[Traveling in the Raw – Lebanon] The Magic of Oranges – Orange-Persimmon Smoothie

When I arrived in Lebanon a few days ago, I got sick almost immediately. There are many things one takes from granted when living in the US, and in a way, the purity of our lifestyle makes any return to the so-called normal world quite difficult on the body. Here are a few things I found everywhere around here, even though they can't be found in my house:

• Fluorinated toothpaste (as well as whitening): I only use un-fluorinated Tom's of Maine toothpaste -- read this to know why,
• Iodized salt: I never, ever, ever used iodized salt. I get iodine from organic sea vegetables, mainly kelp granules which I love to stir into guacamole, and as for salt, I usually use fine ground Celtic sea salt, as well as a few other salts (pink Himalayan, red Alea, unrefined sea salt and seaweed blend, herbamare, coarse Celtic sea salt),
• UHT milk: UHT stands for Ultra High Temperature, a method of pasteurization. When I do buy milk, it is local, unhomogenized, VAT-pasteurized milk. On occasion, I have drunk unpasteurized goat's milk but since it is illegal to purchase unpasteurized milk in Iowa (and the laws are even tougher for goat's milk), I only do so very rarely.
• Butter/vegetable oil mixes: Yikes! Non-organic canola oil, anyone? In my house, only 2 kinds of butter are allowed: cultured, organic butter, or grass-fed, organic butter (both are from Organic Valley as they are fairly easy to find in my small town). Vegetable oil? Never. The only kinds I use are olive oil and coconut oil. Rarely, I will use grapeseed oil in certain salads.

There are many other products which I found shocking since I was no longer used to seeing them, let alone using them. I immediately purchased some real salt (funny thing is, the only affordable one I found was unrefined salt from Maine), and some Isigny AOC butter.

You might say: “You don't have to eat these horrible foods!” but when your family takes the time to cook something for you, it's difficult to say: “I'm sorry, but I don't eat iodized salt and since you've used some, I can't eat the dish”. I prefer to just replace commonly used ingredients with some that are acceptable to me and make life easier on everyone.

One good thing about Lebanon, though, is that it's citrus season right now. I love citrus with a passion, I love the smell, the taste, I love how tiny droplets of oil explode all over as I peel the delightful fruits. Whenever I am thirsty right now (which is often, as Franklin has been nursing very frequently and eating very little – which is probably a good thing), I just juice some oranges or mandarin oranges. Delicious, and so refreshing.

A few mornings ago, my mom got me a few persimmons (called “kakis” around here) and I decided to make a smoothie (with a hand blender, I don't have my Vita-Mix with me). I used local bananas, of course. How's that for awesome?

Orange Persimmon Smoothie

Ingredients

2 bananas

2 persimmons (I used Hashya)

2 oranges, juiced

Blend and serve 1.

And did you know that if you bend orange skins near a candle, little sparks will appear? Try this with your children some time (away from flamable things, it goes without saying). I loved to do that as a kid!