 |
| A week of yoga |
I’m leaving for a trip to Mexico in a few days. I’m going on a yoga trip with our oldest
daughter, Lisa, and her recently-graduated-from-college-daughter, Melissa. At
the same time, several folks have been asking me about maintaining a high raw
diet while travelling. I have addressed the issue in other blogs (search in the
archives for "travelling raw"). This trip, however,
has given rise to some questions that I’ve not had to deal with before, so I’m
in the process of tweaking my “usual” food provision ( as if every trip doesn’t
require some creative thinking about food) routine. Some of these works in progress may be
helpful to you the next time you travel.
If not, do feel free to work out your own solutions ….anything to keep
you out of a lot of food on the road that you really don’t want to be eating. Let us know your ideas. We can all learn!
1. Making green
smoothies. I got lucky here. We’ll be staying in a bungalow for 4 which
has a kitchen. I checked with the
leader of the group and found out that there, is, in fact, a blender there. Thus, I can make green smoothies every day,
which, for me, settles lots of angst right there.
2. Fresh
produce. We’ll be fed a sizable brunch
buffet each day we are there, which I assume will have lots of fresh fruits and
vegetables. If I’m lucky, there may be
some nuts and seeds at them as well. I
may pack a small container of sunflower seeds to use on salads or as a snack.
 |
| Puerto Morelos, Mexico |
3. Other
meals. It’s a ten minute walk to the
town of Puerto Morelos, where there are restaurants, (for evening meals), and
grocery stores, (for fruits and dark leafy greens for the smoothies I’ll make
in my kitchen). The exercise will be
good in itself, and I shouldn’t want for plenty of good fresh food. I wonder about how well I will be able to eat
in the restaurants, staying as raw as I can.
The good news is, though, that if I can buy grocery produce and take it
home, I won’t need to worry much about evening meals in restaurants. I can just make another smoothie or a salad
in our room. (Note to self: take a
shopping bag or two, and don’t forget to
pack a small knife in the suitcase that will be checked for the flight.
4. Extras. Mexico doesn’t allow fresh produce to be
brought into the country, and suggest that any other food that’s imported be still in its
factory wrapper. I’m bringing an
assortment of raw bars that I get in the Health Food Store. I also made a large bowl of trail mix, which
I divided into ½ cup servings, packed in snack bags. I think that if they’re deep in my checked
suitcase, they won’t be bothered. If I’m
questioned, I’ll say that the trail mix is necessary for my diet. True enough.
I am printing the guidelines below for my trail mix, but this time, just
to be safe, I cut way back on the dried fruit, lest it make the TSA folks
nervous.
If any of you have other good ideas for me, leave them in
the comments section below. I hope that
the trail mix guidelines will be helpful for you at some point. For me, the little baggies full make a
perfect after-biking snack, and I usually pack some along to conferences, as
well, where the salads have a tendency to get boring. The little protein/fat boost provided by the
nuts and seeds gives me a good boost, physically and mentally.
5. Water. I don’t usually drink tap water in Mexico, so I hope that the place we’re staying will supply us with good, safe water. Stay tuned.
Jane’s
Trail Mix Guidelines
 |
| Easy to make and pack |
Homemade trail mix has many
advantages over varieties that are already packaged for you. It is cheaper,
allows you to add as much or as little of whatever you want, and, if you pick
raw ingredients, provides you with the maximum nutrition value. It’s hard to go
wrong!
There are no rules
here. Trail mix is a good way to give
you lots of nice crunchy things in your diet, all of which are nutrient
laden. You can add in as many dried
fruits as you like, keeping in mind that dried fruits have a higher sugar
content than regular fruit.
When I make trail mix, I
make a lot of it in a big bowl—a really big bowl. Then I measure out ½ cup portions, (which may
not look like much, but is plenty satisfying), into snack- sized baggies. I carry a couple of those in my purse just on
general principles, as it does me good to know that I have good, nourishing
food available, and I will not starve, even if I’m caught in bad weather,
traffic, etc.
So, begin in the bulk foods
department . I buy one of those medium
sized bags of each of the following:
-Raw Nuts and Seeds—almonds,
Brazils, pecans, cashews, walnuts, filberts (hazel nuts), sunflower seeds,
pumpkin seeds. (Macadamias and pine nuts don’t keep quite as well, and they are
very expensive, so I skip them for trail mix.)
-Dried fruits from the bulk
bins or the packaged bulk shelves in Clover’s : raisins, currants, goji
berries, etc. Others, which I then cut
up, include papaya spears, mango slices, date rolls, pineapple, etc. Take care to buy the ones that have no
sulphur, sulphites or sugar included.
-There are other bagged, raw
berries that I like and are labeled “raw”, like golden berries and mulberry
berries.
-Raw cacao nibs add a really
nice surprise chocolate treat in trail mix, and are high in magnesium and
anti-oxidants.
When I put these all
together one cup of each thing, perhaps adding an extra half cup of sunflower
seeds and pumpkin seeds. Suit yourself. This
mixture will keep very well and travels very well. Enjoy!!
Note—buying all these nuts
and seeds is a big financial proposition.
However, they keep well, and making trail mix with a cup full of each
ingredient will last for weeks—a bargain in disguise.
