What are you eating?

[garymill]

Due to an absolute lack of originality on my part, I am blatantly ripping off both Nancy and Mara's "What are you" threads to make yet another one.
I could have put this in the cooking forum, but I thought it might be nice to have it here and make it broader topic. Still if you think it should be in the cooking forum, I will move it.

The basic idea is to talk about the type of things that you have eaten recently. This can be something you have prepared yourself, a readymade convenience food, or something that you ate out.

If this is something that you cooked yourself, please let us know where the recipe came from, cookbook, etc, if it is your own recipe, by all means please also post it to our recipes section. Your own recipe can even be something as simple as a favorite sandwich that you like to make.

Many of us have very hectic schedules, so by all means talk about how you still try to eat healthy, in regards to work, being in school, or the types of lunches that you prepare for your children to take there.

To get things started, yesterday I prepared Amarath and Apricots for breakfast. This came from Jessica Porter's new macrobiotic cookbook, The Hip Chick's Guide To Macrobiotics. I really liked how the cereal tasted, as it is made with apricots, some apple juice, and a bit of raisins. For lunch I tried out a recipe for an Aduki Bean Spread that comes from the Belleme's new book on Miso, the recipe is right here. I ended up taking the spread, adding it to some whole wheat wraps, along with basmati rice and pressed cucumbers, so I ended up with a sort of Mexican burrito. I also had some nishime squash and sweet potato vegetables along with greens and chestnut puree for dessert. I have posted the purée to the recipes section

Hopefully from this thread we can all get different ideas from each other.


Gary

[Mara]

Yum, sounds awesome, Gary! I will have to try your suggestions, especially the cereal. Have experimented with a few different bean spreads in the past, and they are excellent for sandwiches and crackers.

Been eating a lot of fresh cucumber, basil, and avocado salads. Grilling tofu kebabs, mushrooms, and salmon on the barbeque. Side dishes of soft rice, or polenta with some oil drizzled on top.

Summer is truly in its full glory, and it's so pleasant. I made a spectacular wild blackberry crisp the other night. Picked my own berries, then used Kristina Turner's apple crisp recipe, slightly modified.

I also love to make my own sourdough pita bread. What I do, is I make regular sourdough bread up until the baking, and then I make pita rounds cooked on an iron skillet. These are great for lunch in the summer, stuffed with some shredded lettuce and carrots and a light tahini-twig tea dressing.

Great thread idea, Gary!

[garymill]

Wow Mara,

Those are some fantastic sounding things that you are making!

Gary

[Nancy]

Gary, very comprehensively detailed food diary!

Are those new smilies for me to play with?

Does popcorn work -- I want him for the Movie thread?

Wow, this is an active guy ! What does he eat?

My lunch is overdue, I am having a stir-fry from yesterday with cabbage, ginger, and

cucumbers, will post recipe later!

Bye! Nancy

[garymill]

Hi Nancy,

Right, even more smiles for you to use.

If you do not find a way to eventually use each and every one
at some point in your posts, then I am going to be very disapointed.

[Mara]

Ha ha... love the monkey. You guys are cute..

Thanks for the compliment, Gary! Cooking is SO much fun...

[Nancy]

I am currently eating a most succulent dish: Soft Millet with Squash and Cabbage. This is made with 1 cup of millet to 4 cups water. Cut 1 cup of squash (your choice) into 1 inch cubes, and 1 cup green cabbage into 1 inch cubes. Wash and toast millet until fragrant and nutty in a dry skillet. Add millet to pot (boil or pressure cook) with 4 c. water. Overlay millet with squash cubes and cabbage cubes, add pinch sea salt. Bring to boil, then lower heat to simmer. Cover, and cook until millet is done. 20-30 minutes. Garnish with freshly made Gomashio and scallion slices. This is a wonderfully succulent dish, fresh tasting, healing, and good for you! Purely Macro.

I'm into making Gomashio fresher than ever -- organic sesame seeds freshly ground with sea salt added in ratios correct for your condition. 1:18 - 1:22, etc. One portion salt to 18 portions ground sesame seeds. So delicious.

I received a beautiful high black marble, bowl and pestle, for my recent birthday and it is a pleasure to make fresh Gomashio for my current meal. The longer I am macrobiotic, I naturally go to fresher and fresher food preparation, this is a wonderful way to eat, with high Chi flow.

At this late summer time of year, I am adding a slice of lemon or lime to freshly brewed Bancha Twig Tea.

For commute or travel, I pour brewed hot twig tea in a thermos and carry it with me. For anyone who does not know the benefits of Bancha Twig Tea (Kukicha), it is a blood purifier and cleanser, has barely a trace of caffeine, deep pleasant nutty flavor, and a very relaxing, calming, balancing, effect.

Where's the hammock?

Nancy

[denann]

Being new to macrobiotics, I haven't really had a chance to try any recipes yet. I am looking for a good pressure cooker.
I have cut down quite a bit on my sugar intake and meat intake. I am feeling quite a bit better with these small changes.
I am still studying. I have noticed quite a bit of change when I cut down on my sugar intake. I cut my caffiene intake quite a bit over the last year due to heart palpitations and panic attacks I started having last year. I notice I feel better and have fewer problems when I don't have the sugar. When I slip up and all the sugar I feel awful!!
But all the recipes yall share and hints and tips are such help. I was afraid of things not tasting good and being boring. But all of the foods yall talk about sound wonderful and a huge variety.
Thanks again for this wonderful site!!

Denise

[Rafflesia]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to this site. I just purchased Jessica Porter's Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobuiotics yesterday and almost finished it. It is a good book but I wish it had more recipes.

I am familair with and attracted by the philosophy of macrobiotics. I have been pracitcing yoga pretty regularly during the last ten years, and met many of its enthusiasts. During the last two years I have become a more hard core yogat enthusiast, and eating has been more important to me; rather monitoring what I eat as I am trying more every day to pursue a more holisitically healthy life style.

It is hard to find macrobiotic books that have recipes, and I loved Porter's books because not only did it have easy to find recipes, but those recipes that used ingredients that I could find in rural NC (too bad I'm not near Asheville, or I might have options). I don't understand why so many macrbiotic "cook" books are largely philosophy tomes. I would not buy recipe books for a life style, if I did not already know at least a little about it.

A question I have been dying to ask to some one experience with macrobiotics, and other people who follow the life style, is did you actually liek all the food when you were starting the eating system (I hate using the word diet, because it sounds like a fad).

I like bean products like tofu and hummous, but I do not like beans or cabbage, and so many recipes seem to particualrly have beans. I know that food should be more about taste, but I rally hope that my taste buds change or my relationship towards food's taste changes so that I have more varieties open to me. Does any one have experience of their preferences changing while eating macrobiotic over a period of time?

Also, and this is not at all related to this category, but why is there only Bush logo on the smile page...Many thanks. Kristin

[garymill]

Hi Kristin,

Weclome to CyberMacro!

I myself am a big fan of Jessica's new book.

We have over 100 different smiles to use, you may have just seen a small random amount of the smiles, including the Bush one. No one needs to feel left out politically here.

Gary

:kerryedwa:nader: :Hillary20 :bush2004:

[Rafflesia]

Thanks Gary.

Not to be greeedy, about the questions, but can anyone recommend a particular guide to macrobiotic teas? I am a big fan of herbal remedies, thanks to a book I once read by Laurel Vukovic (14 Day Herbal Cleansing). However, while reading about macrobiotics, I am being exposed to new names of teas. I have not heard of bancha tea. Jessica Porter mentioned a rice fast, in order to clear the mind, in which the person ate only brown rice and drank twig tea for a few days. What excaclty is twig tea? I use a few herbs which could be considered "twigs."

Why is brown rice preferred over basmati? I have studie a little of ayurveda health, where basmati rice it advocated for its healing power, but it seems that macrobiotics replaces basmati with brown rice. Are the healing properties that different, or was brown rice simply more available in Japan, where macrobiotics is rooted?

I am so happy that I found this web site!!! I have been collecting questions for a while. Thanks again. Kristin

[garymill]

Hi Kristin,

Do not ever feel that you are asking too many questions. I was just looking at the poll we have been running, and it shows that of 63 people that have answered in how long they have been macrobiotic, over 50% have been for less than a year. this is what the forum is here for, to ask questions, hopefully the question that you ask and get an answer too is the very one that someone else has also.

I happen to be working on a brand new product catalog for the web site, and I have taken every single tea in it and given you its definition below. The most widely used tea in macrobiotics is Kukicha tea, aka bancha tea to many people, I feel that this is the tea Jessica mentioned. By the way, I really liked reading about her experiences in going on a brown rice fast.
You were right in saying that brown rice is used in macrobiotics as this is what was most common to Japan and China were macrobiotic influences came from, while Basmati was something regional to just Pakistan and India as it grew just there.

Different teas both common, and some less common to macrobiotics.

Kukicha Tea

A thirst-quenching yet delicate beverage made from the select twigs and stems of carefully nurtured green tea bushes that have matured at least three years before cutting. The clippings are sun-dried for up to a week, then precisely roasted according to size and combined with a small percentage of roasted tea leaves. Mild and soothing, Mitoku Kukicha is an ideal drink for children and adults alike, at any time of day. Drink hot in winter or add lemon for a refreshing, clean taste, or in summer serve chilled with apple juice. Lowest in caffeine of all traditional Japanese green teas.

Sencha Tea

This premium quality Japanese green tea is made from the season's first tender, young leaves, hand-harvested at their peak of flavor. By a unique Japanese process, the freshly picked leaves are briefly steamed to capture their complex flavor and emerald green color, then rolled into curls and oven-dried. In Japan, Sencha is a prized tea served at high class restaurants and at home to make guests feel welcome and honored. Stimulating yet soothing, Sencha has long been used by Zen monks to promote mental clarity and calmness during prolonged meditations. Unlike Indian or Chinese green teas on the market, Mitoku Sencha is considered medicinal due to its high concentration of catechins.

Hojicha Tea

For centuries Uji has produced the most highly regarded tea in Japan clean, smooth taste of Nagata Teas reflects the care and concern they give to their their crops and the environment. Mitoku Organic Hojicha is a high quality traditional green tea with a distinctive, smoky flavor and aroma. Hojicha is made from select bancha tea leaves that are gently roasted, then cooled and hermetically sealed at once to keep in their rich, appetizing flavor. Refreshing and mild, Nagata Organic Hojicha is suitable for any time of day. Ready to drink in an instant, it is ideal for use at home, work or when traveling. Use for a warming and invigorating hot tea, or chill for a cooling and refreshing summer beverage.

Mugicha Tea

Mitoku "Mugicha" or roasted barley tea is a traditional drink that has been a favorite for centuries in the Far East. Naturally caffeine-free, its mellow, soothing flavor can enjoyed by everyone at any time of day. Served chilled in summer, it is delightfully cooling and refreshing. In winter, hot Mugicha is both warming and relaxing.

Mu 16 Tea

Mitoku Mu Tea is an ideal, aromatic and caffeine-free blend of 16 mountain grown herbs. The original recipe for this unique and distinctive beverage was created by George Ohsawa, the father of Macrobiotics. It is a balanced tonic that both energizes and soothes the body. It strengthens both the stomach and reproductive organs. Men can reap additional strength and vitality from drinking Mu Tea. Mitoku Mu Tea is blended the exact same way Ohsawa once did and possesses a spicy, sweet, full bodied flavor. Great served hot or try making a delicious winter punch by mixing with cider. Also makes a refreshing caffeine-free summer ice tea. The herbs in Mitoku Mu Tea are never irradiated or fumigated.

Lotus Root Tea

Mitoku Lotus Root Tea, known in Japan as "Hasucha" is a delicious, soothing drink made from unbleached, sun-dried and ground lotus root mixed with a little dried ginger. Japanese lotus root tea is famous in Japan for soothing the lungs and chronic coughing, sinus blockage, upper respiratory problems, and helps dissolve excess mucus in the body. It makes a great tea as is or add a few drops of shoyu (soy sauce) or a bit of your favorite rice malt sweetener to taste.

Genmai-Kukicha Tea

One of only a few organic tea producers in all of Japan, the Nagata family also grows this unique tea on their remote mountaintop plantation. Mitoku Organic Brown Rice Kukicha is a delicious tea with a delightfully nutty flavor and aroma. A special blend of organic twig tea and carefully roasted organic brown rice, this soothing tea is a perfect complement for macrobiotic and vegetarian meals. Mild and refreshing, it is an ideal drink for children and adults alike at any time of day. Mr. Nagata believes that his Genmai Kukicha provides the ideal way to obtain the health benefits of brown rice.

Corsican Seaweed Tea

This foxtail-like plant grows beneath the warmer waters of the Atlantic and Pacific. It is traditionally prepared as a tea to relieve intestinal parasites. In Japan it is known as makuri. In the old days, schoolchildren in Japan were given makuri tea once month to safeguard their health. Mitoku "Makuri" (Corsican Seaweed Tea) is completely safe.

Hato Mugi Tea

Hato Mugi Tea was traditionally used for clearing up moles, warts, and boils and for eliminating age-spots, freckles, rashes and blemishes. It is prized and excellent in harmonizing body energy and drawing out and softening excess body fat or protein. Hato Mugi melts excess animal protein and fat and helps to beautify the skin.

[Rafflesia]

Thank you so much Gary! The list is exactly what I needed.

[Rafflesia]

I have looked unsuccessfully for hato mugi tea. Is it the same as roasted barley tea? Thanks again. Kristin

[garymill]

Mugicha Tea is made from roasting the much more common barley.

Hato Mugi Tea is made from less commonly available Hato Mugi.

Barley tea is something that I use often along with Kukicha Tea, I personally have never tried Hato Mugi Tea myself.

Sit tight, in about two weeks we will have a new catalog up and you will be able to purcahse Hato Mugi tea from us.

Gary