Making risen/flat breads without wheat...

[miltonkeynesmum]

Hi, I'm pretty new to macrobiotic cooking and eating so here comes a load of questions!

I am also doing food combining to maximise nutritional uptake/ease digestion and am trying to avoid wheat and yeast and sugar wherever possible. Of course this knocks out bread straight away. I know wheat can be an allergen (although to my knowledge I don't have an allergy to it) - should I be avoiding bread totally (I really miss it!!) or does anyone know of recipes for risen bread/flat breads which avoid wheat flour altogether (I just got some buckwheat flour this week but the only recipe on the pack is for blinis - any ideas what I can put with blinis?).

Also, re miso soup. I have some instant packs but I have to say, I really really don't like the taste (I thought I would). Any other way to get the good things from seaweed without drinking miso (ie any recipies where you can't actually taste it very much?!!).

Noodles - I know of rice noodles, but are there other kinds of noodles that you can get which again don't have wheat in them? How would I make them myself (ie what kind of flour would I need and would I need a pasta maker or some kind of special noodle maker?!).

What about juicing, is there going to be a massive loss of enzymes if I use the PowerJuicer (as seen on a TV shopping channel) or do I have to buy a £400 machine which says it is better because it slowly 'masticates' the fruit/veg and therefore loses nothing?

If doing food combining, I can't eat meat with carbs, can I eat fish with carbs or only with veggies?

Re sprouting, do I sprout the dried mung beans that I buy in a big bag or when people talk of sprouted beans do they mean the beans are fresh off the plant or are they using mung bean seeds and sprouting them? Help, very confused!!!

Anyone know of recipe books for macrobiotic recipes for kids such as healthy burgers, nut roasts that kind of thing??? Any recommendations about where I should look?

Any help gratefully received, thanks a lot. Am enjoying looking through the forum but am finding lots of things which I don't know what they are and can't purchase locally - not in a big city so lack of ethnic food shops! Thanks, look forward to hearing back from you!

[Nancy]

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

[miltonkeynesmum]

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).

[Bruce Paine]

miltonkeynesmum,

Often the problem of allergy or sensitivity to certain grains like wheat might be derived from the single-celled yeast contained in most yeasted breads and from the phytin or phytic acid (please read [Yeast Free Bread...Real Food For Health by Lynn Gordon http://www.cybermacro.com/pages/user...brucewalk.html).

Here's a easy to use natural leavened bread baking recipe:
http://www.cybermacro.com/Macrobioti...wn_Rice_Bread/


Regarding juices, while it is true that juices are not a large part of the macrobiotic diet for the reasons that Nancy has mentioned, juices are consumed in small amounts at various times be it as a cooling snack during hot weather, as a ocassional supplement to their regular diet or in the preparation of certain dishes especially dessert (like a fruit kanten or compote).

Michio Kushi, for several years now has suggested that certain people can have freshly squeezed carrot juice on ocassion and so our sponson Gary Miller has made juicers easily available to us and the rest of the natural foods world at Discount Natural Foods http://www.discountnaturalfoods.com/...lejuicers.html and Juicers for Less http://www.juicersforless.com/ .

My household bought that Mini L'EQUIP juicer that caught that financial newspaper's attention and and we use it on occasion but not every day, and it is excellent to use, and is quite easy to clean.

Just remember that whole foods and temperate climate vegetables occupy the center of our diet and everything else is used with moderation.

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

[miltonkeynesmum]

Thanks Bruce! Will give them a try and see how we get on. Many thanks indeed for taking the time to give some input. All the best, Isobel.

[Nancy]

Hi Isobel,

The TV series you are watching sounds, right on! (meaning, very good for you). Nothing wrong with everything organic! and the rest sounds, right on, too. I know food combinists (in the US, Gary Null, etc.) do suggest eating fruit at one meal, like breakfast. A macrobiotic person, versed in yin and yang, would notice that an all fruit breakfast would make one very yin, though. We would notice a lack of internal and outward balance, and feel spaced-out (not good for business decisions in the morning). To a macrobiotic person, it would feel ungrounded. Once familiar with the tools of y/y, you know what balance feels like and are always striving to maintain that good, centered, calm feeling. I personally feel that the best way to have fruit is as a refreshing little dessert at the end of a good balanced meal. If healing any condition, no fruit or cooked fruit is recommended. Cooked fruit in a grain pudding is one of the most balanced and healthy ways to consume fruit. I would say cooked or fresh fruit with a hot grain breakfast or with grainy pancakes is fine in the morning. Otherwise, fruit as a stand alone snack, mid day.

Macrobiotics also, is not a fad diet. If you get fully into macrobiotics, you will soon learn that it is indeed a "way of life". Not only does your body heal completely (this may take time, as long as it took to disarray it), but your spiritual and social life becomes outwardly directed towards worthy global causes. You become a healer -- not only of yourself, but of others, and of the planet.

Will post recipe for Sourdough Starter and Sourdough Bread. I will leave a note in this column when recipes are posted, also veggie burger recipes.

Miso is Soybean Paste. It comes in plastic tubs usually, like cottage cheese does. Sometimes miso comes in a plastic bag. It has a heavy paste consistency. What I meant by "puree miso" is -- you take hot water from the dish you are cooking (ie. soup water, bean water, stew water), -- best to dip a small Pyrex dish in the soup that holds a few ounces (Pyrex is glass that does not break in boiling water) or you could use a plastic 1/2 cup size container. Spoon 1-2 tsp. or 1 tbsp. (1 tsp. per cup) of miso from the container, put it in the hot water, and swish around with a spoon until pureed. Take food (soup, beans, stew) off the heat -- then add the miso. This is live miso, with Chi, and it has a delicious taste. Do not cook miso. I have never seen miso other than the thick paste form in tubs or bags. Dilute with a little water, as above, this becomes the puree. Otherwise, spooning a glob of miso into your dish without first pureeing it, it just won't dissolve into the food as well and remains in clumps. Hope you receive your ordered miso soon, because you will soon know the difference in taste between fresh miso and Instant Miso Soup.

General Instructions for Making Bean Sprouts at Home:

-- Make your own sprouting beans by soaking mung and aduki beans overnight in cold water, then drain and rinse. Place in a large jar covered with cheese cloth to secure it. Lay the jar on its side and place in indirect light. For the next 3 days, rinse the beans once a day in cold water until they are ready to eat. --

Nancy

[miltonkeynesmum]

Hello Nancy

I had not realised until I talked to you that yin and yang was part of macrobiotic eating at all. I have to be honest and say that I'm not sure what I make of this. I have been eating raw fruit for brekky for a little while now and I was surprised how nicely full I feel and for how long bearing in mind how quickly it is digested and feel so jolly pleased with myself that I am getting all those undamaged enzymes, vitamins and minerals as well as roughage - I love it! I haven't found it has made me feel spaced out though (maybe I'm like that anyway ha ha!!!!!). I'm glad you feel that fruit with porridge or other grains is ok - I don't have a sweet tooth and will usually go for further savoury helpings but I must say that I do like a bit of real sweetness on my porridge. I want to be healthy and thankfully I love grains and lentils and all that sort of stuff - it's not purgatory for me, but at the same time, if I don't like something I'm not going to force myself to eat it - food should be enjoyed as it is one of the great pleasures in life. One of the big benefits I've had is that I have not been getting mad urges to eat all the damn time like I used to! I think my body was craving nutrition (and my diet wasn't at all bad either so it shows how easy it is to not be gaining all you need even when you eat quite well). The good Dr McKeith refers to the state of the tongue a lot and often her customers have a split down the middle indicating B vitamin deficiency. Mine is like that now but I hope after a few months of dedicated good eating that might improve. I have never cooked so much food from scratch - I am really loving it, knowing how much good it is doing me. It all fits in with the new me!!! I am re-entering the world of Hatha yoga in terms of restarting my own personal practice of it, and in oct am starting a course to learn to teach yoga for pregnacy. In feb 2005 I do a course to learn how to become an active birth teacher. Talking about things I don't like I have tried Tofu a couple of times and have not been impressed!! Dredged it in sesame seeds and stir fried it the other day with chillies and limes but just don't like the texture of it. Is there any way to get it a bit crispier at all???

Talking of healing the planet, do you ever read a publication (which I am not sure if it is out in the States but I'm sure it must be) called The Economist (or is it the Ecologist?!!!! oops, scatterbrain). Full of good stuff about the impact of modern fads and farming and so on on the poor people of the rest of the world. Makes you think twice before you pop into Starbucks for a coffee doesn't it.

Will post recipe for Sourdough Starter and Sourdough Bread. Thanks. I am very unsure about sourdough bread making. It sounds like a LOT of work and from what I've read on some breadmaking bulletin boards, it takes people a year to get the hang of making it!!!!! Will be treading carefully on this one. So far am managing to live without bread at all - other than the odd moment of weakness.

Yep, this is the kind of Miso I have coming to me. Looking forward to seeing what it tastes like - I'll let you know.

Oooh, am getting a couple of books. One is by the former singer Boy George and is called the Karma Cookbook. He is a Hare Krishna follower and has a macrobiotic diet. Has been rated very highly. Also, The Raw cookbook which is by someone who has a raw food restaurant in LA which also sounds totally fantastic. If you don't have these when I get them I will check with you and pass on any recipes that I've found particularly good.

Thanks so much for all your help and advice. Will let you know how I get on with things and will look out for the recipes you've suggested. All the best, Isobel.