2 year raw anniversary!

TWO YEARS - 100% RAW VEGAN

As of today, I have eaten 100% raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds for TWO years!

This lifestyle has CHANGED MY LIFE.

I never thought that I would be where I am today... eating the food that i do. Hell, ask anyone who has known me for a while - i'd probably be THE LAST person on their guessing lists of people who would go raw vegan. I used to literally LIVE off of icecream. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. No joke. When I wasn't eating icecream, I was eating white pasta, white rice, chocolate, cookies, brownies, and other junk food. I struggled on and off with eating disorders, sleeping problems, depression, learning disabilities, focusing issues, and so on. I was always tired and depressed. I needed a change in my life, and my diet is what needed to be changed the most. One day i just got really inspired and started researching.

First, I randomly went vegan (after being the person who would say "Vegan!? What do vegans even eat?! Berries and tree bark?! I could never go vegan!") I was only going to do it for a month just to say i tried, but after that month, I learned so much about the meat and dairy industry that I could not go back to eating dairy products.

While researching veganism, a soon-to-be friend Steve told me about raw foodists. He and his wife, Nicole, were raw. The day he messaged me about it, I could not be pulled away from the computer. I was addicted to the information. The more I read about raw foods, the more everything made sense to me. Why had I not heard of this before?!

Not long after, I started my raw journey and I haven't looked back. I have never felt this good in my life. Each day gets better and better. I feel like I'm on a constant high.... I love my life more than I ever imagined possible. I manifest positive people and situations in my life and I always have an abundance of fruit (thanks mom and dad!)

Granted, I went through some struggles, especially at first when nobody understood what the hell i was doing! Soon enough most people caught on and accepted my life changes. Now, those same people are coming to me constantly asking for recipes and tips to change their diets. Funny how things work!

I just wanted to share this snippit of my raw journey because i know that if I can do it, you can do it. It's so easy that it's almost ridiculous. If you want a life change and you want to eat the most nutritious foods on the planet and feel AMAZING, give it a try. Even if you just want to add more raw foods to your cooked diet. Or make more smoothies. Or eat some greens once in a while. Anything. I'll be here for you. I'm here to inspire and to help everyone in their journey to health. I don't judge.

I'm so glad I found this lifestyle. I love fruits. I love greens. I love my life.

Thank you to everyone who has helped me and inspired me along the way. You know who you are. (And that means you too, the viewer!)

I didn't have a huge party like I did for my one year anniversary party, but I did celebrate a little!

I made a low fat raw vegan mango pie... and I will share the process below (it's easier than i make it look and sooo delicious!)

ASHLEY'S MANGO "PAH"

-mangos

-bananas

-dates

-raw vanilla bean powder (optional)

1. chop up bananas and mangos in separate containers and freeze overnight.
2. press dates in the bottom of a pie pan, forming a crust.
3. puree frozen bananas in a food processor until smooth, creating "banana icecream" & spread a layer into the pan. put into freezer for a few minutes to let it set.
   
   
4. repeat the same process for the mangos. (puree into icecream, layer on top)
   
   
   
   
   
5. decorate the top with banana slices. For this pie, I even made "date dip" (dates blended with a TINY bit of water & a pinch of raw vanilla bean powder) and formed the word "RAW" using a cake decorator. In the future I want to make designs with this cool tool!
   
6. Freeze to let set, cut, and enjoy! Simple and delicious!

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CONTINUING THE SALAD CRAZE!

Today for dinner, Tim helped me make this raw kale salad with a side of fresh corn. It was sooo good:

i love tim hinck

THANKS FOR READING!