September
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Transitioning from summer to September is a total lifestyle change. The weather changes, and so do our responsibilities. We all get very busy in the fall, getting organized and shuffling around from school to work to social activities.
For many of us September is another version of New Year's. We make resolutions to have a better year and commitments to stay healthy or help our kids stay healthy. But regardless of our good intentions, these promises somehow become old news by the time mid-October rolls around. Broken promises with our health and nutrition can be frustrating and disheartening.
So this year, check in now. Sit down in a quiet place for 10 minutes and look at the areas of your life: career, family, social life, health, physical activity, play, finances, spirituality and creativity. Are you on track? Do some areas need more attention?
Create an action plan for yourself. If you have a lot of areas you want to work on, start with one area at a time. One of the easiest and most effective ways to cause change in your life is to change what you eat. The foods you put into your mouth create the fuel for your body, mind and spirit.
Don't let yourself get stuck. Go boldly in the direction of your dreams. And remember it's never too late to get started on whatever you want to accomplish in your life.
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Macrobiotics
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes for Miso Soup with you this month and I thought what a great opportunity to highlight Macrobiotics - a diet which originated in Japan in the early 1900s and was introduced to the United States by George Ohsawa and teachers such as Michio Kushi and Herman Aihara.
I found a great article online called
Macrobiotics
A Guide for the Perplexed
by Charles W. Moore
Charles Moore highlights the history of Macrobiotics before disputing the misconception that all you eat is brown rice.
Here is an excert of the article:
The macrobiotic view is that eating proper varieties and proportions of foods helps us achieve balance and harmony. Therefore, appropriate food choices depend on variables like an individual's health, age, sex, geographic location, physical activity, ancestry, the season, etc. Theoretically, there are as many definitions of a macrobiotic diet as there are people practicing it.
For persons living in a four-season climate, diets based on cereal grains with minority proportions of vegetables, legumes, and seaweeds are ideal. Macrobiotic dietetics is predominantly, but not absolutely, vegetarian. To continue reading please visit Natural Life Magazine
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Recipe of the Month:
Miso Soup
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Ingredients:
Miso soup is endlessly versitile. Here is one way to make it:
2 cups filtered water
1 carrot thinly sliced
1 pinch of dried wakame ( a sea veggie)
1 tablespoon miso paste
1 cup cooked leftover grain ( rice, quinoa, barley)
scallions, finely sliced ( optional)
Bring water to a boil, add carrots and wakame, simmer 3-5 minutes. Add a couple of spoonfuls of warm water to the miso to thin it out. Lower the heat on the soup and add the thinned miso paste along with the grain. Continue on a very low simmer for 1 more minute. Garnish with scallions and serve.
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