Big climate change (tropical!)-- advice needed!

[rachel]

Hello!

Wow, it's been 3.5 years since I've posted here! Quick background: I've never been sick a day in my life, and hoped to preserve my excellent health via diet and philosophy. And it worked! I started eating macrobiotically about 5 years ago, LOVED it, but then one day ate some not-so-macro food (cheese and sugar in the ingredients) and got the sickest I have ever been in my life-- throwing up, getting sick from the other end, etc. My body had become so used to high quality macro food that it literally could not handle "normal people" food anymore, and that really upset me, as I had never been sick in my life, and I hated that a little slice of cake would make me so ill after "purifying" my body so much. So I eased up on the diet, still eating 100% vegetarian, but eating a little dairy and sugar here and there. Since then, I have remained in perfect health (yay!) and with a very positive mood and thinking.

I lived in Massachusetts and Maine my whole life, but just moved to Austin, Texas to start a PhD program! This is a VERY different climate, and I'm not sure how to adapt. All of my cookbooks are for temperate climates, but here in Austin it is literally over 95 degrees for about 9 or 10 months of the year (as hot as 110 the other day!), with a brief cooling off, but it never really goes below 60 or so even then. The farmers markets here are all peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants!

I have been craving lots of yin foods-- macro sweets and lots of cool liquids (decaf herbal iced tea!). Should I go with the flow and cook what I crave, lots of sweets and liquids and short cooking times and salads and whole wheat cous cous including using some of those lovely nightshades that are so prevalent here?

Can anyone recommend cookbooks for hotter climates? Most of the meals I loved eating back in the northeast in my cookbooks seem so unappetizing now.

Any advice is much appreciated! I feel much out of my cooking element here and would love help getting back in the swing of things.

[Klara]

Hi Rachel,

Glad to see your name again on my screen. Can't believe that much time has passed.

I just opened an older Macrobiotics Today issue and saw two listings for Austin - Casa de Luz community Center, 1701 Toomey, 512-476-2535 (and I remember seeing some uTubes with Casa de Luz - seems they have a great reputation) and The Natural Epicurean Academy of Culinary Arts, Dawn Pallavi, aha, same address :>), but different phone #, 512-476-2276, and an emai address info@NaturalEpicurean.com and Welcome to The Natural Epicurean - I'm sure the local mb people can help you much more than we could.

But having said that, there's been alot of discussion on moderndaymacrobiotics (a yahoo group) concerning non-credo, following your own intuitions, and not following rules blindly, and of course, about being wide. For you who have been so aware of mb, I'm guessing you are ready to fit your diet to your new tropical environment - perhaps taking it slowly, to see how your body likes what you're feeding yourself :>)

Hope you have another opportunity to post and let us know how it goes. wow, 110, that's hot!!!!!

Klara

[Klara]

Hi again,

I just went to check out what I sent you - tho their blog seems to have taken a summer vacation (last entry June 9) it says they have free cooking demos by their senior students, once a month - that sounds lovely.

and other good things about living in Austin - reputation of being one of the greenest cities - I didn't read too closely, just sounds like you found yourself a great community.

Klara

[rachel]

hi Klara!

Thank you so much for the warm and helpful response I have been to Casa de Luz a couple of times-- it's really good! I should go more often, but it's quite a drive away. They have a macro "hot" sauce that is SO delicious!

Here's what I've been eating:

today:

breakfast:
leftover mashed millet w/ cauliflower and cold carrot soup

lunch:
brown rice and more cold carrot soup
celery with hummus
amazake

dinner:
brown rice with MORE cold carrot soup (it's finally gone, haha)
celery and cucumber with hummus

dessert!
cold cous cous cake with dried apple, apricot, and cranberry topping

[Klara]

yum,, doesn't sound that extreme to me - but then I'm not an expert. btw, how'd you make your carrot soup - I make one but kind of tired of my own recipe. In the early days, I used to add cumin and ground coriander - that added alot of zap - and soy milk - now I don't anymore.

but the hot sauce - oh boy!!!!

and amasake - oh how lucky all you in the States are to be able to buy it - that's one thing I miss ALOT - I've made attempts to make it but it's never come out as delicious as the ones I've bought. Maybe I need to just keep practicing.

I didn't realize Austin was that big that anything can be so far from anything else - I knew Los Angeles was!!!!!

So what are you studying, Rachel??

Klara