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September 14, 2010

On The Road, And Smoothies

It takes some creativity and planning, but preparing yummy smoothies on the road can be done. We were staying with family while my Mom was having double bi-pass surgery, which got postponed due to bronchitis. We, had to extend our stay at Mom's request so I could be there to help. Her "significant" other, however, had his own idea about what would work for HIM, and contrary to her wishes, and rather than working together as a team, he wanted to be alone and have us stay in a motel. The added expense of renting a car, and a motel for an undetermined amount of time, along with the loss of a kitchen and utensils, created some challenges and added stress to an already stressful situation.
Due to this added stress, my hypertension  peaked to an all time high, and I ended up being admitted to the same hospital Mom was in for observation.

I'm finally out and we are doing our best to at least try to keep our morning green smoothie routine alive. Staying raw on this trip has been challenging, but with some determination and planning, you can do it...at least start your day off right...

We found a Whole Foods Market, and bought 2 young thai coconuts at a time, bananas and pears, and some dandelion or kale. Fortunately, I packed my crushed chia seeds, hemp seeds, cacao powder and a jar of nut butter.

W took a visit down to the motel kitchen and got friendly with the manager, explaining our dietary needs, and came back with a sharp knife, glasses and a a few utensils.  I had not yet purchased a  personal blender, but Mom had a bullet, and we took that with us to the motel.

I had learned from Russell Jame's video how to easily open coconuts, and it worked pretty well. Due to its size, I could only do one smoothie at a time in the bullet. I used half of the coconut water and meat, 1/2 - 1 whole banana and blended well. If the coconut had a lot of meat and water, sometimes, I'd have to remove 1/3 of the mixture into a spare cup to make room for more ingredients.  Depending on our preference, we could add pear, or pineapple to sweeten the smoothie. I couldn't fit too many greens in, but managed to throw in some chopped up dandelion greens or kale. W was very happy with this.

For my smoothie, I used coconut, coconut meat, banana, a bit of pear to sweeten, and added nut butter, chia seeds, hemp seeds, cacao powder, and a little ice, and blended. It was not quite the consistency of smoothies I make at home, but it was still simple and delicious.

I had to maneuver a bit pouring some mixture into an extra glass, blending remaining ingredients, and then mixing it all together manually in a bigger glass. It was delicious and filling and we were so happy to be able to have our morning smoothies together. Once we started doing this, eating the rest of the day became much easier. We packed apples and bananas, and even stalks of celery and carrots in a bag and brought them to the hospital with us, for the day. Yes, there were times we were famished and ate whatever we could find in the cafeteria...but still and all, considering our environment, we maintained a pretty healthy diet.  We even went to an Italian restaurant with family one night and did eat non-raw food, however, asked for extra portions of their house salad, so we at least had more greens than anything else we may have eaten.

As for the traveling smoothies, you could easily do this without coconuts, just use banana, water, pineapple or pears...then add your chia seeds, or hemp seeds and even cacao powder. You could also pick up a bag of frozen fruit and blend that in. My tummy was soooooooooooo happy. We only have two days left before we leave, but ran over to Whole Foods last night and purchased two more coconuts.

HINT: My doc is very big on the danger of traveling with foods, because they ultimately get x-rayed or irradiated when stored in your luggage. A really neat trick is to take an EXTRA LARGE Mylar balloon, and cut the narrow neck off, or cut in half completely, and wrap your food items in it, sealing with a rubber band or tape.....according to my doc, Mylar bags help to eliminate unnecessary irradiation of food.

Yes, it was a bit of work, but well worth it. I put the hemp seeds and some dulse flakes in small plastic bags, wrapped in Mylar for traveling. I removed the Mylar and kept them in my purse, sprinkling them on salads and other foods.  Vitamins and supplement containers should be wrapped in Mylar too, if going through airport security. You can also get Mylar bags which makes the process even easier. (Mark the contents of each bag with a marker).

I am very much looking forward to getting home and playing in the kitchen again. I miss creating new recipes. Our special Multi-Pack GIVEAWAY has been extended, so please look for it under GIVEAWAYS in the drop down menu and ENTER for a chance to win.  Blessings.

NOTE: You could also create a nice chia pudding in the personal blender mixing your own concoction of banana, nut butter, cacao powder, chia seeds, etc.....

As soon as I get home, I am ordering my own Personal Blender so we have it the next time we need to travel unexpectedly.

8 comments :

Rawk Star said...

Love the mylar balloon tip! I travel sometimes up to 3-4 times a week by plan and often travel with my raw delicacies!

RawAngels said...

you are brave and your inspiration and creative even not in your kitchen inspire many of us!!!!
I must buy one personal blender too!
i have this small magic bullet with me meanwhile in JAX and very difficult to do juices or smoothies! but is better than not having nothing!!!
love and blessings to you dear!
Marcia

Rawfully Tempting B. Kessler said...

That is what I am using the Magic Bullet....and it's EHH..but yes, better than nothing. Love to you my dear friend!

Angelique said...

Wow, what an ordeal and surprise about the travel situation. It sounds like you are bouncing back from the setbacks. Thank you for taking the time to stop into your blog and document this stuff! I agree about chia -- it's been a life-saver for me on a biz trip. In an "emergency" I just mixed it in water and slurped it down. Totally boring but I had energy all day and wasn't hungry. Chia = love! Cool tip about the mylar - thx again and wishing you safe travels home!

Rawfully Tempting B. Kessler said...

Please note: My doc said to also wrap products in 8-9 layers of aluminum foil if you don't have the heavy mylar bags just to be safe!!!! Gotta run out and get a big box of aluminum foil before I leave since I just had a big shipment of my supplements sent to HOTEL..by the way..the only way my doctors will ship their food or products is via UPS with large stickers that say DO NOT IRRADIATE...according to them, UPS is the ONLY shipping company that guarantees no irradiation.....I don't know enough about this myself, but this is the info that I've been given, so passing it along.

bitt said...

I did not know that about mylar. I have been shipping things lately because my bag gets so heavy. It is easier. But I do it via the post office. Gosh nothing is safe these days.

EARTH MOTHER said...

Wow, such a wonderful testament to where there's a will, there's a way, Barbara. Kudos to you for doing what was necessary to take care of yourself and your own health needs as much as possible.

Thank you (and doc!) for the fab tip on air travel with food. A mylar balloon! Who knew?

Hope Mom is on the mend too!

Rawfully Tempting B. Kessler said...

Thanks Earth Mother..well my doc uses mylar bags that are heavier..if you are going to use mylar balloon..use LOTS of aluminum foil too...that is really supposed to help protect the food. you can buy mylar bags on line too!!!

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