Cinna - Banana Smoothie

Helloooo!!

After months of deliberation, I finally got that little push from the Universe that I'm in desperate need of a system reset.

Post-race fiasco and Chinese food binge sesh, I was invited to the home of one of my gym-mates for what I'm now referring to as 'the last supper'. 

The food was INSANE.

What I would generally scorn on a daily basis, I welcomed with a childlike sense of awe and wonder, that such basic Trinidadian fare like coocoo and callaloo could be transformed far beyond my culinary capability.

I'm not calling myself a bad cook... it just exceeded my expectations to the point of happy tears.

Apart from the food, the best part of the night was the open discussion about nutrition and self-healing. 

Now being a product a nutrition and dietetics curriculum that boasts of unrevised and ancient literature, adopting a raw diet for however long is generally one that is ill-advised and frowned upon.

A trend I've noticed with many of my lifestyle changes is when I really want to do something, I throw myself in 100%. In that same breath, I became vegan overnight after watching Earthlings just once in 2006. Flash backing to the first time I went on a high-carb, low-fat raw vegan diet, all I can really remember is feeling the best I have ever been. The weight dropped off effortlessly, I was never hungry and I was so flooded with positive energy, all I wanted to do was RUN.

Which is pretty much how I got into running. After retiring from competitive swimming and living a few years as a sedentary retiree (and really packing on the pounds), I found the Banana Girl Diet and thought, hey this could really be something to consider. 

I became a Banana Girl that same night.

Yesterday's lunch!! Yummy Trini-grown Lacatan

Is it easy to be a Banana Girl in Trinidad? Surprisingly yes. The biggest misconception about raw diets is how expensive they are. But really when I look back on it, the most expensive raw attempts I've ever had were when I explored what I like to call 'gourmet raw'. Lots and lots of nuts, seeds and 'superfoods'. When really, the most effective superfoods grow right under our noses and we trade it off for prepackaged mulberries, spirulina and imported raw cacao. Which are all well and good in small doses as treats, but in the Caribbean we have such a bounty of goodness that unfortunately goes unnoticed!! How many people really know that what we call 'bhaji' is really amaranth whose seeds are harvested and sold as an 'ancient grain'? Or 'cressels' is the watercress, iron rich swamp plant of legend? 

Just a big BTW, mulberries do grow in T&T. You can save your $120 per 8 oz for the much more delicious FRESH option.

One of my biggest concerns as a Slow Food advocate and concerned bush girl is our dwindling fruit basket. As a 'north' girl spending weekends and holidays in 'south', I had the best of both worlds. My childhood was spent frolicking in a backyard of governor plum, West Indian cherry (acerola), julie mango, soursop and sapodilla trees that were killer for climbing and passing the time with Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl. In south, my great-grandmother and cousins had the more exotic sugar apple, dongs, penny piece, portugal and pomegranate. It also helped when I had a wandering father who would leave home to go 'hunting' for antique furniture in the countryside and return home armed with gri-gri, rolling cherries, poix doux and hog-plum. 

The saddest part is, you very rarely see these anymore. And when you do, the prices are enough to make your wallet weep. It's a sad day when a small handful of locally grown lychee or rambutan cost more than 12 imported Granny Smith apples. Does that even make sense?

Anyways, for a long time the dinner discussion dwelled on the topic of raw food and high carb diets. Which I really really needed. While I was watching my grapelike ovaries on the ultrasound all I could think about was bananas. Weird I know, but the fruit association is real hahah.

I ignored my first instinct and went as far as to consider the hormonal treatment. Then I leaned in the direction of what foods do I really need to cut out to lessen the hormonal fluctuations.

All along, I just needed more of what Nature created.

So with the support of 2 of my other gym-mates, we're embarking on a trip to the Banana Island. 

This recipe is my breakfast inspired by one of them who came to the gym yesterday armed with a mug filled with this goodness and it haunted me all night with excitement. So here it is. The most delicious 2-ingredient smoothie of all time.

#amazing

CINNA - BANANA SMOOTHIE

Yields 1 smoothie

Ingredients
5 ripe bananas, frozen for at least 8 hours
1 heaping tbsp ground cinnamon

Preparation
Blend with 2 cups water.
Enjoy!

Notes
The spottier the bananas, the more nutritious they are!!

Sa7ten!