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.

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