First Broccoli Rabe!!

so, i got the first broccli rabe at union square green market!
after a long long winter, finally some greens are coming out : )
i made a simple dish with this beautiful green.
steamed broccoli rabe with umeboshi plum dressing.
fresh and light, easy to cook!
and of course, tastes so good.
i really enjoy eating in tune with season : )

recipe

steam broccli rabe briefly. hard stem first, then leaves.
cool it down
chop 1 umeboshi plum
add fresh lemon juice, umeboshi, a hint of umeboshi vinegar and soy sauce and sesame to make dressing.
mix with greens
done!

Toward the New Moon

this saturday is the new moon.
more eliminating power, we have.
a good time to finish up what you started last few weeks, maybe you will see the result this week.
or even cleaning is good, too.
detox or cleansing you body, also now is the time till the new moon.
massage, acupuncture, foot massage, or fasting....
or just mull over what you have accomplished and appreciate them : )
slow down, and take a deep breath....

Tofu Strawberry Short Cake

no dairy, no eggs or flour.
of course, no sugar!
but tofu and strawberry adds a very gentle, sabtle sweetness to it.

i love dessert, but sometimes, it tastes too sweet and kills the taste of each ingredient.

one of the great things about macrbiotic diet is to make (or train) you realize and appreciate the taste of each food itself.
even in dessert!

the bottom is cruncy pecan with maple syrup and kuzu powder.
filling is mixture of tofu, vanila, and strawberry.
on top is cinnamon powder.
one of a kind, Jin's special treat : )
anyone?

getting more Yang...

more and more cherry blossom in central park!
check out east side.
this weekend may be in full bloom.
don't miss it!
they don't last long!

then again, Pro-biotics

ive talked about the ultimate "fertilizer" for my intestinal flora before in this blog.
and today, i introduce one of them, natto.

natto is fermented soy beans from japan.
natto is full of vitamins---especially K, and good news for vegans! even vitamin B12!--, amino acid, proteins--more than meat, and variety of enzymes.
and thanks to this fermentation, it's a great source of probiotics!

studies show that natto has a lot of beneficial effects on your health.
heart attack, stroke, cancers, osteoprosis, obesity, diabetes, and other intestinal diseases.

only downside?
stinky!!!
well, not for me, but most westerners hesitate to try because of the smell.

here is a tip.
grate mountain potato---available at grocery stores in chinatown--, add a bit of soy sauce, and stir all well.
and eat with warm brown rice.
it's just yum yum yum........ : ) i don't need anything else.

Antibiotics.......

i wrote before, how i got flu after i took huge dose of antibiotics---not that i wanted, i was told that i had to before the dental treatment : (----

and yesterday's NY times had an article about the danger of antibiotics.

not only do they sweep out friendly bacteria, but "bad bacterias" thrive in your body!
and usually, our body is protected by those "good guys", even when we are exposed to viruses or bacterias, but when you are taking too much antibiotics, we are defenseless, and become much more susceptible.

ive always been thinking why we have been so weak and volunerable.
and why more and more "new diseases" outbreaking.

well, one of the reasons, clearly, is this ant-biotics(life).
i'm also skeptical of those anti-germ, hand sanitizer stuff.

and did i tell you that i canceled the last two dental appointment?(not recommended)

"What's wrong with what we eat"

check out this video!
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wrong_with_what_we_eat.html

Cataracts 4

home remedy

1 warm ginger towel

apply hot towel, rinced in ginger water, squeezed out the water, over closed eyes for several minutes, five or six times a day.
also apply the towel on your neck and big toe---those are related to liver meridian.

2 rub fresh grated ginger around your eyes to stimulate circulation.

my mom bought lots of ginger and started to do the home remedy.
and she said,
"it seems really working! when i put fresh ginger around my eyes, i first thought tear was coming out, but it wasn't. it felt like something inside eyes was melting and releasing. and i can feel the heat, this hot sensation inside my eyes!"

according to "the macrobiotic path to total health" by Michio Kushi, those home remedy help relieve cataracts in 3 to 4 months, and may not need a surgery.

hope my mom won't have to do the surgery and recover.
i'm going to update my mom's condition in this blog.
hang in there, mom!

Cataracts 3

good to eat for liver, and eyes

1 whole grain such as brown rice, ancient rice, forbidden rice, barley.
2 azuki beans, black beans, chick pea, lentils.
3 seasonal vegetables, especially round shaped ones such as onions, squash, cabbage, and dark greens such as kale, collards,chards etc etc.
4 sea vegetables
5 sea salt, miso, soy sauce
6 bancha/twig tea

not just what you eat, but how you eat is also important

1 chew well ---at least 50 times mouthfull
2 eat less and simple ----i told you so!
3 do not eat late at night

Cataracts 2

causes of cataracts.

1 long term consumption of yin foods:
dairy products, too much fruit and juice(especially citrus), sugar, refined sweets, alcohol, coffee, drug.

2 too much animal protein (meet, eggs, cheese, butter)

my mom usually eats healthy, and only things she should consider is
alcohol (she drinks beer and shochu almost every night!) and coffee.
i said to mom, " i know it's difficult for you to give up those two, so how about just once a week, let your liver rest?"

Cataracts

my mom called me a few days ago, and she told me that she was diagnosed cataracts.
and it seems very advanced already.
happened so fast.
ive never heard her sound so weak and depressed.
she said she wanted to avoid the durgery, so i looked up some alternative treatment, macrobiotic ways.

according to ancient medical philosophy, eyes are related to liver.
so you should take care of liver as well as eyes themselves.
even if you have surgery, if you continue a diet hard on your liver, your eyes won't be fully recovered or reappear, or worse, you may go blind.

my mother is the one who raised me to eat healthy.
in fact, she teaches diet good for breastfeeding in Japan, which is very similar to macrobiotic diet. ---afterall, macrobiotic diet is based upon traditional japanese diet.
but now that she is like a helpless child, i'm the one who gives her some advice.

Harahachibu

we have an old saying in Japan, "harahachibu".
literally means, "stop eating when you are 80% full.

i was watching Oprah show the other day, and the topic was "blue zones", places with the longest longevity in the world.

and one of the places was Okinawa, semi tropical islands in Japan.
and they talked about this saying, " harahachibu", among other things, as a key to the longer and healthier life.

time and again, studies have shown that overeating contrubutes variety of health challenges, while eating simple and less is not as much emphasized, as an important factor for health and longevity.
so when they picked up this old saying, i thought, "yes! at last!!"

as i said before, overeating is hard on digestive system, as well as liver and kidney, which makes the blood dirty and muddy, and release toxic gas inside your body.

here are some signs of overeating.

feeling heavy & tired the next morning.
bad breath, body odor,
stinky stool, fart
eye mucus
sensitive eyes (to the light)
frequent eye blinking
yellowed hands and feet

especially those related to eyes indicates that your liver is overworking and tired.
if you have some of these signs, consider "harahachibu" : )

Cherry Blossom

still a bit early, but cherry trees have started to bloom!

in Asia, we believe that cherry trees/flowers lift our spirit : )

The Full Moon

so, last thursday was the full moon.
i was emotionally very sensitive all day.
in fact, in a negative way.
angry, edgy, midly depressed, .....
even though it was not a comfortable experience, i didn't have to take it too seriously, and said to myself.
"hey, it's full moon!"
i felt a bit better.

this is a pic of the full moon from central park in the evening.
so beautiful.......

Spring and the Liver

in spring, our body naturally tries to cleanse itself...

the fat that we accumulated during the winter starts to melt and leach into the blood.
then the liver, which syncronizes with the season, filters and cleanses the blood, and helps detoxify the whole body system.
how amazing our body works!

so this is the season when we should take extra care of the liver.
how?
by not adding more "job" or "stress" onto it.
a.k.a, eating less, not eating heavy food.
the organ is already too busy and overworking.
what it needs is rest, give it a spring break! ---not just college kids!

if you eat too much (drink), or consume heavy foods, such as oil, meat, eggs, dairy, sugar, the liver gets overloaded and the toxin starts to reverse into the blood stream. (can't take it anymore!!)
when the dirty, muddy blood circulates the body, or even clogged, oxygen and nutrients are not cenveyed well, and many problems will follow.
fatigue, allergy, stiffness, pain.etc etc...
and become more susceptible to colds/flu. ----dirty blood attracts more viruses and bacterias just as dirty water do.

not only physical problems.
when the bad blood circulate in and around the brain, emotional and psycological problems could occure.
anger, impatient, frustration, depression......
in fact, some study shows that the number of violent crimes are highest in spring!

solution?
eat less, eat light or even fasting (especially in the evening), and say "thank you" to the liver : )

This Thursday is the Full Moon

this thursday is the next full moon.
hope the weather is nice....

let's take some time to appreciate the moon : )

Spring day....

what a beautiful spring day!
took a nice morning walk in central park.
and saw many beautiful birds, cardinal, blue jay, etc etc...
i love spring!!

Changing Season and Brown Rice

this is the time when yin season is turning to yang season.
for grain eater, here is a tip.
mix short grain(yang) with long grain(yin) (50/50) and cook.
then gradually change to more long grain(yin) as the weather gets warmer(yang).

Bean Pancake!

ive been cooking lots of beans recently.
i wasn't a big bean person---i mean, i ate beans but didn't cook them-- before, just because i thought it was such a hassle to cook beans, soaking and having to attend in the kitchen for hours....

but once i got over it, i realized that it's not that hard.
you can cook some beans when you have some time and store them in the fridge over the week.

i can soak beans before i go to bed, and the next day, usually it takes less than 30minutes ---especially if you have kitchen timer, you do not have to be in the kitchen all along!
then you can enjoy beans with different dishes : )

anyway, i read an article in the NY times the other day about this bean farm called Cayuga Pure Organics. and they sell "fresh" dry beans at union square market on wednesdays. --according to the article, beans sold at stores are usually more than one year old!
so i bought some, and cook them as usual.
actually, once you soak them overnight, it can be cooked so fast! maybe in 10, 15minutes!
and sooooooooooooooo soft!
so this week, i used them for salad, stir fry with veggies, etc etc.
but the biggest his was, this pancake!
i just LOVED it!!

recipe(2 servings)

1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 cups of brown rice flour (or just another 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour)
1 and half cup of water
1/2 tbs of sesame oil
pinch of salt
2 tbs of grated mountain potato --- available at any grocery in china town
chopped cabbage, spring onion(or scallion, onion whatever you like)
and of course, cooked beans.
mix everything and cook on heated pan with sesame oil or canola oil.

eat with dipping sauce (soy sauce with brown rice vinegar)