Persimmon...is it ripe??

Hey y'all!!  It's that time of year again and persimmons are in season.  I just posted a new video on YouTube about how to determine if your persimmons are ripe!  I had a recent fruit haul from Sam's Club, including several bags of persimmons.  The key is to stock up on a ton of them because they can take 3-4 weeks to fully convert their starches to sugars.  Check out my fun vid:

Persimmons...is it ripe??

Enjoy the beautiful Fall season and smash down those persimmons!              Xoxo,  Traci

Sam's Club Fruit Haul!!

Hey guys!  Sorry for the long break!  I wanted to pop in and let you know about my latest video.  My recent trip to my local Sam's Club yielded a fruitful haul!  I found organic raspberries, Ataulfo mangos, sugar snap peas, and big bags of persimmons!  That was the first time I've seen persimmons in bulk!  They are usually so expensive by the piece.  Here is a pic of my haul:

Here's the video of my haul:

Stock up on that fruit!  

Xoxo, Traci

My low fat vegan trip to Savannah, GA!!

Hey friends of the fruit!

I just got back from my family trip to Savannah, GA.  I enjoyed the beautiful historic downtown district, visited the farmer's market at Forsythe Park (look for that video soon!), rode the trolley down to the river, went to the beach at Tybee Island, visited the City Market downtown, and maintained my high fruit, low fat vegan lifestyle while eating at Our Lady and Sons and various other eateries.

Me at Forsythe Park in Savannah, GA

It is so important to plan ahead before going out of town.  I brought 3 cases of mangoes, a golden dewlicious melon, a box of dates, and bananas.  I bought local peaches while I was in Savannah, too!  I also brought a ton of sweet potatoes, several varieties of regular potatoes, quinoa, couscous, and pasta for my dinners. I looked ahead on the internet for vegan/vegetarian restaurants and found a place called the Sentient Bean, which had a market beside it called Brighter Days Natural Foods.

http://www.sentientbean.com/

http://www.brighterdayfoods.com/retailer/store_templates/shell_id_1.asp?storeID=AD4DB884427948DBA7A06D81F925991B

At the Sentient Bean, I noticed on the menu that they offered stuffed baked potatoes, so I ordered 3 huge plain baked potatoes.  I also got a side salad no dressing.  It was delicious and low fat vegan!  Brighter Day market had a juice bar and lots of vegan foods!  I had also used an app called Happy Cow to locate these hidden treasures!

http://www.happycow.net/

You can enjoy a healthy vacation anywhere with a little research and planning!

Xoxoxoxo,  Traci

Fruit Lovers!!! Yummy Low Fat Banana Soft Serve Raw Vegan Style!! :)

Hey Fruit Lovers!!

I have been LOVING my Ataulfo mangoes lately!  They are so sweet and juicy!  I get them at my local Sam's Club by the box.  They are often green and it takes a good week to week and a half to get to that orange-colored ripeness!  I still wish I had a local fruit wholesaler who was willing to sell to me as an individual buyer.  Oh well!  I'm still grateful that I can get tropical fruit in Asheville, NC!

I just put up a video on YouTube called "Low Fat Banana Soft Serve".  It is so easy and yummy!  JUST BANANAS!!  Check it out:

I am going to be getting busy in the kitchen with some summer yummies, so be on the lookout for more videos, tips, tricks and FRUIT!!!                                                                    Xoxoxo,  Traci

A Very Fruity Birthday Surprise!!

Hello Fruit Lovers!!

I had the best surprise 40th birthday party ever!  My parents and brother/fam came from Florida and my sister came from Greenville, SC (I live in Asheville, NC) along with my beautiful friends.  My husband took me to what I thought was going to be a quiet lunch at Hana's Japanese restaurant.  I starting walking to the back of the restaurant with my husband and daughter, when I looked up and saw this huge group of people that I love yell "SURPRISE!!!"  I was so excited!!  I feel humbled and grateful that all of these people came to one spot just for me.  My friends from my Tae Kwon Do practice, my friends from my NIA dance practice, and my friends that I know through my daughter's school all gathered.

One of my friends, Anne Z. Johnson, is a certified Culinarian and has a personal chef service.  She specialized in making a complete healthy dinner for you. Well, my wonderful husband arranged to have Anne make two ALL FRUIT, ONLY FRUIT birthday cakes for me!  He told her the fruits I like and she put her creative skills to work!  She made me the most delicious, beautiful "fruit cakes" that looked like they belonged in a glass case at Whole Foods Market!  She used cantaloupe as the bowl to hold the layers of papaya, strawberry, and banana.  She blended strawberry and medjool dates (SWOON) for the frosting and delicately accented the cake with sliced strawberries, pineapple slices, and papaya balls.  Thank you, Anne, for the sweet and delicious birthday gift.  I will never forget it!  :)  If you would like to talk to Anne about a specialty food service, she can be reached via:

Blog:      personalchefanne.blogspot.com
Email:     annezjohnson@gmail.com.
Phone:    (828) 299-4883.

Gorgeous!!

All Fruit!!

The Most Delicious Birthday Cake I've Had!!

I Had the Leftovers in One Sitting!!

Heaven!!

Get Juicy with Mango Fruit!!!

Hey Fruit Friends!

Check out my latest video on the Ataulfo mango!                                                        ~Traci

Mandolin Slicer Injury WARNING GRAPHIC!!

Hello Fruit Friends!!  March 20th is the first day of Spring!!  I am so excited for the Spring and Summer crops.  I just put all of my seedlings in the ground and I'm hoping we don't have too many more nights below freezing.  In the meantime, I'm enjoying my spotted bananas, papaya, dates, tomatoes, pineapple, oranges, and DURIAN!!  

FRUIT WIN:  I scored an incredible durian at my local Asian market.  It was about 6 pounds and had hints of vanilla and papaya.....SO GOOD!  I found that I'm getting faster at opening durian.  I used to fuss with it for several minutes and saw away at it with a serrated knife.  Now, I just find the "zipper" line along the body of a pod and press firmly into the zipper with both thumb pads as if I'm spearing it.  The zipper just splits open and I can pull it apart.  Sometimes I can pull it open so that the durian splits in half!  Then, I just do the same thing with all of the other pods.

Splitting the first pod

Aerial view of 5 split pods

FRUIT CHALLENGE:  I used my mandolin slicer for the first time last night and made a careless mistake.  I was slicing cucumber and got impatient with the guard slipping, so I just used my hand to slice.  I got my fingers a little too close to the blade and sliced my fingertip off of my right hand ring finger!!  I didn't get stitches, but it was a serious cut.  Lesson learned.  So, please be careful when you are using a mandolin.  They make beautiful slices for raw pizza or lasagna, but use care and don't be in a hurry.  

My ouchie:

Sur La Table actually has some pretty nice looking mandolines and there are instructional safe use videos on their website:

http://www.surlatable.com/category/SCA-5833/Mandolines-and-Slicers

Xoxo, Traci

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!!!

Papaya 101

Durian Love!!!

The Alluring Black Sapote!

Get your juice on!!!!

Hey friends of the fruit!  My name is Traci and I enjoy a healthy and abundant lifestyle following the 80/10/10 low fat raw vegan diet.  The 80 stands for 80% carbohydrates, primarily from fresh, ripe organic fruits.  The 10 stands for 10% protein, primarily from dark, leafy organic greens.  The other 10 stands for 10% fat, primarily from soft fruits, such as avocado and coconut meat, some nuts and seeds.  These foods give me the energy that I want for my daily activities.  I know that I am eating the healthiest diet in the world because I live off the land.  I know that I am caring for my environment and the animals by not eating dairy or animal meat.  I never restrict my calories, as I eat abundantly until I am satisfied.  I love to share my fruit experiences with you through my Youtube videos and now I can share with you via this blog!  :)         ~Traci