SMOOTH MOVES

A Green Goodness smoothie with a Tahitian Acai Bowl at Rawfully Yours makes for a delicious, healthy lunch option.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Smooth Moves Smooth Moves

Smoothies offer great taste and nutrition

Story by Brandon LaChance

For some, healthy eating and drinking may be one of the hardest things to do. The United States ranked high worldwide for obesity in 2021, with approximately a third of American adults aged 20 and older labeled overweight. Many people – both children and adults – fail to get the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables.

There are some options in the Illinois Valley for those who want tasty nutrition, such as Valley Nutrition in Spring Valley, Princeton’s Simply Nutrition and Austin Parker Naturals, and Rawfully Yours juice bar and cafe in LaSalle.

“We make incredible, unbelievable shakes and smoothies. You’ll do backflips for them. They’re outstanding and shine like there is no tomorrow,” said Rawfully Yours owner Sandy Hoos.

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If you’re not familiar with the world of smoothies, the staff at Rawfully Yours will ease you into it.

“I don’t get to eat a lot of Chinese food because my husband, Jeff, doesn’t like it. When I go into a Japanese or Chinese restaurant, I’m totally lost. That’s how people are when they come into our place,” she said. “We take them and hold their hand. We get them started with something simple, and they get hooked.”

Rawfully Yours, located at 527 First St. in LaSalle, has plenty of menu items besides smoothies and shakes, including acai bowls topped with fresh fruits, granola, and almond butter, cauliflower crust pizzas, power shots, and elderberry syrup. But the smoothies and shakes are among the juice bar’s best sellers.

“We use real whole foods in our smoothies. Other places use powders. They’ll crush up cookies, and use horrible chocolate syrup that is loaded with sugar,” Sandy said. “Using whole foods gives it a top-notch nutritious value. Our core value is to offer healthy, nutritious options from our whole press juices. That’s the foundation of the business. That’s what I wrote the business model on.

“Because they’re raw and not pasteurized, that’s why people come back for more and are hooked. The juices are changing people’s lives. I don’t know about you, but I don’t eat four or five vegetables a day, but this is a way to do it. Your body responds to it,” she said.

Jeff “The Juice Master” Hoos, Sandy’s husband, is the smoothie king at Rawfully Yours.

“I retired as a NewsTribune head pressman and was curious of what I’d do next,” Jeff said. “It didn’t take me long to figure it out as I began helping Sandy in her passion project, the juice bar. It’s been a nice change, and I’ve really enjoyed working with her to make Rawfully Yours enjoyable for everyone.”

Sandy’s business model actually changed during the blueprint process as the shop wasn’t scheduled to be a juice bar – it was going to be a traditional style of restaurant.

“I opened this business because of my mom. I actually wrote a business plan for another restaurant concept. When my mother moved back from out of state, an

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO A wellness shot made mostly with ginger can be added to your smoothie to enrich the nutritional value.

Helpingyouachieveoptimal healthandnutritionwith healthyandclean foodshigh innutritionalvalue. •Whole-foodmeals•Cold-pressedjuices& smoothies•Wheatgrassshots •Snacksanddesserts 5271stStreet DowntownLasalle www.rawfullyyours.com

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hour away from me, her health issues started,” Sandy said. “You name it and she got it. Every time she was diagnosed with something, I would come home and Google what causes hypertension, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), or high cholesterol. She had to have stints in her heart for clogged arteries. She had breast cancer and dementia.

“She wasn’t overweight, and that was the big ‘ah ha’ for me. I thought I was going to be her in 20 years if I didn’t make drastic changes,” Sandy said. “I’m a gardener. I’ve always been in the garden, so I thought I’d be just fine. If my mom would have changed her diet, she could have cleaned up every single one of her issues, more than likely.”

When her mother’s health issues started, she was in the beginning stages of using her garden ingredients to produce smoothies. Then it became a passion.

“I was just starting to get into making smoothies and playing around with things in my garden. It went full throttle when I started taking care of my mother,” Sandy said. “It was a wake-up call for me. I’ve been juicing for 20 years. I started going to all of the juice bars.

“I wrote a business plan. I took all of the business college classes I could take, did my research, and took my time. I waited for the right moment,” she said. “I took a couple of years looking at buildings. I wanted to do it right. I wanted to beat the odds of failing. Every two out of three new businesses fail. I’m not going to be one of those.”

When visiting Rawfully Yours, if you want to boost the nutritional value of your smoothie, you can add power shots such as Spirulina, Elixir, wheatgrass, or others. The Hoos have live wheatgrass sitting on the counter and will cut and pull the right amount to add with lemon juice. Elixir includes fresh, organic turmeric, fresh ginger, a splash of lemon juice, and cayenne pepper.

If not added to a drink, chase an Elixir shot with fresh pineapple.

“It’s so much fun. People make light of it, bring their kids in and they get a kick out of it, and get hooked,” Sandy said. “We have regulars that come in and do it all the time. We have people come from Chicago, out of state, and out of the country. They freak out because they travel for hours, hours, and more hours and can’t find a healthy food, drink option.

“I’m told all of the time if I moved my business to Chicago or a suburb that I would have customers lined out of the door. I know that, but I wanted to bring what I have to offer to this area,” she said. “People appreciate us, and that’s why we are here. It’s very rewarding.”

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