Green bean plants

I was out of town, driving with my friends in the middle of nowhere
and I saw this



close up

yupppp..... green beans
I got so excited because I've never seen the plant before hohoho
and I thought the plant would grow low near the soil :)

How to Stop Hiccups ?

My friend once told me the best way to get of hiccups is to
bend over and drank water upside down.
like so

I laughed at him and thought he was nuts.
turns out it really works !!!!
I mean you don't really have to drink lots of water, just a sip, and it works

Just becareful not to get water inside your nose :)

What do people eat back then ?

I mean, way way back then.
Were they all Vegan ? Raw Vegan ?

What about winter times ?
No Vegetables around, they have to eat meat, right ?
although they do have dried seed, nuts, grains, etc

What about people who live in warm climate where there's no Winter and fruits and Vegetables are available all year long ?
Do they still eat meat ?

I suppose even if people do eat meat, the meat came from wild animals,
a. which means these animals eat natural food from the forest
b. their living conditions are well... the jungle
no stress from being crammed in small cages without sunlight
c. no pollution from their environment
d. no antibiotics, drugs, hormones to make them grow bigger and fatter and faster.

And back then, people ate the meat :
1. Without additional preservatives, artificial coloring, artificial flavors.
2. The meat wasn't frozen and then thawed and then frozen again and then.... (u get the point)....during shipping
3. People don't eat meat on a daily basis.

So in short... Back then, People ate healthier with a better meat quality, not daily.

Let's look at NOW
Eating meat has become a daily habit, breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner.
plus desserts, dairy, cheese, sugar, sugar sugar
Yes, most of us make sure to eat all those junk food on a daily basis !!
All those meat and dairy and egg is filled with antibiotics, hormones, etc
What we eat is not lean meat, but unhealthy fatty meat.... yummm...;p
and the food we have at our table is filled with preservatives, artificial color and flavor, salt, salt, sugar, sugar.
then to make it worse, we fry them.
again... on a daily basis.
No wonder people are sick.

Of course you also get pesticides from vegetables, but we can still opt for organic ones, right ?

" Then, what about people who eat everything and are still very very healthy ?
Won't I be wasting life's pleasure of gluttonous food by just eating a restricted food choice ? "
Well... it's your choice.
Maybe Those people who eat everything and stay healthy are the lucky ones, maybe they only look healthy outside but who knows what their health condition is really like ?
Those people aren't you !
You are different from me & from everyone else.
and You have to take care of yourself.
Stay healthy, don't focus on staying thin.... but aim to be healthy, that's the main goal !!

So you ask yourselves "Do I have to be a Vegan too ?
I can't eat vegs everyday...."
You don't have to be a Vegan, but pay attention to what you eat.
If you drink sugary soda, fried fast food, creamy desserts on a daily basis, let's just start by cutting back on those.
Hey instead of eating candy, why not try fruits instead.... I don't think anyone hate fruits. Try figs, pomegranate, mangoes, anything.
Just don't make a dessert out of fruits by cooking it in sugar, all you get is well, sugar.
Start small.... start taking in more fresh vegetables and leaving the unhealthy ones behind and you'll find yourself wanting more fresh fruits and vegs by the day.

For me.....
First
I love vegs and fruits
I love what I eat
I love healthy Vegan meal
I never eat processed Vegan food (Vegan cheese, Vegan meat, Factory made Vegan desserts etc) just because they're not available here, so in a way I'm lucky that I won't have a chance to even get tempted by them.
I just have to fight my wanting to eat so much of the other Vegan "junk" and crispy crunchy fried food, but the aftermath is a really really bad sorethroat.

Second
Since I started being a Healthy Vegan, where I try to avoid white rice, white bread (but still allowing complex carbs such as sweet potato, and also some "junk" --> fried food and sugar)
My weight's been constant, it's ridiculous
No matter how much Vegan food I ate, or how full I got, I never gain weight during this 6 Vegan month.
And I know sometimes I can eat like crazy and being too full is not good for my digestion system either, but my weight's been constant during this time.
It's not like before when I still eat everything, I'd do portion control, eat less carb (rice,paste) eat less meat, eat less ice cream, eat less cheesecake but in the end I only end up wanting more and losing control the next day. Why ? because I feel hungry.
Now I never feel hungry, I can eat whenever I feel hungry.
I'm now feeling good in with my current weight and I don't even exercise to help me lose weight.
(I should exercise though, listen people, move your body and be healthy)

So...
The key is to love what you eat,
So if you force yourself to be a Vegan but you never enjoy your Vegan meal and you hate your Vegan food, then it's hard for you to benefit from it.
Just start by simply adding more vegs n fruits on a daily basis, and you'll see that in time you'll want more and more of fresh fruits and vegs :)
You'll eventually lose weight automatically without even trying, or maybe gain some weight if you're too thin. You'll have your ideal weight.

I've been a Vegan for 6-7 months now, but I had some meat a few days ago, I just wanted it so bad, I gave in and it was good.
So, Does that mean that I'm going to start eating meat again ?
I don't know.
Maybe I will, maybe I won't, maybe I will, rarely,
If I did, I'll definitely choose a good quality meat and preferably not fried, not overly processed with artificial everything, etc. (ok...here I'm totally repeating what I said that in the previous post ;p)
But for now, I still want to continue being a Vegan.
Even as I'm typing this, I'm drooling for some steamed broccolis & spinach mixed with some raw walnut, drizzled with a little bit of roasted sesame oil and seasoned with salt for dinner.
Yummmm............ :)

I ate meat

Confession :
2 Oct 09 - I ate 2 slices of roast duck at night
3 Oct 09 - lunch, I ate 7 slices of roast duck
6 Oct 09 - dinner with a tiny morsel of fried fish - So Good !!
9 Oct 09 - a lil bit of fried vermicelli (mixed with meat, but didn't eat the meat)
11 Oct 09 - chocolate bread
20-21 Oct 09 - Chocolate n cheese bread & Fried vermicelli again
25 Oct 09 - a tiny portion of chicken noodle without the chicken

In my defense :
I was "very good" for 2 months
(Vegan, No rice, flour, sugar, fried food)
and I was "good" for another 4 months
(Vegan, starting lil rice, flour, sugar, fried food)
During those months, I didn't want to "contaminate" my body with meat because all the effort I've made, eating meat would waste all those "clean" months, right ?

Entering month 7, I probably started to lose motivation
I was alone during my Vegan months, I enjoy my Vegan meals, but no one to share it with, except at my blog :) and nobody support my being a Vegan. oohh poor me :) but I'm a tough one :D
and I sometimes feel kinda annoyed of the limited food choice I have when eating out and feel like I'm missing out, not on the food, but on spending time together sharing food at dinner tables.
You know how sometimes the best food is the one you have to fight over with your families/friends, when there's only one thing left on the plate with 5 hungry people staring at it. :)

So I gave in and I finally ate all those things above.
I'm sorry but I honestly totally enjoyed it, No guilt, well maybe a little.
Some part of me felt like I was betraying my Vegan friends and I felt like I failed at being a Vegan but ..... it was okay.
I really really wanted to eat those food.
I'm surrounded with people who eat everything daily, so I guess after a while, just smelling them is no longer enough, (yes I do that)
I guess I missed the taste, I missed the whole eating together experience.
So I ate some of those food along with my usual Vegan food....
and It made me feel happy :)

Will I start eating meat again ?
I don't know, I hope it's not one of those "If you start, you can't stop" thing.
But even if I do, I don't think it's going to be for everyday and I definitely wouldn't want to eat a low quality fatty ones.
Okay that sounds disgusting.... I think I'll stick with Veganism for now :)
Here's an example,
After I ate that chicken noodle (without the chicken), I craved Salmon sushi and Unagi sushi, and I even planned to eat it the next day, but the next day I was at a mall and I was literally in front of the Sushi Restaurant and I didn't want sushi at all. I wanted a bowl of salad instead, and so I did and I felt good.
So there :)

Tips :
Another thing I found, sometimes eating raw salad with minimum dressing can be tough, so I allow myself to mix it with a little fried food.
The crunch and the taste totally made it easier for me to finish that big bowl of salad, and it totally made my eating experience more enjoyable.
The taste was better, although slightly "sinful", but I was much happier eating it and I enjoyed it soooo much and I think that counts for something :)

Do you need Vitamins / Supplements as a Vegan ?

Ask yourself this....
Do you happily eat a Healthy balanced Vegan diet everyday ?
If you don't, then you should....eat a Healthy Balanced Diet, happily :)

and If your lifestyle doesn't allow you to have a daily Healthy Diet, then you might want to consider adding Vitamins/Supplements.
But do your research, ask your physician, and don't overdo it.
I read somewhere that all Vitamins/Supplementations that goes inside our body are not absorbed but instead they're treated as toxins.
So honestly, I don't know.
My 88 year old grandmother eats everything all her life and has been taking lots of supplements most of her older adult life and she still has a very strong memory, although she's recently developed glaucoma and a slight knee problem.
But that's just 1 person, others might have different result.

Decide for yourself whether or not you need supplements, then consult the experts.

Let's see....
I consider myself healthier than some of my busy friends that would often eat :
breakfast : coffee and toast + jam
lunch : rice and scrambled egg + chili sauce
or even anything from a fast food restaurant
dinner : eating out in a restaurant + sinful desserts (sugar & bad fat)
or just instant noodle (msg all the way)
and if they survive without supplements, I suppose so will I.

But I don't eat a complete rainbow salad with all the good fats (avocado, raw nuts, etc) and an array of fruits on a daily basis.
Some days I eat very very healthily and very very satisfied :D
But
Sometimes I cheat and eat lots of fried food till my throat hurts, very clever right.
Sometimes I get so lazy I just eat steamed broccolis and cauli flower with olive oil and salt for lunch and dinner.
Sometimes I don't get the chance to cleanse and eat plenty of fruits.
Other than food,
Sometimes I don't even get enough sleep and I easily get stressed.

So I decide to start supplementing again.
and I think it's always a good idea to choose a vitamin / supplements that contain a lower amount of everything so you don't take in too much.
If you need more, just take 2 tablets, or 1 and 1/2.
Remember to find a Vegetarian / Vegan formula.

Here's what I'm planning to take :
Cal, Mag, Zinc (3 in 1)
Kelp
B12 and Folic Acid
Vegans are always associated with B12 deficiency, although our B12 is stored in the liver and it might take years to show any symptom of deficiency, but I figure, since it's water soluble, it's ok to take.
There are different types of B12
Hydroxycobalamin to cyanocobalamin, and Methylcobalamin.
and Supposedly the latter is the better one.
Mine happens to be Cyanocobalamin.

I also might add Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, organic ones aren't available here.
Morinda / noni capsules, Fresh noni fruits are available here, but I can't stand the smell. :0
I might add other supplements later.

But..........
I don't really feel like taking them at all.
I think I should, but I don't really want to.
I don't know whether that's my pride telling me that I'm perfect and I can always have enough nutrients from my food and I don't need factory made supplements,
or is it my body telling me to not take supplements.
I don't know.

But I suppose I will eventually start supplementing... slowly
maybe tomorrow ?

FYI, There are other stuff that might contain B12 if you prefer that instead of supplementations, Fortified Nutritional Yeast for example, but in this article,
http://www.veganhealth.org/b12/vegansources
it says :
* Nutritional yeast often comes from bins in health food stores. If not careful, it would be easy for a store employee to order the wrong nutritional yeast out of the distributor catalogs which often list many yeasts. It would also be easy to accidentally put the wrong yeast into the Vegetarian Support Formula bin.
* B12 is light sensitive. Nutritional yeast is likely to be exposed to the light because it is often stored in clear bins or plastic bags.
* At least one vegan who thought he was getting B12 from nutritional yeast developed B12 deficiency symptoms that cleared up upon taking a B12 supplement.

So....Do your research, and Don't copy someone else's vitamin/supplement routine because we're all different.
If you want to get your B12 from raw foods, also do research :)
I'm still doing mine.

Take your of yourself :)

Do you need to have a bloodtest if you are a Vegan ?

I say if you can afford it, why not ? Go for it.
It's good to know your blood test result.
So if there's something wrong, you can fix it.

For me, I was going to have my blood check after 6 months of being a Vegan.
I was all excited about it, like a kid wanting to see her school report card after being "good" for 6 months, i even marked my calendar ;p
I also wanted to check my B12 and Folic Acid Level
But it cost around US$45-50 just to do that, each !!
besides I read that a bloodtest might not give an accurate reading of your B12 level anyway, but then again, I could be wrong.
and when you Add in the normal thorough blood check fee, it would cost me around US$250
So I decided to safe the money and not do the blood test.
Kinda disappointed, but it's okay :)

Now what ?
Well....
I'm now going to keep eating healthily and HAPPILY :)
also adding more Healthy Organic Raw Vegetables :)
and I think I'll add some supplements in my diet, because there are just some days that I don't eat a complete balanced diet and I might need some supplementations.
(It's a good idea to always consult your physician first if you want to start supplementing.)
but the bottom line is... I'll stay eating Healthily and Happily :D

Can u be 100% strict healthy vegan ?

Sometimes Vegans still eat a lot of junk food, me included ;p
I find it hard to be a 100% strict Healthy Vegan, but I'm trying though :)

I said in the beginning that I choose not to eat
Refined carbs,
Refined Sugar,
Fried Food,
etc

But sometimes
(again.... similar reasons as before)
- There's no one at home and there's no food at home
so I have to eat whatever's there because I'm hungry
white rice/noodles and little portion of leftover vegs and maybe I boil some beans, but that takes a lot of time and I was hungry so I didn't.
So... white rice = refined white carbs

- I didn't have the time to prepare food
so I have to eat whatever's already prepared in the kitchen
white rice and fried tofu/tempeh and vegs from vegs dish mixed with meat
No time to boil those dried beans because I was way too hungry at that time.
So.... white rice = refined white carbs
fried tofu/tempeh = Fried Food
Vegs n Meat dish = Meat, although I didn't eat the meat, but still
or I work late at night and got so so very hungry I have to eat and so so very sleep at the same time, so I can't be bothered to wash vegs and prepare them , nor to cut some fruits, coz I know I'll get hungry again in 30 mins.
So I find rice (there's always leftover) and I make fried rice, sometimes with fresh garlic, chilli and ginger sautee together, and my recent guilty cheat is using instant fried rice paste !!!!
I seriously need to throw that little packet of dark paste out of my fridge ;p

- I just lack self control ;p
Craving attacks of refined sugar and refined carbs in the form of Traditional Vegan desserts !!! yummmmm
and craving attacks of fried tempeh and fried savoury crackers.

So... problems are :
Hunger ;p
If I get too hungry I just eat whatever available
then it's
Laziness... If I get too lazy then I just eat whatever's available
Time... If I don't have time, well... u get the picture.
and Cravings & Gluttony ;p

Luckily in the course of 6-7 months, that doesn't happen all that often.
Well... only on these past few weeks.... end of month 6 and going on month 7, I seem to be "out of control"
At least I'm making green smoothie almost on a daily basis now :)
and I'm improving..... promise !!

Can you be 100% Vegan ?

I believe you can :)

But in my experience so far...
I've had silly mistakes

- Egg/Milk
Some traditional desserts/cakes that I thought don't contain egg/milk, well contains egg/milk. Nowadays people tend to add egg/milk to the traditional way of making things to make it taste better or more westernized.
So... my bad... it was my lack of knowledge of food ingredients.
Yes you can always ask, but sometimes the person selling the food doesn't even know what's in the ingredients.

- Fried Food
Yes we can make super crunchy batter just using Flour and water and Fry away, so sometimes what I thought is an egg free batter turns out to be an egg batter.

- Fried Food 2
I know I'm not supposed to eat a lot of fried food, well, actually, ideally I'm not supposed to eat Fried food at all.
But when I was on the road, travelling, I had to eat fried food, such as fried tempeh/tofu and rice, because that was the ones that are available and I ate rice because I want to keep being full for longer periods of time.
so I thought I'm still being a 100% Vegan by choosing fried Tempeh / Tofu. But..... They use the same oil to fry the tempeh and the Fried Chicken.
So....there....
Okay... I should really try to avoid all fried food altogether.
(btw, Do you realize that a lot of food available out there are fried ?)

- Vegetable dish
Vegetables dish are sometimes mixed with microscopic chicken bits that you thought was minced garlic.
Vegetable soup is sometimes cooked with chicken stock.

- Friends and Families
When we travel / go out, I sometimes "annoy" my friends and families because when they've found a good restaurant, I prefer to look for another restaurant coz they don't serve Vegan food there.
Sometimes I choose to eat beforehand or even later on and not eat while they're eating, and they're fine with it and we still have a good time.
Sometimes I get take out and eat with them.
Sometimes I bring my own food and eat with them
and Sometimes, but very very rarely I just got tired and choose to eat just the Vegetables on the mixed vegs + meat dish. yes I can order just Vegs only, but it cost the same :( and sometimes the busy chef mixed the vegs with meat/egg because that's what they're used to doing so I had to re-order and it just gets tiring after a few times so I decided just to order what's in the menu and keep quiet :(

- Too Hungry
Sometimes I just didn't have time to eat and I got really really hungry and I really really must eat to prevent dying ;p
So I have to eat whatever's there.
Bread made with milk and egg
Rice with Vegetable from Veg n Beef dish, etc
luckily it only happened 2-3 times in the course of 6 months. okay maybe a tad more ;p

- Supplements
Some of my supplements use a Non-Vegan capsules, yupp... made from Bovine Gelatine :(
Some do exist in a Vegetarian/Vegan formula, but a lot of 'em don't.
I'll just have to use what's available.

So those are my silly mistakes
I suppose you can maintain being 100% Vegan when u're at home or on the go, but I sometimes just find it difficult to do but still trying though :)

How about you ?
Do you find it difficult to stay 100% Vegan ?

CocoNutty Mango smoothie

I got hungry just now...
I know it's already 10 pm, but if I don't eat now I won't be able to sleep ;)

So :
1/3 of a small cucumber (I keep wanting to add this in)
1/2 leftover orange
1/2 mango
1 banana
blend
I wanted to add fresh aloe vera but the plant is outside and it's dark so I got scared ;p
This taste super good !!!!!!
You can just stop here and enjoy
it's sweet soury fresh :)

but, I added :
1 spoonful of organic golden flax seed (ground first)
and a tad bit too much of virgin coconut oil
I didn't use a spoon and just pour out of the bottle, maybe around 2 spoonful....


I know, cool glass right ? ;p
and see all the ground flax at the bottom of the glass ?

Time to mix


Now it taste coconutty sweet soury fresh smoothie :)

it's kinda eating a coconut biscuit blended in a sweet soury smoothie...
know what I mean ?
No ?
well then, you'll just have to purposely accidently pour in too much of the virgin coconut oil ;p
or maybe not :)
Enjoy



I have yet to know how to identify a good virgin coconut oil
Organic ones aren't available, but I suppose nobody really use pesticides for coconuts in Asia, they just grow really well here, but I don't know for certain, I sure do hope that mine is naturally organic :) and I hope my virgin coconut oil is a good one though, because it mildly smell like coconut, but I'll try another brand after this to compare.

How Do You Identify a Good Quality Coconut Oil?
http://www.healingnaturallybybee.com/articles/coconut7.php

While I was writing this....
I was watching this :)
Surprises inside.... enjoy ;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xui7x_KF7bY

Green Smoothie with Aloe vera

I have aloe vera plants growing very nicely.
It's potted plant aloe and nobody even takes care of them, they just grow !

So... Today I made a smoothie with aloe
Also... I read that it's best to put aloe last in the blender as to not to break down the polysaccharide chain, besides, they get blended so easily n fast anyway.


Ingredients :
- Celery
- 2 Okras
- 1/4 of Cucumber (I just felt like adding it in)
- 1 Aloe vera (peel first)
- Mint leaves
- 1 Banana
- Watermelon, with seed

Put everything in the blender and blend (remember, add the aloe vera last)


After a quick taste, I decided to add half an orange
(sorry blurry pic)


Here it is, Smoothie with Aloe (and 2 okras)

Not the prettiest color, is it ? :)
But it taste quite good,
I make sure that the smoothies I make consist of raw green vegetables combined with nice tasting fruits, so it's easier for me to gobble down lots of raw veggies ;)

Before this, I couldn't eat raw aloe because I'd just slice the aloe meat into cubes and it was too slimy to chew and swallow.
People usually boil the cubed aloe meat to remove the slime and add sugar water and eat it as dessert, but I want raw aloe !!
Blending just raw aloe ends up in a slimy goo which I can't drink as well.
But blending aloe with other ingredients makes it easy to drink, in fact I can't even tell that there's slimy stuff in my green smoothie.
btw, Okra is also slimy....but there was no slimey goo in my green smoothie :)

Can you drink a 1 day old Smoothie ?

I made a green smoothie yesterday, couldn't finish the whole thing so I put it in the fridge and forgot about it.
So this morning, I saw it and thought...."Can I still drink it ?"
I smelled it, smelled fine
It was still green, not brownish.
I'm aware that everything in the smoothie might be oxidated or might have started to breakdown even ?
But I wanted to drink it anyway,
so I added 1 banana and 1 aloe vera to the smoothie and put it in the blender for a short while.
Yumbo....

So.... Can you drink a Smoothie leftover that's been left in the fridge for 1 day ?
Is it safe ? Are the enzymes still alive ?
I dunno ;p
But mine was still ok looking and tasting, so I drank it anyway :)
I'll try to always finish my smoothie right away next time :D

Ice Ice Baby

This is es Cendol
a traditional Indonesian dessert and it's Vegan.
I did a post before about cendol here

without flash


Cendol + Coconut milk + palm sugar + ice = Yummm
(yellow stuff is jack fruit)
I think cendol is best made with rice flour instead of mung bean flour.
rice flour - softer cendol
mung bean flour - chewier cendol
Most of the time I ask the palm sugar liquid to be separated, because they usually add too much which makes it way to sweet for my taste.
The Green color comes from suji or pandan leaves, No artificial color there, but sometimes vendors are lazy and use pandan paste instead.

with flash



without flash


The colorful pink fiesta on the right is called es Doger
shaved ice with coconut milk and bright pink rose syrup
(okay... bright pink is not a good sign)
topped with
- fresh coconut meat slices aka white stuff
- sago pearl aka pink pearly stuff on top right
- jackfruit - aka yellowy stuff on top right
- tape (read : tuh-pay) fermented cassava aka yellow stuff on bottom right
- glutinous rice (I think it's also fermented) aka black purply stuff on bottom left
This is totally vegan, but some vendor might add condensed milk on top
and some bread cubes too :)

with flash


verdict :
es cendol looks best without flash
es doger looks best with flash
;P

They both were super good though.

Burnt...again

Oh man... this is unbelievable...
I left stuff in the kitchen and it got burnt !!! again !!!
It happen once, I was in my room and I smelled something burning and I ran to the kitchen finding umm.. can't remember what it was, yes.... burnt.
I said to myself that I wouldn't leave anything in the kitchen unattended ever again.

I just did it again....
I was boiling this herbal medicine in the kitchen,
There was still approx half a glass left in the pan, so I gave it 5 mins
I even set up an alarm in my room.
5 mins later I got up and started walking to the kitchen.............. half way there I smelled something burning, so I started running to the kitchen............to find this


It looked moist because I pour water on it, but then I throw the water out and decided to took a pic of it to remind myself never to leave anything boiling unattended in the kitchen again.

I guess being a lousy cook runs in the family.... did I say lousy ? I meant lazy ;p

Brocollis, Salad and Onion Rings

This was what I ate before dinner, for dinner ;p
Not the prettiest photo in the world, but they taste good :)

- Brocollis

- Raw local salad called Karedok
usually it's drenched in peanut sauce + a lil bit of galangal, but I wanted just the vegs.
(go search for Karedok's photos on google images)
usually consisting of : (all raw)
cabbage, string bean, cucumber, round green eggplant/apple aubergine, beansprouts, basil
I requested not to add the beansprouts.
I think they forgot my basil
and sometimes they add raw sweet potato, thus the orange-y bits :)

- Onion Rings - I guess there's egg and chicken stock and msg in the batter.
But they were really yummy and made me eat my raw salad with ease.

I had some leftover for supper ;p

Lemony smoothie

I can't believe something this dark-green and thick can taste so lemony and mildly sweet :)

- 1 ripe banana
- 4 dates
- glistening vanilla beans from 1 vanilla pod (boiled with little water and added to the juice, but I still can't detect the smell)
- 1 Organic Tomato
- 1/3 of fresh lemon juice
Two handsful of these mixed together :
- Gynura Procumbens - which taste great in salad, kinda like a mild basil.
and has a lot of beneficial healing properties..... Go look em up.
- Organic spinach
- Organic parsley
- Romaine Lettuce

No wonder I heard some clunking sound in the blender, One of the date's seed fell inside the blender.
Amazing how it didn't get crushed at all......

Newbie to Green Smoothie

I've recently started making green smoothie with my modest glass blender.
I've never mixed fruits and greens on a blender before, I've always thought of a smoothie as strictly fruits only concoction.
and Nope... I don't have the super powerful blender like Blendtec or Vita-mix, because the Blendtec/Vita-mix that are available here are the commercial ones which cost US$628-661, which is around US$200 more expensive than the home consumer one.
Normal blender cost around US$50 and that's a good brand.
So I'm not planning to get Blendtec / Vita-mix just yet, although they remain in my wishlist.

I can't use my normal blender to smoothly blend carrots though, last time I did that, it almost broke my blender, almost.... *phew*
I still use my centrifugal juicer for carrots, beets, etc
Although I'm gonna try to take the carrot pulp from my juicer and put it in my blender to see if it can be blended out smoothly to drink.

So.....
The smoothies turn out great !!!!!
Advantages :
They're easy and fast to make.
They make me drink my raw greens easily (I get all the fibres)
They make me drink my ground flax seed easily (I don't really enjoy ground flax on my salad)
The blender is way easier to clean and wash than my juicer.
and most of all
They taste like desserts !!!!!!! Yuuummmmmmmmmmm !!!!
I'm spoiled with smoothies, it makes me "lazy" to chew my vegs now. :)


This one is my green smoothie in a 0.5 litre glass.
(I made too much, it made me a bit too full, but so good though)
I put in :
- a handful of romaine lettuce & green spinach
- half a cucumber
- 1 banana,
- 3 dates,
- vanilla beans from half a vanilla pod (can't seem to smell the vanilla),
- half a spoonful of ground flax seed (ground it first using the dry spice blender)
- coconut water
- did I put mango in ? I can't seem to remember ;)

I prefer not to use water in my smoothie, just coz I don't want to bland the taste.
Last time I used watermelon and I squeezed the water out of the watermelon into the blender, yes with my barehand, I am that strong ;p
or I'd squeeze in lemon juice. and any other fruit that's water-y.

and I don't add ice cubes in my blender, if I find my ready-to-drink smoothie not cold enough, I simply add some ice cubes and stir and drink.

Since my blender is a normal modest blender,
it doesn't really blend brocollis that well,
Last time I added brocollis, okra, ground flax, raw almond and banana and watermelon.
But there was too much greens than the sweet fruits, so it turned out quite yucky and brittle-y
But I gulped the whole thing anyway ;p
Oh well, I'm still experimenting

I'd like to try Chia, Hemp, super green food powder, etc, but they're just not available here. Shipping them would be costly and I don't know whether the shipping condition & duration will make the products go bad or not.

Anyway.....
Here's what I do, for now :
- I "chew" my smoothie (I don't use straw to drink my smoothie)
I don't use a straw to drink my smoothie, because I'm worried that I'll be "drinking" the smoothie all too fast without "chewing" it first.
I mean, with smoothies, it's not really chewing, but since when you eat normal food, you need to properly chew the food so they mix well with the saliva where enzymes interact and it's beneficial for healthy digestion, so I figure I need to "chew" my smoothie instead of drinking it right away.
Yes you can also sip slowly with your straw and "chew" before drinking your smoothie.
But since I don't have a glass straw, I use my spoon to "chew" and drink my smoothie :)
It's fun, it's like melted ice cream with each spoonful.


- I use straw for :
My regular carrot & beet juice.
I also sometimes drink warm lemon water.
(it was every morning last year, it's good for your health)
Lemon, especially, is very alkaline inside our body but it can be very acidic to your teeth enamel and it's better that it doesn't stay in contact with your teeth for long periods of time.

And for that reason, I used to use a plastic straw (bubble tea straw) to drink my lemon water / juice and since I don't want to throw the straw out after every use, I wash it with soap water and a tiny brush that goes inside the straw.
But I haven't been using it lately, well because it's plastic.
Now I just drink it from the glass.
I may have to eventually purchase a glass straw, but I'm still afraid they'll arrive broken since they have to be shipped from overseas. Oh I'll figure something out :)

Here comes the Question no. 1 :
I read that raw foodist may have bad teeth because the enzymes from the raw greens/fruits may harm the teeth's enamel or something like that.
Notice when you're cutting up some types of vegs, they have a sticky sap thingy ? and cooking the vegs will eliminate this sap.
Maybe the enzyme in the veg's sap is causing the teeth to go "bad".
Also the sugar from the fruits and dried fruits.
Some people say it's better to use a straw when drinking juice/smoothie so the juice doesn't really get in that much contact with the teeth.

So in the long term, I don't know Whether it's better to "chew" the smoothie and let it interact with saliva for better food absorption and digestion or Whether to use a straw and swallow straight away so you have a better teeth ?

But I suppose your teeth won't be not any worse than the typical American diet of sugary cakes, desserts, etc, right ?
I think you're safe as long as you eat more greens than sugary fruits, and not overeat on acid fruits, dried fruits and dehydrated stuff.
And if you rinse your mouth, floss and brush your teeth and you'll be fine.

Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences :)

I also find these articles that kinda calms me down on the whole bad teeth thing :
The Raw Divas Blog titled "The Raw Food Diet isn't bad for your teeth"
http://therawdivas.com/blog/?p=156
Frederic Patenaude Blog titled "Why Raw-Foodists Have Problems With Their Teeth How to avoid dental decay, gum disease and erosion for good."
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/dentalhealth.html

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Question no.2 :
I read in a book somewhere that it's better to juice not more than 3 types of fruits for better absorption in our body.
I suppose it applies to smoothies as well.
But we all tend to put like 7 (sometimes even more) ingredients into the blender.
I read a lot of health improvement in people who drink a mix of a lot of vegs+fruit smoothies and it's been proven great for our health so far

So Do the "Don't juice more than 3 types of fruit" really apply ?
What do you think ????
I suppose mixing vegetables is fine.
For example, salad consist of so many different types of vegs and the rainbow combination is good for us.

I think if it works, it works, it's that simple.
If blending 10 ingredients keep you healthy, then I suppose it's good for you, and you can always only mix 3 types of fruits/vegs when your running short on fruits n vegs :)

What I'm not sure is mixing the vegetables and the fruits, Are there any rules for that ?

I seem to keep on answering my own questions, except for the last one though :)

Woww..... this has been a long post :)
Thanx for reading :D

Grapes

When I buy grapes, and when I'm not lazy, I always pull them off their stems and rinse them under running water, sometimes soak them for a bit in salt water, then rinse them again with drinking water and drain.

So these are the grapes ready to be eaten and stored in the fridge.
mostly eaten before they even get to the fridge.
But they taste better cold.
They are even better frozen. :D


I'm now wishing for organic grapes :)

Lunch with beans

There are times when I don't know what to eat and there's so little stuff in the fridge, but out of that stuff, I sometimes amaze myself haoehoaheoae.....
I know I'm supposed to eat more raw vegs, but just look at them.......
Aren't they great ?
okay... enough gloating ;p



It's lightly steamed carrot from one carrot left in my fridge
and boiled kidney beans from dried kidney beans in the cupboard
and lightly sautee Water Convolvulus / kangkung which was the last greens in the fridge.
Now I have an empty fridge and a happy tummy.

It kinda look like a super bright bird's nest, doesn't it ?
No ? mmm... it's just me then.

Enjoy :)

it tastes great too :)

Distilled Water for you and The Healing Powers of Water

Check out this post about the good and bad facts about drinking Distilled water
http://healvitiligo.blogspot.com/2009/09/distilled-water-good-or-bad-for-you.html

and this one about the Healing Powers of Water
http://healvitiligo.blogspot.com/2009/09/healing-powers-of-water.html