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)
Coconut Mocha Shake!
Hello my peeps! I was hittin’ up a local grocery store with a built-in Starbucks and saw they got a new Coconut Mocha frappuccino and thought, “Anything you can do, I can do better.”. Haha! Seriously though, next time you tackle your own healthy-fied version of a tasty (but crappy) food or drink, go for it with that enthusiasm and confidence! I headed home, whipped this up and have done so several times since!
Coconut Mocha Shake ~
1 Cup of ice
1/2 of a frozen banana, in pieces (optional, but makes a great emulsifier, bringing everything together smoothly!)
1/2 Cup of water
2 Tablespoons coconut butter (check out this post for the low down on making your own homemade coconut butter!)
1 Tablespoon of raw honey, date syrup or your sweetener of choice
3/4 Tablespoon of cacao powder
Small pinch of sea salt
Blend everything, but the ice and banana, until thoroughly combined. Toss in the frozen goodies and blend again until smooth. Pour in your fave glass and sprinkle with shredded coconut for bonus points!
Happy Blending and recipe concocting my friends ~ Rory :0)
Get your Protein on!
What’s up my friends? One of the most ubiquitous questions I receive about the raw diet is “Where do you get your protein?”. I know a lot of vegans and vegetarians get tired of that question, but it is a major concern for people who are switching over to a plant based diet. So let’s take a look at the top ranking plant based protein sources and how you can work them into your daily menu!
Greens! You’ve probably heard the analogy of rhinos, horses and bulls being big muscle-bound beasts and getting all their protein from plants, well those plants are the green ones. Having very few calories compared to grams of protein puts greens at the top of the list! Kale, romaine lettuce, collards and spinach to name a few pack a punch of protein with lil’ other calories. How much protein?
According to Nutrition Data, one cup of chopped raw kale contains 2 grams of protein and a mere 33 calories. In “Becoming Raw” by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Malina, one cup of kale juice is listed as having 7 grams of protein! So by picking your food prep technique, you can get the most protein out of your eats! Bangin’ stuff! I love kale juiced with grapefruit, full of cleansing chlorophyll, alkalyzing minerals and protein, it makes an awesome post workout drink!
One cup of raw Spinach contains 7 cals and 1 gram of protein, Romaine lettuce sports 8 calories and 1 gram of protein and Collards contain 11 cals and 1 g of protein. Doesn’t sound like much protein compared to volume. But, when you consider how much of these greens easily work their way into your raw menu in the form of green smoothies, juices, salads and marinated massaged side dishes, you’d be surprised! When Amanda and I bang out an eight cup Vita Mix Carafe of green smoothie we’ll use 7 or more cups of loose packed greens! Salad always finds its way into either lunch or dinner and the occasional green juice is a quick and easy way to supplement this.
Seeds. These lil’ champion sources of proteins, pack a lot of protein and essential fatty acids! Sunflower, hemp, chia, pumpkin and sesame seeds are good sources that are tasty and easy additions to your diet! Let’s check their amounts (per cup again). Sunflower seeds have 816 calories and 33 grams of protein, Hemp has about 59 grams of protein and 928 cals, Chia 784 cals and 25 g’s of protein, Pumpkin Seeds are packin’ 747 cals and 34 grams of protein and Sesame Seeds are rockin’ with 888 cals and 30 grams of protein. NIce! Seeds can be used many ways in your daily raw menu. I like to add them to my nut mylk blends, to add more protein and enhance the amino acid profile, as a creamy base for salad dressings, as snacks, as a creamy parfait base, for dips and as seasoned and dehydrated snacks! Sooo many uses for these protein packed lil’ guys!
Nuts. Most people associate nuts as a high protein source, but they’re actually a richer source of good raw fats than they are of protein. This isn’t a bad thing, but for those that are looking to limit the fats they consume, you may wanna go easy on them and opt for seeds when possible. During my raw transformation I chowed on tons of almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts and cashews in various culinary creations and still lost a bunch of weight, but this doesn’t work for everyone. Some like my wife Amanda, feel bloated after consuming too many. This can be a result of the fats not meshing with your individual metabolism or irritation from their fiber, either way I hear this a lot from my friends in the raw community. So if you have similar issues, try going the seed, coconut and avocado route! Check out the most common nuts’es protein scores, per cup. Almonds tout 850 calories and 29 grams of protein, Brazils boast 965 cals and 21 g’s of protein, English walnuts 785 cals and 18 g’s of protein and Cashews have 736 calories and 24 grams of protein. Nuts are awesome in the form of nut butters to dip fruit in or spread on celery stalks, soaked and dehydrated for trail mixes, raw energy bars, pate’s and as snacks all on their own!
Veggies, root vegetables, herbs and fruits also contain a good amount of protein and can easily be worked into your daily diet. I chose the top three categories above, based on their amount of protein per calorie. If you wanna know even more about the amount of proteins are in the foods you eat, then hit up NutrtionData. There you can check out the nutritional values of all your favorite eats! Also stay tuned to rawdawgrory.com, because I’m going to be delving more into the topic of protein! In upcoming posts you’ll learn about complete sources of protein, the best raw vegan protein products and how to make a bangin’ protein shake that goes beyond just protein!
Rock on my friends ~ Rory :0)
Food Matters!
Hey Peeps! Another awesome documentary is available at NetFlix Instant Play, Food Matters! If you haven’t got a chance to check this film out yet, you gotta get on it!
Food Matter’s is one of my absolutely essential favorite documentaries. Words of wisdom throughout from Charlotte Gerson, David Wolfe, Dr. Andrew Saul and many others! My fave bits are with Dr. Andrew Saul sharing stories of patients experiencing miraculous benefits from simply correcting nutrient deficiencies! David Wolfe pimps the benefits of raw and super foods and Charlotte Gerson shares how organic food, proper nutrition and working the bodies own healing power can bring astounding results! This brilliant group share their perspectives on the deleterious effects of a poor diet, but moreover the astonishing power of nutrition. Often food is underrated as cause and effect of good or bad health, but in this film, food is given its due credit! Awesome accounts of healing stories and a look into the many multiple benefits of healthy eats, Food Matter’s will leave you both inspired and empowered! I highly recommend this film to anyone, no matter where you’re at in your health journey you’ll find something awesome here! Like the title says, Food Matters!
Have an amazing day! ~ Rory :0)
Coconut buttah!
Hello my friends in search of awesome edibles! I’ve got a quick lil’ post here for you on one of my fave raw edibles, coconut butter. Pronounce it how ya like, this stuff is awesome! Coconuts in general are loaded with antimicrobial and antifungal properties in their saturated fatty acids, they have a good amount of lauric acids that help to raise our HDL (good cholesterol levels) and when combined with other raw goodies they can increase the absorbability and usefulness of their fat soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids! The medium chain fatty acids in coconut are also believed to be beneficial to the thyroid and encourage proper metabolism. On top of all this healthy goodness, coconut tastes awesome! My coconutty weapon of choice is coconut buttah! Er. Coconut Butter. Coconut butter is the ground flesh of the coconut with the oil intact. This creamy goodness is an incredible add in for smoothies, as a thickener in raw frosting, and makes a tasty dip for fruit when warmed to dip’able consistency.
Coconut butter is such awesome stuff that I thought I’d give making it at home a shot! Now this is one recipe I’m sharing that you absolutely need a high powder blender for. There are also juicers out there that may be able to create this as well with their homogenizing function. All you need is some good quality dehydrated shredded coconut or coconut flakes (preferably organic and unsweetened for optimum healthy goodness). I simply ground about 6 cups of coconut flakes in my Vita Mix, using the tamper to keep everything in contact with the blades and ground it for about 2 minutes. Voila! Coconut butter!
Now different sources of shredded coconut may have less oil content, so if your blend looks like it needs a lil’ moisture, you can solve that by adding a lil’ coconut oil. If you don’t have a high power blender, there are many good sources of coconut butter out there. My current fave is Artisana’s, great stuff! Well worth the cost as a lil’ goes a long way in smoothies! A 16oz jar usually lasts a month in our house with multiple daily uses!
Happy experimenting! ~ Rory :0)
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead
Hey Peeps! I got a quick review of an incredible documentary! Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead is the story of two average guys, who have very similar issues. Obesity and a chronic immune system condition, that causes excessive histamine reactions that lead to terrible rashes. Joe Cross realizes that his current food choices are leading him to where he doesn’t want to be and decides to take on a sixty day juice feast. What better place for our Australian buddy Joe to do it, but on a road trip across the fast food, comfort food and junk food loaded states, cities and towns of the US! Joe likes to face his demons head on! Haha! On the course of his adventure he shares his situation and decision with the numerous people he meets. In a very down to earth and non-judgemental way he talks to the average American about health, weight issues and food choices. Then Joe runs into a fellow with issues strikingly resembling his own and offers to help him! Phil Staples is a hard working truck driver and dealing with major health issues, with Joe’s gentle encouragement and support, Phil decides to hop on the juice-wagon as well! I’ll shut up now, as I don’t wanna give away the whole flick. Suffice to say, it is absolutely incredible and inspirational, no matter where you’re at in your health journey, you will love it!
We we’re actually able to watch the documentary on NetFlix Instant Play and loved it so much that we plan on purchasing a copy!
Enjoy my friends! Many well wishes in your healthy living missions ~ Rory :0)
My “chunky style” days
Hello Peeps! Amanda and I recently received a package of photos from her Mom and Amanda was shocked to see some of my photos from back in my early twenties. Why? Because back then I wasn’t just 262 lbs as I was when I began my raw journey… I was about 298 lbs! What a trip it’s been! It made me wonder what I would’ve done if I stumbled upon all the stuff I know now, back then? Would I have dove in head first, 100% raw? Probably not. I would’ve taken the same transition time I did this time around. But, I still would’ve gotten there years ago! I was well overweight throughout my teens, suffering with sinus issues from food allergies and having a bunch of issues with my teeth from soda consumption. I’ve contemplated this before and it’s inspiring me to want to share what I’ve learned with a younger audience. If I had seen examples of people dealing with what I did and turning it around, it would’ve been a big motivator for me. I got a computer back when I was 17 and used it for checking out articles on organic gardening, farming and sustainable living, in between games of Duke Nukem.
Now the internet is booming with raw info, inspirational stories, tons of simple recipe videos and interviews with peeps who’ve radically changed their lives, by making simple changes in their personal menu! Adding in good stuff lil’ by lil’ as the bad stuff eases its way out, is a great way for young peeps(and people of all ages!) to get started. I wanna encourage you to share this info with a young audience. Websites and transformation stories that inspire you and simple healthy recipes. Kid’s rock, and if given positive choices presented in a positive way, they’ll likely give it a shot and at least be aware that change is possible and the journey to where they want to be doesn’t have to suck! It can be as easy as goofing off in the kitchen and enjoying some tasty healthy eats!
Rock on my friends! Keep sharing the love and spreading the raw goodness! :0)
Finishing up a bangin’ smoothie feast!
Hey Peeps! This past week I’ve been rocking out a smoothie feast with Amanda. I am a smoothie fiend so a “fast” like this is right up my alley! Why a smoothie feast? Well besides being delicious, full of amazing nutrients (from the amazing ingredients you choose to use!) and filling, smoothies are super easy to digest! So while you’re enjoying a tasty blended meal, your body get’s to take a break from breaking down food! This allows it more energy to do all sorts of stuff, like fine tuning itself and leaves you with more energy to do the stuff you’re into! I’ve been exercising more this week, rockin’ out some writing work and feeling even more geeked up than usual (scary thought, I know!). Rocking smoothies for a fast can be very cleansing as well! All the lovely fiber in your blends keeps you feeling satisfied, buffers the absorption of the sugars(fruit sugars, raw honey etc) in your blends and it does an awesome job of house cleaning! Each of the fibers in your blended concoctions(from the fruits, greens, nuts and seeds) act as lil’ magnetically charged brooms. They travel through you snatching up toxins as they go and dragging them out the backdoor, for lack of a gentler way of putting it. This is perfect as your body will be using some of it’s energy surplus to cleanse and, by rocking fiber’iffic smoothies, you’ll have given it a surplus of cleaning supplies to finish the job with!
We’ve been indulging in breakfast blends of berries, bananas, almond mylk, coconut butter and hemp seeds. These are awesome for those looking for a creamy morning shake and the good fats in the almond mylk and coconut oil increase the availability of the phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals in the fruits! Also the coconut oils works synergistically with the omega 3 fatty acids in the hemp seeds to make them more usable for our body as well! For lunch we either crank out another fruit blend or a savory raw soup deal! One of our faves was a creamy red pepper tomato soup with an almond mylk base! So good! Dinner’s have been over a quart of green smoothie each, consisting of mixed greens and various fresh and frozen fruits with an h2o base. Dessert (Oh yes. Dessert!) has either been a cacao smoothie with an almond mylk base, frozen bananas, hemp seeds, coconut butter and raw honey or a chocolate frozen banana ice cream! This is amazing and super simple using the same ingredients to flavor straight up frozen banana chunks, creates a soft serve experience that’s tasty and healthy! Check out my Banana Ice Cream video (below) for the basics!
If you’re thinking of rockin’ a fast/feast for the first time I’d highly recommend looking into going the smoothie route first. My strategy to approaching raw living was to take the steady and comfortable route and it worked very well for me. I went the route I did to allow myself learning time, time to develop new habits, create recipes I loved, ease into the detoxification process and most of all to keep it fun! It’s easy to enjoy taking on the raw lifestyle when you do it at your pace! For some, going “all-or-nothing” works best, but for myself I knew how I like to roll and I wanted to avoid rapid detoxification issues (and high-speed sprints to the restroom!). So if my approach to raw sounds like your kind of route, then smoothie feasting may be your first choice when considering a feast! Easy, satisfying, nutritious, fiber’iffic and gentle in the detoxing department, smoothies are a pretty sweet way to go!
Happy Blendin’ my friends ~ Rory :0)
The Fizzy Bubbly Goodness!
Hey people! Recently my buddy Lucy hooked me up with some water kefir grains. What are those? Well, water kefir is essentially, the culinary equivalent of Sea Monkeys(oh yes!)…
Kefir grains awaiting a fresh sugar water bath.
Water kefir (aka Tibicos) is a symbiotic culture of various yeasts and bacteria. The community of beneficial creatures produce a polysaccharide matrix to live in. This matrix is referred to as a kefir grain. You can score kefir grains from friends that brew it or various online sources. Why may ya wanna score some kefir? Well these beneficial organisms produce an amazing probiotic rich beverage that boasts a butt-ton of health benefits! Let’s knock through a few of them ~
Improved digestion. Water kefir is loaded with friendly bacteria and yeast. These lil’ guys add to our digestive systems army of good microorganisms. The more the merrier as they do much of our digestive work (in fact we couldn’t properly digest our food without them). This added crew can help us get more nutrition out of our food and may help maintain a proper metabolism. Win, win, and win some more!
Reduce harmful organisms in our body. When we add more and more good organisms to our system, there is less and less room for the not so good ones! Kefir’s cultures may outcompete harmful bacteria and yeast when it comes to colonizing our digestive system. This could be a serious bonus for those dealing with candida issues.
Mood improvement. Tibicos also produce an assortment of b vitamins and amino acids, reportedly including Tryptophan. Tryptophan is essential amino acid that our body uses to create serotonin, our bodies’ primary nuerotransmitter. The more serotonin, the better our overall mood and ability to deal with stress. The b vitamins are also crucial in proper brain functioning and stavign off depression! Very good stuff!
The list of health benefits goes on and on! Do some web crawling and you’ll find LOT’S of varying info on the healing, health giving and curative powers of water kefir (aka Tibicos ) So go check it out and delve deeper! Now I’m gonna let ya know how I’ve been rockin’ the kefir…
I’m no newbie to home brewing probiotic beverages(been brewing kombucha for years now), but I was unprepared for how… freakin’ easy water kefir is! There are many recipes and methods out there, but I’ll give you the recipe and timing that’s been working for me. And it’s been working very well!
First you’re going to need ~
*A large mason jar or other large glass canister. I’ve been using a gallon size jar that I picked up at Target.
*A square of breathable fabric large enough to cover the jars opening. It could be a handkerchief or cloth napkin, I’m using a cotton wash cloth.
*A large rubber band to secure this fabric to your jar. This cover will prevent wayward bacteria and dust from settling in your kefir brewing jar as well as keep at bay any insects and fruit flies that may find your brew enticing!
*Organic turbinado sugar. Turbinado sugar is the dehydrated juice of the sugar cane plant. In essence it is minimally processed and unbleached sugar, which means it retains many of its naturally occurring nutrients and minerals. This is good for the kefir and you! If you can’t find turbinado, you should easily be able to locate organic sugar in most grocery stores.
*A mesh strainer for sifting your kefir grains in between batches.
*Several well washed bottles with air-tight lids, for the second fermentation. I like to re-use my empty GT’s Kombucha bottles for this. :0)
*water kefir grains. You can pick these up from various sources online, from friends that brew it, or by looking up peeps online that may be willing to share or barter them!
Now like I said, brewing kefir is easy here’s the recipe I’ve been using ~
6 cups of spring or filtered water. If all you have is tap water, you should boil it to reduce the chlorine, then allow it to cool to room temp before using.
6 Tablespoons of turbinado
3-4 tablespoons of keffir grains
Simply dissolve the sugar into the water. I use my vita mix to stir it up (since I use it strain my keifer into and as a giant measuring cup for the water. Multi-tasking like a mama-jama!) Now pour the sugar-water into your jar with the kefir grains and cover with the cloth. Set the jar in a dark cabinet in a warm location if possible. If not it’s cool, kefir has proven to be pretty forgiving of cool conditions. Didn’t I tell you this stuff’s easy? Ridiculously so!
Now sit back and allow the Tibicos to work their magic for 24-48 hours. You’ll begin to notice bubbles rising up from the mass of grains. You will also notice the smell of the sugar water changing to a semi sourish, kinda yeasty smell. It’s aliiiiiive! The 24 hour gap is there because the fermentation will be faster in warm temps and slower in cooler temps.
Lemme hit you up with one of the biggest tips I can give someone who’s just starting to brew either kefir or kombucha. Your first two batches may suck. It may taste/smell a little off from what you’re expecting. This happened to me with both my kombucha and kefir, but the third batch was the charm! I believe, and have read, that this is more a matter of your culture adapting to its new growing situation (water, sugar type, temps etc.) than your skills as a brewer. So don’t sweat it! Just hang in there and be prepared to possibly ditch your first two batches while your culture gets comfy in it’s new home.
Now where was I? Oh yeah, when you notice these changes your kefir is ready to undergo the second fermentation. The second fermentation is where the fun comes in! I mean what’s better than an amazingly healthy probiotic beverage? An effervescent, ridiculously tasty healthy probiotic rich soda! Oh yes! Let’s get fizzy with it.
Ready for bottling!
To get your fizz on, strain your kefir (to save the grains for the next batch) and pour into your seal-able bottles, leaving about an inch or of the bottle empty, to allow for air expansion. And pop the sealed bottles back in the same area you brew in and allow them to work their magic for 24-72 hours. This gap again is all about temp. I usually pop one open after 24 hours to see if it has the amount of fizz I’m looking for. I just pour a lil’ off into a cup and taste, if it’s not quite there I’ll reseal it and set it back. When you hit the carbonation level you want it’s time to move the bottles into your fridge, where the fermentation is halted and your kefir maintains its awesome taste.
Whoa, rewind a bit. You can just bottle it up, get your fizz in there and fridge it, or you can “dooo what I dooo” (in Joel Hodgson’s voice ala MST 3K.) and flavor it first! The possibilities are many, to say the least. Fresh or frozen fruit, spices, concentrated tea and or fruit juice can be added to the bottled kefir and allow it to infuse as it fizzes! I’ve done fresh ginger juice to create a potent kefir ginger-ale. Awesomeness. Frozen fruit comes in pretty handy as well. I pop some frozen fruit into the vita-mix, pour in some of the pre-fermented kefir and blend until smooth. When flavoring the kefir, I like to start out with bottles filled to under 2 inches of the top, that way I have plenty of room to add my flavors and still leave room for the carbonation.
I’ve seen peeps on youtube creating a super-duper ginger ale using a blend of ginseng tea, a hefty dose of ginger and peppermint leaves, to this they add kefir and bottle it up to ferment. Sounds bangin’! Haven’t tried that myself yet, but when I do I’ll let ya know how it goes! You can also try doing a vanilla soda, by adding either vanilla bean pod skins, seeds, powder or pure extract! You can cream it when done by pouring it into a glass with a lil’ nut, seed or coconut mylk! Like I said there MANY ways to go with this stuff and lot’s of fun ways to make your own pimped out fizzy bubbly goodness!
How does kefir stack up to kombucha? Well if you like instant gratification, kefir is ready in only 2-5 days, whereas kombucha takes 14-19 days (from start to bottled bubbly). Kefir doesn’t require boiled and cooled tea, but it does have a higher turn out rate, so it can add up to more total work then ‘bucha. Personally I love ‘em equally, so I’m brewing them both!
Kefir Ginger Ale. So good!
Happy brewing adventures my friends and big thanks again to Lucy for sharing the kefir madness! Much love ~ Rory :0)
Livin’ it up in Portland!
Hey Peeps! I’m baaaaaaaack.. with my wonderful family and back to share what the heck I’ve been up to with you! Amanda, Isabel, Shadow and I have been reunited and are chillin’ at our new place in Portland, Oregon!
Amanda landed a cool position, managing a lot for RV and boat storage. Along with the job, we got a nice lil’ house! Our place has a nice sized yard for Big Shady (Shadows’ alias..), Isabel, and plenty room for gardening projects, which Amanda and I are really excited about! It’ll be the first time, in our lives together, that we had a place where we could get growin’ outdoors. We’re taking advantage of it right away with several lil’ tomato plants in ten gallon paint buckets!
We’re keeping our plants in pots and devising some creative planter ideas because our new place comes with an interesting infestation… rabbits. I’m not talking about those lil’ grey guys you see hopping frantically through the wild at the slightest human approach, I’m talking about pet store bunnies!! These things are massive, colorful and downright evilly cute. Recently, I convinced a couple of them that I’m not such a scary guy, with the assitance of a bag of carrots.
Our new joint is in an industrial part of town, but it’s got a country’ish feel and a massive woodstove. Always wanted a place with wood heat (if ya know me, ya know I been into sustainable living since way back in the day). Lovin’ that I can re-purpose cardboard and newspapers into heat! We upgraded the eco-friendliness of our new crib even more by opting to pay a few more cent’s per kilowatt hour to ensure that all our electrical needs are provided by renewable energy sources (such as wind and solar!). If this sounds sweet to you, contact your local energy provider and see if they provide such options.
As far as my Raw adventures go, I’m gettin’ back into working out and formulating raw protein shakes from Heck! A lot of my friends from back on the East Coast are into weight lifting and the protein shakes, so I’ve been sharing recipes for creating body-building beverages that go beyond muscle fuel in their benefits, while leaving out all the junk that goes into traditional muscley drinks (ok probably not a real adjective, but I like the sound of it).
I’ve had an amazing time in Connecticut helping my Mom get back into healthier eating! We didn’t go for a 100% (or even uber high) raw approach this time around, but rather a dive into more vegan and gluten free options that she can easily make and incorporate into her regular menu! I was psyched to see her creating her own recipes such as a vegan and gluten free versions of her fave Italian comfort foods. Her Eggplant Lasagna with tofu in place of the rigotta cheese was quite impressive! Mom’s also been gettin’ into smoothies big time, thanks to a generous contribution from Vitamix! I’m really grateful that I had the chance to help Mom get her health steering in the right direction and hope she carries on with it. Very proud of ya Mom!
Hope you’re all having an awesome time doing your raw or raw’ish thang! Much love and more to come ~ Rory :0)
Mango Lassi with Mom!
Hey Peeps! Today Mom’s rockin’ the vita mix and cranking out one of our all time favorite blended beverages, Mango Lassi! This Indian cuisine inspired beverage is creamy, tangy and goes great with curry.
To create this drink you’ll need ~
2 cups of almond mylk
1+1/2 cups of mango (fresh or frozen)
1 cup of ice
2 tablespoons of honey (or agave, or a couple of pitted dates!)
1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice
Blend everything until smooth and creamy and enjoy thoroughly!
I wanna thank Mom for coming up with the idea to do a plug for my Best of Raw 2010 nominations! Here’s the link to check out their site and vote for me and your other fave raw personalities! http://www.bestofraw.net/
Mom’s progress!
Hey my friends! As you may know my Mom has had some pretty serious health issues lately. She’s suffered from severe water retention, been diagnosed with two cases of Congestive Heart Failure and is now on oxygen 24/7. Now I’m back in Connecticut and assisting her by preparing a combination of raw foods, green smoothies and healthy cooked dishes to get her health back on track!
The cooked meals are vegan, gluten free, salt free and using coconut oil (instead of less stable fats) to avoid trans fat issues. I want her to go at improving her health at her own pace, so by giving her great examples of healthy cooked eats, I hope she’ll be able to utilize them along with raw foods to make her own strategy that will work best for her!
Thanks to our friend Mark’s generous donation of a blender and Magic Bullet, we’re rocking out the green smoothies as they are so beneficial for alkalyzing, remineralizing and oxygenating… getting that chlorophyll goodness flowing! And if that wasn’t cool enough, Penni Shelton of Raw Food Rehab has given us info on requesting a Vita Mix Blender to be donated for her health journey and her Doctor was very happy to fill out his portion of the paperwork! Tommorow we’re sending it off so keep your fingers crossed for her!
I’ve only been back in CT for a week rocking out edible goodness for Mom acting as her personal raw chef and she’s experiencing the benefits already! Im so happy to share that she is 11 pounds down, her leg/foot/ankle swelling drastically reduced, her mobility has increased and her Doctor is having her reduce her medications!! Wooohoooo! Behold the power of healthy eats!
Thank you to everyone for keeping up with her and all the love, prayers and support! More to come of course! Much love ~ Rory :0)
Kung-Fu’ing those cravings!
Hey My friends! Are you confronting junk food temptations on your raw path? I’ve been there and it can be a pain in the butt, but there are some ways we can deal with all the tasty, but crappy goodies that surround us!
Wether it’s the baked goodies in the break room at work, the maze of fast food joints we have to drive through, or the sodas and candy at the check out counters of nearly any retail store you hit up (including, twistedly, plus sized clothing outlets!) there are less than ideal eats everywhere we go! At home we’re bombarded by advertisements for pizza and burger joints on tv and many local joints so kindly leave their fliers and magnets in your mailbox. Well here are some strategies that I used to comfortably side step all the junky munchies that abound!
First thing I would do when confronted by a less than ideal option would be to think about why my raw food options rock so much, rather than focusing on why the unhealthy eats suck! This kept the things that I wanted to eat in my mind, leaving lil’ room to think about what I didn’t want to eat! When we waste our time thinking of the negative side of unhealthy eats, it just gives them more air-time on our internal radio and invites our inner rebel to pipe up and defend our former food choices and encourage us to eat them for the sake of being “bad”! So let’s avoid that mental game by thinking of what we want to eat!
Next on the home front I pimped out my kitchen making it a constant reminder of the awesomeness of rawsomeness! Bowls of fresh fruit, a fridge stocked with beautiful greens, my favorite raw and healthy living books decorated a shelf below the food processor and ya remember those pizza place magnets? Well we cut them up and glued them to the back of photos of our favorite raw creations, slapped those on the refrigerator and now we got our own subliminal advertising!
Strawberry Pie with Banana Ice Cream! One of the photos we used for our fridge magnets!
When leaving the house I would be sure to pack some of my favorite raw treats, some fresh fruit and often a chocolate or green smoothie with me. And I always brought more than I thought I would need! This worked out really great because when I would be confronted by something junky, I could fill up on the good stuff and have no room left for cravings! This trick works great for grocery shopping, mall walking and at the movie theatres… I didn’t tell you that! But, seriously, for the price of a medium popcorn and soda you could treat yourself to dinner at a raw restaurant! While I was out I would also scout out places that had healthy options, so that if I forgot to bring my stash, I could pick up something else!
For my work lunches I always put a lot of attention into making them awesome and tasty. because it’s easiest to be raw at home, I would save my awesomest treats for when I would be faced with less than ideal options! Rather than saying things like “Thanks for the cake offer, but I have carrot sticks.” I could say “Thanks for the cake, but I already have some chocolate filled cinnamon rolls!” You should’ve seen the faces when coworkers tried them and realized this is what raw treats can be! I also liked to put a lot of love and positive intentions into my packed lunches because it made me that much more enthused about eating it the next day!
The Chewy Chocolaty Goodness Bars from my Sweet Support E-Book, are a worthy opponent to beat out candy bar cravings!
Lastly, but not leastly, if you find yourself eating something you’d rather not have don’t waste a minute beating yourself up! If you beat yourself up often, you’re going to invite that inner-rebel to pop up again and defend you by bashing your new healthy lifestyle! Rather than beating yourself up, take that time to boost yourself up instead! Some of my favorite raw recipes came from slipping, eating some junky snack, and pondering “How can I make a rawified version of this?”. There’s no need to be hard on yourself, just whip yourself up a green smoothie when ya get home and let the negativity slide!
Keep rockin’ in your healthy living adventures! Much love ~ Rory :0)
Enzymes aren’t the “end all be all”, but that’s cool!
Hey everyone! As you may often discover when getting’ into the world of healthy living, some things aren’t always what they seem to be. When I first got into researching the benefits of a raw diet I kept coming upon the importance of enzymes and how cooking damages and deactivates them, it’s in many of my favorite raw books! I thought it made total sense and have even written a post in the past based on what I’d read up on, but the more I delve into enzymes lately… the more I think they may have been a lil’ overhyped. Let’s check out what’s what … and be not afraid it doesn’t mean raw rocks any less!
The work of Dr. Edward Howell was awesome for his time, but modern science is showing that the active enzymes in raw foods may not play as crucial role in digestion as we thought they did! Enzymes may do some predigesting of our foods when we cut, chop or blend our fresh fruits and veggies and release them, but they don’t appear to have a noticeable impact on digestion.
Anatomy pics are kinda gross, but visuals are fun!
There are others theorizing that enzymes are being transported from our digestive tract and being absorbed into our blood stream, while this may be true in some cases, there isn’t sufficient evidence out there to show that this is helping to assist the work our own metabolic enzymes. Now this doesn’t mean that someday they won’t find out that they actually do, but when talking with other’s about the benefits of a raw diet, we don’t wanna go on theory alone! Check out “Becoming Raw” by Brenda Davis RD, Vesanto Melina MS, RD and Rynn Berry for more info. It’s a great book with loads of scientifically referenced material about raw vegan diets and why they rock! Check out my friend, Bitt’s review of this awesome book!
Thought ya might need a cute animal "palate cleanser" after that previous picture!
Does this mean that eating raw foods is any less awesome? Heck no! I’ve experienced the benefits of raw foods and continue to, it just means that one of the reasons we thought unheated eats rock may be unfounded, which means there is more going on with raw munchies than we thought! Figuring out just what is the most magical thing about our fresh eats is a fascinating adventure on it’s own!
Also there are two plant based enzymes that do something pretty amazing for us (in their raw active state) and they are myrosinase (found in Cruciferous veggies such as broccoli, arugula, cabbage, bok choy, turnips, kale and watercress ) and alliinase (found in Allium veggies such as onions, garlic, chives and leeks). When veggies in these families are chopped, blended, processed, or chewed the enzymes are released and they immediately begin to break down the plant’s phytochemicals into very beneficial bioactive metabolites that have some amazing health benefits for us… such as being antiviral, antiarthritic, antiparasitic, and can also assist our liver in it’s work of detoxifying our blood! But, if we were to neutralize these active enzymes with cooking, this break down process wouldn’t occur and we’d be missing out! So there’s a good case for keeping enzymes in their active unheated state!
Get your myrosinase and alliinase on!
One of the biggest things we may be hearing more and more about is the power of phytochemicals (plant based chemicals that plants use to defend themselves from stress, pests, pathogens and environmental issues) which are usually more available in unheated foods that have been blended, juiced or ran through a food processor than they are in cooked foods! There’s a lot more to the awesomeness of raw eats and I’ll be getting into some of the specifics in even more detail in upcoming posts, so stay tuned!
On an anecdotal note papaya and pineapple based digestive enzyme supplements, have worked wonders for me when I went vegetarian (especially with the increase of beans in my daily menu!)! They’ve also helped me during my raw transitioning, like when I over did it on sulfurous veggies after reading “Eating for Beauty” by David Wolfe. I went on and onion, radish and MSM spree for a week and wound up with gas pains that left me feeling like I was having a heart attack! After eating a whole roll of papaya enzyme discs I felt almost instant relief. So there is definitely something to them!
Keep rockin’ my friends and lemme know what you think about enzymes in raw eats! Much love ~ 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)
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 ~
No-Mess Massaged Kale Salad
Helloooooo there! Do you love kale? Well even if you don’t this salad may just change your mind…it sure impressed Isabel, who is not a fan of salad, let alone kale!
When we began our trek I did a shout out to my friends at Raw Fu who are participating in my Geeked Fu Challenge. I asked them “How do you travel raw” (I swear I wasn’t eliciting stories of indecent exposure on the motorway!) and they had some awesome tips and tricks for rockin’ raw eats while on the go! Angie’s kale salad recipe sounded really good and easy so we gave it a shot while hanging out at Mount Hood in Oregon.
No-Mess Massaged Kale Salad ~ Super easy, tasty and mess free…perfect raw road food! Let’s get started!
Large zip close bag (gallon size)
1-2 Heads of kale
1 Large avocado
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of onion granules (or powder)
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
Pinch of cayenne (or more if you like it hot, hot hot!)
Tear kale leaves from the stems and rip into bite size pieces tossing them in the bag as you go. Cut the avo in half, pop out the pit, and squish out of the skin directly into the bag. Juice the lemon into the bag, using your hand or other straining device to catch the seeds. Sprinkle in salt and spices. Now Squish!! Once the salad appears evenly coated and massaged to your liking it’s ready!
The salad was so tasty that Isabel rated it up there with my vitamix made ice creams! So if likening a salad to a dessert is any indicator of awesomeness…this salad is BOMB! Enjoy my friends and eat more kale!! :0)
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!
