Hi mum!
From what source are you taking your food combining info? I have the Diamond's books, but food combining theory seemed only a stepping stone on the way to becoming macrobiotic. Macrobiotics is not concerned with careful food combining, but more with the percentages that make up a whole nutritional meal. Whole grains 50-60%, vegetables 20-30%, soups 5-10%, beans and sea vegetables 5-10%, occasional foods include: fish and seafood, seasonal fruits, nuts and seeds, seasonings, pickles and condiments, natural snacks and desserts, natural beverages. Include foods from the percentages in each balanced meal.
Yeasted breads and excess baked flour products are not recommended on the macrobiotic diet. Yeast is very yin and causes health problems for many people. If you are not allergic to wheat though, wheat as a whole grain or cracked grain is a very nutritious food which should be included. White sugar is not recommened. It is actually grown in the tropics and wreaks havoc on the health of many. As you go along, you will learn that there are whole grain sweeteners such as barley malt and brown rice syrup that can be used to sweeten desserts.
Unyeasted sourdough bread is a macrobiotic staple, Steam it, if healing from illness or a disease condition.
Regarding Miso, I have never yet had instant Miso Soup and the tales I've heard are that it tastes awful. Make your own vegetable soup with a variety of cut vegetables you desire. At the end of cooking soup, take a small portion of the hot soup water and puree miso in it for individual servings (1 tsp per cup of soup). Miso should never be boiled, cooked for any length of time, or even simmered overlong. The live enzyme is killed this way and the flavor is unpleasant compared to live miso which is delicious in soups, beans, stews, etc. The difference in taste is like night and day.
There are many varieties of noodles: Udon, Soba, Buckwheat, Rice, etc. A good basic macrobiotic book such as Michio Kushi's, "The Macrobiotic Way" will introduce you to the several varieties of macrobiotic food staples.
As macrobiotics advocates "whole foods", you will find very few people in macrobiotics juicing. Juicing actually shocks the body with a liquid introduction of intense nutrients. Our foods on good planet earth are provided in their own convenient package that works very well. There is no reason to grind the fruit or vegetable down to juice and remove and discard the pulp, which is healthy for our bodies as fiber and a cleansing mechanism for the bowels. The mastication should be done with your own teeth as you self reflect upon your own condition and the miraculous effort put into growing, cultivating, producing, and transporting food to our tables. Special gratitude to all the organic farmers!!!
The food combining of meat with carbs, fish with carbs and veggies is not part of the macrobiotic way. In macrobiotics we eat whole balanced meals with whole grains (also wheat), vegetables, sea vegetables, beans, soups, and fish upon occasion.
You can sprout your own dried beans or you can buy sprouted beans as "bean sprouts" from your local grocer (preferably organic).
I have some great veggie burger recipes, will post later.
The Cybermacro Website has an inhouse mail order business, where you can order most any macrobiotic food item desired. Look at the banner at the top of this page and click on "Catalog". There is also an extensive online food and natural products catalog for the Kushi Institute of Europe.
Keep learning, there's a lot to learn!
Welcome to Cybermacro,
Nancy
