Recipe suggestions

[dbg]

Can anyone recommend some recipes? I have been using recipes from the usual sources, Kushi/Esko books and I need something fresh to inspire me.

Maybe your favorite recipes or maybe some macro recipes that are online.

Thanks

[garymill]

Hi dgb,

This is a relatively new macrobiotic cookbook by Aine McAteer as it came out this past February.

This is a small blurb about the author.

In this, Aine McAteer's much-anticipated first cookbook the former personal chef to Nicole Kidman, Pierce Brosnan and Robert Redford shares her secrets for creating food for maximum enjoyment as well as nutrition. Aine draws on macrobiotic principles of balance to turn organic produce into 130 recipes

Following the link below you will find some recipes online from the book.

Have a Happy 4th.

Gary

http://www.discountnaturalfoods.com/...670910937.html

[Nancy]

Gary,

Thanks for posting the link to Aine McAteer's macrobiotic cookbook. I had never heard of her before. Although, I think this is the societal wave. The established Hollywood stars, beginning to eat macrobiotic. I think Madonna is nearly there (she gave up Krispy Kremes). I think Oprah is close. Gwyneth Paltrow does eat macrobiotic. I think Cameron Diaz is also in the near group. Former fitness paid progrm guru, Susan Powter, is at or near macrobiotic. See the book, "Food". It is a transition program to the macrobiotic diet. I didn't know Cruise and Kidman had a macrobiotic cook or Robert Redford. Didn't know about Pierce Brosnan, either. John Denver was long macrobiotic. And Dirk Benedict (the A-Team), is a lifelong macro, overcoming prostate cancer through the macrobiotic diet, in his 20s. He looks young and great now in his 50s.

Haven't heard much of Boy George, who has also put out a macrobiotic cookbook.

Aine's recipes are macrobiotic, yet with a lot of spices. Okay for those in good health, too Yin for those in poor health.

Thanks,
Nancy

[garymill]

Hi Nancy,


Good Critque on Anie's macro book. Just seems as once there was a torrent of new macro cooking books coming out, now it is just trickle.

This one is coming out in Sept, sounds nice and offbeat.

Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotic Living
A Philosophy for Achieving a Radiant Mind and Fabulous Body Jessica Porter - Author Book: Paperback | 368 pages | ISBN 1583332057 | 09 Sep 2004 | Avery A modern girl’s guide to the secrets of eating for health, beauty, and peace of mind. "Part Joan Rivers, part Mahatma Gandhi, Jessica Porter makes macrobiotics meaningful, hilarious, and totally life-changing." Simon Doonan, creative director, Barneys New York and author of Wacky Chicks Heralded by New York magazine as one of the city’s most popular diets, macrobiotics has become the latest trend in dieting, thanks to high-profile supporters like Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow. Speaking to the generation of young women looking to extend their healthy lifestyles beyond yoga and Pilates, macrobiotic chef and instructor Jessica Porter offers fresh, contemporary, and accessible insight into one of the world’s most popular diets that is based on century’s old principles. She explains that through the right balance of food, women can find balance in every aspect of their lives—improved health, weight loss, or fulfilling relationships. The effects of eating a macrobiotic diet can extend beyond basic health to weight loss, beauty, better sex, and peace of mind. Cooking tips and recipes are combined with Jessica’s no-nonsense philosophy and witty anecdotes to create a lifestyle book that will inspire women to hit the kitchen with an understanding of how to strengthen their mind and body through food.

[onion]

Hi Nancy,
Thanks for your comments on my cookbook – it’s been a real thrill having an opportunity to share my gift with the world in this way, and I’m getting wonderful feedback from people around the world who are enjoying my recipes.
Just wanted to make a comment on your statement that my recipes are “okay for those in good health too Yin for those in poor health"
I have been traveling around the world for almost 30 years, cooking for people from all walks of life with all sorts of health conditions. My studies of macrobiotics form the basis of my understanding of food and health and I also draw on the wisdom of ancients systems such as Ayurveda and the Chinese Five Elements System in my healing work with people. I have found many spices, used with awareness to have tremendous therapeutic properties. Many people don’t have the luxury of having their own veggie patch, but anyone can have a simple window box with flavourful herbs and spices, which can brighten up a veggie or grain dish and add their own medicinal properties. My feeling is that a huge factor in the healing process is the love and intention that goes into preparing the food and I tend not to get too caught up in the yin/yang ness of it all. In fact, I took a course recently with Paul Pitchford (author of “Healing with Whole Foods”) and he claims that Yin is salty and contractive and vice versa, so as you can imagine, my macrobiotically educated brain was doing somersaults as I tried to re-arrange things to accommodate this new concept of reality! It’s enlightening to discover that even though my concept or way of explaining reality might have gone through some adjustments, it really hasn’t affected reality a bit! Life goes on and I’m learning new things every day that inspire me to be creative in the kitchen and live life with a beginner’s mind.
I enjoyed reading all your comments and wisdom on the website and appreciate your comments on my cookbook.
:-)
Aine (McAteer)

[Bruce Paine]

Hi Aine!

How do you pronounce your name?

Do you know Gerry Thompson, the Irish 9 Star Ki teacher ("Oriental Astrology:Consult the Oracle of Heaven and Earth", EWJ April 1983)?

According to the Absolute Macrobiotic Rulebook, there are very few, if any spices, used in macrobiotics.







Of course, the above statement is a total fallacy, because there is no Absolute Macrobiotic Rulebook, because there are no absolute macrobiotic rules, except one, and that is "there are no absolute macrobiotic rules"!!!

The thing is, though, based upon my own observation (and my guess
is that many here would agree with me) that many people who come here to macrobiotics are looking for something simple, some guidance that can help them with a problem or problems that they are having or have had with their health and many of them might be happy as pie with some approach as simple as Macrobiotic Dietary Recommendations http://www.goodhealthinfo.net/mdr/index_mdr.htm or something like it.

Paul Pritchford is a very knowledgeable author who besides being a senior teacher at a world reknown healing institute http://www.heartwoodinstitute.com/co...ut/Faculty.htm is an author of one of the most integrative healing educational books: Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition http://www.bioinformatics.vg/Books/h...556434308.html and though I find his book quite comprehensive, I find it difficult to read and follow because of it's complexity.

It appears that Pritchford is teaching a method that attempts to integrate several systems of healing but I feel that next to the more simple macrobiotic approach, it seems to kind of be like juggling.

Regarding the spices, in the Kushi approach to macrobiotic cooking, it appears that spices like black pepper, sage, thyme, rosemary, etc., are not used, except by gourmet chefs like Christina Pirello, or others like yourself.

Celebrities and movie stars and people who are not recovering from life threatening illness (or who are not trying to radically change themselves), need to eat more widely and would suffer on a every day simple macrobiotic healing diet.

For persons following the latter, books like The Self-Healing Cookbook: A Macrobiotic Primer for Healing Body, Mind and Moods With Whole Natural Foods by Kristina Turner http://www.qualitynaturalfoods.com/s...lcookbook.html and Changing Seasons Macrobiotic Cookbook: Cooking in Harmony With Nature by Aveline Kushi and Wendy Esko http://www.qualitynaturalfoods.com/s...hngseason.html might be more approriate.

For myself, when I'm occasionally eating out or over at someone else's house, I would much rather eat food cooked the way your recipes are assembled than the way most vegetarian foods are served usually.

Thank you, for your contibution, and continue enjoying and creating your great adventure.

Very much.

Bruce Paine

[onion]

Hey Bruce,
thanks for your response...and believe me, I have total respect for the teachings I've received from Michio and all my other great macrobiotic teachers throughout the years...and am in perfect bliss chewing on a bowl of brown rice. However, I have found in my work with people, that a little flexability often works best. For example, my last client, a beautiful woman in Florida who was diagnosed with MS and having some fairly severe symptoms - she decided to try the macrobiotic diet..had a consultation and flew me down there to be her chef. She was coming straight from a diet of fried chicken and ice cream and after a few weeks of throwing most of her meals into the compost, I decided to give in to her pleas to cook her some of the recipes from my cookbook and spice it up a bit. She and her two year old daughter licked their plates after every meal and within two months she was given a clean bill of health.
I have had the pleasure on a number of occasions of cooking for people who are perfectly happy to eat simple foods and appreciate the subtle flavours of grains and veggies, but for the most part, I seem to be in the lives of people who are used to having so much more stimulation. I have found that with many of these people, unless they are really ready and understand the importance of making some radical changes, the gentle approach, i.e. giving them a little of what they're used to combined with a lot of what's good for them, seems to get fairly good results.
Anyway, I'm no great authority, but have had lots of great experiences in my work so far and most of all I try to bring a little light into people's lives...seems to work wonders!
I just discovered this website yesterday and am really enjoying everyone's input - you have a lot of good stuff to share...
My name is pronounced ONYA - it's the gaelic for Anne - Aine was Queen of the Fairies in Celtic Mythology!

aine

[Nancy]

Hi Aine,

Never in my wildest, did I expect the author to personally respond to my off-the-cuff comment on her book.

Welcome to Cybermacro!

I see that you and Bruce Paine have taken the conversation further. I personally tamper with widening my diet as I move to and fro towards healing. Hopefully, not one step forward and two steps back. At present, I am enjoying a deviation with a cookbook entitled, "Ultimate Chinese". For the first time ever, I found and used Chinese Five Spice Powder. The taste, so unusual, that I dreamed a dream (or was it reality?), that Chinese men, in dark green Mao coats, served an incredible multi-course Chinese dinner to myself and two significant others in my life. One paid the bill, one was self-involved, and I was deeply grateful for the astonishing meal and gracious manner in which it was served.

All to say, the spice deviation from the plain has been very tempting and "added spice to my life". Thus, I thoroughly understand your response. Whatever works, with clients, is the most effective route to take. There are so many varying gradations of what one will or will not accept as food. All are in stages of various transition.

Of more concern than the use of a little spice in creative cooking, are the dark corners of rigid thinking, and imposing the same rigidness on others, that macros -gone too far- *yang* box themselves into. I've seen and been on the receiving end of a lot of rigid behavior, it is lamentable and unattractive.

We could also call spices, "herbs". One former Cybermacro Moderator, Roy Collins, is also a specialist of herbs and their healing properties. My knowledge of the healing properties of herbs barely scratches the surface. Naburo Muramoto used his extensive knowledge of herbs and spices in the many pages of healing teas in the macrobiotic classic, "Healing Ourselves".

Yet, I do come from a school of macrobiotic thought that the yin/yangness of it all is of prime importance. Paul Pritchford's y/y reversal (yin-salty?), is following Chinese y/y rather than Japanese/Macrobiotic y/y. If you Feng Shui at the same time, the flow of reversals all becomes quite natural and easy.

At the time I made my comment, I was feeling the effects of my Chinese spices and felt that Michio is indeed correct about abstention from spices for healing. On the other hand, your point is perfect, that making macrobiotic food effectively palatable to those who are sick, guiding them into another way, and away from fried chicken and ice-cream -- the use of spice can be, life.

I must admit I was using a lot of hot spices, red pepper and the like...Szechuan, Thai, etc.

More celebs who are macrobiotic: Marilu Henner, Christiane Northrup, M.D.

Aine, please keep us posted all on your activities and jet-setting life.

Very nice to have you here,
Nancy

[onion]

Very nice to meet you Nancy...you sound like a facinating person and I LOVE your dream..maybe I'll sprinkle a little five spice on my dinner tonight and see if I get so lucky!
It's been a long day in the kitchen and another one right around the corner, so I won't ramble on..
it's great making new friends - maybe someday we'll meet in person.
Where do you live?
Have a lovely weekend
:-)
aine