How to store, ripen, & keep from over ripening bananas (VIDEO)

How much fruit & vegetables should I eat? (Pictures of meals this week)

I have never heard a doctor say "you need to eat more meat", only those who say you need to eat more fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables contain all the necessary calories, carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins and minerals we need to sustain. It is ironic when I hear my fellow man say he needs to obtain protein from an animal, when that very animal obtains all of its protein from grass. It is also comical when people insist we evolved by eating and hunting animals and cooking our food-- when we evolved at that point by eating only fruits and leaves.

Our food industry has us so addicted to cheeses, meats, chocolate, greasy bread and fatty desserts, we couldn't care less where these foods come from. Food corporations do not want you to know how they slaughter billions of animals everyday, or the fact that your meat contains ammonia, bleach, and pink slime. They do not want you to know that your genetically modified foods are altering your own psyche.

Food works much like drugs, foods with high salt and oil content are stimulating which encourages us to consume more foods like this. Fruits and vegetables do not seem stimulating in the way that burgers, fries, cake, and chocolate are stimulating.
When did people stop viewing food as nourishment? When did people decide they would rather have anti-nutrient foods? Instead of sitting down to a plate of vegetables from our garden-- now if we make the decision to eat vegetables, it must be deep fried or breaded.

I have come to conclude that television and advertisements have ruined our ideology of health. Women limit their calories from food instead of eating an abundance of healthy foods-- then they wonder why they feel deprived and psychotic. Food corporations use trigger phrases like '100 calories' to mislead you about their product. Phrases like this try to reassure women and men that their product is healthy. Pink slime is pink slime (and calories do not matter).
This isn't the only issue with food corporations. They use snake tactics like Mascots (Ronald McDonald, the Colonel, the Red head from Wendy's and the Rat used for Chuckie Cheese) as images to associate with the food they are selling. This is especially good marketing to entice children.
We all know Wendy's had the word 'MOM' blended into collar of the red head within the logo. The word 'MOM' could create unconscious feelings of comfort, safety, home as a way to lure younger individuals. McDonald's usually attaches a play land to their restaurant-- another means to lure children. Obviously parents are doing what they think is best and feel good about taking their child somewhere to play with other children while eating food that works within their budget.

Can we not see that these industries make it easier to access unhealthy foods, while making organic, non-gmo foods unattainable to the poorest of people? Even the poorest people do not have access to the research on health, due to the expense of Internet, computers, books, education.

Of course, What you allow, is what will continue...so...The best I can do for people is to show them how much fruits and vegetables to eat. The best I can do for our society is show people how to grow their own food in order to sustain a healthy lifestyle and live for free doing so. I do not wish to judge those who still eat unhealthy because I understand that the corruption of our world leaders is deeply engrained in our culture. Those who understand do not judge, and those who judge, do not understand. So I am here to provide encouragement to eat healthier. At least eat more fruits and vegetables! How hard is to eat bananas everyday when it is the least expensive nutrient dense food?

In the rest of this post I have provided pictures of meals I eat regularly and what I buy every week from the grocery store.

In the photo above: Carrots, dates, oranges, apples, peppers, grapes, avocados, lettuce, cantaloupe, cauliflower and bananas. Bananas are my staple. Potatoes and rice are a staple in my partner's diet, which is not seen here, but potatoes and rice are inexpensive in large quantities, similar to bananas.It is important to obtain 80% or more of your calories from carbohydrates.

Here is a typical salad: Iceberg lettuce with cucumbers, carrots, peppers and tomatoes with dressing of tomatoes, pieces of cucumber & carrots and avocado. As you can tell in the photo above, I have spiralized the carrots and cucumbers into noodles.

Another salad with similar ingredients as the one before. I usually do not alter ingredients, I always stick to my basic formula: lettuce, cucumber, tomato, carrots, avocado.

This salad is a little different, without the addition of carrots. Instead I have added chopped cauliflower for a 'feta cheese' effect.

Salad with spiralized cucumber and carrots overtop a bed of lettuce and tomato. The dressing I used is featured in the picture directly below:

The dressing is made of three oranges (juiced) with 1 cup of grapes (seeded) and a little avocado.

It seems I eat a lot of salads, but I actually eat much more smoothies. For breakfast I eat 7-10 bananas blended with a little water. It tastes like I'm drinking pure sugar. Sometimes I add blueberries, strawberries, grapes, or dates with the bananas. I also have banana smoothies for Lunch too. So it is uncommon that I eat up to 10-20 bananas everyday. In the photo above I made two separate smoothies (one for me and one for James), but I ended up mixing the two: 7 bananas blended with strawberries then the other with 7 bananas blended with strawberries.

50 Bananas, 4 heads of iceberg lettuce, 9 tomatoes, 3 red peppers, and 4 cucumbers = $20

Another salad with similar ingredients, lettuce, tomatoes, spiralized carrots & cucumber with chopped cauliflower on top.

In this salad I added purple cabbage for some color. All of the individual pictures of salads were different dinners. I usually have a salad everyday for dinner while I eat bananas and other fruits for breakfast and lunch. For example in the picture below, my favorite breakfast is melons. I will eat a whole cantaloupe or watermelon to myself...

Of course I encourage others to eat their fruits and vegetables in their raw, ripe, whole and natural form. Ideally for optimal nutrition, fresh, ripe, seasonal raw fruits and vegetables should make up most (if not all) of your diet. I understand that this may be difficult, so do your best. The Vegan diet can be incredibly inexpensive, my partner and I usually spend $30-$45 every week. Canned, dehydrated, or frozen fruits can be supplemented if you cannot afford fresh fruits. Potatoes and rice may be added in the diet if you have no other (optimal) options around. Potatoes and rice and refined sugars are best if Organic.
Remember, Bananas are the cheapest of all foods and contain Potassium and essential amino acids for sustenance, so these should be your staple. At this point in my life, bananas take up 60% of my diet.

Visit the links below for more examples of how I eat and what is most optimal for health, endurance, and preventive medicine:

• Garden Harvest & Grocery Hauls (Raw Vegan budget)

• Garden updates & Harvest photos (& what to plant during summer to fall season

• Veganism is the cheapest diet?!

As you read the links above, suggestions for further reading will be provided at the end of every blog post.

More pictures for you...

 

Smoothies v. Juices v. Whole Food (Fruit, Greens, & Veggies)

Anyone that has been a raw foodists or vegan for long-term, begins to accumulate all sorts of food prep equipment throughout the years (juicers, blenders, food processors, and the like).

The holidays are approaching, and if you celebrate Christmas with your family, these devices are some things you could ask for as gifts, if you also want to avoid buying food prep equipment for yourself. Or even better, you could buy someone a blender or juicer in order to encourage them to eat healthier.

I remember my Dad bought me a blender back in 2005 when I went vegan, and have bought several since then. My partner bought me a juicer in 2009 or '10 --which I am still using-- he got it from Walmart for $30 (GM brand). I think the 'Ninja bullet' food processors are $15 (good for blended small portions).

I am currently using a blender that I bought from Goodwill for $2.50. I am not ashamed to use a second-hand blender instead of the Vitamix! Usually thrift stores have well-priced junk to repurpose.

 

Garden updates & Harvest photos (& what to plant during summer to fall season)



I have harvested 100 lbs of tomatoes from June to August,
approximately $150 if I bought this at the grocery store

what to do with all of these tomatoes???

Perfect for raw soups, salads, juices, dehydrated, and more



my partner and I have been eating lots of stir-fry, soups,
and salads with these ingredients



Growing a small scale garden has allowed me to eat lunch and
dinner from my garden, everyday for the past two months



zucchini, cucumbers, okra, and squash

last of the tomatoes and peppers of the season

Garden harvest & grocery haul with mangoes, bananas, and avocadoes

9 Organic cucumbers from the garden is the
equivalent of $8.50 if bought at a store

harvest of cucumbers and peppers (the equivalent  of$15)



Estimates $6-7 of arugula, from the Spring garden

lettuce & green onions

Most of the meals I've made with my garden veggies have been salads. The most simplistic and tasty salad is a combination of chopped cucumbers and chopped tomatoes (with a little avocado) over a bed of lettuce. I use three cucumbers and five tomatoes to make a large salad. I will also chop tomatoes and cumbers over a bed of lettuce with a sauce made of blended mango, tomatoes, zucchini, banana and jalapeno peppers, and dill from my garden (you could also add some avocado to the sauce).



Cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers from the garden 
with mango and avocado.

Another dinner for me is a typical fruitarian soup: mangoes and tomatoes.


Basic Skin and Hair Needs & the Foods that Work

pic source

It's not unlikely that a woman would use three different skincare products, then follow this regimen up with three different makeup products like I was doing. I remember using lots of facial products to prevent acne, and lots of makeup to cover it up. I am glad I realized I needed to heal within the body, at the source, rather than treating the symptoms.
From 2009 to 2011, I was smoking and drinking heavily, consequently my face broke out severely in 2011. During this time I was stressed from school. The combination of stress, lack of sleep, alcohol, and cigarettes affected my hormones. Once I made the connection that these stressors elevated my hormones and promoted the cystic acne, I immediately stopped smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and began eating green juices, green smoothies, fruit smoothies, raw vegetables, raw salads. Within a couple of months, my family noticed a drastic difference in my face.

Now, I use zero foundation on my face. I wash my face with only water, and maybe use some of the foods listed below. I usually have one break out right before my period, but I combat that with aloe. Of course I grow several aloe plants, so I always have aloe around to use. Fruit and plants for facial care is an overall healthy, effective, and natural alternative to commercial skincare products, and they are also inexpensive. For example, fruit and plants naturally provide nutrients and moisturizes the skin. Coconut oil can be applied on the face, body, and hair as a moisturizer. Another example, sea salt can be an exfoliate for the face.
Many of these plants and fruits can provide a specific skin or hair need. I do not mention it below, but I especially like using tomatoes on the face. Below I have listed many different foods that take care of specific skin and hair needs:

Cleanser: baking soda, oranges, lemons, limes, tomatoes, apples, onions and garlic (sounds weird to use on the face, but they contain antibacterial/antibiotic properties), strawberries, ALOE VERA

Toner: Apple cider vinegar, cucumber or celery juice

Exfoliate: Sea salt, sugar, cornmeal, oats, ground nuts, wheat germ, ground flax seeds

Calming/cooling: mint, oats, Aloe Vera, almond milk
Tighten skin: pineapple, persimmon, squashes, banana peel
Lighten dark spots: Lemon or pineapple

Moisturizer: Oil (coconut, olive, walnut, etc), avocados, Aloe Vera, bananas

Toothpaste recipe: 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp water made into a paste and applied to teeth (credit: Eco Beauty by Cox & Cox

Your skin needs Vitamins A, C, E, B vitamins, and Selenium. Foods rich in Vitamin A are carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, Swiss Chard. Those rich in Vitamin C are citrus fruits and tropical fruits. Get your B vitamins through Bananas. Get vitamin E through nuts and seeds. Your skin needs vitamin D as well, so be sure to catch some sun rays throughout the week outdoors. Overall, I recommend eating a fruit dominate diet with vegetables, tender leafy greens, and some grains, beans, nuts, seeds. If a food is good for you to eat, it is probably good for your skin too. 

Protein Myth Debunked ("Where do you get your protein!?")

"The story of protein is part science, part culture and a good dose of mythology" says Dr T Colin Campbell. In Campbell's book "The China Study" he states he worked in the Philippines to analyze foods contaminated with Aflatoxin (one of the most dangerous carcinogens), and also research who was most susceptible to the carcinogen. Campbell found that two areas in the Philippines, Manila and Cebu, had the highest rates of liver cancer due to the high levels of this carcinogen found in jarred peanut butter and corn. Manila consumed the most jarred peanut butter where Cebu consumed the most contaminated corn. Campbell goes on to note, "Namely,the children who got liver cancer were from the best-fed families. The families with the most money ate what we thought were the healthiest diets, the diets most like our own meaty American diets. They consumed more protein than anyone else in the country (high quality animal protein, at that), and yet they were the ones getting liver cancer!" (pg 36).
I really enjoyed an article "Why is plant protein better than animal protein" by OneGreenPlanet that outlined the Protein requirements, and how Protein deficiency is practically unheard of (unless you're anorexic). Not only that, but as mentioned above, the average American gets TOO much protein and fat in their diet which fuels heart and vascular issues, thyroid, mental fog, cancer/disease. 
Of course Freelee the Banana Girl always outlines her videos with a great message and information which you can watch in the video below:

For the sake of argument, vegans (at least myself) get triple the amount of protein every day or every other day than the recommended amount from calories (3% from calories.) The best sources of protein on a vegetarian and vegan diet are greens, beans, nuts, seeds, rice, oats, and wheat. All planted based sources of protein are LOW FAT, so there are lower risks of gaining of weight.

I would recommend you obtain your protein from fruits, vegetables, beans (boiled), and rice (boiled not fried.) Because nuts and seeds are high in fat, I do not eat them often (except for harvesting them off the tree during Fall and Winter month). 

It's true meat and eggs contain a high amount of protein -- but that's it! And this "precious Protein" in the form of Animal protein comes with a cost: leaching calcium from your bones to neutralize the acidity of these foods. 

Above all, and putting "nutrition" aside, does eating animal flesh and their secretions justify the slaughter and inhumane treatment of other beings? Veganism is an ethical decision with the health perks.

Losing weight fast vs keeping the weight off

I have seen people lose weight, by eating the least nutritious diet. Actually, I have a friend that lives off Ramen and cigarettes, which has contributed to his 75 lb weight loss in FOUR MONTHS!!! That is a remarkable amount of weight in a little amount of time. In some weird way, I was jealous of his weight loss (not that I want to lose 75 lb...I would blow away with the wind.) Then I started studying my siblings' diet -- which live off meat and bread, but who are incredibly much thinner than I am. But my partner reassured me that their metabolism would eventually weaken and slow down, as my friend eventually will, and they will become much larger as they get older. Thank goodness for boyfriend's reassurance!

But focusing on those who WANT to lose weight for good: you cannot shed weight fast and expect to keep the weight off on a calorie-restricting and carb-restricting diet. Calories and carbs don't make you fat  -- FAT MAKES YOU FAT.

How to escape from the pressures of society

It is no wonder we want to escape from reality if we have to wake up at 6:30am and prepare to go to a job we hate, to pay off 'things' that we're told we have to have (i.e. vehicles, cable, cell phones, etc.) My post on how single mothers can live for free similarly answers the question 'how can we escape from society (or pressures)?'

Vehicles and other transportation are one of the largest contributors directly associated with air pollution. Moreover, your food should be coming from your garden. We cannot keep depending on the reliance of vehicles for our convenience of imported food. Or else if we face some sort of collapse of oil, then we can say good-bye to Florida Oranges being shipped on a truck to Michigan; or California dates transported on a truck to New York. 
Our dependence on the grocery store is directly related to our dependence on oil. 
I admit I eat many imported foods but there is a reason why I am trying to grow as many fruit trees and fruit bushes and vegetable gardens. I would love to construct an in ground greenhouse for lemon, lime, mandarin, and banana trees. 

Once again, find a way to grow your own food -- I have a blog post on how apartment dwellers can grow food (if you don't have garden space to do so) here: Three Ways to Grow Food & Other Plants for Apartment Dwellers (Indoors/Outdoors). 
Ask friends or family who own property, preferably more than 3 acres -- if you can build a garden or build a small house for you and/or your family. In return, you can give them your extra or leftover food you grew, in exchange for living on their land. 

If you do not have family or friends that can allow you to do this, find a spot in the woods that is less traveled by human/animal, has shade and sun, and is close enough to human contact in an emergency. Tutorials on debris shelters for living in the woods go to
Semi-Permanent Debris Shelters - Vegans Living Off the Land
and Construct your own home.
Screw anyone that tells you you have to own property! 
I am growing food on my Mom's and grandparents' yard, and building my Earth home in my Grandparents' woods because I intend to live for free.

I have mentioned our dependence on driving a vehicle, which leads me to my next tip: Reduce your use of other technologies like cell phones, washer, dryer, dish washer. These things are expensive and unnecessary in most cases. If you want to "escape" from the pressures of our society, you may want to remind yourself of what is most important. Once again, these machines are an unsustainable and finite resources (when coal cannot be used to power our luxuries.) However, technology is NOT the issue, it is powering these technologies and being obsessed with the technologies that are symbols of capitalism, greed, laziness, and sloth. Of all technologies, internet access is the best tool for teaching one another how to do things for FREE. It is one of the greatest Anarchist technologies.
With that being said, I would invest in solar panels when you can afford to do so. Small Solar panels will power at least the use of a laptop or one light of your house. 


If you plan to settle down (and own your own property): build your own house out of recycled materials (i.e. wood, straw, mud, and stone from the woods.) For more information on how to create a home using recycled materials, and innovative ways to construct your home for CHEAP, go here for inspiring videos: Kirstendirksen on youtube, also read The Hand-sculpted House for another approach to free and environmentally-conscience building.

Escaping the pressures of society would be to live as the other animals using your evolved skills of construct large shelters and growing food. Keep in mind, Humans are the only animals that heats (cooks) their food, we have all of these (wonderful and convenient yet unsustainable) technologies. 
It only makes sense to eat fresh, raw, ripe fruits and vegetables that you can grow in your climate. Forage for foods that grow in the wild. 
 

How to Take the Guess Work Out of Eating Vegetarian, Vegan, or Raw Food

When you're interested in changing your diet, you immediately look for recipes online or buy cookbooks -- not really looking for information on how to make the transition easier, or how to be healthy.

But, what if cooking is NOT your thing? What if you cannot prepare a meal for yourself because you're not good at it? What if you don't have time to prepare a meal? And what if you're just fed up with looking for recipes that end up costing you a butt-load, and they take so much time to make? Or what if you just don't know what to make to eat, because you're too tired?

The easiest, cheapest, and cleansing method, for taking the worry and guess work out of preparing a meal, is: eat mono meals. "Mono meals" is a phrase used to describe eating ONE vegetable or fruit (usually in large quantities to get your calories) at one meal. For example, for breakfast: 1 large watermelon; for lunch: 5+ apples; and for dinner: 9+ bananas -- strive for 2500 (women) & 3000 (men) calories a day on fruit!

Don't Be Fooled By the Supplements & Superfoods!

In the last year of my raw vegan research, I've noticed health gurus are always selling a product. One of the  world's leading authorities on nutrition, David Wolfe, is known to promote superfoods, but not real food! Why is he a health expert, if he is only selling a refined version of the food you should be eating? It's because there's no money in telling people: "EAT BANANAS!" or "EAT MANGOES!"

Photo by "Thai Food" on About.com 

Actually, I was very fascinated by the maca, lucuma powder, cacao, and spirulina that I saw online. And I was fascinated because I thought I needed these superfoods, because the authorities were raving about how much better they feel on supplements. Luckily, I NEVER bought any of those products, because I realized some of the people in the raw food world was just as blinded by marketing schemes as someone saying you need to restrict your calories or your carbs to lose weight. If you need more vitamin C, eat a meal of oranges for breakfast, then for lunch have a meal of bananas...your vitamin C levels will go up tremendously (and that's cheaper than buying camu camu.)