ROSS LAROCCO

Chebe Pizza Crust Mix (or measure your own 8-10oz Tapioca Flour)

2 Large Eggs 2 Tbsp Unrefined Expeller Pressed Olive Oil 4 Tbsp Non-Dairy Milk (I use Macadamia or Hazelnut milk) 1 oz Shredded Cheese (Optional) Shake version of Basil, Himalayan pink salt, Ginger, Turmeric, Garlic 1-2 Large Sweet Potatoes (not needed if using Tomato sauce) Any Pizza toppings (start with 3 as a beginner) Bake the crust FIRST! In a medium sized bowl, measure the flour, or use all of the Chebe mix.  Add 15 shakes of Basil, 5 shakes of Himalayan salt, 3 Ginger, 3 Turmeric, 3 Garlic.  Mix all the dry ingredients. Add the Olive Oil to the same bowl.  Take a separate dish, beat the two eggs, then add to the mix.   Add cheese (optional). Stir the dough mix again.  Then add the non-dairy milk. Stir the dough again until it starts getting stiff.

Once stiff, start kneading the dough with your hands.  It should eventually look and feel like dough which shouldn’t be too gooey or dry.  Sometimes humidity has an effect on this part. Preheat the oven to 425.  Start forming the dough into a traditional circular pizza on a baking or pizza pan.  Add some olive oil to the pan to help prevent sticking.  Put the crust into the oven for 7 minutes.   Take the crust out.  Using two spatulas (recommended for beginners) to flip the crust over.  Put the crust back into the oven by itself for another 7 minutes.  It should be solid enough to not need a baking sheet anymore. While the crust is in the oven, peel and boil the sweet potatoes used for sauce.  Depending on the stove, it might be best to start the potatoes before the crust. Take the crust out of the oven.  Both sides should have semi brown edges, and the middle should be firm.  Nothing should look burned or cracked.  As a beginner with gluten free anything, it’s a good idea to eyeball everything while it’s baking. The PIZZA! Mash the boiled sweet potatoes.  Add some non dairy milk to make them creamy.  Spread the potatoes (or tomato sauce) on the crust.  If using BBQ sauce, wait.  BBQ sauce (and thinner tomato sauce) likes to bake into the crust which will make the already firm crust turn soggy in the middle. Add any ingredients to the top.  Making sure the pizza isn’t top heavy.  Trial and error will show that ingredients can either fall off, or make a gluten free crust break by just picking up a slice. Add cheese on top (optional). BBQ sauce on top works much better than used as a base. If using meat, precook it beforehand. Bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.  Depending on how weighted the pizza is,  use discretion if the final baking time should need a baking pan or not.

Time for another sporadic blog post!

Ringing in the new year with a ton of adjustments.  In particular, setting resolutions.  I’m not doing that this year.

Resolutions are just a “happy list”.  Many people including myself have a long or impossible list of happy things that would culminate a year in a perfect point of view.

We all want to be the best version of ourselves.  “Goal” is a happy word, but it’s become a word that can allow distractions.  How Bob sets and achieves goals sounds cool, but so does Joe’s method!  What works for Bob and Joe won’t work for you.

How about setting FEAR?  Nobody wants to do that, or shouldn’t want to. FEAR gets one to stop in their tracks momentarily at least.  FEAR can send someone back to the beginning of a thought process, an obstacle, a relationship.

Setting FEAR sounds more interesting than any other glorious idea.   Setting FEAR with the mindset of catching oneself in the midst of emotional agility sounds daunting.   More likely to move a few more steps forward than a goal would take you!

The word “DIET” gets thrown around too much.  It’s very common that marketing messages communicate what they WANT you to eliminate, so their product will work better in your body, and make you buy more. 

However, a lot of products that “work”,  still contain hidden sugars and processed ingredients that were suggested to eliminate in the first place.

The best solution is...REAL nutrient dense whole foods, and substituting better choices instead of relying on a packaged food dumped into a pan or glass convinced that it’s healthy..

People judge. Not necessarily in a devilishly chaotic way. Whether it’s presenting in front of a crowd, or being a new kid on the block. There’s some form of judging going on.

It took me until my 30's to really appreciate and understand movement. I love people. Whether they’re my best friends, or those who I lose a connection with. I used the examples above because they’re most relevant to my life.

Being in a room full of 500 people all making their own bodies move through exercise, choreography, and sweat is awesome. In my opinion, the STRONGEST tightly knit community there is. There’s no outside force controlling movement. Mentally and physically.

Moving to Dallas in 2011-2015 was tough. The first months and even year or two was learning a new community from scratch. Completely dealing with a higher form of skepticism that I was used to. Saying hi, and being assertive wasn’t catching on at first. Why does everyone seem to absurdly have their guard up so high? Mine’s not up, and I’m the new guy!

That’s when I realized movement was the bigger picture. Not how sappy or humble I said the word “Hi!!!!!!!!”. But the passion for movement behind it. Being a new guy, people can tell. There’s no groove.

Arguably, the most popular social media app today is Snapchat. With Facebook being over saturated with content, nonsense, inspiration, and desperation. Twitter was cool in 2007, but the conversation aspect has declined a ton.

Snapchat makes updating friends and consumers super easy. Each post (called a Snap), has a 24 hour expiration. Adding a safe layer to those who may not feel safe posting content in general. Even a basic message disappears shortly after you read it. Anyone who adds you can screen capture your updates, which is the only caution.

Mostly an Instagram fan. I don’t mind being public with my story, whether it’s posting food pictures or marketing. After a week of going full blast on Snapchat, it does do a great job of putting more value into a story. Not having to catch every single update from someone, but more intimate.

Brands like Amazon are on Snapchat. One could expect they’d just Snap a reel of their daily deals, but that’s not the case. Jessica Alba also has an account with many snaps of her kids.

Bottom line, it’s a great platform to be yourself. Post Snaps about your whole day, your brand, and knowing it won’t be a scooped up by Google Search.