Macrobiotics: Thought of the Day

Above all one must cultivate a sense of gratitude, a deep awareness of life as a wonderful gift which has been received from Heaven and Earth, from parents and ancestors. *Kaibara

Following My Passion (News!) and Dinner On A Cold Fall Night

Hi there!

Do you ever find that the simplest dinners are the most delicious?  While not always the case, sometimes it is.  Last night all I wanted was a hot pasta dish.  It was cold and raining as I was coming home from work and that sounded best.  Enter Tinkyada Rice Pasta (wheat free & gluten-free).  I love the brown rice penne.  Literally just made of brown rice.  That’s it!  I love it because I don’t feel that heaviness that often comes with an Italian meal after eating it.  The only other ingredients I needed was a can of organic diced tomatoes and a bag of spinach.  I cooked the pasta until it was almost done then mixed it together with the diced tomatoes on medium-high heat.  Once that was hot, I stirred in the spinach until it was cooked.  And I used some vegan sprinkle cheese!  Great healthy quick dinner in my mind.

Tonight I plan on using up the butternut squash I have in the fridge.  Wegmans has on their website one of my favorite recipes:  Butternut Squash with Baby Spinach (and cranberries).  It’s a great Thanksgiving dish as well.  I will make sure to share it soon.

Onto my news!  I’m making the jump into a major interest of mine.  It was something I thought about doing a year ago, but the timing just wasn’t right.  Starting in January, I’m planning to further my learning in Macrobiotics.  I’m going to get educated to become a Macrobiotic Counselor!  The program is one-year long, online, and meant for busy people.  I work fulltime so I needed something that fits into that schedule.  I’m beyond excited!  I can’t wait for everything I’m going to learn about the Macrobiotic Diet, nutrition, diagnosis, home remedies.  In a way it’s really good that it didn’t work out last year because I’ve taken 2013 to experiment on my own with Macrobiotics, but now I’ll actually get a formal education.  I think it’s really important to follow the things you love in life and this is me taking that step.  Again, my studies do not start until January so I’ve got some time, but I figured I’d share with you guys because you’re always so supportive.

This weekend looks rainy and cold here.  Oh well, that’s autumn.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

What’s a passion of yours you’d like to follow?  Are you a fan of butternut squash?

Friday! And Some Macrobiotic Chit Chat

Happy Friday!

How’s your week been?  The weather was gorgeous here yesterday, but then it rained all night, which is actually 100% fine with me because it just gives me more excuse to stay in and cook new recipes.  I ordered the Hocus Pocus DVD online earlier in the week because my husband and I like to watch it every year and it’s always a scramble to find it, but not this year!  It was $6 on Amazon.  Can’t beat that.  I’m very excited about Trick-or-Treaters coming to our house this year as well.  It’s been a long while since I've lived in a place where we get Trick-or-Treaters so I’m excited to see the little kids costumes and hand out candy.  I have such happy memories of trick-or-treating when I was young.  I remember running around in my princess costume when it was definitely below freezing, but totally worth it for the candy!  And hot cider was always the best on a freezing cold Halloween night.

Moving on to Macrobiotic chit chat.  I bought this book four years ago, but hadn't read it.  Last night I sat down and really dove in and came to realize this is one of the best Macrobiotic books.  And lots of recipes!  Here's my Macrobiotic Grocery List as well if you're interested.  It's a good start if you want to freshen your cupboards. 

I made a new dinner as well - Ginger Pasta with Zucchini and Tofu - recipe to come...

  My grains, umeboshi plums, Miso, and sunflower seeds arrived at my doorstep Wednesday from the Kushi Store (online food shopping!).  Doesn't everything look so pretty?  So I learned that what I thought I was buying as whole oats from the grocery store really weren't whole oats.  I have never had whole oat groats until now.  That tan grain below is what actual whole oats look like.  The Macrobiotic Counselor cooked us a sample at my meeting and topped it with a fruit jam, and it was heavenly.  Oats can cause mucus (sorry gross I know, I hate that word) and with my sinus infections I’m very sensitive to this, so I need to limit my oat intake, but a few times a week should be fine.  

The grain itself is really important in Macrobiotics and really the center of my diet.  Getting an assortment of grains is important as well; therefore, I’m going to be branching out.

Further, did you know it’s best to soak your grains prior to cooking (3-12 hours)?  I soaked the oats overnight in a pot on the stove and then started cooking them as soon as I woke up this morning.  Soaking brown rice breaks down a compound called phytic acid which can inhibit the absorption of nutrients (taken from the book, The Milf Diet).  Also, soaking makes the grains more digestible.  I soaked about two cups worth of brown rice on Monday night, added the juice of half a lemon, and then cooked it up (in fresh water) Tuesday morning.  Rice lasts a few days in the fridge so it’s been convenient this week.

Lastly, I wanted to talk to you about a recipe for the Cure-All Tea taken from The Kind Diet.  I've read about making this kind of tea drink in several Macrobiotic books.  It’s pretty awesome.  The tea’s purpose is to restore minerals to the blood; therefore, it’s great for when you've eaten white sugar, hangovers, heartburn, nausea, or just feeling weak.  For me, I have found this tea also helps with headaches.

To make the tea you need:  1 kukicha tea bag (or loose), half an umeboshi plum - chopped fine and pit removed - and 3-5 drops of shoyu.  While the tea steeps, place the umeboshi plum into a cup with the drops of shoyu then pour the tea over, and stir before drinking.  You can suck on the pit of the umeboshi plum as well, which I did while making the tea.  Give it a try!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

What are you up to this weekend?  Would you try this Cure-All Tea?

Let the Month of Being a Superhero Begin

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My Meeting with a Macrobiotic Counselor

Hi!

 

Ok, so I have so much to share with you about my meeting with a Macrobiotic Counselor today, but at the same time I'm still processing and letting all the wonderfulness set in.  I think the best way to start out to is just to give you a few words to describe my experience - relaxing, peaceful, beautiful, inspiring, exciting, life-changing - and then show you some pictures...

 

My husband and I got on the road at 8am because we had about an hour drive through the country for our 9am appointment, which we drove up to this view...

 

 

The Macrobiotic Counselor was smiling waiting at the door and we were immediately offered our first dish upon entering her comforting kitchen.  The food was so tasty and I'm so excited to replicate it.  My favorite dish was baked squash stuff with chopped apple inside and seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg.  Oh my gosh.  I hardly ever eat squash and I fell in love.  It was like dessert.  And I found out desserts are not prohibited.  It's about moderation and taking in the right ingredients.  For example, maple syrup every day is really not a good thing for me.  I'm sensitive to such extremes like this so I need to take note of that.  I didn't take any pictures of the food because I wanted to stay present in the moment and enjoy every bit of knowledge I could.

 

 

We started out with a relaxing drink made with water, ounce of pear juice, and a drop of Pure Tranquility Liquid.  It's meant to be sipped throughout the day and is calming.  Two hours later we ended  the session with kukicha tea.  Glorious.

 

There are so many details that happened in between.  My husband and I each talked about our personal concerns and things we wanted to address in our bodies. I talked about how I get headaches and have sinus issues.  Also, I have a coffee obsession and love my sweets so we talked about that.  Basically with my diet I will be getting back to basics - whole grains (especially brown rice), miso soup daily (magical food), lots of vegetables (avoiding nightshade vegetables), avoiding raw salads (for now), cooked fruit (with kantan), moderate salt.  I'm not sharing specifically what enzymes I'll be taking as well because everyone is different and this was just my personal experience (and I'm in no way qualified to solicit such information).  So that's my new focus and after eating incredible food all morning I feel invigorated! 

 

 

We went shopping after just to pick up some necessities to get the ball rolling...  I will continue to share these food items as they come in the mail.  I ordered Miso, Umeboshi plums, whole oats, and a few other things online from the Kushi Store.  Fantastic because these amazing things will just be arriving at my door...

 

I have so much more to share, but I need to dive in a bit deeper to give you a more thoughtful post.  And of course I will be recipe sharing!  Up next:  Miso Soup tomorrow morning.  I'm soaking my brown rice as we speak (overnight 24 hours) in lemon juice and then I'll cook it on the stove tomorrow morning.  One step at a time.

 

I hope you had an amazing weekend and I'll be sharing much more soon =)

 

Also, I met with a Macrobiotic Counselor in Central New York.  If you are around this area and want a recommendation I would love to tell you more about her.  Feel free to email me at lovalatte1@gmail.com

 

Have you ever heard of miso/kuzu root/umeboshi plums/kukicha tea/night shade vegetables?  These are all just a few things I'll be exploring...

 

Balance and the Macrobiotic Diet Revisited

Back when I started blogging – nine months ago – I was embarking on my newly discovered journey of the Macrobiotic Diet. 

In 2012, I dealt with a constant stream of sinus infections that left me feeling loopy, out of touch, frustrated, scared, and desperate for help.  I didn’t want antibiotics thrown at me anymore either.  So really I was looking for something more – and in that search I stumbled across several great books.  Ironically, a few of them were already sitting in my at home library, but I had not paid them nearly enough attention.  The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone touches on the Macrobiotic Diet (her Superhero diet is based on the Macrobiotic Diet).  I also had this other really cool book called The Hip Chick’s Guide to Macrobiotics which pushed me to buy The MILF Diet as well.  On top of that, my husband had bought me a collection of books on the Macrobiotic Diet for my birthday last January.  My point being, I’ve got all this information at my disposal and it’s time for me to revisit the Macrobiotic Diet and I want to share with you along the way.

I figured a nice refresher post was the way to start though because maybe you weren’t following my blog nine months ago and quite frankly, I need a refresher as well.  So here we go!  Keep in mind that I stick to a plant-based diet (with the very occasional dairy slip up) and therefore I’m turning to the Macrobiotic Diet as a means of growth.  Side note – I emailed a Macrobiotic Counselor in my area last night because I now want to make the jump to schedule a consultation/cooking class.  I told her about my vegan diet, but I was still looking for a bit more and her response brought up things I hadn’t even mentioned.  Within her response were the phrases “inner strength” and “accomplish more things in life” and “continue to learn new things and move forward”… All of this hit home as I think it would to so many of us.  I’m constantly trying to be the best me.  I know I’m wandering in this post right now, but stick with me.

So what’s the Macrobiotic Diet?  In the words of Jessica Porter, author of the MILF Diet, it’s “to help you stay balanced, happy, and healthy by helping you harmonize with nature”.  Oh I love that.  At the very basis the components of the Macrobiotic Diet include:  whole grains, vegetables, plant-based proteins, sea vegetables, natural sweets, and fermented foods.

Basically, this post is just to kind of update you and myself.  It’s all about balance, about feeling connected, Yin and Yang.  I promise to go into more detail along this (re)journeying.  If any of this interests you though, click on the “My Macrobiotic Journey” link on the right hand side.  It will give you a quick refresher and I’ve made an extensive grocery list within there as well.

That’s all I’ve got today, but there’s more to come, I promise.

Does any of this interest you?  How was your weekend?

Yin and Yang



Yesterday's afternoon walk - talk about snow!

I thought it would be nice to share a bit more about what draws me to Macrobiotics.  Aside from the actual power of the food we put in our bodies, I'm intrigued by the philosophical aspect of the Macrobiotic Diet.  In other words, Macrobiotics is not just about the food.  It's also about the energy and balance that food can provide.  It's truly about finding harmony with oneself.  I think that's really amazing.  This part of the Macrobiotic Diet, I still have a lot to learn, but I find it fascinating.

Eating is one of the most crucial things we do everyday.  And if I can find balance and peace from within based simply on the decision of what I choose to eat then that makes me really powerful.

I know it might sound a little odd all my talk about tranquility, but keep reading on about this Yin and Yang stuff - it might just make sense to you too! 

(Everything I'm sharing is from my own personal Macrobiotic research. I'm not an expert, just genuinely curious!)

So foods have Yin and Yang qualities.  Therefore, when we eat something incredibly Yang or intensely Yin, we become off balance.  For example, when you have something highly concentrated in white sugar, the food is taking you on that "sugar high".  Excess consumption of this Yin food (amongst others) over time can cause our body to become weak. 

Extreme Yang Foods

meat, poultry, eggs, salty cheeses, caffeine, food additives & preservatives, sodium in processed foods

Extreme Yin Foods

white sugar, milk, cream, butter, ice cream, tropical fruits, nightshade vegetables (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and bell peppers)

Blend of Yin & Yang - Optimal

whole grains, whole grain products, natural sweeteners, unrefined vegetable oils, unrefined sea salt, beans, bean product, vegetables, fruits (local and in season), seeds, nuts, seasonings, pickles, nonstimulant beverages

Examples of the Western cuisine balance of Yin & Yang:

Yang: hamburger with Yin:  french fries
Yang:  Cheese  with Yin:  Wine

That's why these items pair well.  It's our way of finding that balance; although, it's not quite the way to do it.

Overall, I try to do my best to select foods according to their balance of Yin and Yang.  The optimal category above is where I'd say 90 percent of my food comes from.  I have not fully elimiated caffeine, tomatoes, eggplants and bell peppers.  I really only drink decaf coffee/lattes at this point though.  But I make a conscience effort not to seek out extreme Yin or Yang foods.

I can absolutely say that by eating whole grains, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds and reducing excess consumption of processed food, I feel really good.

That's my Macrobiotic sharing for today.  If you're new, click here to see all my posts regarding the Macrobiotic Diet!

What foods make you feel your best?

Medicinal Soup

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Friday Review

It’s Friday!  We made it.  Thanks for hearing my chitchat yesterday.  It’s been a busy week here.  I had to take care of some car repairs twice this week after work which meant I was really hungry by the time I got home (hence the grilled cheese with side of veggies).  It’s felt like winter all week, but I hear warmer weather is in the forecast for the weekend – I hope by you too!  This weekend I plan on attempting Miso soup some more.  I really want to get in the habit of having it daily.  Also, I want to get in a semi-long run like last Saturday's.  Take a few walks with the pup and hubby.  And relax.  We’ve been very busy the last few weekends which I love, but I’m looking forward to staying in town this weekend. 

Some of this week's food!

I thought it might be nice if I recapped Macrobiotics.  I know it’s foreign to a lot of people as it was to me at first, so this might make it easier to understand (and it was good review for me!)

Just to name a few...



So here's the deal:  I'm really started to feel the power of Macrobiotics and I'm not even following it 100%.  I'd say 75% of the time I follow the Macrobiotic Diet and the rest vegan.  I'm going to be at 3 months of incorporating Macrobiotics in my life soon and I'm really digging it.  I've fallen in love with whole grains and I truly do not miss white sugar (and I used to eat a lot of it!)  I'm telling you even just incorporating some of these goodies and principles could be magical.  I'm certainly feeling the magic.

Do any of these goodies/principles sound good to you?

Have an incredible weekend! 

Updates on My Journey

 

Macrobiotics is still so very new to me.  Although if I had the time to read all my books on the Macrobiotic Diet from front to back, I cannot even imagine the wealth of knowledge I’d have, but I’m reading as much as I can and taking it in at a happy (not overwhelming) rate. 

For me, Macrobiotics is a happy and exciting extension on being vegan (although many individuals follow a Macrobiotic Diet eating fish). 

Basically, Macrobiotics has encouraged me to eliminate white sugar, white flour, and as many processed foods as possible while adding in new foods that I had never tried before or needed to eat more of (kukicha tea, umeboshi plums, sea vegetables, barley, millet).  Previous to embarking on my macrobiotic journey, I had hadn't eaten a lot of brown rice.  Now it’s my number one staple and I actually wake up craving it.  I used to wake up yearning for a big bowl of sweet cereal, but that’s hardly on my radar anymore.  I now turn to rice krispies cereal with almond milk more for a night time dessert/snack.  It’s really interesting becoming more attuned to my body’s reaction to certain foods now that I’ve sort of cleansed it.  I’m still in the beginning phase (2 months in!) but I’m already so happy with how I feel.

This is what a day of eating the Macrobiotic Diet looks like for me and how my food world has changed by embracing Macrobiotics:

Breakfast involved the biggest adjustment.  Let me be honest that when I sat down with that first bowl of brown rice and steamed kale at 8 o’clock in the morning after Christmas, it was so strange.  It wasn’t my natural or desired meal.  For starters I had never had brown rice for breakfast and I had absolutely never included vegetables in this respect.  I’d say it took me about a week to start getting in the grove with my brown rice and greens breakfast.  I started to add in roasted sunflower and pumpkins seeds as well as raisins.  I also bought shoyu (organic soy sauce) for the first time and used a tsp of that when cooking the kale or collards.  This breakfast becomes more delicious by the day and I mean it when I say I crave it now!  I literally feel the nourishment dancing in my body after this breakfast.  I hope I don’t sound too crazy.  Give it a try for a month…  I swear it makes you passionate about whole grains, greens, nuts, and seeds at breakfast!

My snacks have changed as well.  I used to be all about flour products – muffins, cookies, Luna bars, Cliff bars – I love it all.  However, while these things are delicious, they didn’t necessarily leave me feeling light and energetic.  My snacks are now almonds, walnuts, raisins, apples, oranges, baby carrots, celery – essentially I’ve eliminated all the flour.  I still have a Chocolate Peppermint Luna bar once in a while (it’s a serious candy bar to me now), but not as an everyday thing.  I definitely didn’t realize how much sugar I was taking in previously.  I truly feel better with my snack change and my new snacks actually quench my hunger instead of leaving me hungrier.

Lunch & Dinner – They haven’t changed too drastically aside from my eating of brown rice noodles, sweet potato noodles, quinoa noodles, etc. rather than noodles made from flour.  Here are some of my most recent dinners.

Dessert – No more white sugar (or much less often, like once a month for now).  I’ve had a limited amount of sugar since December 26, 2012.  My goal is to solely use sweeteners such as brown rice syrup, maple syrup, molasses, and barley malt.  I no longer crave sugar the same way either.  It seems when I was eating a lot of sugar I constantly wanted more sugar, but eliminating it has also significantly lessened my desire.  Also, I know how bad white sugar makes me feel (especially the following day) so that makes it a lot easier to go without. 

This is my journey so far.  I’ll keep you updated and I plan to post more recipes over the upcoming weeks.

What’s your favorite breakfast, lunch, and dinner food?

That Sugar

I never really understood how powerful sugar was (that white sparkling stuff that does magical things to desserts) before I stopped consuming it. 
 

The day after Christmas 2012 I said goodbye to sugar.  I had eaten countless desserts over the holidays, feeling sluggish, and macrobiotics was calling to me (had been inticing me for a few years) on so many levels.  I ditched sugar without thinking twice.  It hasn't been a clean break though.  See there was my birthday in January with those vegan cupcakes and then Valentine's Day with some more vegan cupcakes and lastly yesterday with my husband's birthday celebration.  Absolutely delicious cake!

 

Also the reason I woke up at 3 o'clock this morning and was inspired to share my thoughts.  I'm wide awake for no reason (except that sugary one) because I'm actually really tired, but filled with that sugar awakeness that I can only now recognize due to my difficult breakup with sugar.

 

I remember reading about sugar in The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone a few years ago and she states:

Alicia goes on to explain why sugar is nasty to your body (leaches vitamins, suppresses immune system, that rollar coaster sugar ride, etc.)  I highly recommend reading her book even if just to stop in the library, read a few chapters, digest what you read about sugar, and process it for a while...like I did.

 

A few years ago, I didn't get what Alicia meant.  I'm still in the middle of the learning process.

 

When I started my vegan journey, I did nothing to eliminate sugar because I felt fine.  The thing is when I was riding the sugar train, it was incredibly difficult to understand enjoying a train ride (or a life for that matter) without sugar. 

 

I really get it now though.  Having decreased my sugar intake drastically overnight, the effects of sugar for me personally are now so apparent when I do eat sugar.  Now when I eat sugar I can expect to have a restless night sleep with vivid, sometimes scary dreams.  I look tired the next day and my face has a puffiness to it.  My energy is drained.  This is all a new revelation for me.

 

Ok, so you're probably thinking I'm crazy right now even mentioning the idea of a life without sugar (if you have any sort of sweet tooth like I do - insatiable at times), but life without sugar by no means = life without desserts and delicious sweets. 

 

There are amazing substitutes like rice syrup, barley malt, and maple syrup.  I plan to post more desserts involving these sweeteners. 

 

Have you ever gone without sugar?  I'm so interested in your experiences! 

 

What are your thoughts on sugar?

Macrobiotic Grocery Shopping

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