My Way: "Rawdawg" Rory
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Rawdawg Rory is a raw chef, health advocate
and certifiable raw food nut! Three years ago Rory started his raw food journey and since then he's experienced an
awesome transformation. He's shed 90lbs, conquered chronic sinusitis and gained tons
of energy. Rory's mission, which combines two of his
lifelong passions, food and sustainable/healthy living, is to spread the
techniques, philosophy, and goofiness that made his experience of gettin’ raw
easy and fun! In his e-book, Gettin’
Raw with Rawdawg Rory, Rory
has put together an easy guide to transitioning to raw eats and over 100
delicious and easy to make recipes. Rory has done presentations at Raw Spirit Festivals, Organic
Farming Conferences and Connecticut’s hottest raw eatery, Catch a Healthy Habit
Café. Currently Rory is traveling across America with his lovely wife Amanda, their daughter Isabel, and their new dog Shadow.
My Way: Rawdawg
Rory
Tuesday
Woke up and
enjoyed some bananas with almond butter and a cacao smoothie prepared the night
before in our hotel room (a welcome reprieve during our trek across the US). My
diet is switched up a bit from the norm since we are living out of our van and
the occasional hotel room because Amanda (my awesome wife) is trekking from
Seattle, WA to Hampton, PA! It’s a
crazy and bumpy trip, but I’m psyched up to be supporting Amanda on this
journey. Both of us, along with
our daughter, Isabel, and recently rescued dog, Shadow, are seeing the country,
and seeing it in a way we never imagined!
I get online to
check out the responses to my latest Geeked Fu video, where I offered for
people to shoot me whatever questions they wanted to, and Amanda and I film a
video to answer some good ones about my raw transition and transformation. I had a blast filming it, especially
since Q & A is my favorite part of doing presentations. A good question brings out stuff I
didn’t even realize I knew, so it’s a great learning experience for me! Later I
get my blending-on and cook up some gluten free vegan eats for Isabel. Dinner for me was green smoothie, raw
tacos (the filling made with soaked sunflower seeds, avocado, tomato, cilantro
and spices) and chia pudding. We spent some family time goofing off, bouncing
on the hotel beds (it’s fun as heck even though I bumped my head on the ceiling
a few times). Shadow tried
on my favorite hat and we all watched some semi-educational TV. I mean
watching people construct a world record Rice Krispie Treat is some what
educational… right?
Wednesday
I packed the
kitchen gear into the van and pondered what the other hotel guests thought
about all the blender noise. It’s
an interesting lifestyle change for me, being someone who’s used to chillin’
around the house, whipping up experiments in the kitchen and having roots… it’s
oddly liberating to be living on the road! Unfortunately torrential rains scratch trekking off today’s
to-do list so we make the best of the newly freed time. We drive to a bookstore with Wi-Fi
access and do some online work, catch up with friends and all our peeps
following the Trek, and do some reading (something I’ve been enjoying a lot
lately without a kitchen beggin’ me to create some new concoction!). While Amanda researched fun stops along
our route and Isabel got lost in Fablehaven, I found my food nerd self absorbed in The
New Healing Herbs by
Micheal Castleman. Experimenting
with natural medicines is an interest I had since way back in my pre-raw days
so I love soaking up info on the subject! I pick up a bottle of kombucha from a nearby Whole Foods and we drive to
a place to crash for the night.
Friday
We hit up a
hotel for the evening and I’m psyched up to crank out some green smoothie
goodness in the Vitamix! While we
recently picked up a portable rechargeable blender for the Trek, it doesn’t
make the smoothest of smoothies (just check out the video of its test run!). After making a produce run, I throw us
together some drinkable greenage and an amazing salad! A friend recently sent us a wonderful raw
treats care package that included a jar of Living Tree Community’s Sundried Tomato
and Almond Pesto. I diced some
cukes, tomatoes and avos and tossed them with the pesto and a lil’ sea
salt. After they marinated a bit I
piled them atop a mix of salad greens. The result? A salad that
Amanda and I brawled over!
We treated both
Isabel and Shadow to a fun afternoon at one of the many dog parks in the
Washington area. Discovering dog
parks was a new phenomenon for us being from CT and PA. We pondered how many non-pet owners
were there (even if we didn’t have Shadow we probably would be!). Dog parks are
the coolest thing ever, if you think people watching is fun, you haven’t seen a
thing! Playful attacks, racing
around like maniacs, and acts that would land humans with misdemeanor fines,
it’s all good at the dog park. After Shadow was worn out, Isabel headed over to the playground. As she played on the swings Amanda and
I took our shoes off, got grounded on the grass and enjoyed the sunshine (who
says obtaining awesome health has to be costly?). Back at the hotel, I whipped us up some mint cacao chip ice
cream in the Vitamix. We all love
this concoction I make using a lil’ almond butter, coconut oil, honey, sea
salt, vanilla bean powder, Lydia’s Organics Green Power, cacao nibs and
ice. Awesome to have a mineral
loaded dessert!
Sunday
The Live My Life NOW Trek has been
inspiring so many people! Amanda’s
constantly hearing from people who have gone ahead and done things they’d been
putting off for years. Today… I’m
one of the inspired! Along with traveling abroad, building a straw-bale home, and growing most of my own food, I’ve
always wanted to Bungee
jump, and it just turns out that one of the best bungee spots ever is right
here in Washington! So we headed
to Amboy and hung out on the bridge while we waited for my turn to jump. Shadow watched (with head tilted off to
one side with a “wtf” look on her face) as the other jumpers went plummeting off
the bridge and bounced around before being reeled back. Everyone was cracking up as we considered
what she must think of all this! I
got geared up and climbed over the railing and onto the platform. As I looked down to the river below I
got ready to leap. Now I’d like to give you the macho bravado crap, but
seriously it was freakin’ scary, in a fun way! Isabel exclaimed, “It sounds like a horror movie!” as I
sailed down at around 70 miles an hour. It was one of the neatest experiences of my life, and if it’s on your
bucket list, don’t put it off! After I did two jumps we headed off to a nearby waterfall and spent the
day soaking in the sun, exploring, watching newts and tadpoles, and laughing as
Isabel and Shadow goofed off in the water. Lovely day!
My name is Rory
and this is My Way!
Rawdawg Rory
continues to share his recipes, transitioning tips, and skewed sense of humor
in his videos and posts on his website
and his Facebook page, and
is currently hosting a 100 day long GeekedFu challenge at RawFu.com to get
people “Geeked Up” about raw living. If you’re en route of the Live My Life NOW Trek you just
might run into him!