What's the deal with brown rice?

Short-grain has more of a contracting energy than long-grain, and therefore may be more suitable for more colder days,  Long-grain is more yin and should be eaten more during warmer seasons.

Brown rice is the center of every macro meal.  I try my best to have it at every meal in the day. It helps with keeping me balanced and gives me so much energy.  Sometimes I eat nothing but brown rice porridge for 4-6 days straight to detox and regain balance.  If you find that eating brown rice all the time is boring you try mixing it with other whole grains such as forbidden black rice or red bhutanese rice.  You can even cook it in a variety of ways--regular rice, to a porridge, even into cornbread.  Don't underestimate the power of this little grain, it's a major fuel house ;)   

Nutrition

Brown rice is the grain with the inedible husk removed but the bran layer preserved.  The bran layer contains B-group vitamins, minerals, and fiber.  It is an excellent source of manganese and a good source of minerals selenium and magnesium.  When cooked, it expands to at least twice its size.  Eight percent of rice is starch; when eaten and digested, this starch is converted to glycogen in the bloodstream, providing an excellent supply of muscular energy.  Rice also contains a number of useful proteins.  All the grain's proteins and vitamin content is maintained during the cooking phase.

Cooking Brown Rice in a pot

2 cups short grain brown rice soaked overnight.

4 cups water

2 pinches sea salt

1. Add cooking water and bring o a boil, uncovered over medium heat.

2. When it is boiling, add salt ,reduce heat to low, place on flame deflector, cover with heavy lid, and simmer 50 mins.

3. Turn off heat and let rice sit 5 mins.  Fluff with wooden spoon and serve.

NEW type of blog entries!

Introducing a new type of entry series to my blog!  In addition to traditional vegan macrobiotic recipes, I'll be posting up macro-veg spin-offs of your all-time favorite meals.  To kickoff, here's an all-time kid favorite hamburger helper meal macroveganized:

Hambulghur Helper-serves 5-8

1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks

1/8 tsp sea salt

1 medium onion, diced

8 ounces tempeh, sliced into bite-sized cubes

Sesame oil to fry tempeh, plus 1 tbsp

2 cups bulghur wheat

1 cup whole-wheat rotini or elbow noodles

5 cups water

3 tbsp shoyu

2 tbsp mirin

1/8 tsp brown rice vinegar

Kernels from 1 ear corn

2 stalks celery, diced

1. Heat sesame oil over medium heat in large frying pan.  Add tempeh and fry until browned and crisy.  Remove and let drain on paper towel.
2. Heat 1 tbsp sesame oil in saucepan over medium heat and saute onion and salt until translucent.  Add carrot and saute for a few minutes.  Pour in noodles and bulghur wheat and stir into veggies.  Fold in tempeh.
3. Combine the water, shoyu, mirin, and vinegar in a small bowl and add to pot.  Bring to a boil uncovered, reduce to low and simmer for 15 minutes.  
4. Add the corn and celery.  Cook for 5 more minutes.
5. Remove from heat and let sit a couple of minutes to prevent sticking.  Serve with some steamed or boiled greens ;)

Recipe inspired by The Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics.

Do you neti?

I really like this neti pot because it's ceramic and dishwasher safe.  This company also sells its own non-iodized salt packets.  You can find both at Whole Foods or other natural food/health stores.

According to macrobiotics our bodies react to the seasons.  I don't know about you guys but the constant weather changes from Fall to Spring has really been taking a toll on my sinuses.  I've been getting a lot of sinus headaches from the California weather jumping from 70 to 40 degrees in one day.  So I looked for a "non-motrin" solution and came across the neti pot.  At first I was very skeptical about it's effectiveness and quite frankly, thought it would be pretty gross and painful.  But I really needed a solution and gave it a go.  It totally trumped all my expectations and I've been using it daily for the past 2 weeks :)  After the first day I noticed a huge improvement!  I could breathe better and my headaches went away.  Oh and I have super smelling power lol!  It's painless, easy, and very effective.  For those of you having any sinus problems or just want to improve your hygiene try the neti pot.  Here's some more info for you guys to help make your decision ;)


What is Neti?
It's a practice of nasal irrigation that has been used by practitioners of Yoga and Ayurveda in India for over 5,000 years. Not only is it an ancient health secret that is used to move our energy through the nasal passages, opening them up along the way, but it is also recommended by doctors, naturopaths and other health professionals such as Dr. Oz.  The practice of neti, or nasal cleansing, is performed using a ceramic pot and a saline solution. Performed regularly, it can help clear mucus from the nasal canal, restore moisture to dried out tissues, tone nasal tissues and help the nasal passages remain clear and healthy. 


Who should use the neti pot?
As I mentioned before, it's a great way to improve your hygiene but also to alleviate certain discomforts in the sinus area.  It's been shown to help treat colds, allergies, post-nasal drip, and sinus headaches.  The nasal passages are lined with a thin layer of mucus that traps dirt, dust, and pollen and moves steadily to the rear of the nasal cavity and settles in the throat where it is swallowed.  Saline nasal rinses carry some of these impurities out of the body before they reach the stomach.  It also keeps the protective layer of mucus functioning properly. 


How do you use a neti pot?

1. I like to use water from my Brita filter.  What I do is pour 1 cup into a glass measuring cup that's microwavable.  Heat it in the microwave for 42 seconds.  You can also boil 1 cup water and wait for it to cool, or of course use warm tap water.
2. Stir in 1/4 tsp of the non-iodized salt into the warm water and pour into your neti pot.
3. Lean over the sink and tilt your head to the side until your chin is aligned to your shoulder.  
4. Insert the spout of the pet gently into the raised nostril and create a seal between the pot and your nostril.
5. Raise the pot slowly to develop a steady flow of saline solution through the upper nostril and out the lower nostril.  During the process be sure to breathe through your mouth.  You may need to adjust the angle of your head to avoid saline draining into your mouth.  Pour half of the solution in this side.
6. Reverse and til your head and repeat the process on the other side with the remaining solution in the pot.
7. Upon completion of the process, either exhale several times in the sink through your nose or  blow into a tissue (be sure not to pinch your nose if using a tissue).

Tips for using Neti Pot

• Make sure you measure out the right amount of water and salt.  A lot of times people think that putting just a dash of salt will help make the process less uncomfortable.  It's actually the total opposite.  Our body is made of salt and water and if there's an unbalance in the mixture you will definitely feel burning, trust me I made that mistake :P
• Always use warm water.  Test out the temperature with your finger.  It should be warm to the touch, not cold or hot.
• Only use non-iodized salt.
• Be sure to breathe through your mouth slowly during the process.
• Make sure after the process when you blow into the tissue to not pinch and close your nostrils.   Point is to blow the saline out of the passage.
• I like to use the neti once a day before I go to bed but people use it in the morning and sometimes both night and day.  I think it all depends on how much you feel you need to use it.  But don't use it more than 3 times a day.
• Don't try to watch yourself in the mirror while you do it! hahaha I know you will be tempted to see how ridiculous you look :)  But just stare down or straight ahead because if you try to look at yourself in the mirror you'll tilt your chin up and get some saline in your mouth because of the angle.

My post-workout meal

A great balance of carbs and protein with added kick of calcium and omega 3 and 6 fatty acids from kale.  Key ingredients for muscle repair!  This dish is so fast to make and gives you approximately 20-25 grams of protein.

So I've been doing a lot of weight lifting with my workout and have begun to notice that I may be needing a little more protein in my macro diet.  Big signs were my recovery time and of course the constant sore muscles and dizziness :S  So I decided to increase my tofu intake to 3 times a week.  I usually fall back on beans as my protein source, but sprouted tofu has so much more protein and it makes a great post-workout recovery meal.  Here's what i've been eating after hard weight training days:

Whole grain porridge with gomashio tofu and kale

1. Cook a mixture of 1/2 cup brown rice and 1/4 cup red bhutanese rice in the rice cooker on the porridge setting.  After porridge is cooked transfer to a pot, mix in 1-1/5 cups of finely chopped kale, and bring to a bowl.  Simmer for 10 mins.
2. For the tofu you can either use sesame oil or water (what I did) to fry the tofu.  Slice tofu into 1/2-3/4 inch slices, sprinkle with homemade gomashio on one side each and fry in pan both sides until brown.  If using water, be sure to keep adding water until cooked.
3. Transfer porridge to bowl, place gomashio crusted tofu on top, and garnish with sauerkraut.

If you have a choice, go with the sprouted tofu.  It gives you a lot more protein and I really like the firmness and texture.  I use Trader Joe's sprouted tofu, it's organic and conveniently comes in a twin pack!  There's 5 servings in each individual twin container with 9 grams of protein per serving.  Awesome choice for muscle building ;)

Review: Whole Foods Market (West Hollywood, CA)

Building a macro plate at WF is easy!

Building a macro plate at Whole Foods is easy.  Each Whole Foods is unique so have some fun ;)  The West Hollywood location is one of your smaller Whole Foods but they still have great selections and every time I've gone here I've seen a celebrity so keep your camera handy.  When you build your macro plate start with the whole grains first.  At this location they had a 5 whole grain mix which is delicious!  Around it I selected sesame buckwheat soba, garlic and rapini, emerald sesame kale (always my fav at WF and pretty much always there, so seek it out and try it!) and fresh tofu.  Find these items in the salad bar area or in those deli glass case section.