Macrobiotics and Me

Good evening!

Another day has whizzed by, another chance to cook, another chance to learn, another chance to taste and to feel and to listen. That is the beauty of each new day, it is a new chance.

I sat on the bus this morning reading ‘Sugar Blues’ (I haven’t forgotten that this month’s topic is sugar and I’m in the midst of doing some further reading and research and will report back to you in due course) and I saw a guy sitting across from me munching his way through a chocolate bar. I thought it was an interesting moment of such opposites. More on sugar soon!

Today’s menu:

I broke my fast with…

Brown miso soup with onions, cabbage and carrot

Brown rice porridge with apricots and almonds

Nettle and mint tea

Luncheon

Soup from day 19 (spelt pasta, kidney beans, corn, artichoke, carrot, leek and spring onion)

Mochi with rice syrup

Grain coffee

Dinner

Trout with lemon and horseradish (I wanted to use mooli/daikon but there appears to be a bit of a mooli shortage going on in my area at the moment), red and white quinoa, pressed cucumber and grated carrot salad with salt and mirin, boiled radishes with ume paste and steamed carrots

Cous cous pudding (yeah, you guessed it!) with some peanut butter spread on top (just to give it a new twist) and oat cream

Nettle tea

Snacks

Toasted, slightly salted nori sheets

I smell vanilla which is my cue to say goodnight…a beautiful amazake drink and some peace awaits to soothe me into the night…ahh!!

Blessings!

Sharlene

Good evening!

I can’t believe how quickly time seems to be passing by; there never seems to be enough hours in the day!

Today’s menus consisted of:

Breakfast

Miso soup (leftover from yesterday)

Millet and brown rice porridge with four fruit spread

Lunch

Mackerel, salad leaves, brown rice, pressed salad of cucumber and radish, sauerkraut, steamed brocolli and black turtle beans

Cous cous pudding (I’m sure I’ll be all cous cous puddinged out by the end of the week!)

Chamomile tea

Dinner

I ate out tonight and has mixed grain (quinoa, millet, brown rice), chickpeas, carrot with a spicy coconut sauce, salad of celery, mung beans, cabbage (red and white), black sesame seeds, beetroot, carrot and sprouted lentils with pumpkin and brocolli

Chocolate cream pie (raw chocolate, sugar and dairy free) and a raw chocolate truffle with coconut cream and a berry sauce. Super yum!

Bancha tea

I am feel as though the longer this stretch of eating nothing but whole, natural food continues the more I’m actually loving food and really REALLY enjoying eating. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed eating as much as I’m beginning to.

I’m also realising just how much food and our habits around eating are so very closely connected to emotions and emotional patterns. By not doing things how you’d normally do them has allowed me to get a glimpse of this.

OK, I must go and meditate and get some zzzzs.

Good night and God bless!

Sharlene

Hello!

It’s good to be back after an incredible time spent with fellow followers of the macro path. I’ve eaten such amazing food and to share this with wonderful people is very soul enriching :O)

Now I shall try to share with you what I ate. However, I do have to confess that I was not able to take note of every single thing as there was just too many different foods and dishes and I was very caught up in enjoying the moment. I will do my best to recall as much as I can though and rest assured that it was all beautiful un-interfered with whole food with no sugar, dairy or other nasties.

15th January

Breakfast   

Millet with sunflower seeds and barley malt

Nettle tea

Lunch (on the go)

Kinpira, millet, radish, tofu (leftovers)

Mu tea

Halva

Dinner

Pumpkin soup

Barley and brown rice

Aduki beans with carrots

Parsnips and leeks

Cucumber, watercress, radish and wakame salad

Bancha tea

Other

Rooibos tea with rice syrup

16th January

Breakfast

Miso soup with celery, wakame, carrot, watercress and spring onion garnish

Oat porridge with raisins

Bancha tea

Lunch

Tempeh tempura, buckwheat and parsley, brocolli, cauliflower, sauerkraut

Apple with amazake and almonds

Bancha tea

Dinner

A variety of many different dishes…sorry to be so vague! There was a selection of around 30 different dishes so I tried to have a small amount of each to taste them all.

Other

1 pint of ale

salted peanuts

17th January

Breakfast

White and brown miso soup with wakame, carrot and onion

Congee (a kind of savoury porridge) with aduki beans

Bancha tea

Lunch

Soup made with brussel sprouts, pumpkin, carrots, leek, butter beans and corn

Shoyu broth with noodles

Veg and tofu stir fry

Polenta

Curried seitan, noodle and vegetable stir fry

Hummous

Tempeh sandwiches

Cous cous pudding

Dinner

A selection of around 20 dishes/party food (very yummy!)

Small glass of ale

18th January

Breakfast

Tofu miso soup

Millet porridge with stewed raisins

Lunch

Quinoa and pumpkin, black beans, cabbage, brocolli, salad, tempeh in a teryaki sauce

Bancha tea

Rice pudding

Dinner (on the go)

Quinoa and pumpkin, red lentil dahl, brocolli, rice balls, salad

Rice pudding with raisins and lemon and orange zest

TODAY (finally!)

Breakfast

Barley miso soup with carrot, cabbage, spring onion, sea salad, ginger juice, tekka and sunflower seeds

Millet porridge with sunflower and pumpkin seeds roasted (note: it’s a good idea to roast/toast all nuts and seeds as this makes them more digestible) with barley malt syrup

Yogi women’s balance tea

Lunch

Soup made with kidney beans, spelt pasta, carrot, squash, jerusalem artichoke, leek and spring onions with white and dark miso and bouillon

Dinner

Pressure cooked brown rice

Mackerel fried with garlic and onion

Steamed brocolli

Mixed salad leaves with mustard and shoyu dressing

Pressed salad of radish and cucumber and ume su

Cous cous pudding with apple juice, raisins and toasted nuts

Mu tea

I am continually amazed at the huge variety of dishes there are to cook and explore. When I first started macrobiotics I fell into a trap of eating the same things over and over again and felt a bit stuck. But the more I learn, the more I realise just how varied it can be.

Macro love

Sharlene

Good Evening!

It has been a looooong day so this is going to be a shooooort message!

Breakfast

Hot lemon water (I have liver issues!)

Miso soup from day 12 with lemon

Barley and hato mugi porridge with stewed pears, a couple of pumpkin seeds and roasted almonds

Lunch

Vegetable soup (made with onion, brocolli, kombu, parsnip and kale)

Chickpeas with green pepper, onion, carrots and olives with a balsamic and ume su dressing

Barley, hato mugi, pressed red cabbage and sauerkraut

Grain coffee with rice milk

Dinner

Sweet potato and carrot kinpira

Millet

Fried tofu with shoyu and vinegar (I’m a bit of a salt and vinegar fiend and this one reminds me of fish and chips or salt and vinegar crisps and satisfies any desires!)

Pressed radish with ume su

Ame-kuzu drink

Snacks/other

I couldn’t resist having some more halva….mmmm!!

OK, that’s enough for me for now. I’m away from tomorrow until Sunday so I won’t be posting but rest assured I will be keeping a note of every single morsel that passes my lips and will be sure to fill you in when I return.

Sweet macro dreams

Sharlene

How’s it going?

Are you managing to keep on the macro track? Maybe you’ve fallen off? Maybe you’re on a one way journey to macro heaven?

Where ever you are at present you must know that it is right for you for the moment. Sometimes we just have to accept the present but intend for the future. It is good intentions that will carry us forward.

It has taken me a long time to get to a place where I’m not thinking or obsessing about ‘normal’ food. It’s kind of like a process that you go through and you do in stages. One of the first things I ever tried was a brown rice fast and I remember feeling amazing after that. I think I’ve come a long way since then but it takes time, studying, eating, making mistakes, learning, meeting fellow macro peeps, reading and falling off the wagon more than a billion times (ok maybe I’m exaggerating just a tad!) before you can get on there and kind of stay on there (although like the idea of hopping off it every now and again and I’m sure I’ll probably fall off it too!). It’s very much work in progress and something that you’ll never stop learning about. Just stick with it and try listening to your body and asking it what it wants (probably best not to do this out loud in public…!!!).

Today’s lovely food consisted of:

Breakfast

I treated my liver to a mug of freshly squeezed lemon juice, ginger and hot water this morning. It loved it!

Brown rice, barley and hato mugi porridge – straight…no rice milk, no fruit, not grain sweetners. It felt really refreshing to have it completely neat. I think it’s good to do this often…I’m going to start doing it at least once a week. You get to really taste the grain then too which is fun!

Grain coffee

Lunch

Tempeh (leftover), sauerkraut, pressed red cabbage, arame and mushroom (leftover)

Fresh carrot, apple and ginger juice with a shot of wheatgrass

Mochi with fruit spread

Dinner

Pea soup (a lovely organic tinned one) with brown rice, barley and hato mugi and some tempeh and red cabbage.

Brown rice, barley and hato mugi with some fruit spread

Bancha tea

Love & light

Sharlene

Hello!

I am feeling very tired and very ‘yin’ at the moment so I’m going to keep it short and sweet and get myself to bed early

Today’s menu:

Breakfast

Miso soup made with hatcho and white miso, carrot, celery, brocolli and sea salad with ginger juice

Oat porridge with roasted almonds

Breathe deep yogi tea

Late lunch/dinner

Pressure cooked brown rice

Sauerkraut

Tempeh with mustard and tekka dressing with cavalo nero

Arame, onion and mushroom with shoyu, mirin, lemon and ginger juice (I love the tangyness of this dish)

Nishime from yesterday

Women’s balance yogi tea

Snacks

Lots (too much…which I think is the culprit for my current state of yin-ness) of halva sweetened with grape juice and honey

Good night!

Sharlene

Howdy!

I find it fascinating to hear different people’s different perspectives on ‘being healthy’. It seems that we all have different definitions and different ideas of what we should or shouldn’t do. I guess that we must learn to listen to and read the signs that our bodies send to us because one thing is for sure and that is the body never lies…!  

Breakfast

Oat porridge with barley malt

Mochi with strawberry jam

Bancha tea

Lunch

Nishime carrot, swede and onion

Bulgar risotto (leftovers)

Lentils with garnish of spring onion (leftovers)

Pressed red cabbage

Horse radish

Grain coffee, carobella and oat cream drink – just like hot chocolate!

Dinner

Swede, carrot and cabbage soup

Brown rice pudding with pears, raisins and oat cream

Breathe deep yogi tea 

Snacks/other

2 x 1/2 pints of ale

1 x 1/4 pint of cider

3 x vanilla barley malt sweets

1 x sesame bar 

Much TLC

Sharlene

Another day and another chance to learn more about health, healing and life!

Today’s delights were:

Brunch

Miso soup made with hemp and brown rice miso, carrot, wakame and celery and parsley

Millet porridge with barley malt and a teeny weeny splash of rice milk

Mu tea

Dinner

Broth made with rice noodles, carrot, mushrooms and spring onion flavoured with bouillon

Stir fried brown rice with onion

Grilled haddock

Oven roasted parsnips and sweet potato with with garlic

Quick boiled brocolli with shoyu and tahini dressing

Snacks/other

Halva (honey and pistachio nut) I’m loving the melt in your mouth texture of this stuff :O) yum!

Rooibos tea with rice milk

Prunes

Pickled onions (sugar free, sweetened with honey)

Chamomile tea

Smoothie (made with raspberries, blackberries, boysenberries, banana and grape juice)

Tonight’s dinner had lots of salt (in broth, in tahini dressing and in fried rice) and I felt quite thirsty afterwards, so I will remember not to make so many salty dishes in one meal and try to incorporate some of the other tastes instead

Happy cooking!

Sharlene

Hello!

Time for the weekly review:

Physical: I only did two 30 minutes runs. I definitely feel that cardio vascular exercise is really beneficial for me so I hope to increase this and have some more variety too.

There were a couple of times when I got up from sitting cross legged during meditation that I felt a little stiff so I reckon some yoga and/or stretching would be really great too.

Emotionally: I haven’t been writing in my journal as much as I would like to. Time just seems to be running out so quickly at the moment and I’m very much focused on revision, cooking and eating well and meditating. It always feels like a constant juggling/balancing act to keep on track with everything. I know I must make some time for myself soon and definitely more regularly.

I’d also like to make sure I speak to friends and family more regularly to share the goings on of my heart with them.

I feel that I’ve had a bit of a lesson with my own boundaries. My experience made me realise that sometimes one has to over step a boundary in order to know what the boundary actually is. It’s helped me to see that it is really important to have clarity over what you do and do not want in life.

Mental: I think I’ve had lots to think about in terms of preparation for exams, planning ahead and cooking so mentally I’ve felt very active and not had much time for thinking about much else. However, I do find it helpful to have a ‘thought for the day’ to have in the back of my mind each day.

Spiritual: Meditation is going well and I’m starting to really look forward to doing it each morning and evening. I’m also reading a number of books that inspire me and give me new insights.  

Now on to food:

Breakfast

Home made oat milk (was very soothing)

Miso soup (from yesterday) with lemon

Oat and barley porridge with stewed fruit from Weds

Bancha tea

Lunch

Bulgar risotto, pressed salad, hijiki and carrot and lentil dahl with finely sliced leek greens (all left overs)

Nettle and mind tea

Dinner

Dinner will be (I won’t have time to write on here later) quinoa, chickpea stew, hijiki and carrot and brocolli

Mu tea

Snacks/other

A handful of prunes

Mochi with rice syrup

Stewed apples with raisins and barley malt

Sending love & light

Sharlene

Bonjour!

Breakfast

Miso soup made with brown rice miso, white miso, carrot, mushroom, green cabbage, sea salad, ginger juice and parsley

Oat porridge with walnuts and pumpkin seeds and strawberry sugar free spread.

I’m feeling like I need a bit of a break from nuts and seeds for a few days so I’ll avoid them for the moment. Porridge was really nice and creamy.

Lunch

Hijiki and carrot tempura (I wasn’t too impressed with the tempura when it was finished as it was a tad soggy and not as crisp as I would have liked. I think the batter was too thick and I didn’t let the oil get hot enough. I’ll try to remember this for next time!). I had this with a shoyu and ginger dipping sauce and some grated daikon which is great to have when you have deep fried food as it helps to break down fats

Chickpea stew with squash and kombu

Quinoa

Purple sprouting brocolli with shoyu and tahini dressing

Sauerkraut

Grain coffee

Dinner

Cauliflower soup made with homemade oat milk, cauliflower (of course!), leeks and white miso with a leek garnish (the green bit from the leeks finely chopped)

Red lentil dahl

Leek and mushroom risotto

Pressed salad of daikon and radish (I think I need to start having pressed salads more regularly) with lemon juice

Snacks/other

Sesame seed bar

2 x vanilla macro sweets

Hot apple juice (I had this in the afternoon a couple of hours after lunch as I felt a little heavy)

I think it’s time for the end of week review so I’ll do that tomorrow.

Bye for now!

Sharlene