Hi Everybody!

Please find our May 13, 2010 Wholly Macro Delivery Menu in the Weekly Menu section below.

It's full of really delicious dishes, as always. My mouth literally waters when I read through it. And I just finished lunch, so I am not even hungry!! And, being one of the Wholly Macro cooks, I get to eat this food all the time. All the same, I could sure pop one of those gorgeous, work of art rice balls into my mouth for a snack later. Or maybe a piece of s'more cake?? Is that a snack, or would that be considered more of a treat?? Hmmm. Snack or treat. Snack or treat?? That is the question!

In some realms, in most realms I should say, people snack continuously, and mostly on high fat and high calorie junk food. Empty calories, devoid of any nutrients. Beyond just devoid, out and out bad for them. And a real waste of their body's energy, because it has to go through all of the motions of digesting it, yet it gets nothing out of it in return.

First of all, we should all know by now, in this here lifetime, precisely how much food it takes at a meal, to comfortably fill us up, and hold us over until the next meal. This varies from person to person. It depends on the persons size, weight, level of activity, and pace of metabolism. People ask us all the time, how much food is in one of our containers. How many servings will they get. It is hard to answer that since the above factors vary from person to person. But ideally, you should create a plate of food at each of your meals, that will burn as an efficient fuel, and at about the time your tank is running low, will be right on time for your next meal. In a perfect world. But our own appetites vary from day to day. And meal times do vary also. It would be great if we could just stop everything and sit down to eat at the same time each day, but that is not always possible. Thus, the snack was born.

Snacks are / were, meant to be nutritious and filling. Snacks are meant to act as a bridge, taking us from one meal to the next, if needed. They are not mandatory!

We really like to be very aware of our plate of food, and mealtimes, here at Wholly Macro. We pretty much know how much food we need to take in order to bridge us from meal to meal. And we even know when we are probably going to need a snack, because of a heavy work load (which requires more energy and burns more fuel (food), or because we know we are going to be out socially and eating later than usual. Or sometimes, even with the best laid plans, we simply come up short, and feel hungry before the next meal. And in those cases, we snack. But we always snack on something highly nutritious. It is never a good idea to snack on foods that burn too quickly in the body. Organic chips, rice cakes, fruit, not a good idea as a snack, as these foods are one step away from becoming simple sugars in your body, and will create too much fluctuation in your blood sugar levels. They won't fill you up or satisfy your hunger.

In the snack world, whole grains are the way to go. One of our favorite snacks, and we call it a double dose of complex carbohydrates (the most efficient fuel on which to run the human body), is cooked whole grains saturated with amasake. Kind of like rice pudding! This is a very grounding and balanced snack. We want our snacks to ground us. When we are feeling a little unfocused and spacey, we want them to bring us back to solid ground.

Another all time favorite snack, is rice balls. They are pleasant to look at, fun to eat, and very healthy. They have the perfect punch of alkalizing umeboshi plum tucked into their center, and lots of replenishing minerals in the green nori sea vegetable flakes. And yes, they are on this week's menu. When you know you are going to be out and about, or traveling, you must try popping one of those babies into your mouth and seeing where it takes you! They are a perfect addition to a well balanced plate of food too, taking the meal from ordinary to extraordinary in one fell swoop!

And as for the s'more cake. Well, that makes for a healthy snack too, since it is made from whole grains, and sweetened with brown rice syrup (another complex carb). But we like to save the desserts for a treat. Our definition of a treat: A special indulgence. They are a bridge of sorts too. A bridge to get you safely and healthfully from one sweet tooth attack to the next! And as long as they are nutrient dense, real healthy foods, free of simple concentrated sugar, cholesterol, saturated fat laden butter and dairy, and artificial flavors and colors, such as what we make here at Wholly Macro, they can qualify as a snack or a treat. Sometimes a piece of one of our desserts makes for the perfect snack. And other times, it is put on hold the entire day, to become the most delicious and well deserved treat at the end of a long and productive day.

There is nothing wrong with snacking on good healthy snacks, or rewarding yourself with healthy treats, as long as you ate a proper meal, at a regular mealtime, and are truly hungry and in need of a snack, and not snacking on unhealthy "so called food", or letting snacks or treats become an unmindful habit. But, it is always really nice to eat a good solid meal, and then let your body rest in between as it digests, rather than constantly interrupting digestion with additional food. Try to snack after your previous meal is pretty much fully digested and your body has had a little break before it begins the hard work of digestion once again. And only if you really are hungry!

Please don't forget about the Macrobiotic Healing Miracles Free Telephone Conference Call that takes place every Sunday, from 3 - 4 PM, and every Monday from 9 - 10 PM. I will be the guest speaker this Sunday, May 9, telling my own story about healing from breast cancer. You can access info about the calls, or listen to recordings of the calls by going to this link: http://phiyakushi.com/miracles. Or you can dial in directly, at the time of the call,by dialing 218 862-7200 and entering code 900368 when prompted. You can call and join the call any time during the hour long call. These calls are inspiring and informative, and are creating a great sense of "community". We hope you will take advantage of this fine opportunity, this week, and in the future!

The best of health to you.

Gayle and Jaime / Wholly Macro