8 Banana Recipe Meals (Only Bananas!)

One of the reasons I choose Bananas for my mono island is because they are so versatile. I can make a few different meals to satisfy me while eating only bananas for a week. It wouldn't be as much fun if I were only eating them monkey style the entire time. All of my banana recipes are made from RIPE brown spotted bananas. This is very important as the brown spots signify that the bananas are ripe - meaning the carbs have turned to sugar, making them easily digestible. Unripe bananas can cause cramping, bloating and constipation. It's best to eat all of our fruit ripe!  

Here's the 8 different ways I eat bananas:

BANANA MILK

Banana milk is so easy, it only takes a minute. Just pulse blend 1 cup of filtered water and one banana in the blender until smooth and milk-like!

Here's a video I did today on how to make banana milk:
Banana Milk - YouTube Video

SLICED BANANAS

Slice em up and eat them with your hands or a fork!

BANANA CEREAL

I slice up bananas and pour the banana milk on over to create a dish similar to cereal.

Here's a video I made today about banana cereal:
Banana Cereal

BANANA SMOOTHIE

This is my second favorite way to eat my bananas! I find it really enhances the flavor and I love how smooth they are out of the Vitamix! I blend 6-8 bananas and 1/2 cup of water until smooth. You can add one or two frozen bananas if you like them cold, but I like mine room temperature.

BANANA PUDDING

Banana pudding is made the same as a banana smoothie but without any water. Just bananas in the blender or food processor. It's handy to have the tamper on the Vitamix for this one and like how it warms it up just a little!

BANANA MASH

Mashed bananas. It's pretty self explanatory. I slice them up on a plate and mash them with a fork !

MONKEY STYLE

The easiest way to eat a banana? - straight out of the peel! It's not the most fun, but it's extremely convenient to run out the door with ten bananas in your purse for lunch.

And last but not least:

BANANA ICE CREAM!!!

This is my favorite way to eat bananas! 

INGREDIENTS:

JUST BANANAS!

Slice bananas 1/4-inch thick. Make sure they are ripe with lots of brown spots!!

Freeze in a single layer on a cookie tray lined with parchment paper — or in one layer in a resealable freezer bag, laid flat — until solid, at least 6 hours. (I usually freeze them overnight)

Transfer to food processor OR Vitamix/high powered blender.

When you process the bananas, they’ll first go sort of granular, then you’ll start to notice it going a bit creamy near the edges. Once this happens, scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to blend, scrape, blend, scrape, etc. until the whole thing is a smooth, silky, creamy, moussey dream. This whole process should take 3 to 4 minutes in the food processor and 1- 2 minutes in the Vitamix. 

I don’t suggest doing this in a blender unless you have a Vitamix or a Blentec high powered blender. The blade isn’t big enough to properly chop the bananas. That being said: My sister makes hers in her Magic Bullet adding some unfrozen banana of almond milk to get things moving along. 

Variations: You can switch up the flavour by adding another frozen fruit, just as long as at least half of the mixture is banana. Some great mixtures I have done are: 

Banana Strawberry
Banana Blueberry
Banana Mango
Banana Lime
Banana Pineapple 
Banana Chocolate (carob/cacao) and mint


Here's a look at my second last day:

DAY 6

25ish bananas - I didnt keep track!

3 Litres of water

30 minutes of rebounding, followed by yoga and 5minute ab workout

20 minute walk outside to pick up my car from the dentist! 

10 hours of sleep last night! 

Follow me on YouTube:

 http://www.youtube.com/user/naturallyashleyNASH/

or on Facebook:

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Also check out:

http://www.30bananasaday.com/

http://www.foodnsport.com/

Day 5: A Bit of A Dream

I savoured a hand of red raspberry bananas this morning! For the rest of today I will be eating nothing but pureed banana smoothies and ice cream, Why? I got my first wisdom tooth pulled! It went a lot smoother than I thought and I am happy that it's over. I'm also happy to be on Banana Island while my tooth hole is healing, as it will speed my recovery time up. It takes a lot of energy for our bodies to digest food, up to 70%!. When the body doesn't have to use 70% of it's energy digesting food, it can spend it's time healing! And I love banana smoothies so win win! I couldn't imagine a better time to be on Banana Island. My body loves me right now <3

I also took the time to meditate this morning to get myself to a calm and centred place. Because I fear the dentist! Even just a cleaning. But I know if I can change my thoughts surrounding the event, I can change the outcome for the better. This is was I told myself:

"Today is going to go very well.  

I will stay calm.

I have a talented and capable dentist.

  I am going to heal quickly and feel little pain during this process."

It worked!

It's amazing what changing our thoughts can do. If you wake up every morning telling yourself that today is going to be a bad day, then it will be. But if you get up in the morning and smile, stretch, be thankful for the sun and tell yourself what a wonderful day you are going to have, I promise it will be much better! I just got my wisdom tooth out and I'm still smiling! 

**Might also be the adavant I was told to take before coming in for the appointment. It was my first time taking it and I wasn't sure what to expect. I had to weigh the pros and cons of putting medication into my body vs. the stress that I put on myself. Stress can be very damaging to your mind and body. I decided to take the adavant. I'm feeling really slow and not as sharp as normal.  I can still feel it in my system now.  I've only fell off my chair once while writing this blog post, so that's pretty good!

 Here's a look at Day 5:

I put a little bit more effort into my workout this morning because I knew I wasn't going to feel like doing much afterwards. I've just had a nice bath, some banana pudding, and after I'm done writing this post I will be curling up with a good book :)

Day 5

6 Red Bananas + 2 Cavendish Bannaas

45 minutes on the trampoline plus my yoga stretching routine.

Two litres of water (will drink a half before bed!)

Mini Banana Ice Cream: 10 mini bananas and 3 cavendish frozen and blended

Mashed bananas 6 cavendish bananas 

Total banana tally: approximately 22

8 hours sleep

***mashed bananas

Peel and slice 6 bananas onto a plate or a bowl and mash with a fork.
I know...difficult.
You'd be surprised how different it tastes from pureed or sliced bananas. 

ENJOY!

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Also check out:

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http://www.foodnsport.com/

Kiss Me. I'm Bananas!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

So I decided to dress up the pups for a quick photo shoot for St Patty's Day this morning. I kept them sitting pretty with their favorite treat- you guessed it....bananas! Gabby even eats the peels! She will jump up on the counter to grab them when I'm not looking. Also, in honor of St Patty's Day I made myself a green smoothie to take to grandmas...but not just any green smoothie - normally I use spinach, kale, romaine...but today I went a little bananas and added dried raw seaweed! Everyone in the car thought it was crazy but it actually tasted pretty good.  Or maybe I just wanted something other than bananas!?  I have read that others doing Banana Island sometimes incorporate greens. The last time I was on the island, I did 10 days only bananas and 4 days bananas and greens. My body must have been craving it because I was salivating at the thought of eating my seaweed banana creation by the time we got to Swift Current. The roads weren't that good but we made it safely to my Grandmas...isn't she beautiful?

We spent the afternoon visiting with family and going through old family photos. I could seriously create an entire awkward family photo album! 

Dad brought fresh fish that he caught the day before, Nikki brought her vegan cabbage rolls and I brought a suitcase of bananas! 

 I told you they were awkward!

I am officially half way done my banana island challenge! Woo hoo! It's flying by fast. I thought today would be easier than yesterday but it wasn't. My cravings are much harder to sit with when Nikki's cooking is in the house and she makes the best Vegan Cabbage Rolls. Tomorrow should be easy as I probably wont feel like eating anything after getting my wisdom tooth pulled! It's my first one so wish me luck! I hope some carries over from today! 

Day 4

30 bananas! and 5 baby bananas

Two and a half litres of water

No exercise - stuck in a car all day...must workout double tomorrow! 

8 hours of sleep

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Also check out:

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http://www.foodnsport.com/

Banana Heaven!!!

How cool is this! I've never had two, let alone FOUR different types of Bananas in my kitchen! Regular Cavendish bananas in the top left, Burro bananas on the top right, cute little baby's on the bottom left and the new red bananas in the bottom right! I'm in banana heaven!!! 

I found the Burros and the Babies at the Asian food market in Regina yesterday and the Red ones I picked up from Alternate Root Organics, my local health food store, this morning. Kyle was sweet enough to share one of his ripe ones with me! I tried the burros for the first time as well, which was almost too much excitement in one day for this girl! 

All this banana excitement makes it easier to get through the day without being tempted. I did a workshop demo-ing vegan recipes with my sister Nikki (from Food&Fabric Blog) this afternoon and it wasn't easy! Her vegan chili is so amazing and it was difficult not to indulge in the mango chutney lettuce boats- a recipe I picked up from Easy to be Raw's Megan Elizabeth  last summer at the Woodstock Fruit Festival in New York. 

Every time I have a craving I just grab another banana! And we did make banana ice cream at the workshop so I got to participate in the indulgence of one recipe! Day three is always the hardest. I'm definitely looking forward to tomorrow. I will be travelling to Swift Current to see my grandma. I wonder what she's going to say about me bringing 20 bananas into her house. I can hear her voice already - "WHAAAT? Just BANANAS? That's just crazy!"   

Here's a little info about bananas and the new ones I tried today:

CAVENDISH BANANAS

These are the regular bananas that you see in the grocery store. They originated in South East Asia and are now grown in Africa and Latin America. They are the most popular type of banana, averaging 8 inches long and 6-8 on a hand. 

RED BANANAS

I was so excited to try these! They originate in Costa Rica and are very popular in South America and Australia. They are sweeter than a cavendish and have a hint of raspberry flavor. I found them to be really creamy. I can't wait until mine ripen to try them in a smoothie! 

BURRO BANANAS 

I found the burro bananas reminded me of a small plantain, especially in looks because they are a little bit boxy. I really enjoyed the taste. It wasn't as sweet as a regular banana and had a hint of almond flavor. Some say they have a hint of lemon flavor. The texture was different too, a little more creamy. Two thumbs up from Naturally Ashley!! 

BABY BANANAS 

Snack sized and oh so cute, these little guys have a really thin peel when you cut them open. They taste sweet and would be fun to pack in your kids lunch boxes for a healthy and fun snack. Baby Bananas are about 3" long and there can be as many as 20 bananas on a hand! 

I'm combining day two and three in today's post:

I'm still feeling great and so full of energy. 

Noticing better digestion and some strong cravings for cooked food. 

Tomorrow will mark the middle of my Banana Island Adventure, it's going by so fast! 

Yesterday - Day 2:

27 Bananas 

 (I ate them monkey style all day and made banana ice cream for supper)

1/2 hour of shovelling snow- Great workout!

Two and a half litres of water

7 hours of sleep

Today - Day 3

28 Bananas

(I ate them monkey style all day and made banana ice cream for supper)

1/2 hour jumping on the rebounder plus my yoga routine and stretching 

Two and a half litres of water

7 hours of sleep

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Day One On Banana Island - Thriving

I had people asking me today how I'm surviving on Banana Island and my response is that I'm not only surviving, I am THRIVING.  I was so incredibly happy all day, smiling, laughing and giddy from all of the serotonin.  I was also satisfied and full and able to get between meals without snacking on bananas in between. ***with the exception of banana ice cream after I got home from the screening of the documentary Miss Representation. http://www.missrepresentation.org/the-film/ 

Here's a quick look at my first day:

~Woke up and drank one litre of water.

~Exercised for 30 minutes on the rebounder (mini trampoline) to Justin Bieber and did some yoga/stretching.

~My thought for the day was "Do not think any about yourself that you don't wish to become true."

~Made 2 smoothies - one with 8 spotted, ripe bananas blended with one cup of filtered water for breakfast . And a 6 banana smoothie with water to take for lunch at work along with three medium bananas. 

***Just Bananas and water!***

~I drank another litre of water in between smoothies. I was really thirsty from all the sugar!

~Supper: 7 Bananas ate monkey style. I was going to make ice cream but didnt have time before the movie. That's the beauty of bananas, so easy to eat, no prep, no utensils needed. I even snuck one into the theatre along with another bottle of filtered water.

~I came home from the movie and made a small dish of banana ice cream (video coming soon!) - it's one of my biggest challenges to get from supper to bed without eating - which is a big sign that I need to be going to bed earlier! 

~I am going to end the night with a meditation. Today is day four of the 21-Day Meditation Challenge with Deepak Chopra. I usually start the day with it but didn't have time to fit both a meditation and a workout in. I knew that I was more likely to meditate than exercise later in the day!

The tally is 28 Bananas, approximately 2800 calories, 30 minutes of exercise plus working on my feet 6 hours, 2 and a half litres of water, 6 hours of sleep last night (not enough!) and 100 smiles and laughs today. All in all, I'd say it was a huge success, I couldn't be happier right now. 

My morning 8 Banana and water smoothie.

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Also check out:

http://www.30bananasaday.com/

http://www.foodnsport.com/

Banana Island

I am returning to the beautiful Banana Island tomorrow! The land of pure bliss and abundant energy. Where is Banana Island? In my kitchen! 

What is a Banana Island /or a mono fruit island?

Banana Island describes someone that eats only bananas for a set period of time, I did two weeks in September and plan on doing one week this time around, but I know of people that have done it for a whole month! Banana/or Mono Fruit Island can also be done on other fruit besides bananas like peaches, mango, grapes, watermelons, persimmons, etc. My sister did a mono fruit island in the fall, picking one different type of fruit each day: 

Day1- Bananas, Day 2- Peaches, Day 3- Grapes. 

The idea is to pick one fruit for the duration of your challenge.  I choose bananas  because they are fast, cheap and easy! Haha. It's pretty easy to find bananas at he grocery store, and you can order them in by the case, it doesn't take much to prepare them and they are probably the least expensive of all fruits. I also like bananas because I feel they are the most versatile, offering me a variety of banana meals to get through my week. (Watch for my upcoming post on how to make 5 different banana meals, using only bananas!)

     How Does it Work?

You choose your fruit and go stock up! You are going to need plenty of whatever fruit you are eating in your house I have purchased two cases of organic bananas already, I got one last week and they are nice and ripe, and I get the other case on Friday! How much fruit you need will depend on how long you choose to stay on the island. I suggest a minimum of one week. I did two weeks my first time and it was great! (I bought 4 cases for two weeks)

Once you have an abundance of ripe fruit you can begin. Eat as many bananas as you like for breakfast dinner and supper. Only Bananas. This can be anywhere from 22-30 bananas in general. If you choose another fruit, make sure it's a sweet fruit like the ones mentioned above and try to get in around 2000-3000 calories a day, depending on your activity level. You can use chronometer online or a download a calorie counter app to your phone! 

I cannot stress enough the importance of eating RIPE fruit only!!!!!!! Your bananas must have lots of brown spots and peel very easily. If you hear the zip when peeling, they aren't ripe enough yet. No yellow, and definitely no green bananas. 

Drink plenty of water while on the island. I drink at least two and a half litres a day, and three if I get a lot of exercise. Try to exercise everyday, for at least 30 minutes- an hour, but make sure you also take time to rest and relax as your body detoxes and heals. Also, go to bed early. Sleep is so important when detoxing. 

Why am I doing Banana Island? What are the Benefits? 

I am going to Banana Island as a cleanse to detox my body from the cooked food I have been eating over the past two and a half months. I feel best eating my fruity raw diet and would like to get back to that way of living. Cravings get in the way and Banana Island will be like hitting the reset button, making it easier to control my cravings once I am done. We are literally what we eat. The food we consume becomes us - our cells, hair, skin, organs, tissue, etc. Banana Island allow our bodies to go into a detoxification. If the harmful foods you crave aren't in your body, you wont crave it. Especially SALT! 

Let's talk about weight loss. Some people loose weight on banana island. I am sure to loose a couple pounds just from eliminating salt alone. Last time, I stayed the same weight, but my body looked leaner, tighter and fitter. I made sure that I exercised every day and the amazing thing that happened was a very speedy recovery time. I could run for 6K a day plus yoga and not be stiff and sore the next day. Bananas give you an incredible amount of energy! You will be be able to get through your day no problem. 

Banana Island gives your digestive system a break. Fresh RIPE fruit is the easiest food for your body to digest, spending little time in the stomach. Therefore it takes up little energy, allowing our bodies the time and energy they need to spend healing and detoxing. Also, when you only eat one type of fruit, it enhances this experience even more. One ingredient is digested more efficiently than several.  

I am looking forward to the blissfulness of Banana Island. I was so happy the last time I went. It was like I was on cloud nine the entire time. Bananas are great for helping with depression and are wonderful mood boosters. I just couldn't stop smiling. I also felt mental and emotional clarity which is another benefit. 

The main reason I am interested in doing this is to gain more awareness. Your body is amazing and knows way more than you think it does. If you can learn to listen to it, you can achieve perfect health. Banana Island enhances your intuitive ability to listen to your body's needs. As I slowly add food back in at the end I will pay close attention to the things that disagree with me. Also, fruits and veggies will taste better. I couldn't believe all the flavor that was in an apple when I re-introduced them into my diet after BI.  

By only eating one food/ingredient you will be more aware of when you are satiated. The bananas will loose their taste and it will be easy to learn how to tell when you are truly full. 

Try to eat as clean as you can before you travel to Banana Island. No alcohol or animal products for several days prior. And eat as much fresh raw fruits and veggies as you can. It is ideal (but not essential) to be eating a lowfat raw vegan diet beforehand, but if you cannot, at least try to cut out meat and dairy products. 

**Side note: Organic vs Non-Organic Bananas. I strongly suggest spending the money to buy the organic bananas, especially if Del Montes are your only option for conventional bananas. There's something about them that doesn't digest well with myself and others I have talked to from the island. I did my first six days on organic last time, and when I switched to conventional Del Montes, I noticed an immediate difference in my digestion for the worst. Plus, you don't want to counter your bodies detoxing abilities by feeding yourself more chemicals and pesticides. I was shocked because I assumed that the banana peel was thick enough to block the fruit's absorption of these harmful sprays. 

I am so EXCITED to start tomorrow and share my experience with you. Follow my progress here on my Blog and at Naturally Ashley on Facebook!

Peace, love and lots of bananas! 

xoxo

** I got most of my information from Freelee at:

 30 Bananas a Day

as well as Food N Sport, Dr Doug Graham:

Food N Sport

and from all the wonderful friends I met at the 2012

  Woodstock Fruit Festival 

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Shiny, Healthy Hair - No Shampoo??

I came across a great YouTube video today by Forty Below Fruity, a Canadian fruit lover like myself! It's all about ditching the products we use on our hair, like shampoo, conditioner and so forth. In the video, she tell us that she hasn't washed her hair in two years! My first thought was 'I cant imagine how greasy my hair would get!' She says that you're hair gets used to it if you can stick out the greasy phase. I used to wash my hair every other day when I was younger, and now wash it once or twice a week, so I guess I could try taking the next step and challenge myself to one month without washing. I will definitely try the lemon, apple cider vinegar and baking soda idea and I've been wanting to use the coconut oil too! I've used every gluten free, natural shampoo I can find and all of them irritate my scalp anyways so I may need to ditch the products all together. It's worth a shot, and I wouldn't mind saving a little money too! Thanks 40 Below Fruity!!

Here's the link to her YouTube video "How to Get Beautiful Shiny Hair":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fq-MndOFQSE

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