Macrobiotics and Me

Good Evening!

And so the healing begins…

Breakfast

Beautiful very long time cooked wheat porridge with shoyu. Mmm! It felt so nourishing and satisfying.

I ate a smaller portion than usual and felt a little hungry afterwards but I know this is good for me and is definitely what my body needs at the moment.

Lunch

Quinoa salad with cucumber, red pepper, celery & sunflower seeds

Wheat milk with miso

Dinner

Miso soup with onion & kombu &  a few oats

Brown rice with nori & 1 umeboshi plum

A lovely ginger compress on the abdomen

I am looking forward to seeing how I feel tomorrow. Today I feel positive and happy that I’ve eaten relatively simply.

Love, light & healing

Sharlene

Good Day!

Breakfast

Buckwheat milk with miso

Lunch

Oat milk

Dinner

Oat milk with umeboshi plum & some barley flake porridge (I was really hungry) & about 10 roasted pumpkin seeds!

So, I am going to begin eating more ‘consciously’ from 31st May. The directions I have set for myself are:

- to eat mostly wholegrains and non-whole products (like pasta, noodles, flakes etc) 2 x a week

- dessert 2-3 times a week but no grain sweetners to be used

- to eat smaller portions and only when hungry

- to include cleansing ingredients (umeboshi plum 1-2 x a week, kuzu, daikon, shiitake

- I’d also like to begin having a hip bath followed by a ginger compress on the abdomen once a week

This first week I am going to try to not use any oil just to see how that feels. I am sure it is going to be very interesting. As a way of staying on track I am going to remind myself of my intentions at every meal time and also in my morning and evening meditation.

With much unwavering determination & love of course!

Sharlene

Hey!

Breakfast

Cornflakes with home made oat milk & oats & home made bread

Grain coffee

Lunch

Buckwheat burgers, soba noodles with white miso & peas & onions

Dinner

Cous cous pie with blanced brocolli & ume vinegar

Pear, cous cous & cornflake pie

Grain coffee

Some grape juice

I think I shall begin my healing 6 weeks from tomorrow by fasting for the day as I really feel that my body wants a break from food and feels a little over loaded. Tomorrow I’ll let you know what my dietary intentions?! (he he) are going to be for the next 6 weeks.

Love 

Sharlene

Beautiful Blessings!

Here’s details of an exciting event happening in Serbia in July. Would be great to see you there

(from 03. July to 10. July 2010)

 Are you interested in spending a week sharing wholesome macrobiotic food with lovely people set in the stunning Serbian mountains?

 A week long seminar with daily lectures and cooking demonstrations.

 Unfortunately, if you don’t speak Serbian you won’t be able to understand everything in the lectures (although you’ll get the general meaning and we’ll do our best to translate!). But you will have a chance to learn new recipes, cooking techniques and to develop your understanding of the practical application of macrobiotics.  

 Alternatively, if you are looking for a relaxing, week away in a tranquil setting with macrobiotic food and like minded people then this is the ideal place.

 Seminar fee:

*With participating in cooking, food, accommodation – £240
*Without participating in cooking, only food and accommodation – £175
*Without accommodation, only food and participating in cooking – £ 175
*Only food – £ 105

- Reservation must be made before 20th June
- Non refundable deposit 30% upon booking

- Flights not included

Seminar will be set on mountain called Divcibare, 130km from Belgrade.
Transport from Belgrade to Divcibare will be arranged and the price is included.

 For flight bookings:

 www.wizzair.com (return flights approximately £90)

www.ba.com

www.jat.com

 For bookings and/or further information please contact me on 07845 439352/0044 (0) 207 2076081

Good Evening!

Breakfast

Breakfastlessness this morning!

Lunch

Some leftovers from last night!

Aduki bean soup

 Quinoa, polenta, pressed salad & millet with kidney beans

Apple, squash & raisin dessert

Dinner

Brown rice with gomasio, squash & onions & greed salad with homemade wholewheat bread

Carrot juice & salted popcorn

I’m contemplating a 6 week healing diet starting from next week, especially since I’ve not been able to follow a ‘diet’ for longer than a few weeks and I feel like it’s time!! We’ll see!

Love, light & magic

Sharlene

Bonjourno!

I am completely stuffed from tonight’s macro potluck gathering (I am sure I won’t be having breakfast in the morning!!!) 

It’s so special, satisfying and nourishing to meet such beautiful people (especially those who appreciate macrobiotics!) and to come together to eat nutritious wholesome food – ahhh!! Yayyyy! My heart is doing little cartwheels of joy right now!!

Breakfast

Oats with shoyu

Wholewheat (home made) bread spread with tahinin, miso & sauerkraut

Lunch

Brown rice with fried onions & shoyu

Dinner

Aduki bean soup

Quinoa salad, millet mash (with cauliflower), millet with kidney beans, cabbage with mayo, pea & mint soup (but we had it as a sauce!), pressed carrot & leek salad, aduki bean & squash stew, arame with sauerkraut, carrot & sesame seeds & cous cous & millet…I am not sure if I’ve missed something as there were many dishes!!

A wonderful dessert of apple, squash, home made oat milk, peanut butter & raisins followed by grain coffee.

Ahh much love & gratitude for this wonderful & interesting life.

May the light shine upon us all so that we can create heaven here on earth :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYcJ9J5DggU - a little song for you, from one of my most favourite artists (Tracy Chapman!!)

Sharlene

Howdy!

Breakfast

Brown rice, carrot & wakame soup with little cubes of home made wholewheat bread

Sauerkraut

Lunch

Quinoa salad (with carrot & onion), hiziki & oat pasta with tofu & parsley

Grain coffee

Dinner

Aduki beans with carrot, millet with squash & sauerkraut

Rice crackers with a little bit of peanut butter & raspberry (sugar free of course) jam

Mmmm! I feel thoroughly spoilt at the moment as my wonderful macro man has been preparing all this amazing food. It’s so nice to be able to share food, sharing food, particularly macrobiotic cooking & food = sharing love!!

Yesterday we received a delivery of buckwheat hulls to replace our old grain pillows – it’s exciting having new grain pillows!

Tomorrow is potluck day and I’m really looking forward to meeting some new fellow macrotarians

Love, light & sunshine

Sharlene

Good Evening!

Breakfast

Beautiful home made rice milk/cream with corn flakes & shoyu – mmm, yummy breakfast!

Lunch

I only had some sauerkraut for lunch as I couldn’t face eating brown rice today.

I notice that just before menstruation (which is always when there is a full moon), that I feel more hungry than usual and I have a few days where I feel like I just want to eat all the time. I kind of had that this morning but I really felt as though I needed sauerkraut. I guess my liver is working pretty hard at the moment and needs some kind of assistance!!

Dinner

Soup made of brown rice, carrots, onions, wakame & miso

Quinoa salad, millet balls with a cube of bread inside, tofu salad with beetroot and carrot

A little bit of tofu cheesecake with soybean whipped cream

Mmmm

I will post some recipes from the weekend soon.

Light, light & more beautiful enlightening light

Sharlene

Good Evening!

Today’s food has been simple yet nourishing.

Breakfast

Nothing but a rest for my stomach!

Lunch

1/2 an umeboshi plum

Dinner

Rice cream with miso & rice cream with shoyu & cornflakes

I love days when I eat so simply. I find that if I eat too many different types of food then my body doesn’t like that so much so having a bit of a break feels so good for me. But everyone is different and what works for me won’t necessarily work for you. You have to find what is best as no one can tell you this!

Time for meditation and sleep!

Love, light & sunshine

Sharlene

Hello!

Ahh I am so inspired by the macro day yesterday (23rd May). It was a really great day and I feel so fortunate to have been part of it. Each talk was interesting but out of everyone I felt most inspired by Bill Tara’s talk. That is not to say that the other’s weren’t interesting because they were, but because I have not ever known about any of Bill’s work before and I found it and him most captivating.

You know everyone now and then you meet someone or their work and it really resonates within you and I felt like that with everything he was saying, like he was reiterating something that I already know. When this happens I feel like I’m going to explode with some kind of excited joy!

So, I think it’s only fair that I should share with you the essence of Bill’s talk. He started by describing what macrobiotics is and in one simple sentence he said that macrobiotics is ‘living as if life mattered’. Ha – and I didn’t think it was possible to put it into one sentence but he seems to have captured the essence of macrobiotics very well!

There were some useful things he said were necessary to take into account if we are to evolve:

1. No junk food (especially any foods that contain strange chemcials etc)

2. Stop eating animals – we are eating too many animals and if we could stop this, then it could solve many environmental problems we are facing at the moment

3. Eating regionally, organically where poss and seasonally & not using ‘exotics’ (like bananas, coffees, all the tropical stuff). Say no to exotics – (ha ha – exotics anonymous…maybe somewhere in the future there will be support groups to help people get off exotics!!!!)

The title of the talk was Human Ecology which in essence is taking the values of ecology (i.e. inhabiting our environment/the planet in a natural way, just as animals do) and living our lives consciously. Ahhh!! Yay! But of course, my explanation only gives a few basic points. To find out more, you can visit his site www.billtara.net

Food yesterday:

Breakfast

Nothing

Lunch

Squash soup, sushi, butterbean & leek tart with salad

Tofu cheesecake & twig tea

Dejan & I cooked food for yesterday and our menu was as follows:

Squash soup with parsley

Mixed sushi

A selection of tarts (butterbean & leek, red lentil & spring onion & kidney bean & squash) with salad

Sticky tofu cheesecake, banana cream pie & chocolate & banana brownies

Now I cannot wait for the next macro day!!

So, where am I with macrobiotics? Well, I really have this strong feeling that something fundamental about macrobiotics is being misunderstood (at least definitely for myself anyway!). OK, the philosophy seems relatively  understandable, but the application of this in one’s life is missing. I really feel like something is being missed and I am not going to stop searching and experimenting until I find out what it is!! I don’t know what it is but I do know that once I have found it then I will know what macrobiotics REALLY is!! This search is going to require a great amount of will power, perserverance and strength if I am to succeed but I must, I just must!! How will I ever know unless I find it for myself, unless I feel it and unless I am sure about it all. This could take years but it’s essential. I know George Ohsawa was onto something really amazing and special (a.k.a macrobiotics!) and I want to know for sure what he found!!!…

I have failed so far in being strong enough to eat ’properly’ for longer than a few days (let alone weeks, months or years) and I’ll never know the truth unless I can change this. Bill said in his talk that if you want to break free from old habits then you have to replace them with newfound habits…YES!! Of course. So, I’m going shopping today for some new habits…I hope I find some nice ones!!!

Au revoir!

Sharlene

p.s. oops, I didn’t finish telling you about dinner…

Dinner

Soup, tarts, salad, banana cream pie & banana and chocolate brownie

I think I just fulfilled my dessert and ‘exotics’ quota for the next year!!!