Stuff Raw Foodists Like #11: Semi-tree ripened, pesticide-free bananas

yummy!

murado, red variety 

Aren't these great? I have a co-worker whose housemate came from Romblon who got these bananas for free. For free! According to her, the people from her housemate's hometown usually prefer fast food to fresh, free fruit. Wow, would I like to trade places with one of them! 

They sure were a nice break from my regular supply of organic, but picked-unripe-from-the-tree saba, lagkitan and lakatan!  So much sweeter and creamier too, with a different texture. Ooooh, how I loved them!

This got me thinking - how many of the banana varieties from the Philippines have I actually tried? There are about 7,107 islands in my country but so far, I am embarrassed to admit I have only tried Senorita, lakatan, lagkitan, saba, and those perfect-looking, spotless mutant bananas from the supermarket. 

One of my favorite teachers, Bartholomew J. Laihiff, SJ challenged my history class to prioritize exploring  the Philippines over venturing out of the country. I realize it is not too late to do this. And when I do, I think I will try to check out wild bananas instead of those pretty lakatans sold at road side fruit stands.  (Aside from bananas, there are also a lot more mango varieties to be discovered.  And I'm not even talking about hybrids. I was speaking with a farmer from Nueva Ecija and they have red mangoes.)

What varieties of mangoes/bananas do you have in your hometown? What should I be looking out for? Kontactr me!

Now, if I can only find banana-type pushpins for my Philippine map!

Stuff Raw Foodists Like #11: Semi-tree ripened, pesticide-free bananas

Stuff Raw Foodists Like #10: Famous Fruitarians

Steve Jobs used to be a raw foodist. A fruitarian, to be precise.

Legend has it that he was trying to beat a deadline to come up with a name for his new company, and threatened to call it Apple when they couldn't think of one in time.

He was once a subscriber to Just Eat an Apple, Natures First Law's raw newsletter in the late 90s.

Back when he was an Ashton Kutcher-esque fruitarian

I'm not sure how long he was on an all-fruit regimen but he admitted that sometime later, he became a "garbage can like everyone else" (Got this from Raw Food Controversies, by Frederic Patenaude). In 2004 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but surgery helped remove it. There's speculation about what he has now (which caused him to resign from Apple) and what kind of treatment he is receiving, but I am hoping that he somehow gets into raw again! (Not that it is a panacea,  but it does help!)

* * *

I'll be honest - I wasn't that impressed with Apple products when I started using them. Even though we were five minutes away from Microsoft in Redmond, and a lot of our "clients" were Microsoft millionaires, my "office" computer was a Bondi Blue Mac - it was so cute, but I hated it because it was always getting bogged down. My good friend Tin got her brand new iPod and Mac laptop bundle on a student discount and in less than a year she had to have the laptop serviced. Although some of my friends are more than satisfied with their Macs and wouldn't ever "go back" to other computers. Good for them :D

Bondi Blue Mac-ing in Microsoft country

I do enjoy other Apple products now - I think having a Kindle (not an Apple product) and Evernote (not an Apple product) on an iPod is one of the best things ever to have while waiting for Filipino time events to start :D

And I loooved Toy Story and Monster's Inc. by Steve Job's Pixar Animation.

Stuff Raw Foodists Like #10: Famous Fruitarians

Langka Smoothie

I loooove langka. I especially like in a langka-luya smoothie! (Thanks to Asha Peri for introducing me to do this!). Here is a variation of langka-luya that you can use if you are out of gata :D

Try this recipe and let me know  how you like/don't like it. Reviews welcome!

Ingredients:

1-2 cups fresh carrot juice
2-3 cups langka, seeded
1 T fresh turmeric
1 T fresh ginger

Preparation:

Just blend everything in a high-speed blender. Experiment with putting in big pieces of unjuiced carrot :D

or

For regular blenders - Put in the carrot juice and add the langka pieces little by little. Chop the turmeric and ginger before adding them in.

Langka Smoothie

Mulberry Smoothies

So how did everyone enjoy the long weekend?

I went on an amazing  retreat that I highly recommend. So blessed to have been part of it! Let me know via kontactr if you want to know more about it.

Since other people prepared the food, I wasn't able to eat all raw - had steamed veggies and fish. (Yes, yes, since I am unable to take locally available vitamin B12, I decided to eat raw or steamed fish  - usually salmon - once a week) The first night I ate fried string beans and some sauteed fruit and veggies - I think I ate a little bit of the breading so I started to itch, but praise God nothing other than some redness occurred!

Anyhoo, on to the post...

A few days before leaving for the retreat, I enjoyed a mulberry smoothie - thanks to Monina Carandang of Herbana Farms who graciously offered some freshly picked ones from their tree!

Anti-oxidant Mulberry Green Smoothies

Ingredients:

2 cups locally harvested, fresh organic mulberries
4 ripe bananas (or substitute 3 bananas plus half a cup to one cup other berries for an uber anti-oxidant experience)
1 bunch  kangkong leaves

1 cup of water or 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup ice

(I like my smoothies thicker and I often forego water, but you could try this with water and see if you like it this way)

Preparation:

Blend everything in your trusty high-speed blender!

* * *

I love these mulberries on so many different levels!

They remind me of when a friend from New Zealand took me on my first fruit foraging experience in Washington State.  Blackberries are not a big deal there. They seem to just grow everywhere, even in poor soil.  And no one really minds if you forage.

So a-foraging we went! 

(By the way, the blackberry isn't a real berry. It is a compound fruit. Nerd alert! :P)

* * *

And the fact I went foraging helps me forge some kind of kinship with author Canadian Frederic Patenaude and the many California and Las Vegas raw foodists who have foraged before me. 

* * *

I also love that these mulberries  are cheaper than the blueberries at the health food stores/groceries. 

Contact:
Monina Carandang
0921-664-7027
Salcedo Market, Saturdays

(I don't get discounts for advertising Herbana farms. Monina is the daughter of one my dad's law school brods, but I have been ordering from her for a long time even before I discovered this. I usually get my veggies from her weekly, but I couldn't during the long weekend since I was away.)

Mulberry Smoothies

My Avocado Tree/Bocca B Sunbeam Catcher Beautiful Pink Tea

This is Bocca B, my teeny little avocado tree who loves feasting on coffee grounds and organic compost!

 Bocca B, 

my teeny little super tree,

oh how I like thee!

Green sunbeam 

catchers make beautiful pink tea - 

great for the kidney!

Tea party

guests who try it will all agree -

great tea = caffeine-free!

Ten long years

before you become all fruity - 

that's just fine by me!

* * *

Bocca B Green Sunbeam Catchers Beautiful Pink Tea

Ingredients:

7 leaves of the Bocca B

A liter of clean, fresh water (preferably filtered) - not tap water

Preparation:

Bring water to a boil.

Reduce the heat.

Place 7 leaves of the Bocca B tree in the water. Put the lid on the cookware and let simmer until the water turns pink.

Turn off the heat. 

Let the tea cool to room temperature.

Pour into beautiful tea cups!

Call all your fellow Anne of Green Gables fans ages 9 and up to have a mostly raw food tea party! 

Look Ma, no caffeine! This is waaay better than drinking sugar-laden pretend-tea orange juice!

* * *

(I heard that another kidney cleanser tea is the edible weed pansit-pansitan. I usually like my pansit-pansitan raw, in a green smoothie. But if you want to try pansit-pansitan tea, just steep the pansit-pansitan leaves in a nice tea pot filled with boiling water.)

Can you tell I'm happy that my nephrologist said my kidneys are a-ok? :D

***If you have kidney problems, it's best to listen to your doctor, not to me :D

My Avocado Tree/Bocca B Sunbeam Catcher Beautiful Pink Tea

Unfried rice

Ingredients:

amaranth, 1 tablespoon or less soaked overnight

millet, 2 or more tablespoons soaked over night

1 cup or more wild rice sprouted

1 carrot

wakame soaked in water, then rinsed

1/2 patola

thyme leaves

1/4 cup red onion or a handful of shallots chopped

few spritzes of calamansi  (I like mine sour :))

Bragg nutritional yeast or nut cheeze

angel seaweed from Dr. Tam's Vegan Haus

a dash of extra virgin olive oil (optional)

1 clove of garlic

Preparation:

Cut the garlic in half and rub your salad bowl with each half. Discard garlic. 

Toss the rest of the ingredients together in the salad bowl. 

*Low fat raw vegans may choose between olive oil or nut cheeze


This recipe contains RDA:
Vitamin B6
Vitamin B12
Copper
Iron
Magnesium
Manganese
Niacin
Pant. Acid
Phosporus
Riboflavin
Thiamin
Zinc

It has trace amounts of:
Vitamin A
Calcium
Vitamin C
Vitamin E

There is no Vitamin D in this recipe.

It is 11% fat,  13% protein, and 76% carbs

Unfried rice

Pansit-pansitan Experiment

I was super excited to take care of pansit-pansitan especially after I tried it in a green smoothie. 

It is a local edible weed claimed to have kidney cleaning properties. I heard that a well-known archbishop claims that it removed his kidney stones and he likes to steep it in boiling water for use as a tea. 

When I found out some weeds grew nearby,  I tried to transplant them, but  my first attempt didn't go so well.  I remember thinking, how difficult could it be to grow a weed?! 

I waited too long before transplanting so they were too dehyrated. This time, I  am not taking any chances!

I am planting in living soil (read: composted)...

as well as some composted soil along with some regular soil. 

Will the experiment work or not? I guess I will find out soon enough!

Pansit-pansitan Experiment