Day 30-A Month of Eating Raw & My Green Smoothie and Juice Cleanse Begins

I have now officially been eating 80% raw or more a day, for one month. What an accomplishment!

The benefits I have felt over the last month are :

• An increase in energy and an overall feeling of well-being.
• A weight loss of 10.5 pounds.
• More days of mental clarity and sharpness.
• Food cravings, especially for sweets, are almost totally diminished.

The downfalls I have felt the last month are:

• I cannot think of any, really really!

I do still have health concerns. I am continuing to have irregular menstrual cycles. I had my first cycle  last month for seven days, then a week and a half later, I had a second cycle for seven days plus ?  (it is not quite over yet)… Two years ago, I did a green smoothie and juice cleanse for 17 days and for three months afterwards, I had normal cycles (yet during those three months I ate whatever I wanted and then I started having abnormal cycles again).  At that time, I was also 40 pounds lighter than I am now. I know a womans menstrual cycles have a greater chance of being irregular, if she is under or overweight. Estrogen is stored in fat. Being overweight, I have too many fat cells and too much estrogen. I also know many toxins are stored in fat, so I know I  have a good share of toxins in my system. I need  to let my body cleanse itself and to release some extra weight.

That all being said,  I have decided to start a Green Smoothie and Juice Cleanse (I also have an herbal kidney and liver cleanse I am doing along with this). This is something I have  been previously postponing for many months. I just had no motivation to start a cleanse. However, the change over to raw foods and the benefits I have felt, has brought on a need to go to the next level in regards to my health, particularly for the benefit of my entire female system. I want to clean out my system, just like any good car owner would care for his vehicle, by changing the oil and filters.  Most Americans take better care of what they put into their vehicles and how they care for them, than what they put in their bodies. I am way overdue!

I don’t know have a time frame for this cleanse… A week, 10 days, 21 days, 30 or 40 days…??? I have considered all the numbers.  I believe we should have goals to make something work, but I don’t have a number in mind yet…  I am sorta feeling, I will let my body dictate how long it should go for…

So I will keep you posted! ~ Rose

Raw Key Lime Pie Recipe

 

I found this free raw recipe on the web at the Raw Food Table. You can visit this wonderful website full of great recipes and other bits of information at: http://www.therawtable.com/recipecoll/limepie.htm

I followed this recipe, except I used the fine almond meal for the crust, I had purchased from the health food store a couple weeks ago (I cheated). I also did not have enough lime juice… Maybe 3/4 cup. I used 8 regular limes to get that amount. The recipe called for more. I think I will cut down on the agave nectar next time, maybe try just 1/4 cup instead. I like the fruit to sweeten as much as possible.

I have to say I LOVED this recipe. I would have licked the entire Vita-Mix clean if possible (my neck is to short and head too big!). I had made this pie  to bring to my daughter and son-in-laws for dessert. My husband and I got into it and ate half of the pie for lunch! Ooops! I did bring the remainder of the pie over to my daughter and son-in-laws last night and they LOVED it as well. We garnished it with kiwis.

To me it was more like a tropical pie versus a key lime pie, but that may be because I did not have enough lime juice for the filling. Either way it was delicous! You could even make a batch of the filling and serve it as a pudding.

Who woulda thought avocadoes and some fruit would be so tasty?????????

This definitely a 5*****star rating. Excellent job Raw Food Table!

Makes one 9″ pie, serving 8-10
Crust Ingredients:
3 C fine almond flour*
4-5 fresh medjool dates
2 T coconut oil
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Filling Ingredients:
2 small ripe avocados
1 banana
1 1/4 C juice from key limes (regular limes will also work fine)
1/2 C mango chunks
1/2 C agave nectar
1/3 C coconut cream concentrate or oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preparation:
To make crust, place almond flour, dates, coconut oil, and sea salt in a food processor and blend until it balls up. Firmly press crust into pie pan and set aside.

To make the filling, process all filling ingredients in a high-powered blender such as a VitaMix until smooth and fluid. Pour into pie shell and freeze about 4-6 hours or longer. I like to serve this topped with a little shredded coconut and mango chunks or slices.
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*Almond Flour is made when you grind almonds for making almond milk. Almond pulp is what is left over. After the grinding process, strain it as much as possible and dry it in your dehydrator. It is kept best in the freezer in an air-tight bag or container.

If you do not wish to go through this process, you are certainly welcome to just use ground raw almonds, but you won’t get the same fine texture on the crust.

Raw Pesto & Caramelised Onion Pizza Recipe

This is another great recipe from Raw Food Chef Russell. Here is a link to his free raw food recipes and blog: http://therawchef.com/therawchefblog/pesto-caramelised-onion-pizza#more-228

Instead of making the flax cracker base, I  dehydrated 5 of the Ezekiel brand sprouted tortilla’s, till they were nice and crispy at 115 degrees-not sure how long-maybe 3 hours..? Otherwise I followed this recipe, as stated except, I did use Braggs instead of Tamari sauce in the carmelised onions. I might not use as much Braggs next time-I used 3T and it seems a little too “salty” to me. Also the carmalised onions were not crispy enough in three hours, so I ended up dehydrating them overnight.

To be honest, I was skeptical of a raw pizza. For one I am not big on tomato or  pesto sauce to start with. I also had sampled all the ingredients individually as I was making them and I thought “yuck”. (I kept thinking I don’t know we can’t use a little cheese..?? I just wasn’t getting it yesterday.) I brought the dish over to my daughter and son-in-laws and I prepared it as an appetizer. It was promptly scarfed down by my kids and my husband. They loved it. They said it was better than the raw pizza they had at the raw restaurant in town last week.

I do have to admit, I made myself a tortilla full of this pizza for lunch today and I really liked it. The flavors blended nicely together and the caramelised onions are delicious! I keep thinking what other things can I used the caramelised onions for… my salads? sprouted sandwiches???

I would give this a 4 ****star rating. Thanks Raw Chef Russell!

For the base

500g (approx 3c) buckwheat, sprouted for a few days until it has a small ‘tail’
2 avocados or 1/2c almond butter
1/4c olive oil
1/4c fresh basil
3T Italian seasoning
1/2c sun-dried tomatoes
3T lemon juice
1/2t salt
3 medium tomatoes

• Grind all ingredients in a food processor until you have a paste consistency.

• Spread onto a Paraflexx sheet in a circle and dehydrate for a few hours or until you are able to turn it upside down onto another dehydrator tray and peel off the plastic Paraflexx sheet.

• Dehydrate for another 8 to 10 hours or until base is dry enough to hold together.

For the caramelised onions

5 large onions, sliced thinly (use a mandoline if you have one)
1c soft dates
3T tamari
2T olive oil
1/4c water

• Blend all ingredients except the onions in a high-speed blender, until smooth.

• In a bowl, hand-mix the date mixture with the onions until they are thoroughly covered.

• Dehydrate on a Paraflexx sheet for 2 to 3 hours, so they soften and take on a cooked appearance.

For the pesto

2c basil
1/4c pine nuts
1T olive oil
1/4t salt
2t lemon juice

• Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until broken down, but leaving some texture to the finished pesto.

For the tomato sauce

10 basil leaves
1c sun-dried tomatoes
1c tomatoes
2t lemon juice
1/4 of a medium onion
1 soft date

• Blend all ingredients in a high-power blender until smooth.

For the cheese

1c macadamias
1 1/2T lemon juice
1/4t salt
1/4c water
1T nutritional yeast

• Grind all ingredients in a food processor until you have a fluffy consistency.

To serve, spread the tomato sauce onto the base then sprinkle the pesto, macadamia cheese and caramelised onions evenly to produce a beautiful layered and textured pizza.

Day 21-Rethinking Where We Go & What We Eat on Date Night

"We can go to the raw restaurant next week"

Yesterday I felt the best I had since I started this raw journey several weeks ago. My mind felt sharp and crystal clear (no fogginess). I was abounding with energy (I cleaned and found miscellaneous projects to work on around the house). It was if I had passed some unseen milestone. I truly felt terrific!

 My husband suggested we should go out for our date. I pondered about the invitation, but all I saw was blinking yellow lights!!!!

"Proceed with C-A-U-T-I-O-N"

Now as I had afore-mentioned, we had been going to our favorite Mexican restaurant once a week for our chicken taco salad, hold the sour cream-thank you, and a drink or two…. Mexican food has always been one of my favorites. Yet as I contemplated going out to eat, my mind and my body started having a little discussion with each other.

• My Body said “Mexican food. Mexican food????? Maybe you should try the raw restaurant out in Dallas. It has great reviews..??” (My mind said “It is just a taco salad and a drink or two… Come on… You love Mexican food…”)
• My Body said “You feel so good today. You feel energetic and alive!” Are you sure about the Mexican restaurant?” (My mind said “You have eaten at the Mexican restaurant before… Did you feel so badly after? You have eaten chicken a couple of times this week… Did you feel poorly? Come on… What is the harm?”)

Well my mind won. We went for Mexican food. I ate my taco salad, except I ate most of the fried bowl it came in (I usually don’t). The worst part was the bowl tasted sorta stale,  however that did not deter me in the least. After dinner, I felt bloated, whereas the dinners we had been having all week, had left me satisfied and feeling light. My mind felt cloudy after the drinks and my body felt heavy. My energy and mental clarity had vanished, all in the space of an hour.

So I told my husband, we need to definitely try out the raw restaurant next week for date night or the second choice would be to have our taco salad without the fried bowl. I want to keep my feeling of energy flowing through my body and have my mind keep feeling clear and sharp. The taco bowl is definitely out and so are the drinks.

I am starting to understand, why people give up cook foods altogether.

Have a great weekend! ~Rose

 

 

Carrot & Orange Cake

This is a wonderful carrot cake recipe, I found on Raw Chef Russells blog. Raw Chef Russell rocks! (He has quite a few recipes on his blog, that I am going to try in the coming weeks.)

Here is the link to his blog, so you can check out his great recipes yourself:

http://therawchef.com/therawchefblog/

P.S. I did not use raisins and it still turned out wonderfully. Let me know how you like it!

I would give this a 5*****star rating!

For the Cake

3c carrot, finely grated
2c pecans, ground in a food processor
1/4c raisins, roughly chopped
1t nutmeg
1 1/2t mixed spice*
Date paste**
1/2t salt
1/2t orange zest
1/2c desiccated coconut

* Mixed spice is a blend of cinnamon, coriander seed, caraway, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.

** Make the date paste by grinding 1c soft dates and 1/2c orange juice in a food processor until smooth.

• Thoroughly mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

• Shape into individual cakes or press into one large cake, ready to be cut at the end.

• Place on a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate at 115 degrees F for 8 – 12 hours. If you don’t have a dehydrator you can simply place the cake into the fridge to set.

For the frosting

 

1 1/2c cashews
1/2c water
2T agave
3T coconut oil
1T vanilla
1/4t salt

• Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth.

• Place in fridge to achieve a thicker consistency and spread on cake when you’re ready to serve.

• Garnish cake with nutmeg.

 

Day 20-Feeling Positive and Pimples

I did go and work out last night and it made me feel better. Afterwards I came home and got ready to go to my daughter and son-in-laws last night. They also are trying to incorporate 80% of raw food into every meal as well. My son-in-law has lost 17 pounds this month! Way to go Sam!

For dinner last night, we enjoyed a lovely green salad, a small yam, with slices of mango and avocado on the side. We sat outside enjoying the evening time fresh air on their patio. It was a perfect! I brought a raw food carrot cake I had made earlier in the day and shared with them. It was delicous! I will post the recipe later today.

Well I picked up the scale, (you know, the one I had thrown out the window yesterday) and I am down a pound again! I really think my body is going through a little detoxification now… I have been swollen on and off this week and I have woke up every morning with a PIMPLE on my face! (I never get pimples!)

"Not another one!!!"

I am feeling very positive overall. I am on the right track! This is usually the time period in the past, when I ”DIE-ted”, I would have started giving up, because of a weight plateau. I then would have started giving into my cravings and comfort foods and well the rest is history! Another failed “DIE-t”.

However, I keep reminding myself the core reason, I am doing this and it is for health! I desire to feel better and live long and well. The weight loss will be the fringe benefit of this lifestyle.

I feel this overwhelming desire to continue to eat well for these reasons.  I feel an inner strength welling up in me! I am ready to take on the challenge of facing any fear or frustration. I will conquer this!

"Slaying Poor Eating Habits, Food Addictions, Comfort Foods & Cravings!"

 

Gotta get going now,  I am on my way to the gym.

 

Day 19-Thoughts about Weight Gain while eating Raw Food

I got on the scale today. It says my weight is up 2 pounds. I suspected as much because my rings have been tight the last couple of days. The worst of it is,  I just finished my monthly cycle, so I thought I thought the scale would go down, not up… Right? Well, not in my case.

I am sorta down about it. I was reading different raw food success stories and I came across one where a woman had been heavy and a raw foodist for years, until she learned about food combining and choices.  Of course, of all the stories, that is the one that sticks out in my mind.

I don’t understand how my weight jumped up (in spite of half a chicken breast last night). Gimme a break! I know my hormones are all messed up, maybe that is it… I do know it does not inspire me to get out of the house, to go to the gym this morning.

Hmmm… Well I need to concentrate on the positive aspects of the last several weeks:

1. I have had more energy the last 19 days!!!
2. I have lost 7 pounds in 19 days.
3. The weight has come off easily.
4. I have not been hungry (except a few times when I have forgotten my snack foods).
5. I have had few cravings, except for yesterdays incident.
6. When I have had cravings, I have made good food choices!
7. I have not craved sweets, like chocolates or pies or cookies or ice cream. (I think because I have been eating my daily servings of fruits!)
8. I have filled my body with raw fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds for at least 80% of my dietary intake each day! (Good bye to processed dead foods!)

On second thought, I will head to the gym…. (and maybe just throw the damn scale out the window!)

Day 18-CRAVINGS set in BIG time

"What's a Girl to Choose?"

  Yesterday started off like any other day…

I had a mason jar full of my favorite carrot apple ginger juice, which I sipped on through out the morning at work.

For lunch I crunched on an apple.

I headed  out of the office to see a few patients around 3:00 p.m. I did get a little hungry, wishing I had my little sandwich bag of almonds with me and  a little clementine orange or two. I finished seeing two of my patients and was thinking about a big green smoothie and going to work out this evening… So far so good.

Then I saw my last patient of the day, little “Miss Non Compliance”, who doesn’t check her blood sugars (newly Diabetic), lies to me about checking her blood sugars (but then I catch her and she admits she didn’t), doesn’t take her insulin (in spite of reminders), is not taking her Coumadin correctly (and lies about that…), etc… etc… Yesterday I am in the middle of dressing her leg wounds (nasty ulcers from poor circulation and Diabetes and how is it gonna get better if we don’t keep our blood sugars in check? Do you really want your leg to be amputated “Miss Non- Compliance”??? Dire threats do not work with her. I have tried.), when her daughter calls and says she is coming to take her to church. After her daughter learns I am there, she says she is not coming, she cannot be held up. They fuss and bicker on the phone and hang up on each other, then call each other back up (I am thinking they both need church PLUS something more???? ).  Less than 5 minutes later, the daughter and family show up. The patient refuses to let me check her blood sugars (My sugars are good. My sugars are fine.) and vital signs (My vitals are good. Everything is good. Everything.). She puts on her coat and tells her daughter, “I am ready. See, I am ready”. As quickly as the family had entered the home, they leave-taking “Miss Non-Compliance” with them. I get in my car and head home.

Maybe that is where the cravings were really triggered, in spite of me already being a little hungry… The truth is my patients leg could very well amputated, if she is not careful with her health.  As a nurse, it is very frustrating to be caring for someone who is not even trying the tiniest bit.

By the time, I got home I was not thinking of chocolate cake or anything sweet, but of chicken cheese nachos (visions of chicken cheese nachos danced in her head!). I was having a  MAJOR CRAVING!!!!

"Give Me Chicken Nachos or Give Me Death"

 I got home and grabbed the container of humus out of the frig and an Ezekiel tortilla out of the dehydrator and started dipping away (Sorta like tortilla chips and salsa at the Mexican restaurant, I kept telling myself). My husband gets home and sees my sorry state and states we can go get nachos, anything you want babe  or maybe a Red Robin cheeseburger he suggests (as his eyes light up….) Didn’t I mentioned good teamwork a couple of blogs ago, well that appears to be all shot to hell…

We sit on the couch, contemplating going out. In my mind, I just cannot justify it. I want to hit the “10 pound” mark in weight lost this week… I do not want to feel horrible physically tomorrow because of eating the nachos nor do I want to feel bad emotionally, for going way off. As I continue to think about the options, my husband starts to doze off…. I compromise and go to the kitchen. I boil one skinless boneless chicken breast, chop it up, cut it in half and sprinkle it over two BIG  green leaf mango almond salads.

In the end, I am glad we did not go out. It is a good thing Steve dozed off… The salads I made were truly delicous, in spite (or because of ??) of adding the chicken. 

The original goal in regards eating meat was to eat tuna one night a week and chicken on our “date night”, however I am thinking about allowing it another night or two a week… I do not want to be so rigid-as we transition, but I still want to stay above 80% raw a day, which we have been doing… It is certainly better for us to split a chicken breast and have it on a salad, than to go out for chicken nachos, so if adding a little bit of chicken during the week, helps us not to fall off the wagon, then so be it.

 

 

 

 

Buckwheat Cinnamon Cereal

Here is a recipe I thought I would share with you all. I love this cereal. I first made it a couple of years ago, when I was first dabbling in raw. I got the original recipe from a popular raw cookbook. I have made my own variation, as I like my cereal not as sweet and prefer not to blend the buckwheat, as I think it stays crispier.

• 4 cups of RAW buckwheat groats-not the toasted buckwheat! (soak for 1-3 hours)

• 1 cup of maple syrup

• 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

• a dash of nutmeg

• 3-4 drops of liquid Stevia

1. After you have soaked the buckwheat groats, strain and rinse them in a colander.

2. Place them in a bowl and add the remaining ingredients.

3. Divide and spread them out on 3 Telfex-lined dehydrator trays. Dehydrate them at 115 F for 8 to 12 hours or until dry and crispy. (I prefer going the 12 hours) If the buckwheat is not yet crisp on the bottom, you may turn them over and dehydrate for another 2-3 hours (but usually they are done). I just scrape mine into a large air tight container, when they are done dehydrating and place them in the refrigerator. Put in a bowl, splash on a little almond or soymilk with a sliced banana and enjoy!

The Two Week Update

                                                                                                                 

I have been eating a diet of 80- 95% raw food every day for the last two weeks.  Here is what I have been eating-more or less.

In the mornings:

•  I usually start with a “green smoothie”, which consists of a banana, about 4 strawberries, 200 cc  of water, cramming the rest of the Vita-mix blender with spinach, adding a few drops of Stevia and sometimes, a squeeze of lemon. If am able to purchase some nice organic kale, I add 50/50 kale and spinach, instead of just spinach. I also like to add some wheat-grass in the smoothie, if available. This is an energizing filling drink in the morning!   
  

  A "Green Smoothie"

• Sometimes, I start with a glass of carrot/apple/ginger juice. I buy the 10 lb package of  nice fat organic juicing carrots from Costco and add about 5 or 6 in the juicer, an apple and a little chunk of ginger (be careful, with the ginger a little goes a long way!). If I have some pineapple, I might drop a few chunks in as well. I love this drink! If I have some lime around, I squeeze a little on top of the finished glass, for a Caribbean twist!    
  

  "Carrot Apple Ginger Juice- Delicious!"

• When I feel lazy, I have a bowl of  tasty muesli. I put together a nice blend with some old-fashioned rolled oats, rye and wheat, flaxseed, unsweetened shredded coconut, sunflower and pumpkin seeds.  I add a big creamy sweet Medjol date and banana cut up in a bowlful of the museli with a few splashes of vanilla soymilk.  (The soymilk is not a raw food product. I am going to experiment with making my own soymilk or almond milk in the future. ) However this weekend, I was putting together a bowlful of fruit salad and I sprinkled a little muesli on that and it was lovely! I love the flavors of oats and nuts along with the different fruits.  

In the afternoons:

• I might have a green smoothie, if I did not have one for breakfast.
• I might have carrot juice, if I did not have any for breakfast.
• I might have a small green salad.
• I might have a piece of fruit, with a about 10-12 almonds.

In the evenings:

• I usually have something cooked for dinner, either a yam or a serving of a wild brown rice blend or some humus with a raw sprouted Ezekiel tortilla, which is usually accompanied by a small or BIG garden salad, depending on how hungry I am.
• Once a week, I eat a can or part of a can of albacore tuna. I mix the tuna with a little olive oil mayo, just to wet it and minced garlic, onion and dill. I toss it on my garden salad or I scoop it up with an Ezekiel tortilla.
• And once a week, usually on the weekend, my husband and I have a date night, where we go out with little dietary restrictions. We have been going to our favorite Mexican restaurant the last two weeks and have a chicken taco salad. It has guacamole and we hold the sour cream. We graze on chips and salsa. We usually order a drink or two. So twice a week, I do eat chicken or fish. And as far as going out goes, it has not made me want to break the diet, but has added a little freedom and a little “normalacy”. I would not go out to eat a cheeseburger or a chimichanga (my old favorite). Neither of those things sound appealing to me, at least at this time. Maybe when I am further out in this change of lifestyle, I might permit myself one of those items, but I am of the feeling, I will not desire those fried fatty items… But who knows? For now, I am enjoying a cleaner diet and loving my fruits and veggies!

The benefits of a raw diet so far are:

• I have had energy almost every day! I did have one day the first week, where I was exhausted and achy, but that is all. Maybe it was from some detox???
• Overall, I feel much better. I am very thankful for that! It is my feeling better, which is a large motivation for me to continue with this new lifestyle. (I really have not thought of this as a diet, but a lifestyle change!)
• I have lost 9 lbs in two weeks. The weight it is melting off!
• I have increased my endurance. I have started working out three times a week for 30-40 minutes a session. I went from a 17 minute mile on the treadmill to a 12 minute mile this morning! Wahoo!
• I am not going hungry. If I am hungry I eat, even it if it is a snack between meals. I really have not had a lot of cravings the last couple of weeks, I have not wanted ice cream or chocolate. If I had a craving it was once or twice for a fried chicken thigh of all things… I don’t know what that means! LOL. Anyone have ideas?
• I was told my skin looked rosy and healthy this week!

The downfalls of the diet so far:

• I find it difficult to explain to people, what I am doing and why I am doing it. I don’t want to sound over zealous (but perhaps I am) or I am pushing this lifestyle on them (truly I am not, but I would love for you to hop on the wagon! Your body would love it too!) I do not want to offend, I want to enlighten and teach people, that there is another way to eat, which gives you energy and heals disease. It is hard for some people to understand, why you are not eating like the rest of the world. I think my in-laws may have thought I was crazy as I tried to explain this to them. They are beautiful Southern people and love to feed you. A breakfast in the South for instance, is not breakfast, unless it consists of something fried and most likely it will contain some or all of these items: fried eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits, hashed browns, grits. I was eating a bowlful of fruit salad with muesli for breakfast. My father-in-law was convinced I had not ate breakfast at all.
• I am not sure if this is a downfall or just poor food combining or eating too many nuts in the first batch of muesli, but I had a horrible case of sour stomach during week two. I burped the most atrocious smelling burps. I was socially unacceptable for about 10 hours. I then emptied my entire bowel, after numerous trips to the bathroom, depositing with each trip a large number of pumpkin seed and sunflower seeds. Needless to say, I did not eat muesli for about four days or any extra nuts. I had read recently, sunflower seeds are hard to digest and one raw foodist wrote she soaks her seeds and then dehydrates them first. I have not done this yet, I just cut way back on the amount of pumpkin and sunflower seeds in the muesli. So far so good!

So I continue on this new lifestyle, I have embarked on and am very pleased with moving into week three! I hope to continue feeling better and more energetic. This pleases me and excites me. I also cannot wait until my menstrual cycles begin to become regulated. Will it take a month or two or three? I totally believe in the coming months, I will have normal cycles again. I just have to wait and be patient.

My husband has also been enjoying this raw diet with me. He has lost six pounds. He has had a lot more cravings for cheeseburgers and what nots… I have encouraged him to drink more water (he doesn’t drink enough) and to snack on fruit. He is convicted along with me, it is better health wise to eat more raw unprocessed foods. Both of his parents, have had heart surgeries and take quite a few medications, he does not want that (nor do I). We believe now is the time, cleanse and let our bodies repair the mistakes of our youth, so we can live long and well. We are a good team, if he has a craving, I keep him in line and when I was craving a fried chicken thigh, he kept me in line. So far, if one of us is weak, the other is strong. Good teamwork!