Humidity Food

May 24, 2010 in News, Seasonal Eating by bursty | No comments

hearts3

Minnesota’s got some major humidity going on the past few days.  The kind of humidity that makes you feel like you’re swimming through the air, makes you catch your breath when you step outside into it, and makes me just a touch cranky!  So - in honor of that, I thought I’d explore some ways to combat the humidity with food. 

One of the reasons humidity affects us so much is that it has a big impact on our body’s ability to maintain a regular body temperature.  The body is absolutely AMAZING in its ability to maintain body temperature normally through hormones, sweat, increased respiration, etc.  High humidity prevents sweat from cooling and evaporating on our skin, which alters the body’s ability to cool us off.  Further, the blood flow to the skin increases when humidity is high, which decreases blood flow to vital organs in the body.  So, we become more tired.

Taking all of this into account - what are some foods you like to eat during humid times!?  I love a good lentil salad on a hot humid day — not only is it cool and refreshing, but it’s also packed with nutrients and protein to help sustain you when you’re likely to get tired.  I’m also thinking of nice, crisp salad greens from the garden with roasted and cooled beets, as well as some thinly sliced green apple.  Macrobiotics is SO much easier for me during the summer months, because my body naturally wants to eat light healthy food, and tends to reject heavy sludgey stuff.  Hooray for summer!

The Art of Menu Planning

May 20, 2010 in Macro Home, News by bursty | 2 comments

lilacs2

We’ve been having discussions at casa AGAD about being more efficient with our trips to the co-op.  Right now, this is how it typically goes:  Sometime during the day, we talk on the phone and banter about what we might like to have for dinner.  I’m usually thoroughly unhelpful during this conversation, and Jacob comes up with something ingenious and tasty to eat.  I get home around 5:30 or so, and Jacob has either been to the co-op, or envisions walking down there together for ingredients.  And, we do this nearly everyday.  Go to the co-op.  While we’re at the co-op (particularly if I am with on this journey), I find all kinds of little things that I think I need (or do actually need), including essential oils, a little dark chocolate for dessert, a fancy beverage like Kombucha, etc. etc.  Suffice it to say, this all adds up, and it gets expensive.

Which brings us over budget for the month in food-spending.  When we’re more intentional about this, and we go to the co-op just once (or at most, twice) per week, we see some measurable savings!  The problem is that this takes planning and some measure of organization.  Both things the two of us have little interest in, most of the time.  But we’re striving to be better.  Our new plan is menu planning.  On one set day per week, we’re going to attempt to plan out what we will eat for the next five days or so, and then we’ll go to the co-op to pick up the things we’ll need to make that plan a reality.

I think this will work relatively well for a few reasons.  (1) We typically eat the same thing for breakfast everyday (usually barley flakes, 7-grain cereal, oatmeal, or brown rice), (2) lunch is usually something leftover from the night before, or something simple (rice and beans are a popular one), and (3) that really just leaves dinners to plan!  The advantage of menu planning will be that we can organize the use of the same ingredient multiple times throughout the week, so we won’t be buying all kinds of crazy ingredients. 

We’ll let you know how the planning goes.  As usual, perhaps we’ll use AGAD to hold us accountable to maintain the strategy for a period of time, and then reassess.  Does anyone else have great ideas in the menu planning department, or have a similar experience to ours in going to the co-op too often!??

Five: All Polarities are Complementary, yet Antagonistic

May 19, 2010 in Macrobiotic Principles by bursty | No comments

rainydaylovelies

These principals are full of BIG concepts.  Some of them are hard for me to wrap my mind around without some rather intense investigation and thought.  This one is one that, when I first read it, caught me by surprise.  Maybe it’s the big words, or perhaps the words are just a little overwhelming in concept.  I’m not sure.  But initially, I kind of don’t want to write about it - I’d rather just let it go, and not think about it.  Probably not a great sign!  I’m going to pursue it, though, because I think that in the end, thinking about these principals will deepen my understanding of macrobiotics, as well as my practice.

If it weren’t for extreme opposites, there would not be balance.  Although going to extremes is generally not part of practicing macrobiotics, one must maintain an awareness of the extremes in order to understand the point of equilibrium.  It’s also interesting that these principals really play off the previous ones.  In four, I talked about how everything in the extreme changes to its opposite.  This one is similar, in that it emphasizes extremes, but it goes a little further and describes those extremes. 

When we end up more near to the polarity than to the balance, we’ve got to take a step back and see what is going to bring us back into balance.  Use your intuition!  The longer you practice macrobiotics, the easier it will be for you to identify what your body needs to bring you back into balance.  Perhaps, like the author of the principals article I’ve been referring to describes, you need something that won’t pull you to the other extreme like one of those hooks on silent television!  Instead, maybe something that is balanced (like umeboshi tea with a bit of ginger in it) itself will be more effective to bring you back to balance.

We’re still out of town and living in a hotel room — learning how much we truly value macrobiotics, when we really have no opportunity to practice eating and living the way we usually do, and the way we prefer to.  Getting back into the swing of things at home this coming weekend, I’m SO looking forward to getting back to balance!  It’s amazing how we take for granted the ability to cook our own food on a daily basis … and how much we crave those simple, wholesome dishes when we’re away.

Eight Days Ago

May 18, 2010 in News by bursty | No comments

seedlings3

broccoli

butterleaf

Eight days ago, this was our garden.  Just before we left for (another) hiatus from our lovely little urban homestead (and, as it turns out, from AGAD), I took some pictures … we return in a few days now, and I cannot wait to see the progress our little growers have made!!

Gardens are amazing that way — while we go about our lives, they are there, just growing away - and one day you look down, really look, and see all of the progress they have made!  We’ll be back soon.

Farm Fresh: Strawberry Blueberry Couscous Cake

May 10, 2010 in Farm Fresh, Recipes by Andrew Lee | 1 comment

SUMMER IS KNOCKING AT THE DOOR!!!

summer

Alright.  I am convinced that summer is here.  It’s hitting 95 degrees almost every afternoon here in Texas.  Now, I know that A Grain A Day writers cover the US, North to South and all the way to the west coast… AND I know that in MN last week it dropped to 20 degrees one night, but DAAAANG SUMMER IS HERE IN TEXAS.  So for those of you in colder climates, sorry to wave the summer flag early.  Though you might find some sick delight in this:  In just a few short weeks, I will be melting in almost three solid months of 100+ humid heat waves.  That starts… oh, probably next week.  Yikes.

So summer’s here at the farmer’s market as well!  Two weeks ago, I saw the first batch of STRAWBERRIES!  In the next week or so I plan on making this dish:  Strawberry Blueberry Couscous Cake.

I made this last year and loved it for its simple fruit and grain composition, with just enough natural sweetness from the paired couscous and berries.

It comes from The Changing Seasons Macrobiotic Cookbook by Aveline Kushi and Wendy Esko, a great cookbook that lays out the recipes for each season in a Day 1:  Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner… Day 2: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner… format.  Not only does it have great recipes, but its been a great resource that inspires varied weekly macro meal planning.  I recommend it.

(Recipe after the Jump)

Read the rest of this entry »

Rainy Day

May 7, 2010 in News by bursty | 2 comments

Once there was a girl …

whitebells

Who had a lovely lens …

whitebells4

And missed it very much while it was being repaired …

whitebells5

And was delighted when a rainy day came along on which to play with it!

whitebells2

I know this is a blog about food - macrobiotic food.  But my little play time with the *fixed* lens was just too fun to not share.

whitebell

Have a lovely weekend, all.  We’re continuing with the being - out - of - town some in the next couple of weeks, so please excuse the sporadic posting.  We’ll be back soon, we promise.  Namaste!

Four: Everything in the Extreme, Changes to its Opposite

May 6, 2010 in Macrobiotic Principles by bursty | No comments

This principal is really at the heart of macrobiotic living.  It’s the concept that is oft repeated here at AGAD, that moderation and balance are really the keys to success in macrobiotics.  It’s tough to maintain moderation, though, because it’s almost as if we as human beings are pulled to extremes.  Life is far more exciting (see the author’s amusing story of an 18 day grain fast followed by a milk-and-cookie-induced-comatose-state) when we are living on the edge.  Or is it?

When I was studying for the bar exam a few summers ago, I spent my days eating avocado and goat cheese sandwiches, drinking several hazelnut lattes a day, and stuffing my face with little debbie swiss cake rolls and zebra cakes.  Now - studying for the bar exam is a rather intense state of affairs.  But, I’m willing to bet that had I responded to this intense state of affairs with some brown rice, quinoa, steamed broccoli, and umeboshi tea, my life may not have felt like it was crashing down around me.  However — that summer was also one of the most amazing of my life.  I was living in a new place, had discovered that a good friend was in actuality my soul mate, and was embarking on a whole new life and career. 

But then there is the opposite in the equation — throughout this period of intensity my body was in high gear and I’m pretty sure that I experienced more than one anxiety attack.  My mind would go completely blank and I would feel as if I was going to pass out, accompanied by a racing heartbeat and a general feeling of disorientation.  Perhaps a reaction to (a) WAY too much caffeine pulsing through my veins and (b) sugar sugar sugar coupled with (c) adrenaline.  Everything in the extreme, changes to its opposite.

Generally, now, we strive for balance and moderation in our diets here at chez AGAD.  We’ve all got stories like the ones cited above that prove that this principal is a reality.  And, like I talked about a few posts back, people who are attracted to the macrobiotic way of living just *might* be a tad fanatical at times.  So we need to watch out for this principal in action — if we decide to do a brown rice fast, great.  But let’s not decide for the wrong reasons, and let’s ease ourselves out of it with grace, rather than with cookies and milk.

A little avocado makes all the difference

May 5, 2010 in Recipes, Seasonal Eating by cooljuice | 3 comments

avocadoWe recently returned from a trip to the San Francisco Avocado Area. I mean Bay Avocado. I mean Bay Area. Ain’t not avocado like a Bay Area avocado ‘cuz a Bay Area avocado don’t quit!

So, when we got home to Minnesota and were in “vacation from our vacation” mode and sauteed tempeh over rice, although delicious in its own rite, looked kind of old hat, I plopped some avocado slices on top. It was sensational. It was fireworks. It was bathing nude in the hot springs. It was everything you hoped it would be.

Renewal and cycles are everywhere. Of course, I always have avocados available to me at our local food co-op, but now this spring I was seeing them again, rediscovering them, tasting them with intention.

It got me thinking that there must be hundreds of foods that our eyes slide past or our minds forget about, or our stomachs can’t remember. And that’s part of the reason we started the glossary section of AGAD. Put some of your favorite ingredients in the comments below that we don’t already have in the glossary and let’s breathe some new life into our food!

Light Posting

April 28, 2010 in News by bursty | No comments

Sorry for the light posting of late — we’ve been vacationing in the Bay area for a bit.  It was absolutely amazing in so many ways — fabulous people, delightful food, vibrant energy, colorful …

Look for fresh posts coming soon!  And, as always - thanks for stopping in :)

Farm Fresh: Link Love

April 26, 2010 in Farm Fresh, Recipes, Reviews by Andrew Lee | 4 comments

quinoa

Happy Monday!  As I write this from my outdoor patio with a glass of iced green tea, Spring is turning into Summer here in Texas.  Where ever you are, I hope Spring is finding its way to you!  Stop reading a website!  Find some sunshine!

But if you’re stuck inside at a computer, here’s some link love:

Read the rest of this entry »

« Older entries § Newer entries »