Thanks SOOOO much for your reply!
Well, there has been a series on the TV here called You Are What You Eat (ditto this is also the name of the accompanying book to the series) by Dr Gillian McKeith. It is not specifically a macrobiotic book but does encompass some elements. She takes people who are on dreadful, dreadful diets (100% processed food & overeating - these people are overweight, malnourished and never poo properly etc etc) and she replaces with (everything organic) veg, fruit, no wheat (as so many people are allergic), no red meat, limited chicken/turkey, no yeast, no sugar if at all possible and no alcohol. So basically one makes squash and pumpkin soup and what have you and eats much more beans and pulses. Her focus is on shoving nutrients down you to make sure you have all the essential fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins&minerals, digestible protein etc that you could ever need. Her diet (which is a lifetime thing not a faddy "I'm trying to lose weight" thing it is "diet" not "a diet") focuses on an abundance of healthy, beneficial food. She also introduces us to miso and seaweed and things like blue-green algae and wheat grass for their amazing nutritious content. On top of this she states that certain foods do not digest well together for example fruit eaten on top of chicken and rice will not get digested optimally therefore you whack a load of fruit down for breakfast when it can be easily digested and not be held up by other foods. Similarly some foods are not put together as according to her this can cause gas - no fruit and veg together, and some other combos which I forget. Does macrobiotics do any combining at all? I have been doing fresh fruit on its own or porridge with fresh fruit on top for brekky (love it) and then I tend to live on a big bowl of freshly made soup for lunch and then I do something like fish and vegetables or noodles and vegetables or lentils and rice or something like that for dinner, or a whapping big salad with loads of stuff on it and something sprouted thrown in as well as some fresh herbs, often fresh parsley. She speaks well of all kinds of grains and amaranthe and all sorts of stuff that I am only just getting to know of at all, and it is sitting in my cupboard whilst I figure out what I can do with it!!!!!!!
I do not know that I am allergic to wheat so am relieved I can have that added back in - this sourdough bread though, is it dreadfully hard (I've heard rumours...
and does it actually taste good - sorry but I have to ask!! Do you have a recipe for it??? Is it easy to make? I must say if there's one thing I miss, it's a thick slice of crusty white farmhouse bread with a thick spread of butter on it - ooooooh, yum. But it's so full of sugar, yeast and saturated fat, but crikey, it tastes goooood......
I am glad to know of the wholegrain sweeteners and have just ordered some rice syrup which I will switch to putting on my porridge instead of golden syrup (ahem, naughty I know!!).
You are right about the instant miso - the one I had tasted dreadful. I tried though, twice, but it was just horrible. I am not sure what you mean when you say "puree miso in it" - when you use it in this context what is the miso then; do you mean miso puree and put a spoonful in??? I have today ordered from organic miso puree which I hope will have a better result. Can I put it into soup at the end of cooking and will it enrich the taste (ie can it be used like a stock-type thing?). Is miso puree the "live" miso you are talking about?
I have just managed to get some mung bean noddles and some rice noodles so I shall plan them into this week's meal plan.
I am interested in your views on juicing - very, very interesting indeed.
Looking forward to the veggie burger recipes. Many thanks for your kind reply and I look forward to chatting with you some more!
Oh, you know wheat grass, can you get seeds and sprout them as I am not going the juicing route purely due to the cost of the juicer (and interest in the comment you made)!
All the best,
Isobel (aka Is or Issie).
