrounds us! Much love ~ Rory :0)
Chillin’ with Tim Van Orden!
Hey Peeps! This trek has been chock full of awesome synchronistic events and this was certainly one of them. Through the help of some friends we ended up making it just in time for an amazing presentation by Tim Van Orden!!
Me & Tim!
Tim Van Orden is an amazing guy, he got into raw foods about 5+1/2 years ago and with his Running Raw Project, he has made himself a human guinea pig for the performance enhancing effects of a raw foods diet, but his story goes waaaaay beyond that! Tim was battling with severe depression when he started out and found some serious relief through his new lifestyle which focuses on well being, not just diet, not just movement or excercise, but philosophy. A philosophy that I can totally relate to and that is choosing the moment you’re living in …and embracing it!! Accepting it as a gift and using it for all it’s worth!
His incredible talk touched on so many things, but one subject stuck out immediately to me. Tim talked about something that can easily get left out when people get their minds set on taking on a raw lifestyle: the importance of community and socialization. If we don’t take the time to connect with and relate to others and let the dogma of a raw diet (that many of us may stumble into from time to time) seperate us from friends, we may miss out on something that impacts our health greatly and that is embracing our fellow human beings!! It can be done, we can be raw and have friends, we can reach out to people and we can relate to people even in their lifestyle aproach isn’t our own.
Amanda and Kim Willard of Rawkin' Lane County!
One sure fire way to make it work is to lose the focus on food in our conversations! I’ve been there in the begining, so psyched about my raw lifestyle and it’s benefits that I bored a few friends to near death talking about it! We just have to focus on the reasons we love our friends and family and shoot the raw breeze with fellow fanatics! We all may notice that we chat about different things with different friends as we share some common interests with different peeps…so it’s easy to use that rule of thumb when it comes to our diet and lifestyle choices! I hear from a lot of people who feel alienated by their new interest in raw foods and I wanted to share it here because I believe that we can bridge these gaps, have our friends and eat our raw cake too!
After Tim’s talk we were about to head off when Kim Willard of Rawking Lane County offered for us to crash at her and her friend Roy’s place…where they were also hosting Tim for the the night! We headed off with them and had the most surreal night ever, talking, goofing off (especially Tim, he’s quite a character!), rebounding and whipping together raw pizzas at 2am!! We all prepared different portions that would make up the finished pizza’s so each lil’ raw pie was infused with a lil’ bit of love from everyone! Awesome idea Kim!! We chatted til waaay late before heading to bed and I gotta tell you surreal and wonderful are the only words I can find to describe it! It’s a night that I won’t forget and to be sure I wrote it down..right here!
Raw Pesto Pizza with marinated veggies and topped with lot's of love!
Keep rockin’ my friends, maintain those relationships, make new ones and trust me there are plenty of peeps out there that love talking about raw foods and the raw lifestyle so we don’t gotta torture our friends who may be wanting to chat about other stuff! Much love ~ Rory :0)
Don’t Forget to Add the Love!
All of us getting into healthier eating have probably heard the phrase “You are what you eat.” about a million times by now and it is an important thing to consider, but beyond all the nutrients, phytochemicals, minerals and macronutrients there is something that we should never leave out of our eats… love!
Think about it. Why are you going through the extra work of preparing your own food? Why are you looking for healthier options? Whether it’s for you or your family it all comes back to love! We make our health a priority because we care about ourselves anough to make sure we’re eating the good stuff and we do the same for our family… we can say it’s because a health guru said we should, but the real underlying reason is because we care! We want to enjoy life, feel good and realize our true potential! So we should contemplate that while we rock out our tasty healthy goodies!
When we focus on the loving reasons we prepare our eats we infuse that energy right into our food and I’m not just talking in some intangible new agey kinda way… I’m talking literally! I mean just check into emotions effects on water crystal formation! And we’ve all heard how plants respond to loving intentions! There’s some awesome info out there and it makes sense on so many levels to put that emotion and gratitude into the meals we create for ourselves and our family.
We all know that a sweater woven by us for someone who cares for us always feels warmer, produce grown by farmers who are passionate about their work always tastes best, and Mom and Grandma’s food always makes us feel good because it was made with love! We can create that same effect by pausing, taking a deep breath and remembering all the loving reasons we’re concocting our own foods. When we do that we enjoy the whole process so much more and we end up with a creation that contains that special ingredient!
Here’s a Vid I did for the Geeked Fu Challenge about adding that special ingredient!
Cheffin’ it up for friends on the trek!
Hangin' with our friend Misty from Raw Food Rehab! :0)
Hey Everyone! The Live My Life Now Trek is going awesomely! I’ve gotta say the awesomest thing about the trek so far is all the wonderful people we’ve been meeting along the way! We’ve met up with people from our vast online community from Raw-Fu to Raw Food Rehab and many Peeps who’ve found me through youtube! It’s been so amazing hanging out, getting to know them and their families and learning more about the areas they live in. There are so many things about a place you visit that you’d never know unless you talked to someone who lives there! We’ve been geocacheing with Misty and her family, we hit up the Saturday Market in Portland with Mallory and her family and I actually assembled the recipes and Amanda took the photos for Sweet Support in Mallory’s kitchen! We’ve played board games, hit up parks and went health food store hunting with so many fun people since the trek has begun!
The Infamously Delicious Horchata Cake (recipe in Sweet Support!)
One of the things that I really love to do when were staying with someone is to whip them up some awesome raw goodness! It’s such a joy for me to be able to do something nice for the amazing people that let us crash with them and take a break from the van! Many of our hosts will pick up some awesome ingredients and I whip us all up something good! So far on the trek I’ve rocked out raw ice creams, cinnamon rolls, cakes, cheezecake, cookies, pies, and savory dishes such as salad with hemp ranch dressing and full blown raw tacos with the works! I love concocting stuff in the kitchen and especially enjoy sharing my creations with friends and loved ones, so it is such a win, win, win situation!!
Random pretty flower from a trail in Oregon
If you host us along our adventures please don’t be shy to ask me to create some raw goodness, it’s a fun way for me to give back and I get to play in the kitchen! Much love everyone and keep an eye on our route to see when we might be near you.. and your kitchen! Dun dun dun! :0)
Let’s Get Playin’ In the Kitchen!
Remember when you were a kid and playing in the kitchen was a blast? Many of us had fake plastic foods and toy ovens. Sometimes Mom or Dad would have us help out when making a special treat and around the holidays? Time spent in the kitchen was fun and full of wonder… let’s keep that goin’!
If like me, you’ve decided to take charge of what you’re eating (whether we’re talking raw foods, whole foods or healthier cooked options) you may find yourself spending more time in the kitchen as you’re working with the raw ingredients to create dishes that are not only healthy, but freakin’ delicious! Now I’m a hardcore foodie and love goofing off in the kitchen, but I know that most people aren’t as fond of the kitchen as I am so let’s take a look at some ways we can make our time in the kitchen more enjoyable!
First thing we can do is to pimp out our lil’ culinary creation stations! Best way to start is to do some de-cluttering. I like to empty out the kitchen drawers, cabinets and closet so I can see what I got to work with! You may find you have ten of the same wooden spatula or enough pots and pans to cover five stove tops. In this case gather up your essentials and favorites and donate the rest to your local goodwill! My rule of thumb is if I haven’t used the item in the last five months…its fair game for giving away! Now we got some breathing room and we know where everything is so putting together our favorite recipes is going to be a lot easier and more fun!
Let’s bring in some things that really make the kitchen our own. Artwork and photos of things that inspire us, scenes of nature, colorful abstracts or breathtaking pictures of people doing things we’re working towards are great reminders of why we are so passionate about being healthy! I also like to have a centerpiece of beautiful produce that doesn’t require refrigeration and have fresh flowers around whenever possible! Set yourself up with a warm friendly atmosphere and you’ll find your kitchen a more inviting place to not only whip up tasty eats, but to chill in and enjoy them!
Owl City.. one of my fave bands to groove to in and out of the kitchen!
Another thing that can’t be overestimated is the power of music! Listening to music carries me through even the most tedious of kitchen tasks… like dishes! Whatever you love rock it out! I feel a boom box is an essential piece of kitchen equipment, but if your neighbors disapprove, an mp3 player loaded with your favorite stuff can be a great alternative! Speaking of mp3’s there are so many amazing educational podcasts and audio learning programs available out there that you can be learning more about healthy living, raw foods, meditation or even a new language all while goofing off making food! And in the name of really goofing off don’t forget comedy albums. George Carlin, Eddie Izzard and Tommy Tiernan are some of my favorite comedians. Nothing makes any job go faster than some good laughs!
Let’s all get rockin’ in our kitchens and take away that stigma of the kitchen being a place of work and start transforming them into our own lil’ creative culinary art studios and alchemical nutrition laboratories where we concoct delicious, artful and ridiculously healthy eats for ourselves and our loved ones!
Keep playin’ in your kitchen my friends! ~ Rory :0)
Our Awesome Inner-Potential!
Hey you awesome person you! Yeah I’m talking to you! Just thought I’d remind you that you rock! Sometimes we let that lil’ annoying internal critic (Haha If only it had the voice of Jay Sherman (Jon Lovitz’s cartoon alter-ego in “The Critic”) it’d be easier to blow off!) and those nagging doubts get the best of us. This especially happens when we start to push past the boundaries of our comfort zones as we change our diets, our lifestyles, or decide to live in a van for almost 2 years…ok that’s me talking. :0) Those internal voices start to pipe up and spook us back into the old familiar ways… that’s when we need to pause, breathe and inform them kindly, but firmly that we aren’t interested in what they’re selling!
All the health gurus, celebrities, professional athletes and other people we are often amazed by are people…like us! Heck some of them even started out in worse situations then we are in right now! As I write this and you read it, there are people with disabilities doing things we couldn’t possibly imagine doing, there are elderly people doing complex yogic moves and ordinary peeps pushing the boundaries of what is considered “humanly possible”! We have such amazing potential lurking within us it just needs us to realize it, get excited, have a lil’ faith and take those first steps in the direction we want to go!
While your inner annoyers are mulling over your stance (and trust me it may take them sometime to accept it so you may have to remind them from time to time!) you can also let them know that you’re also not going to be wasting any time beating yourself up when you stumble because you’d rather spend that time picking yourself back up! You got the potential, you have access to the most amazing information ever, and you can connect with thousands of like-minded people 24 hours a day online so go for it baby!! :0)
Keep rockin’ your awesome potential, because You can do iiiiiiiiittttttt!!! :0)
Check out the video I did on realizing your potential for the Geeked Fu Challenge ~
Heading to California and beyond!
Hey my friends!! If you’ve been followng our Trek across the United States so far then I have some news for you….
The Live My Life Now Trek is heading in a new direction! Rather than going through the upper middle portion of the country. we’re going to be heading south! Ths new course will take us through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Lousiana, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia before finally ending in Hampton Pennsylvania!
This is a rough estimate of our new route. A more specific route will be announced in a few days.
Our new route came about after a lot of thinking. One of our biggest motivations was that the adventure is so amazing that we want to keep it going (the new route will take approx. a year and four months!) and Isabel will get to see even more amazing parts of our country that she’s only read about! The new route will also allow us more chances to meet up with people to spread Amanda’s inspirational story and put together meet-ups, talks and raw recipe demos!! Another plus of this new route is that we will avoid extremes of weather (very helpful considering our interesting living situation!).
We are in the works of locating areas and meet up groups along the new route to share our adventures and some raw recipe demos and talks! If you are along our new route and would like to walk with Amanda, host a meet up, or talk with us or have us crash at your place and whip up some raw goodies, then hit us up! Looking forward to more oppurtunities to spread the inspiration of Amanda’s journey and some raw and healthy living info!
Wishing you the best and hope t0 see you long the way! :0)
Mallory’s Story, awesome inspiration and advice!
Hello everyone! Amanda, Isabel, Shadow and I had the awesome privilege to hang with a friend of ours from our extended online family, Mallory!
Meeting Mallory we felt as if we’d know each other for years. She is funny, smart and has a great way of looking at things! We had such an awesome time getting to know her, her family and pets. Even Shadow had some fun(ny) interactions with one of their cats, Hannibal. Their first meeting Hannibal was not
expecting to see a big black dog in his house upon returining from his daily stroll and made himself a new exit through (yes through!) the screen door! After finally realizing Shadow is prohibited from eating cats he went on the offense to make sure Shadow was truly in her place, by sneaking up and batting at her. It was too funny although Shadow looked a lil’ frustrated, ya can’t blame Hannibal for living out every cat’s fantasy!
Aside from being an all around awesome person to hang with, Mallory also has an amazing story to share, She has learned much about healthy living and after getting into raw foods she has lost 90 pounds so far, experienced many improvements in her overall well being and has gained the empowerment that comes from taking your health into your own hands, she also has some amazing advice to share! So go on and check out our video and you’ll also get to see Hannibal’s 15 minutes of fame!
My Big Jump!
Since we started the Live my Life NOW Trek, Amanda has been receiving emails and messages from people that’ve been inspired to do all sorts of things that they’d been putting off….now it’s my turn!
I’d been pondering things that I always wanted to do, and besides traveling abroad and building a strawbale house, one of the things on my pre-bucket list was to Bungee jump. Well we happened to stop at a hotel recently and notice that one of the best Bungee coordinators in the country is right here in Washington…coincidence or synchronicity…you be the judge! Either way I had to take this oppurtunity!
We headed over to Amboy, WA and walked up a beautiful trail to the bridge. When we got there several people were gearing up and prepping for their jumps. The view from the bridge was fantastic, and while watching a couple of people ahead of us take their turns I was getting amped up! Luckily Shadow was able to be there as a one of the spectators, because you should’ve seen her ”wtf head twists” as she watched the people go flying under the bridge and bouncing up and down before being reeled in! The other jumpers thought it was hysterical as we pondered what she was thinking of this craziness.
Shadow pondering human behavior and wondering if she should've worn her harness instead of the collar!
When it came time to go I got my harness checked, rechecked, and climbed over the railing onto the platform. Lookin’ down to the river below was breathtaking. I won’t give you some bravado macho crap…it was freakin’ scary…in a fun way of course, although you can clearly hear Isabel say “It sounds like a horror movie!” as I descended towards the river below at around 70 miles an hour. Better than any rollercoaster I’d ever experienced, and the repeat bounces after each jump were both jarring and amazing! As I was hanging around waiting for them to drop me the retrieval line the view was freakin’ awesome! If bungee’ing (probably not a real word, but I like the way it sounds!) is one of those things you’d been wanting to do, then ya should go ahead, look up a reputable group like these peeps in Amboy and get your jump on…cause it kicks a$$!
Gettin’ Geeked Up by being thankful! :0)
Hello lovely people! SO many people are always commenting on my ree-gosh~dang-diculously upbeat personality….I’ve heard it all before from…”Man, did you just win the lottery?” …or “What the heck have you been smokin’?” Well for the serious inquiries here’s one of the things that has me smiling very often…
Being thankful….seems like a simple enough thing…and often reserved for “Turkey Day”, but just contemplating all the lil’ things in my life that I’m grateful for totally shifts my perception right to where I want it…on the good stuff! This lil’ trick has been with me since waaaay back in pre-raw days and it always brings a smile to my face. No matter where I was at in life I could always find things to be thankful for…and the more I focused on them…the more grateful I became and it’s an awesome feeling! Not only does contemplating things you’re thankful for make you feel good, but if you’re thinking about people you’re thankful for then who knows…maybe you’ll reach out, let them know and pay the thankfulness forward!
As raw foodies nowadays we have a butt-ton of things to be thankful for! There are so many awesome free resources available online to get you started on the journey, loads of recipe demos, awesome raw communities, meet-up groups and an ever growing community of raw and raw-curious individuals! Suppliers of raw food staples and raw treats are abounding and the ever increasing demand is bringing the prices down! All the peeps with a new-found love of organic produce are supporting the sustainable farmers that are working to keep the world a beatiful place! Raw resteraunts, cafes and pre-packaged raw foods are popping up everywhere! And the stories of raw transformations are becoming more and more common! So if you’re gettin’ raw or just adding more raw eats to your diet….you have a lot of awesome things to be thankful for!
Have a grateful day! :0)
Raw Transitioning Tips!
Hello! I’ve been contemplating my beginings with raw foods and some of the awesome transitioning techniques and foods that made it an easy (and exploding-bowel-less) journey!
We’ve all heard detoxification horror stories….I won’t get into any of the graphic details…especially about the alien parasites that often burst from the buttocks of those attempting to clean up their diet. Haha! Just kidding on that last one….mostly. :0)
This was a concern of mine when I first heard about raw foods and it gave me a brief pause moment…as I didn’t like the idea of going through a brutal detoxification period where I’d be feeling lousy, dealing with headaches and making frequent bathroom runs. Especially not wanting to miss work or put off other responsibilities to deal with the consequences of hardcore cleansing. Luckily these thoughts only briefly paused me, but some people may be put off to the idea of raw living after hearing some tales of transitioning woes….that’s why I want to share some of the philosphy, strategy and foods that helped me ease comfortably into gettin’ raw!
Upon hearing of the effects of hardcore detoxing I thought….I think I’ll take the slow aproach and ease into raw eating. This worked out for me multifold!
1~ By starting off with a modest 50% goal I wasn’t pushing myself far out of my comfort zone and this allowed me to play around with raw foods and develop my own simple and tasty recipes, source local ingredients, and get into the groove of raw food prep, planning and whipping up stuff on the fly!
2~ I kept myself out of the cycle of the “all or nothing” effect where if you screw up…you have nothing to fall back on and no incentive to go forward. My aproach of easing into it and enjoying each positive step along the way has helped me towards many goals I’ve had in life and it lends itself particularly well to such things as a big dietary shift to eating an all raw diet!
3~ By easing into the raw foods lifestyle I allowed my body to gradually adjust to all the many changes that it would entail! And by changes I do mean good changes! Too many good changes all at once can be a bit jarring though …especially to the bowels for many people.. so I wanted to reduce that as much as possible…for social and convenience reasons as well as to be kind to my body.
It's an adventure...not a race!
I would say to someone aproaching the raw lifestyle that feels like they’re being pushed to go 100% off the bat that it isn’t a race…it’s an adventure! We are playing around with a whole “new” aproach to eating! Collectively as people we’ve been living off of mostly cooked or processed foods for who knows how long…and going over to eating foods in their more natural state is accessing nutrients, enzymes and properly structured food that is often lost in processing and the results can often be amazing! There is no need to rush it…especially if the rushing is causing stress and discomfort that can lead you to giving up the whole dream of the changes that you may experience!
So first of all if this aproach is doable for you….I encourage you to take your time! It worked very well for me and I had almost no detox side effects! A lil’ gas and an extra bathroom trip a day…and by trip I mean leisurely stroll…not knockin’ lil’ old ladies out of the way to get into the Women’s Room because the Men’s stall was taken! *LOL*
If you’ve gotten to know me by now…you’ll know I am waaaaaay to immature to pass up on all the potential bathroom humor! :0P
Much love everyone and more to come! I will be sharing more strategies in an upcoming post and many of these tips and more can also be found in my E-Book “Gettin’ Raw with Rawdawg Rory” :0)
Still kickin’ it in Seattle!
Hey my friends! We’re still in WA and we have been havin’ an awesome time on the Trek! We stopped off at a gorgeous dog park in Seattle and let Shadow work on her doggy social skills….which were surprisingly good for a dog whose had lil’ play time with other dogs from what the good people at SPCA told us. She got along pretty well with the other canines at the park and experienced playing in the water for the first time with Isabel who got a kick out of her attempt to catch splashes!
Yesterday evening our friends Dianne and Mike stopped by at our “place” parked in a Walmart parking lot! *lol* This trip really is a trip! We chatted and they hooked us up with some amazing corn ships and sprouted chick pea hummus! Perfect snacks for our in car movie night! We rented Imaxx’s “Under the Sea” for Isabel (who absolutely adores sea life and aspires to work with marine biology in the future!) and “The Lovely Bones” for us. We got comfy in our seats with pillows and blankets and watched our movies on our portable dvd players only to notice that some of the other parking lot peeps had the same idea! *lol*
Dianne's rawesome chips and hummus dip!
It was a great time..the simple pleasures of enjoying a flick together and wonderful snacks provided by a caring friend really brought us the comforts of home on our fun and often crazy Trek!
Amanda catches me sleeping in after stealing back the chair with the working reclining mechanism! :0)
Hope you’re having a wonderful day and night! :0)
The Trek has begun! :0)
Hey my friends! We’re in Seattle and the Live My Life NOW Trek has begun! The awesome peeps at Chaco Canyon Cafe hosted an awesome send off party for us and we got to hang out with many of our West Coast friends~ Aimee, Heidi, Dianne, Xine, Priss Pristofferson, and met some cool new peeps as well! Shadow even had a ball at the event, startling the occasional guest with the surprise cold dog nose on the elbow trick. After refueling on some rawesome eats (including a kick ass choco-maca hemp milk based shake) we felt quite refreshed from our speedy drive across the country!
We hung out with Aimee at her place for a couple nights, whipping up tasty raw eats and getting geared up for Amanda’s first day of walking. Xine stopped by with an awesome contribution to the Trek, a clamshell style roof storage unit (which has made life in the van a LOT less crowded!) we’re working out the bugs of doing this without our original travel trailer and it’s gettin’ better all the time!
While hangin’ with Aimee I whipped up my all time fave green soup combo, swiss chard and cilantro. This is my fave use for swiss chard as it’s natural saltiness works great in soups!
Many well wishes all~ Rory :0)
Rockin’ Geeked Fu!
Hey everyone! If you’ve been diggin’ my youtube videos and have an interest in enjoying more tasty raw foods and their awesome benefits, then I suggest you check out what I’ve been up to at Raw Fu….don’t know about Raw Fu?? Well Raw Fu is an awesome online community led by the wonderful Bunny Berry! The site is a great place to connect with others who are getting (or haven been) into eating more raw and living foods! Bunny guides the members of the site through challenges that range from 30 on up to 100 days. These challenges are aimed at various aspects of raw living and are designed so that anyone can get involved and benefit wether they want to go high raw or just get some more salads or green smoothies into their weekly diet. The atmosphere of the group is very welcoming and supportive and I’ve had an awesome time being a member of the community and being a part of Raw Fu’s Vlog Posse….but, now Bunny has asked me to take it to another level and lead a challenge!
This is an awesome oppurtunity for me to share my aproach to raw living and some of the philosophy that guided me through my raw transformation and that is…to focus on the funness of it all! Many of the influences and inspiration that lead me to wanna eat raw were all about how neat it is to actually enjoy eating healthy, what sort of things could I accomplish with the changes that could come from this change in diet?…what changes could happen? How can I make awesome dishes without cooking them? These thoughts amongst many others (which I will share through upcoming videos on the Fu!), are my own personal inspirations and aspirations that made transitioning to eating raw such a comfortable and fun adventure!
Taking this into consideration…the theme of my challenge is gettin’ geeked up…geeked up about raw foods, their benefits, about changes that may be possible, about benefits that many are having, and other fun things you can play around with that may improve your life and health…and heck..just gettin’ geeked up about LIFE! So since I get to name my challenge I’m calling it Geeked Fu! And how long is this challenge going to be going on for? Well I could’vwe said hey I’ll just knock out a quick 30day challenge (what with us all going on the road and what not) , but I couldn’t pass up the chance to rock it out with Geeked Fu for anything less than 100 days….so if you’re there…you’re stuck with me! The whole experience with Gettin’ Raw for me has been fun and exciting and I wanna spread that vibe to all my friends and all the new members of Raw Fu! If you’re not a member yet then get there and get Geeked Up!!
Here are some of the first weeks vids to catch you up …….
Live My Life NOW Trek!
Hey everyone! This summer is going to freakin’ rock! Starting May 15th Amanda, Isabel and I will be travelin’ across the United Sates……and Amanda’s gonna be walking!!
Amanda has always wanted to be active and travel across the US, but she felt that she had to lose weight to prepare for such a mission…this led to her being discouraged and feeling like “What’s the point?” …until she realized that she doesn’t wanna wait anymore and is gonna live her life NOW! She’s not only going to prove something to herself…she’s hoping to show you that you can do it as well! Get up and live your life NOW!
Along the way we’re gonna be hitting up various venues (details to come!) sharing the story and ya know I’m gonna be doing some raw food demos and some talks!
We will be departing from Seattle, WA and ending the trek in Hampton, PA. The journey will take us through Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania; and we wanna meet you along the way! If you’d like to walk with Amanda for part of her mission as we pass through your town and to find out where we’re gonna be doing demos and talks check out www.livemylifenowtrek.com.
Also, just released today, we will be having a send off party at Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe in Seattle, WA on May 13th from 7pm-9pm. It’s free at the door, but we will be accepting donations for the trip. For more info on what you can donate go here.
Have a freakin’ awesome day~ Rory :0)
Sedona freakin’ rocks!
Barbara, Amanda and myself not only hit up the Raw Spirit Festival in AZ but, we had heard so much cool stuff about Sedona that we couldn’t leave without seeing it. We only had a single day to check it out, so we made the most of it!
Montezuma's Castle
The first place we checked out was Montezuma’s Castle. There we not only got to see and be in the presence of an amazing remnant of civilizations of the past but, we also met some of its present inhabitants. Like this cute lil’ mamajama.
Here lizard, lizard, lizard...
I also got to meet the Mesquite tree. This majestic beauty is responsible for that wonderful drool inspiring BBQ smell , but more importantly (to me) it also produces a fruit that resembles a pea pod. This mesquite pod was ground into a meal by native peoples and was a staple of their diet. Now mesquite meal is a popular addition to many raw desserts and smoothies for it’s tasty caramel’ish flavor!
Me and the Mesquite Tree :0)
Next we headed out in search of vortexes at Bell Rock. For those who haven’t heard of the vortex phenomenon what it is, is basically spirals of energy emanating from the earth at various areas around the gorgeous ginormous red rock formations in Sedona. These spirals of energy have been known to cause interesting reactions when people are exposed to them and tree’s growing nearby even begin to take on a twisted form, seemingly growing with the flow! On our trek up to Bell Rock our friend Barbara experienced some funky vibes from the area and I definitely got chills when walking through the same path she had been on. But, what was even cooler than vortex hunting was the amazing view that surrounds you at Bell Rock. It literally looks like you’re walking on Mars with the red rocks and silt beneath your feet and the plant life is something else!
Chillin' with the infamous agave :0)
The agave plant (besides being one tasty vegan sweetener for raw desserts) has one ridiculously huge flower stalk when it decides it’s time to go to seed. The flower stalks are so massive and solid that they can be used as a walking staff! Check out this one …
This lil' agave plant had a flower stalk at least 14 feet tall!
Bell Rock was amazing but, as much as we wanted to hang out their all day and lift up all the rocks in search of critters (well ok that’s what I was up to!) We needed to get moving. Just then it seemed my search for desert critters finally paid off…sort of. I lifted a large rock and saw what I thought to be a small scorpion clinging to the underside of the rock …well I was half right. It was actually the exoskeletal shed shell of a scorpion left behind from a presumably now larger scorpion. Oh well still a neat find!
Wonder where the lil' guy that left this behind went...
The doorway to rawesomeness...
Nori Nachos with Southwestern style salsa! *Oh yes!*
Thai Spring Rolls! The wrapper was made from young thai coconut meat blended with spices :0)
The Collosal Platter of Falafel, My kinda dish! :0)
The Sea Star Cilantro Salad. Loaded with nutrients and flavor, perfect combo!
One of the masterminds behind those raw masterpieces at Chocola Tree, Chef Illip :0)
Our last stop in Sedona was an amazing view of the sunset over the city a great way to end a great trip!
To all you lucky mama-jamas livin’ in or near Sedona…rock on! Peace and love everyone :0)
Raw Spirit Fest AZ! :0D
Amanda, myself and our friend Barbara just got back in from our trip to AZ this past Tuesday night (around 12am) and we finally settled in after an awesome adventure! So much neat stuff to share that there’s gonna be a sequel to this post! Here’s my scoop on our Spirit Fest AZ experience. :0)
We rolled into beautiful Watson Park at around 8am and we were met with many smiling faces (you could tell already it was gonna be a good time). Our first thing to check out was my man AJ’s Chef Demo of his “Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake”. Yep, Raw Vegan Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake, you gotta expect something unique and delicious from my chocolate alchemist friend! Where else, but in the world of raw foods, can you start your day off with something like that and not feel guilty about it??
AJ Wentworth un-cookin' up some awesome cheesecake!
Immediately following AJ’s presentation was Chef Nadhirrah with a demo of Raw Food Storage. This was particularly fun for me because I’d always had a passion for living sustainably and living off your own homegrown eats, but after goin’ raw, canning foods went out the window. Nadhirrah shared not only different raw-friendly food storage techniques, but also some delicious recipes that can be made from these saved garden goods such as a Corn Salad, Taco Soup and a delicious dessert she calls Blond Ambition made with sesame seeds, tahini, almond butter and honey! She’s got a cool raw story and books at her website summerbear.org Really awesome info, not only great for preserving your own garden harvest, but a great way to stock up different fruits and veggies while they’re in season (or on sale!).
The gang from Turtle Lake Refuge doin' some bicycle powered blendin'! www.turtlelakerefuge.org
After filling up on tasty samples from the recipe demos we took a stroll around the vendors and exhibitors area to see what fun stuff we could find ..and we found a lot! Food Not Bombs is a great organization who’s mission is to salvage usable food that would otherwise go to waste and redirect it to people in need. They we’re there spreading the word and sharing free plums by the handful, Rock on! Many of the vendors were givin’ out loads of free samples, from raw organic walnuts to Vitamineral Green on tap! I musta looked like a St. Patrick’s Day partier because I constantly had a cup of some green concoction in hand as Amanda, Barbara and I strolled about the event. Among the neat stuff being offered we’re eco-friendly re-usable bamboo cutlery (which Amanda couldn’t resist getting us each a set of), beautiful and whimsical artwork, handcrafted clothes, and even locally grown mesquite meal. Mesquite meal (often found in the raw world in the form of Peruvian Mesquite powder) is the pulverized fruit pod of the famous BBQ flavoring tree (the bark is for the BBQ the powdered fruit for freakin’ delicious raw desserts!). This stuff lends a caramel-like taste to smoothies and raw desserts and packs quite a bit of healthy goodness as well! It was really neat to be able to pick some up direct from the grower(the Arizona Mesquite Company)!
Check out this outrageous deep sea fish lamp created by David El Romo! www.davidelromo.com
Back at the demo chef area (I mean c’mon where else are ya gonna find me? I know where the goodies are.) I caught Elaina Love‘s awesome demo of her Super Ninja Roll (gotta love that name!) which is a big ‘ol nori wrapped sammich of a sushi roll filled with fresh veggies and a nut and seed based pate with a spicy mustard sauce (*droool*). Elaina not only rocked out this dish, but also a salad dressing and her chocolate/maca bliss balls! Great stuff!
Elaina Love took a moment from running her awesome food stand to snap a photo with me :0)
As if the recipes couldn’t get more fun and tasty, our friends’ Chrissy and Joel whipped up one of the most ridiculously good raw renditions of a cooked comfort food I’ve ever tasted. Their creation “Fiesta Mac” was so close in flavor to mac and cheese that my taste buds did a double take! Amazing stuff! The recipe for this wonderful concoction can be found in their ebook “Regenerative Eating”, along with many other cool recipes! Amanda and I had the pleasure of being introduced to Chrissy and Joel at the Spirit Fest in DC by Jody Allen and it was great getting a chance to hang with them again, super nice couple with a really intelligent and wholistic approach to health. We’re gearing up to make some of their freakin’ awesome Fiesta Mac this week!
Ram's dishing out some great information and some tasty poha!
The coolness kept coming as later in the evening we got to hear a talk about the Indian approach to Raw Foodism from Ramalingham Govindaraj. He asserts that he is not a health or nutrition professional, but despite his modesty this man’s knowledge of raw food nutrition and the chemical composition of foods and their correlation to good health on a raw diet was immense! He shared a wealth of info and an amazing recipe demo of a sweet poha(poha is rice that has been heated to about 140 degrees F and squished flat). The poha, which comes bagged and can be found in Indian grocery stores, is soaked in water to soften and was then mixed with freshly grated coconut (oh yes!) and was sweetened with Jaggery(a healthier alternative to refined sugar, also available in Indian grocers). This concoction, although it wouldn’t pass raw purists approval, was amazingly tasty and satisfying! The following day Ram did another food demo where he made a spicy poha, again using the squished rice, but to this adding fresh squeezed oj, diced green onions and green chilis, a lil’ salt and loads of freshly grated coconut. So freakin’ tasty! Definetly check out ramsankar.com for a wealth of great info on the raw food diet, recipes and other topics such as yoga and meditation!
This lil' hand cranked coconut grinder is a common tool for raw foodies in India and is definetly on my Christmas list!
Sunday, we were kinda racing about to get everything ready for my recipe demo, but we did have some more time to meander about the festival that morning and listen to some amazing info from Brian Clement and a panel of health gurus. After which Amanda got a chance to meet Brian, who really is a great example of what healthy eating and raw foods can do for you! At 61 he looks like a healthy person in their early forties. We were lookin’ at the pic of Brian and Amanda (who’s only in her late twenties) and they looked they could be a couple! *lol* I better watch out! :0)
Brian Clement and Amanda....should I be worried? :0)
Demo'ing my BBQ Portabella Burger and havin' fun with the crowd! :0D
I cranked out my BBQ Portobello Burger for the crowd (and a couple of hungry dogs who didn’t appreciate the sweet music of the vita-mix). I love sharing my recipes and info and had a great time talking with the crowd and answering questions. Then I turned the stage over to Laurel Anderson . Laurel Anderson has been rockin’ the raw scene on the west coast and her raw chili has even won out in a chili cook-off! Now if that doesn’t say somethin’ about her culinary skills I don’t know what could! She whipped up a chocolate cream pie filling that was so freakin’ good I had to later seek out her restaurant’s booth at the event and pick up a piece for Amanda and myself!
Big Daddy tossing together some delicious fruit salad! :0)
Later that evening we watched a fruit salad recipe demo from Dr Bernardo Lapallo. Dr. Bernado “Big Daddy” Lappalo is a living testament of the power of healthy living . At 108 he’s articulate, funny and vibrant! Amanda, Barbara and myself were inspired and touched to hear him rockin’ out his presentation and telling it like it is! Check out his Book “Age less/Live more: Achieving Health and Vitality at Age 107 and Beyond” to learn more about his tips and techniques on ideal health!
I even ran into my friend Revvell Revati of Rawkin Raw Radio and Lets Talk Raw! I've done a couple talks with her on www.letstalkraw.com and it's always a blast! :0D
There were many more presentations, some of which I didn’t get a chance to check out! But I had a blast and it was great meeting up with some friends from the West Side! Peace, love and rawness everyone! And rock on Raw Spirit Crew!! :0D
