Thanks to Sanae!

hello everyone,
it's Annalisa again. Today is sunday, nice warm day in Santa Monica.
I couldn't go to studio cause I was sick after being at French Meadow Summer Camp . I think I got a little cold from the freezing nights!
I was very happy overall, great experience, great people, and great food!! I highly recommend to everyone interested in connecting with a macrobiotic lifestyle.
Anyway, today I want to just drop a line on this: I remember Sanae told me some time ago that , since I'm Italian, I can experiment trying some dishes with pasta, since I grew up with lots of it, and I can tell it's all over my genes...today I wanted to try to make something different beside brown rice etc.., so I thought of how to make some pasta dish without tomatoes (I better stay away from them for a while since my digestion system is still healing).
So I did,and it turned out great.Today I felt like a macrobiotic italian!! But still having my miso soup...here's my simple pasta dish: organic black soybeans spaghetti with broccoli rabe and onions, . My Grandma was from the south,and She used to make the best pasta with broccoli rabe ever..mine is not even close...but it's on its way to improvement!!When I'll go to Italy in december I'll ask my aunt how Grandma used to do it...
Thanks to Sanae that reminded me where I am from.
Love,everyone
Annalisa

Cooking lunch

Hello my Macrobiotic friends!

It's very important to have miso soup every morning because it warms the body and mind. If you're going to commit to anything, be sure and commit to your morning dose of miso soup.


I made a new dish a couple of weeks ago. It consists of beans, rice, shoyu, nuts, sea salt, and lettuce. It's very well balanced and nourishes the entire body. I was proud of myself for making this dish on my own!

Today I'm going to cook lunch after finishing this blog. I'm not sure what we're having but I'm looking forward to getting some experience in the kitchen! It reminds me of working in the kitchen at the Kushi Institute, where I spent 2 months. It was an experience I'll never forget!

Bye for now,

Joel

Miso Soup

Hello, this is Joel. Today I took the dogs out for a walk and after I write this blog I will begin to create a MySpace page for Studio Mugen! The crew is making lunch in the kitchen right now and I had a discussion with Sanae about the importance of having miso soup every morning. Miso soup is very calming and alkalizes the blood. It warms the body and brings about harmony and balance. We underestimate the importance of healthy food and how it affects the body. Macrobiotics, a holistic approach to diet and lifestyle, is a very important element for improving one's life and overall well-being. I do Bikram Yoga three times a week and that's also very effective; it's a great form of exercise. Macrobiotics is growing and more people are becoming aware of it. However, it will be a continuous quest but the western world will gradually begin to make dietary changes. This is my belief. Bye for now!

how to promote these blogs?

Hello again, this is Joel and I'm currently researching how to promote these blogs! If anyone has any good ideas on how to promote blogs, please let us know. There are also blogger chats, where people get together and discuss various blogs. This is a wonderful opportunity for anyone wishing to promote their product or service.

My volunteering today is going well, just had lunch, walked the dogs, and now I will work on the website. Keep visiting the site regularly for updated information! Thank you and bye for now!

Hey there...still here!!
Please, if U R redaing this blog and enjoying it, feel free to post comments of any knid,we'd love to hear from U!!
Anyway...Today it's quiet here, Sanae is gone to a retreat with the dogs, and it's only me and Junko. Today I'll do some plum picking, the tree is about to fall, so full of delicious organic plums!
This house is not the same without the dogs hangin'around all the time...sometime they come around while I'm writing at the pc or washing dishes, and they'd start whigging the tale and look at U with those eyes saying "the ball!!!Throw me the ball...please!!!"...and yes, they
'd say "please", cause they all are very well educated dogs!!:-))
They are all 4 female, and since they are golden retriever, each on of them is named "gold", but in different languages...there's also the italian word for gold, which is ORO...then there's Dore (French), Kin (Japanese), Kura (Hawaiian)...and ,of course, there are also 2 cats, Key-Chain and Mai...I love animals, and in my place I can't have any, so when I come here I getto enjoy not also a pre macrobiotic lifestyle, but also the love and company of those precious creatures....ps.In loveericinc.com you can view the pets profile under "about us" and then under "our family".
Well...that's all for now.
Next week I'll going to the French Meadow Camp, organized by the George Oshawa foundation, in Nevada City, close toLake Tahoe and Sacramneto, I really can't wait...so, I'll write again in 2 weeks.
Blessings to U all,

Vegan Macrobiotic Community Potluck!

Hello everyone...Happy july 4th by the way!!:-))
I want to post some pics today...some are from the very first potluck we had back in the last wesneday of May, called "RUSKA", in loving memory of this woman who touched many people 's lives with her dedication and compassion. She helped me a lot too, when I first got started with macrobiotics. Thank you, Ruska!
Love,
Sanae

Lunch and Plums

Hello, Annalisa here again...last time I was here we made plums jam, and it was very interesting too see how a jam can be so delicious and so very natural, without refined sugar added.
Sanae and Eric have the tree in the yard, so we picked some plums, fresh from the tree right in the pot...cover the big pot half with water, boil it about 4-5 hours, then add some brown rice syrup to taste...and voila'!!
Too bad I didn't have my camera, so I couldn't take pics...well...next time, comin'up!
Today it's a little chilly,at least for me. I just got here, Sanae and Junko are at the post office, and I'm here, surrounded by those sweetie pie dogs that are sleeping, waiting for them to come back, and cook lunch alltogether.
I'm wondering what's cookin'today!

Since I don't have much to talk about today, I'll say this..I don't know why I'm literally craving corn those day...well,probably cause it well satisfies muy sweet tooth :-)...safely...anyway...I was brousing Sanae's cookbook, and there are a lot of recipes with corn. The one that appealed to me was the corn chowder...so I did it....it also includes a little piece of potato to show people it's ok to have a little bit every once in a while, like if U R healthy, U CAN, yes, U CAN have some nightshades here and there, some spices, etc...always, if U R not healing from any condition in particular...so, see, macrobiotic is not all about "don't eat this, avoid that.."...It's good to know I can still have some of my fav foods...by the way...did U know U can make delicious french fries out of yams??!! Try that too!! Satisfaction guarantee!
The other day I made the corn chowder, following it exactly...I cannot begin to tell U...how delicious it was. And without dairy! It's unbelievable, was so sweet I almost didn't crave any sweet for the whole time...I particularly LOOOOVE the basil oil, whicjh I actually used also as a dressing for other recipes, like for ex. a pressed salad, it's very refreshing, and it keeps good in the refrigerator for a while, so U can really use it and use it...I could have it out of a spoon...my dad was here a few months ago, and I asked him to bring me some very good e.v.olive oil from Italy, organic of course. So I used that, and also fresh basil just bought at the farmes market on Main str. in Santa Monica.
Also, I tried the simmered turnips, and those too, came out great, very tasty.
Actually the recipes are pretty easy to follow, and I feel sorry for non-vegetarians, which they don't know what they miss...before I gave up the standard diet (january 08) I thought I was going to be miserable, eating plain this, plain that, steam and boiled food that tastes like cardboard...well, I'm very glad to see I was very wrong. Almost every dish on the planet has the vegan version, and much more healthy too...for ex., Sanae's corn chowder has no milk at all, not even soy milk, but it's made creamy just by blending half of it, and putted it back to the pot. Of course, I think U can do that with other kind of soups too, like kabocha (my fav food), butternut, red lentils, etc...Also, one interesting thing is that the more I try these recipes, and the more it opens my mind, cause I can always use the ideas and changing the ingredients around..God bless the day I decided to give macrobiotic a try.
Best to all the readers,
ciao#Annalisa