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Re: potlucks
Hello Lysia and other macro pot-luckers,
do you know how the term pot luck arose?
apparently in Ireland and England in the old old old days people had a pot on the stove or on the hearth and it wa kept simmering - whatever fell in the pot from the rafters was the pot luck! yikes - I hope that ddoesn't spoil anyone's appetite. I don't think they would have had much luck trying the Atkins diet back then....I'll take the seitan any day, thanks....now on with the question....
thanks for visiting and posting at my forum!
yes - potlucks can be trickey for the newbie to MB as well as the long timer for this way of life....so what is a gal to do?
a big issue - where do I start?
Firstly - ask yourself -
What is the reason you are attending the pot luck?
Is it to meet like minded people?
learn more about mb?
try new dishes?
swap ideas?
have a good time?
eat till you feel sick? whoops - no not that is not a good reason! so choose again. but many people do experience that despite the best of intentions - so what can we do to prevent that and have a good time and make it a positive experience?
take a look at the food before you start piling it on your plate. Choose what you want to try and what you feel comfortable with.
try to make it as balanced as possible. Select a grain and/or grain product dish, a legume or tofu/tempeh dish etc some veggies, salad and greens etc. Then take a little break - and head for the desserts! Did I say that?! yes - potlucks are a great chance to sample some things you may not regularly indulge in and try other people's creations. Just stay in tune with your own energies and see how you feel.
Come back to earth with some soothing bancha tea
don't be too strict in your daily application of cooking and eating. Being too narrow can prompt one too splurge with too much gusto.
it can be very liberating to eat other people's cooking.
this makes makes some people feel uncomfortable - like I used to feel when I was on a healing plan especially and even these days. I found it had to do with my control issues and my fears about food and life and healing in general. Addressing these has shown me where I was getting stuck and stagnating - it is not just about the food. And has brought me even greater feelings and experiences of peace and freedom.
just because it is on offer at a macro event doesn't mean it will agree with you or be of the quality you are used to. you don't have to eat it because it is there. I am sure there are always many options that do fit the bill.
remind yourself that you don't have to smaple everything. People often have the buffet complex when at a potluck - either a conscious or subconscious desire to "get their money's worth" or make it an occasion to remember etc.
take a notebook and write down some dishes you can make or modify at home if you feel you really want to try everything.
sit down to eat.
remember to breath
don't expet to be able to chew like when at home but try to take your time and taste the food and be present with it as much as possible despite the activity of the situation. Savour what you have in your mouth without mentally planning your next trip to the buffet table and what you will select.
enjoy the conversation. There are usually very intesting people - some with lots of macro and other experience at these events. Make the most of it....
Bring something you know agrees with you. When in doubt bring a dish or two you know you can have if you are on a healing plan - so you are not tempted by being so hungry and having all those delicious morsels available. You could take a simple but tasty grain dish - pilaf with some interesing ingredients - or make the Enchanted Broccoli Forest from Ilanit Tof's cookbook Seasonal Variation: WholeSummer Meals which is available here at cybermaco
It is a colourful and tasty dish that I find always is popular at potlucks. I find it is so important to take a dish with visual appeal. Then stnad back as people ooooh and aaaah over your creation and tell you how delicious it is.
I find it helps to have the ingredients writtne down so that people are not constantly asking me what is in what I prepared and I can enjoy the event more!
encourage the host to encourage others to write their recipes on a little card so that those with sensitivities or on healing plans can make appropriate choices.
Go to the event with a hearty appetite but not ravenously hungry.
bring a litle container so you can take something home if you just can't fit another morsel of food in and you are tempted.
ask the host to assign dishes - sometimes this works, often it does not. It depends on the group dynamics
Guilt - dump it! Guilt is more destructive to the whole body/mind and Being than any amount of too many slices of tofu cheescake and bowls of amasake pudding.
I find I am very sensitive to certain ingredients and by recongnizing that I can choose to stay in balance more.
For me any refined sugar etc tends to set me off on a dessert frenzy so I try to avoid it or if I do have an encounter with it I try to stay centered and conscious.
For me spices and especially garlic affects me tremendously. Some research has shown that garlic temporarily disconnects the fibres that link the brain hemispheres. That seems to be the case for me! I think I need to call an electrician to reconnect the wires when I have eaten it. and since there seems to be a focus on more adventurous macro cooking at potlucks these days and garlic is often included it may be wise to check with the cook if it affects you and you are in doubt.
have some umeboshi plums on hand to balance out any strong reactions.
try not to overcompensate for extremes of food - don't let the overly salty miso soup give you an excuse for a huge piece of pie. Find another excuse! ;-) LOL
Interestingly on the day I attended a pot luck recently I had been experimenting with Acubead. They are ear accupressure applications - tiny bead that are adhered with a transparent tape - almost unnoticable. I had tried some for calming and for appetite balance. And found myself very centred that day. I even survived a visit to the new organic superstore that afternoon with barely a hiccup. I nearly lost it in the aisle with the newly released quinoa milk and spelt cous cous - but luckily someone had tipped me off about the existence of the quinoa milks the week before. The spelt cous cous nealry got the better of me. But I was able to stay quite centred and relaxed. I know how powerful auricular therapy is - it is often the acupuncture treatment of choice for severe addictions and drug rehabilitation so I am sure it has a great effect on a hankering fro too many rice dream pies as well. Anyway it had an effect on me! I will keep you all posted on my progress.
come back to balance with some simpler, yet nourishing dishes the next day. I love the sound of your barley cardamon prorridge. Would you share the recipe with me here?
so there are some of the tips I have gathered through trial and error over the years of many pot lucks.
I would love to hear what works for you!
xoxoxo
Shiitake
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