Autumn Jumpstart

Be sure to check out your local farmers market to get the dibs on some fresh autumn produce :)

Are you starting to feel a little off both mentally and physically?  Probably because your body is trying to adjust to the changing seasons.  It's starting to cool down as we welcome in the Fall, that means more warming and denser foods than summer ones.  We're still in the transitional phase so be sure to switch between this and summer cooking until the weather stabilizes.  Some common symptoms your may be experiencing are mood swings, skin breakouts, joint/muscle pains, increased fatigue, and digestion problems, but hopefully switching up your foods and cooking styles to more yang styles will help it stabilize.  Now if you're experiencing funky weather like here in LA (cold in the morning, warms up during the day, then drops back down at night) then it may be wise to eat both ying and yang right now depending on the temperature until it fully cools down throughout the day.  For instance, if you are still enjoying your light summer salads start eating it with a side of soup, miso soup cures all ;)  Here's a quick reference I made to help you adjust and jumpstart your macrobiotic autumn season.

Since it seems to be a lot cooler here in the morning, try this balanced macrobiotic breakfast menu for Autumn:

Bulgur Porridge with Scallions, Sauerkraut, and Grain Coffee
Boil 2 cups of water and add 1/4-1/2 cup of bulgur and pinch of sea salt.  Boil, cover, and reduce to medium-low to simmer for 30 mins until creamy.  Garnish with sliced scallions.  I like to top it with my sauerkraut but if it's too strong for you in the morning then pass.  Enjoy with grain coffee from my favorite Inka grain coffee.

Restaurant Review: Le Pain Quotidien (Claremont, CA) - Organic French Lentil Salad

Organic French Lentil Salad - french lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes, red radish, cucumbers, carrots, and avocado on top of arugula sprinkled with flaxseeds.  

Sticking to lighter salads for summertime, I visited Le Pain Quotidien in Claremont, CA and ordered their Organic French Lentil Salad.  This salad was amazing and a great summer treat.  I think it may be a summer special and is only served at some Le Pain Quotidiens so it may not be available near you.  However here's a recipe that you can try to replicate it at home.  I have yet to try it but sounds like it would come out pretty darn close to tasting like the one they serve.  I added some ingredients to it to make it a little more macro friendly ;)

Macro French Lentil Salad

Eden makes a great raw unpasteurized one.

1. Cook 1/4-1/2 cup of green lentils a sprig of thyme and some diced onions.  To make it more macro be sure to cook it with 1 inch piece of kombu.  Stir in some presoaked hijiki towards the end of cooking.  Be sure to not overcook the lentils, it should be easily separable not mushy.  If you like you can add 1/4 cup of cooked chickpeas to your salad as well.
2. Slice 1/4 cup each of carrots, radish, and cucumber.  Mix on top of a bed of arugula.  Scoop cooked on lentils and top with 1/2 sliced avocado.
3. For the vinaigrette, mix red wine vinegar, with lemon juice, dijon mustard, olive oil, minced shallots, pepper, chopped parsley, and pesto.  Add a dash of shoyu and ume vinegar for more macro dressing.  Pour on top of salad and enjoy :)

Fast Summer Salad

I love veg shish kabobs!  They're perfect for summer grilling and easy to make.    Cut and skewer them ahead of time and store in fridge so they're easy to grab and throw on the grill.  For my kabob I used green, orange, and red bell peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, and mushroom.

Here's a great fast salad that you can throw together for summer, especially when that lazy summer slug is creeping into your daily routine and you really don't feel like putting much effort into cooking :P  This is a very yin dish so make sure you monitor how you feel after.  If you start to feel a little lightheaded have the salad with some warm miso soup to help balance it off.

Summer Salad

1. Veg shish kabob - Skewer summer squashes and peppers on a skewer, sprinkle with umeboshi vinegar  and place on grill.  Turning until both sides are slightly charred.
2. Mixed Greens - Try a mix of mixed greens for the salad but try to steer clear of spinach.  Top with shredded carrots, sliced beets, and half an avocado.  Squeeze fresh lemon.
3. Tofu - I just diced up fresh tofu but you can go ahead and grill your tofu or skewer it onto your kabob as well.  Replacing this with a tofu dipp is a great option.  Just mash up the tofu in a suribachi with some green onion, tahini, miso, shoyu, and a dash of brown rice vinegar.
4. Buckwheat salad - Cook 1/4 cup buckwheat and toss with shredded cabbage, cooked chickpeas, dash of cumin, sea salt, olive oil, and baby tomatoes.

Macro beauty: Cleansing with Castor Oil

I'm all about using natural beauty products especially facial cleansers, but you have to admit that buying those organic raw cleansers all the time can get pretty pricey.  So I decided to try out the castor oil facial cleansing method.  Some people freak out when they hear about using oils as facial cleansers because they think that oil for the skin is bad and that it clogs up your pores.  However castor oil is non-clogging, in fact it does the opposite by penetrating the skin and lubricating our pores to help push out blackheads and other congestions in the skin.  It also moisturizers your skin which is great.  If our skin gets too dry it produces its own pore-clogging oil which causes even more congestion.  Each time we strip our face of moisture it overcompensates by producing even more oil.  

The basic concept with this method involves two things:  (1) massaging the oil into your skin dissolves and lubricates the oil that's hardened in your pores, and (2) using steam will help open your pores allowing the oil to easily unclog them.  Keep in mind that this is a deep cleansing routine so it's best done in the evening right before you go to bed.  I do it daily when I find that I'm having a very stressful week and my skin is not its best.  When it gets back into normal routine I do it every other day or three times a week.  Here's what you do:

I invested in a face steamer which was only $20. 

1. Massage 1/4 tsp castor oil into skin.
2. Apply another 1/4 tsp of the oil onto face and massage in circular motions.  You'll find that this time around it will mostly sit on top of the skin instead of absorbing.
3. Boil water in a big pot (big enough to cover whole face), remove from stove carefully and place on a pot coaster on table.  
4. Sit with face above the pot so steam is encompassing your face and place towel over head over the pot so it captures the steam inside.
5. Steam face for 10-15 mins. then wipe clean with damp cloth.  Wash face.

I really love cleansing my skin with castor oil.  It really helped and I hope you guys love it too!  This is also great to help ease muscles and joints when massaged or applied to the affected area with castor pads. So many possibilities with castor oil ;)

This is the brand that I use.   It was a good price and can be found at Whole Foods and other natural markets.