by Mutsuko Johnson
Leaves are beginning to change colors and air is crisp, clear and chilly.
It is harvest season and moving towards winter.
Kind of awakening to getting ready for cold season just like we change the clothes.
Keep us warm, time to put on sweater and coat.
So as inside our body. Time to enjoy long time cooking such as stewed baked goods, pickles etc.
And lots of root vegetables to ground us and keep us warm.
Use a little more Soy sauce and Miso to keep our intestines strong.
That is the secret to fight catching cold and the flu.
Have Miso soup several times a week.
(Miso is fermented soy bean paste, there are several different kinds, with darker coloured ones a stronger Miso)
Use a little soy sauce in your cooking. (Only natural ones)
* It is not necessary to take extra sea salt. Just a small amount of sea salt is important.
And eat wholegrains every day.
(wholegrain brown rice, whole wheat, buckwheat, oats, corn, barley etc)
Cook more root vegetables.
(Carrots, Daikon, Burdock root, Lotus roots, Beets, Turnips, Yams etc)
Some protein foods, beans, seafoods.
(Azuki bean, Soy bean and Soy bean products, Black soy bean, Galbanzo bean, etc)
Don’t forget sea vegetables for minerals.
(Hijiki, Arame, Wakame, Kombu, Nori, etc)
Of course its important to eat lots of greens always. To keep our blood clear.
(Kale, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Yocho Green, Mizuna, Cabbage, Chinese Cabbage etc)
Drink Bancha tea for your tea time.
Take umebochi when you feel you are catching a cold or have an upset stomach.
You can put in the bancha tea and eat it.
Please don’t eat white sugar and any food with it in. (as much as possible).
Please don’t eat anything with artificial additives.
Please don’t use a microwave to heat up.
Please stay away from fast foods.
*Our body is very sophisticated and a living thing, its not like putting gas in the car.
It is all about balance. Dancing with our lives. Activities, age, gender, where we live, what we do, which season, what kind of foods are in season.
It is always the best to eat seasonal, local growing foods if you can get them.
Organic growing foods are the best. If you manage to get them.
Touch the foods. You can feel the energy. Begin to feel calmness.
Energy from Nature. Cooking becomes transformation.
Transforming energy into our body.
Get nourished, create aliveness, and calmness inside us.
We become one with the nature. We cannot forget that.
Oneness. We are alive.
