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| Raw Rocki Rides Again! |
My story... where to start! I'm mainly raw vegan gal who thoroughly enjoys this lifestyle of creating and eating delicious clean food! I'm also an artisan who creates metalwork jewelry and findings. I'm entirely self-taught in both my metalwork career and in developing my own raw vegan recipes.
I'm a very lucky gal. I have two awesome grown up sons who live in Portland (love visiting them!), three little furry kids who have me wrapped around their paws, and am married to Mark - my best friend, soulmate and love of my life. Mark is extremely supportive of me and my goals - and is my official recipe taste-tester.
Let me say here that I'm not a hardcore vegan that shames people who eat differently, nor do I have anything against those who do. I have family and friends who are not vegans and eat a wide variety of diets. Everyone requires different types of diets for one reason or another, so whatever works for you is what you need to do. I mainly live this way out of kindness, compassion and food allergies - plus I simply love this way of life. I do not judge others or force my way of life onto others, and I appreciate the same respect. We’re simply one big diverse family on this planet, so please be kind to one another.
So what is a raw vegan? In short, RAW means that you eat raw, clean, unprocessed and uncooked food (foods in their natural state: vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, some grains, etc.) Foods are not heated above 115° F to 118° F to maintain their nutritional benefits. You are considered a raw foodist if you eat at least 75% or more of a raw diet. I'm at least 90% raw, but always vegan and I don't fret when I eat healthy cooked food. VEGAN means you consume and use zero animal products. If you want to know more about a raw diet, an excellent book I recommend is Becoming Raw, The Essential Guide to Raw Vegan Diets.
What brought me to this way of eating is a multitude of things. The vegan part has been with me ever since I was little. However, I come from a carnivore family who loves their meat so yes I used to eat like that, but preferred a vegetarian diet back then. At the dinner table I did the napkin trick with my meat, but was eventually caught. Time goes on, I grew up and did the on and off again vegan lifestyle. Then many years ago I ended up horribly sick for years. I had to go through a variety of tests and procedures for several months. I’ll skip all the cruddy parts and just sum it up that I was diagnosed with an immune dysfunction and a variety of food allergies with dairy and gluten being the main ones. In 2012 I had a brief battle with early breast cancer which ended in a bilateral mastectomy and lymph node removal (without reconstruction). I also have dealt with melanoma and other skin cancers for years. Today I am thankfully cancer-free! Anyway, since that time and with each episode I brought myself back to health with healthy food, holistic healing, nutritional supplements, superfoods, lifestyle changes and perseverance.
So about 14 years ago I became a Buddhist and my vegan path was set. Well, almost. Once again I fell off the vegan train and then one day I happen to read an article about a crying cow. I won’t go into it, but will just say that it touched me deeply and from that day forward I became a strict vegan.
Becoming raw was a piece of cake. Oh yes, we can have our raw cake (and chocolate!) and eat it too! This part I just fell into actually. One year while searching for a new vegan recipe I came upon a raw food blog with what I was looking for. Then I started reading the blog about her raw food diet. I was in enthralled, to say the least! That led me to searching more info about a raw diet online and eventually the book store. Mark and I would read them in the evening and then one night we finally looked at each other and said "this makes sense for us." And here we are today with our healthy bodies, mind and life.
In the beginning, like everyone else, I followed recipes as I didn't know where to start. Since then I create my own as well. It took a while for me to actually start measuring and writing them down as I simply create like I did when I cooked - add a little of this, a little of that...
I love and admire all the raw food blogs and the people behind them as they are so inspiring! So I decided to start my own blog to share my own raw vegan recipes, along with nutritional information, tips and related topics. I have many recipes on paper piled up in my kitchen that I need to blog about, but also have several recipes on my other blog and on Instagram. So much to do while wearing many hats. Being an artisan working from my home studio creating metalwork jewelry and supply findings, and creating yummilicious food keeps me quite busy.
One final note. This is my very own personal motto that I have said for years and love to share with others:
Never give up! No matter if it is a goal to reach or one of many obstacles to overcome that life throws at you - with a positive attitude, strength, determination, faith, willpower and the love and support of family and friends, you will get through it - usually with a better outcome.
Peace ☮~ Rocki Adams
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Peace
♥
Rocki
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