Meatless Monday - Raw Food Favorites

So today for Meatless Monday, I am not going to be focusing on food itself.  I will however be focusing on a few of the people behind the food that make it fun, healthy, and keep me inspired to eat it. 

When I first set out on a path last October (I think, when I actually started to begin eating this way) one of the first places I found was Raw Food Rehab.  Here is a website that is sort of set up in a virtual "Rehab meets Mansion" center.  Their forums are comprised of various places you would see in your home such as the Kitchen for recipes, the Loo for "potty" talk (physically about what goes on in the bathroom, LOL), The Garden, The Tool Shed, plus many other wonderful rooms.  Many of the ammenities are completely free and she also offers other services where an additional charge is necessary to participate.

Creator/Founder Penni Shelton is a remarkable lady.  Penni has her own YouTube Channel (click HERE to watch) which I recommend if you are new to Raw Food, you will want to definitely subscribe to Raw Food Rehab's website (why not it is totally free to join and you have access to so much information) and also subscribe to her YouTube channel as well.  At these two sources they both will surely help the newcomer to Raw Food, just like its helped me so much.  If it were not for Penni's wonderful and informative videos I would most likely have not even tried attempting to eat a Raw Food menu or attempt to even give it a whirl.  Her archived videos of Foodie Friday's gave me the opportunity to see how easy it is to create a beautiful meal out of raw food.  Seeing what the food could look like motivated me to even attempt a few of my first recipes and I fell in love with raw food.  Penni does not look down on you if you are not 100% raw just that you are trying to eat healthy and incorporate some raw food in your life because it is good for you.

One day while visiting RFR, I came across a video that Penni did with a woman named Dara Dubinet.  Clicking Dara's name will take you to her YouTube Channel.  There is not a day that I don't watch a video by Dara.  I have started to watch her videos from the beginning.  With over 500 videos on her channel, you too can have a daily dose of Dara who will inspire you to "Get Your Greens On" as she has inspired me to do so.

Lauren from the blog "Ginger is the New Pink" is another inspiration.  She documents her life with eating raw food, healing from Chron's Disease, and daily life in general.  She is another inspiration that led me to believe I can do this!  I don't have Chron's but someone dear to me does.  Battling Kidney Disease and Lupus wanting to heal myself with Food is something we both share.  She has introduced me to products I normally would not have tried if not for her review of them.  From cookbooks, Daiya Cheese, Hail Mary's, beauty products and Dharma Straws plus many many more.  I check in to read her blog often to see what's new out there that makes life a little easier.  If I am in the mood to look at food in photos (I really hate the term "food porn") I will usually go to her website for inspiration of what I could make for dinner. 

Now I will just list a couple other inspirations for you to check out...

Amber Shea Crawley, Author of "Practically Raw"

The Shannon's whose cookbook will be out soon, they have re-written the Betty Crocker Cookbook VEGAN style!  It is available for pre-ordering at their website Meet the Shannons.

Maybe with the upcoming weeks this will be an avenue to not only focus on food, but the people that make them as well.

Many thanks to the people that inspire me to eat better for myself and making the information understandable for a newbie to culinary worlds of Raw, Vegetarian and Vegan fun for a meat-lover like myself.  (For the record, I am not Vegetarian for poticial reasons, but medical ones.  Just look at me like an ex-smoker, I still want to eat meat, I just know its bad for me and a struggle I have to deal with every single day!)

Sincerely,
Crystal