Spotted bananas and blender benders!!!

Hey Fruit Friends!!

FRUIT WIN:  I have been enjoying all of the beautiful papayas I scored recently.  They are so lovely and sweet when they turn golden in color and give to gentle pressure.  I also scored some beautiful spotted bananas at my local salvage food store for $0.29/lb!!  Make sure to ask your grocer what they do with their spotted bananas.  Some grocers bag them and discount them, but others simply throw them out.  You may be able to arrange to regularly pick them up at a certain time at the discounted price!  :)

FRUIT CHALLENGE:  I have been blending my fruit dressings in a food processor, but it is limiting in terms of creating a smooth creamy texture and I can't put tough-skinned fruit or ice in my food processor!  I've heard that BlendTec blenders are the best.

http://www.blendtec.com/

I went to Amazon and even the used Blendtecs are close to $400!!!  Yikes!!!  Do you guys know of any other good blenders that work just as well for whipping up fruit and ice?  I used to own a Vitamix blender and got it used on Ebay.  It worked for blending softer fruits, but struggled when it came to blending ice and tough-skinned fruit.  Let me know what you guys think!!                                                  
                                                                                                                                       ~Traci

Persimmon Seeds!!

Fresh Dates!!

Fruit dressing ideas

Hi fruit friends!!

One of our listeners inspired me to write a bit about dressings.   I don't do a lot with complicated dressings because they are time consuming and difficult on digestion.  However, adding 2-3 oz of papaya seeds to a simple 3-4 ingredient dressing is a good way to contribute to your 10% daily fat healthily.  In a blender, combine 1 food from each category:

Savory:  Onion, garlic, ginger, green onion, leek (go easy on these)

Herb:  Celery, basil, cilantro, rosemary, oregano, sage

Fruit:  Tomato, mango, papaya, zucchini, cucumber, bell pepper, oranges, dates

Fat:  Avocado, pumpkin seeds, papaya seeds, chia seeds, macadamia nuts, pine nuts

Simply blend one from each group, adding some lemon or lime as a condiment if you like.  Pour this dressing over your greens and you're low fat raw vegan 80/10/10!!!!    :)  

Hi fruit friends!

FRUIT CHALLENGE:  I am still on the hunt for a different fruit with a higher fat content to possibly use with salads in the evenings.  I love using avocado in my salads, but I am growing a bit bored of it.  I sometimes have durian in the evenings, which is also nice.  I also have made plenty of dressings with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and zucchini.  I often process it in the food processor with greens so that I can get it down more easily!  It often looks something like this:

Do y'all have any new fruity ideas for dinner?

FRUIT WIN:  PAPAYA SCORE!!!!  Check this out!!

$2.98 per papaya....and they're HUGE!!!  I'm in love......                                           ~Traci

Fruit challenges and Fruit Wins!!

Hey Fruit Friends,

I would like to post a "Fruit Challenge" as well as a "Fruit Win" because I find that I face so many challenges trying to stay on the 80/10/10 lifestyle, ranging from social pressures to financial difficulties.  I also know that I am thankful for my health convictions and that I am free to make my own choices about what to put in my body.  With that, I begin my daily entries:

FRUIT CHALLENGE:  I really want to find a large fruit wholesaler who will sell to me as an individual (not necessarily as a business) and also have the variety of fruit that I want.  I particularly love papayas and durian.  Have you seen the videos by Michael Arnstein, the Fruitarian, where he goes to a huge wholesaler in Brooklyn, NY?  He gets a ton of fruit for cheap and sometimes free because the wholesaler ordered too much and or they have some boxes leftover and it's not enough to sell to stores.  It seems that I don't have quite that good a gig here in Asehville, NC.  I do have the Western North Carolina Farmer's Market that contains 2 wholesalers, but it seems they just want to sell to businesses.

FRUIT WIN:  Did a little dumpster diving at my local salvage grocery store (actually it's just a small box they throw "overly ripe" fruit in as they are stocking.  I grabbed a bunch of cucumber, tomatoes, and apples that were actually perfectly ripe!!  Check your local grocery store and see if they have similar "dump boxes" and SCORE!!!!     ~Love, Traci                                                                                

High on the Persimmon!!!