40 Days of Macrobiotics: Day 17

Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of the pieces. 

~ Judith Viorst
Well, dear readers, I have no strength.  When faced with the daunting task of walking away from a jar of chocolate-covered salted caramels, I walked away ~ with three caramels.  What can I say?  The spirit is willing to eat rice, but the flesh is used to wearing chocolate.* 

The last couple of days have not been uber great days, macro wise.  Although I must say that after dinner last night, I found myself craving more brown rice.  What is more likely is that I was dehydrated from the salted caramels.  So I promptly ate some pita chips and drank a 1/2 liter of water.

Macrobiotics ~ at least the way Jessica Porter puts it ~ is a forgiving way of eating.  And I have to learn to forgive myself and see food in a different light.  Food is not an evil enemy that blocks me from fitting into that sexy little black dress.  Trans fats, refined sugar, white flour ~ they are not sitting on the shelf with long fangs, laughing maniacally at me, or running after me in the grocery store and jumping into my shopping basket.  Saying no is a viable option.  And if sometimes I fall off the grocery cart, I can get back up and head straight to the produce section and the bulk whole grains section and re-center my body. 

This isn't about eating perfectly.  It's about eating harmoniously and in balance ~ with what the body actually needs [not what the psyche ~ like a spoiled five year old brat ~ wants] and with what is in season.

How relaxing and forgiving is that?!

Today I am heading out of town and into the country for some much needed R&R and time with my parents, who as you know are getting older and less able to manage things.  One of the great things about being back at the homestead is that there is no internet and my cell phone gets a sporadic signal.  It is very peaceful to unplug, unwind and just enjoy being.  If I were more organized, I would have written up some posts for you to enjoy while I am away, but I am still working on writing every day period!

May your weekend be filled with harmony, peace, mounds of brown rice and the strength to get back to center.

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

*Well, where else do you think all that yummy fat goes!? ;)

40 Days of Macrobiotics: Day 14

Eating rice cakes is like chewing on a foam coffee cup, only less filling.

~ Dave Barry

Did I really say I would turn macro for 40 days?!?  What was I thinking!?  I need to be locked up ~ preferably in a kitchen stocked with more than brown rice, leafy greens and colourful, cruciferous veggies.  Argh!!

What!?  Did you think that the life of newbie macro was as easy as pie?  [Oh no, do not think of pie!  Especially crust made with lard and white flour ~ Gah!]  Deep breathes.  Why are we doing this, Mikaela?  To strip away our addictions [caffeine, sugar, white flour].  To obtain balanced energy.  To re-center our energy and bring our focus back on the essentials of life: faith, creativity, relationships.

I am not doing a pure brown rice fast ~ that would be madness when I have a full social schedule.  But the past two days I’ve eaten nothing but brown rice with leftover pesto and some brown rice bread with honey.  Woo!  Time for some more greens, mushrooms and onions to go with it!

And some extra sleep ~ I am still trying to get back my lost “spring” hour!

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

40 Days of Macrobiotics: Day 9

The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish, admittedly, is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent, not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious.
~ Tom Robbins

Tonight's macro dinner brought to you by the lowly beet.  Actually, tonight's dinner was three shades of  purple now that I think about it.  Purple cabbage, red onion [which is really purple], and beets [which are red, I know, but purple-y red].  I mixed in spinach, garlic, the ever present yellow curry, and a couple pinches of salt.  The result was a lush, earthy mix that was also quite heavenly. 

Last night I soaked about 4 cups of black beans.  The ebony lovelies cooked up well in vegetable broth and spring water and a few cloves of garlic.  Once they were tender, I added them to a pan of brown rice ~ which I had cooked last night, and lightly stir-fried them.  With the purple veggie mix on top, it was just what the macro doctor ordered ~ and I didn't miss the meat this time.  Yay me!

I felt so great I hopped on the treadmill for a bit.  I have not developed the runner's high yet, so when I work out, I still get pleasantly stretched and sleepy.  Which is good, because I'm still adjusting to "springing forward!"

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

40 Days of Macrobiotics: Day 2

The greatest delight the fields and woods minister is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable.  I am not alone and unacknowledged.  They nod to me and I to them. 
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I confess....to eating....white rice.  [Gah!]  But at least it wasn't pasta or ~ mortal sin ~ white bread!

Honestly, I was so sure I had another bag of yummy brown rice in my cupboard.  On the bus ride home, I thought it of sitting there, eagerly awaiting my culinary ministrations.  My body grew excited thinking about the wholesome grain-ness of it and my brain sighed a grand sigh for the energy and pleasure to come.  And then to come home and NO BROWN RICE to be found!  Oh!  The ever lovin' tragedy of it all!

My one saving grace was that I did have some white jasmine rice ~ evidence of my wild and crazy white-flour-energy-crashing-sapping days.  My culinary culpability was lessened when I chopped up some fresh mini sweet peppers, a yellow onion, 3 cloves of garlic and some fresh spinach and sauteed it in olive oil. [It's still winter....ish.  So oil is okay.]  Once the rice was cooked, I put some in with the now sauteed veggies and stirred it all together, added some yellow curry and voila! 

When I tell you this concoction was outrageously awesome, I know you won't believe me.  But you can ask my housemate.  She was in the kitchen juicing some green peppers, tomatoes, celery, and carrots ~ nectar of the gods! ~ and kept looking into the dining room and laughing at my moans of foodie rapture.  She finally asked to try some and could only say: "Oh wow.  That is some good stuff!"  I also had some chicken [free range of course] because it needed to be cooked, and a few spoons of lentils ~ also with a healthy sprinkling of curry and some sea salt. 

I cannot wait until tomorrow when I can have left over rice and rainbow pepper goodness.  And never fear, for my penance, a brisk walk to the grocery store for a huge bag of brown rice is in order so I can be a good little macrobiotic chick. 

Seriously.  You need to try some!

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela