books

I have just finished a book called Eating with the Seasons by Paula Bartimeus. It is not a macrobiotic book but there is a great amount of useful information in the book. she talks about the inportance of seasonal ingredients, cooking methods, yin and yang, warming and cooling foods etc.

Another book is 'How to see your health:the book of oriental diagnosis' by Michio Kushi. He has written over 5o books on macrobiotics and this is one of very fascinating ones. It is a diagnosis method that tells you various conditions by looking at someone's physical characters. I knew what you eat and environment you are in at present influence how you look and feel. But even before you are born (what your mother was eating when you are inside her tummy) could influence how you look and your tasting buds!? It was a very interesting read.

As some might have noticed, my website has been hacked into.. noticed, my website has been hacked into....
I will get it fixed as soon as possible but occasion like this reminds me of my incapability of anything to do with the technology. very unfortunate...
sorry about that.

I was listening to an interview with Michio Kushi the other day. There is so much more than macrobiotic diet. "Even you are sitting down, chewing organic brown rice for the hundred times, avoid all the extreme foods that burden your body and soul if you tend to citicise others and not being humble you cannot call yourself macrobitician."
take it one moment at a time...

So we know eating whole grains and legumes is so good for you. But do you know how you prepare them properly?

I hear some people complaining about flatulence after a bowl of beans. if that happens to you ask these questions...

do you soak them before cooking?

do you chew them thoroughly?

do you choose the right beans for your body?

do you discard the foam while boiling the beans?

do you cook them with a piece of kombu, fennel or cumin?

the gas from legumes is generated by trisaccharides they contain. The healthy intestines have enzymes to properly break it down. If you are not used to eating beans try starting small. small amounts and smaller beans. It will encourage your body to form the right enzymes. sprouting them will make them even more digestible and nutritious.

don't give up! they are rich sources of potassium, calcium, iron, several B-vitamins. The protein from the legumes can help regulate sugar, water and metabolic balance.

Nothing better than warm rich bean stew in a cold winter night... or a a bowl of sweet adzuki bean zenzai....

change of the season

The weather has been so beautiful lately. still quite warm during the day but definitely colder in the early mornings. Autumn is my favourite season. seeing the leaves changing their colour is one of the most beautiful things in nature. above all it is the chestnut season! My daughter and I adore them....
change of the season means your body is requiring something different form what it did in the summer. The intensity lessens and the energy begins to settle in. The cooking style should help energy move deeper into the body now. longer, slower cooking using round and sweet vegetables, grains such as short-grain brown rice (though impossible to get them in Australia at the moment...) and millet are great for this time of the year.

whole organic brown rice fermented for sourdough starter! to tell you the truth this was meant to become brown rice yoghurt. it didn't work. was even too stinky for me.

left it overnight and I heard the loud bang in the middle of the night.

It was everywhere in the kitchen!!!

this is the power of fermentation....

another beautiful macro dessert! strawberry cream pie has landed! of course no dairy, eggs or refined sugar added in this. The creamy filling goes so well with this a bit tangy home made strawberry jam thickend with kudzu and agar agar.

topped with the tofu cream.

order one now before the strawberry disappears!

biscotti

sometimes it is enough to just say 'thank you'

sometimes it is nice to give something to show your appreciation.

certainly the gift does not have to be anything expensive or anything you buy from a shop.

I made these biscotti for people who made an extra effort to help me out with something yesterday. Ones with roasted almonds and others with black sesame and pumpkin seeds.

yum!