Healthy Vegan Macrobiotic Cooking and Events

Women's Macrobiotic Healing Class in May

Fall has entered boldly and so it is important to make sure we are adapting ourselves to the unique energies of the season. Maintaining our health means it's important to be aware of how seasonal changes can affect us.

Here's an update on classes and other activities for Studio Mugen.



Making Handmade Traditional Condiments
Saturday, Oct. 19, 11:00 a.m.
Studio Mugen
2610 23rd St., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Description:
This is a special workshop to learn how to make traditional style handmade pickles, gomashio (sesame salt), shio kombu and tekka miso.  You also will learn the health value of these condiments.
Fee: $60 (Pay pal $63) ingredients are included.

Macrobiotic Healing for Women (Japanese language class)
Sunday, Oct. 20, 10:00 a.m.
Seed Kitchen
1604 Pacific Ave., Venice, CA 90291
This is a special workshop regarding healing and  women's health according to Five Elements theory in Japanese.
Fee: $38.00

Meditation
Saturday, Oct. 26, 3 p.m.
Studio Mugen
2610 23rd St., Santa Monica, CA 90405
No Fee
Every Saturday afternoon I offer one hour to sit and meditate with anybody who is willing to practice. I practice Vipassana meditation.
We welcome anybody including people who have never practiced meditation or people who have practiced any style of meditation.
I will be preparing an organic Kukicha (twig tea) or Barley tea or Sanae's original organic non-caffeine tea.
 Suggested Donation of $5 cash for using the Studio Mugen space.
 Studio Mugen is an Eco-friendly environment with a wood floor and you must take off shoes inside.  Please bring room shoes or thick socks.
Please RSVP in case we have to cancel due to not enough people signing up. I look forward to sitting with you and practice being at peace within ourselves.

 Macrobiotic Healing for Women
Sunday, Oct. 27, 10:00 a.m.
Seed Kitchen
1604 Pacific Ave., Venice, CA 90291
Seed Kitchen 1640 Pacific Ave. Venice, CA 90291 (310)396-1604
Fee: $35 cash (or $38 for Paypal) with Lunch (soup, desserts and drinks are not included).
Subject: Thyroid gland
In this class you will learn how to make Remedy drink for a healthy thyroid, learn how to cook Vegan Macrobiotic plant-base food, and we'll discuss new moon or full moon wishes for each month's energy and to get your wishes to come true. Must have 5 registered guests to offer class.

By the way, many men attend the class not only to support their partner, but they get to learn about vegan macrobiotic health too!

Healthy Taste of L.A.
Sunday, Nov. 3, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
South Bay Seventh Day Adventist Church
401 S. Prospect Ave, Redondo Beach, 90277
Fee: see event website: http://www.healthytasteofla.com/
A day-long event with various health-oriented presenters discussing a variety of subjects.  Chef Eric Lechasseur will give a talk/cooking presentation.  Other speakers include: Dr. Neal Bernard, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine; Dr. Alan Goldhamer, TrueNorth Health Center,  and John Pierre, celebrity fitness guru and author of Pillars of Health; and Chef AJ, author of Unprocessed. The web site will give a full listing of participants and activities.

You can also get additional information and sign up through the meetup site http://www.meetup.com/Vegan-Macrobiotic-Community-Meetup-Group/

In addition, with the change of seasons if you want macrobiotic health counseling or personal cooking instruction, please let me know.

Food, Energy and Health

By Alan Kenney

Guest blog

A recent experience gave me an object lesson on food as energy and the power it has to affect our bodies and emotions.

Sanae Suzuki at Studio Mugen

 Sanae Suzuki is my macrobiotic counselor and heading into autumn I found that my energy and my body had become quite contracted, that is very tight.  I experienced physical stiffness in my body, had a hard time relaxing and sleeping and behaviorally I became quite pushy, irritable and not able to sleep.  My wife even commented on my rigid behaviors and started to be concerned. 

 I realized how the energy of food affects me both physically and behaviorally, and that it can impact my mind and emotions.

In weekly counseling Sanae and I had always discussed my diet and recipes and other aspects of my macrobiotic lifestyle.  However, recently we decided to look at how I was cooking.  What we discovered is that I had been cooking brown rice and beans by pressure cooking pots and steaming my vegetables instead of water sautéed and/or boiling for a long time and all through the summer. 

We determined that this meant that I was creating a lot of contracted energy in my body through this cooking style. Sanae taught me that macrobiotics is not just what kind of ingredients we use for our cooking and eating. It is also about how to cook and what kind of equipment you use for your own condition. Learning about our energy is to learn about food and style of cooking, equipment that we use and adapting as seasons change, our physical and mental condition changes, and more. 

Next we determined what to change in my cooking style, my recipes and determined what macrobiotic remedy to use to help get my body back in balance.

After several days of my adjusted program I have noticed welcome changes to my body and energy and have become more relaxed and easy going…and have returned to a relaxed sleep pattern.

Alan Kenney

I am thankful that my path has led me to studying macrobiotics and learning about the energy of food and how it can affect us physically and behaviorally.  This incident showed me how important it is to understand the energy of food to maintain the best health.  A greater lesson to me is the value of having a counselor/advisor who can help me understand this path I am on.

 I encourage anyone who is seeking to improve their health physically, mentally or to strengthen the spirit to take an active interest in learning how food as energy can affect your life. Also consider a counselor to ensure that you don’t walk that path by yourself.

September Macrobiotic Support Meeting & Barefoot Beach Walk

 The Macrobiotic Support Group met Wednesday evening, September 18.

However, for the first time, before the meeting started several people went for a barefoot walk on the beach just as the sun was setting.  The air was temperate, the water warm, the surfers searched for waves and the birds ran to an fro as the surf ebbed and flowed. 

Then, we settled in at Seed Kitchen, enjoyed macrobiotic and vegan food.


The discussion centered on fear and different people shared examples of how an incident or incidents in life created an ongoing fear or hesitancy in dealing with life and life issues.

Discussion explored how a variety of incidents in life affected the soul and then sort of remained as an experience that colored subsequent decisions and behaviors.

Various people shared on how their growth through study and exploration of spiritual and life understanding brought about tools that helped to restore healthier life responses.

Overall, it was determined that macrobiotics is not only about eating healthy and being physically fit, but also having a healthy soul and spirit which can express its joy and vitality every day.



Macrobiotic support group attendees.



Croshet Summer Hats with Washi (Japanese paper)

Teaching cooking classes and out door activities are fun and expressive and more outward energy so to find balance I re-started to knit, crochet and weave a few years ago.

Sitting and knitting, crocheting or weaving give me a calming and a meditative energy.
Find myself a quiet mind and a equanimity inside of me.

This summer I crocheted first time Summer Hat with Washi* (Japanese paper).
*Washi (和紙?) is a style of paper that was first made in Japan. Washi is commonly made using fibers from the bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub (Edgeworthia chrysantha), or the paper mulberry, but also can be made using bamboo, hemp, rice, and wheat. Washi comes from wa meaning Japanese and shi meaning paper, and the term is used to describe paper made by hand in the traditional manner. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washi



I never made summer hat nor use Washi paper for knitting/crochet/weave so I was exciting to start.
It was much easier to use than I thought and very comfortable to work with it.
I am very happy with all three of them came out so good.
I ware the white one when I went to Alaska this summer.
It is very easy to pack and light for traveling too.

The yarn I used is call "Leafy" from Poppy Knitting Yarn Company from Japan. http://selectyarn.com/web_pages/japanese_yarns/springSummer09/leafy.html

They come many different colors so I did not know which one to choose first..., but I think they are all nice colors.

Pattern that I used is a basic hat making pattern and I just change whatever I thought it works for me.














Which one do you like?
Let me know...

Happy hand making!

Love, Sanae

Handmade Traditional Style Pickles Making Workshop

Are you adequately pampering your stomach & intestines with good bacteria?

Eating Good Bacteria Food is so important for us.

Learn the benefits of fermentation in the foods we consume for a healthy digestive system. 

 

Getting ready for making pickles cooking class this weekend on Aug. 31, 2013 at studio mugen in Santa Monica 

http://www.meetup.com/Vegan-Macrobiotic-Community-Meetup-Group/events/126994702/ 

 

This is a special workshop to learn how to make traditional style handmade Pickles making. Which has natural good bacteria/probiotic of all  the benefits of fermentation.

 

Details:

1. Learn why Pickles/fermented foods are good for us.
2. Learn how to make traditional handmade pickles
1) Brown Rice Bran (nuka) pickles making
2) Tamari pickles making
3) Miso pickle making
 

 

I am going to show you how to make pickles with  cucumbers, red radishes and daikon radishes this time.

 

 

 

Left to right: miso pickling, brown rice (nuka) pickling and tamari pickling 

I will also share my aged pickles that I made for you to taste.

Aged pickles: left to right: over one year aged brown rice (nuka) daikon pickle, 3 moths aged tamari pickle carrot and one month aged miso pickle cucumber

Come and try out power of pickling!

 

If you can't come to the class all the recipes are in my cookbook "Love, Sanae" 

 

To purchase Love, Sanae 

 http://loveericinc.com/books_lovesanae_en.html

If you have any question, please contact seedkitchen@gmail.com

Love,

Sanae

Vegan Macrobiotic Support Group

Getting a good night's sleep and dealing with cravings evolved as the topics of concern at the monthly Vegan Macrobiotic Support Group meeting at Seed Kitchen in Venice Wednesday, August 21.

Several people expressed concern about not being able to get to sleep easily and then waking up during the night and not being able to return to sleep easily.  It was determined that several factors affect this condition.  These include mental stimulation caused by stress from work, consuming stimulating food and liquids, eating too soon before going to bed, a busy mind that continually recirculates concerns for work or personal matters.

Macrobiotic counselor Sanae Suzuki discussed the five elements' understanding of energy cycles.  The sleep cycle is a water energy and the human body needs to be able to rest fully, as does the mind, to recharge.  Solutions to achieve a better sleep included: being able to disconnect from work and leave work issues behind as we move into personal activities. One person talked about how she practices yoga after work.  If she cannot get to the studio she will use You Tube to find yoga instruction appropriate to her need.

Additionally, stimulating foods eating too late in the day can prevent the body from being calm.  It's better to eat any stimulating food earlier in the day.  Also, after the evening meal, a walk will help the body and mind to release excess energy.  Sanae pointed out the importance of finishing the evening meal so that at least three hours passes before going to sleep or else the body will continue working to digest the food rather than resting and healing the body. The result can be an overworked kidney.

For the person who finds the mind preoccupied with lists to do and tasks to complete, one answer is to write a list of the activities, prioritize what to do for the next day, set it aside and let the mind rest.  Or, if a task is truly important, a person might pore his/herself into the task, take as long as needed to finish in order to have peace of mind.

Another concern focused on one person dealing with allergies as well as not sleeping well.  It was determined that the combination of the two factors indicated a possible contracted kidney condition.  Potential remedies included taking a sea-salt bath to relax the kidneys, or even using a ginger-compress over the kidneys which also will relax the kidneys and reduce any adrenal fatigue.

One attendee was concerned about cravings and how to deal with cravings.  That person usually had only salty food cravings and now was having cravings for sweet taste foods.  It was determined that this person had been taking some macrobiotic remedies to clean and detox the body, and that now that her body was having more balance, the body had a greater variety of craving.  So, while the subject of craving has a variety of concerns, in this case the experience was one of a body gaining balance.

Sanae also reminded that macrobiotics considers the energy of food and its impact on the body, mind and spirit.  Many food discussions focus on calories, raw versus cooked and other considerations.  However in macrobiotics, the focus is on how what we eat, how we cook and other facets of nutrition impact energy--either negatively or positively.

Additionally, it was noted that macrobiotics is not just about the food we eat, but about the quality of  life as reflected in the expression of our minds, hearts and spirits.

The Vegan Macrobiotic Support Group meets monthly at Seed Kitchen in Venice, California. Information on the group can be found at http://www.meetup.com/Vegan-Macrobiotic-Community-Meetup-Group/

Fermented Mung Beans and Brown Rice Bindaetteok Pancakes

Wanted make a something I never tried for my husband, chef Eric Lechasseur who is always cooking either for his private clients, our vegan macrobiotic dogs, me and our vegan macrobiotic restaurant Seed Kitchen in Venice, California.

I wanted use Mung beans since I never used them so first I soaked them...
 
 
....making savory pancakes came up to my mind. 
I did not want to use flour so I soaked also brown rice,
then, an idea of making Korean Bindaetteok Pancakes got sprouted.


 
It came out very light and tasty. Eric loved it so much and he had second!

Here is my recipe of  
Fermented Mung Bean & Brown Rice Bindaetteok Pancakes

 

Makes three 6"(or six 3")

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mung beans, rinsed and soaked for 6 hours or over night

1/4 cup short grain rice, rinsed and soaked for 6 hours or over night

1 cup water

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 bunch scallion 

1tsp toasted sesame oil

1 clove garlic, finely minced (option)

dashes of cayenne pepper (optional)

Dipping sauce:

1 tsp shoyu

lemon juice 

roasted grounded sesame seeds

Soak mung bean and brown rice for 6 hours or over night

  

Place drained mung beans, drained brown rice and water in a high speed blender and blend until smooth

Cut scallions and add them to the heat up frying pan

Pour 1/3 of the batter into the pan

Flip and cook the other side

Garnish with blanched red radishes and serve warm with the dipping sauce

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1. Soak mung bean and brown rice for 6 hours or over night.
2. Place drained mung beans, drained brown rice and water in a high speed blender and blend until smooth.
3. Cut scallions and add them to the heat up frying pan (I like to use our crepe pan) with some oil. 
4. Pour 1/3 of the batter into the pan, spreading it thinly with the bottom of a ladle. Cook for 3~5 minutes or until golden brown (add option of garlic and/or cayenne pepper). Flip and cook the other side for another 3~5 minutes.
5. Mix the ingredients for the dipping sauce and set aside.
6. Garnish with blanched red radishes and serve warm with the dipping sauce. 

Hope you like making this pancakes as much I did!!

Love,

Sanae