Sugar- free Cookies

Almond and oats cookies with cranberry and blueberry jam

Ingredients: 

1 cup of ground almond. 

Half cup of fined milled oat flakes. 

Half cup of rice or oat milk. 

3 table spoons of rice syrup. 

Some drops of almond essence. 

A pinch of sea salt. 

Sugar free cranberry and blueberry jam.

Directions: 

1. Mix the almond, the oats, the milk, the salt and the rice syrup in a bowl. 

2. Add the almond essence and make. 

3. With your hands, shape the cookies  and make a hole in the center. 

4. Place the cookies  on a baking pan and fill the hole with the jam. 

5. Bake at 170º for 20 minutes. 

TRAINING IN MACROBIOTICS

TRAINING IN MACROBIOTICS

BASIC LEVEL

For people that want to be introduced to macrobiotics, a philosophy that recognizes the profound effects food, environment, activities and attitude all have in our body-mind-emotions. In the workshop of the basic level you will know what this philosophy is all about and put it into practice.  

CONTENTS:

·         What is macrobiotics and how to apply it to your everyday life.

·         Key recipes to start with.

·         Use of grains, vegetables, pulses and other basic foods in the macrobiotic diet.

·         Foods to avoid: sugar, dairy, animal protein, etc. and their effect in our organism.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Workshop 1-

Kitchen: First steps with macrobiotics: A basic menu.

Theory: Basic ingredients in the diet: grains, pulses and vegetables.  Nutritional  and macrobiotic study of these foods.  Organization in the kitchen.

Workshop 2 –

Kitchen: First steps with macrobiotics: energetic breakfasts.

Theory:  The bitter side of sugar. The myth of the dairy products. 

Workshop 3 –

Kitchen: Cutting techniques. Standard macrobiotic menu for spring.

Theory: Basic ingredients in the diet: The energy of grains. Classification of vegetables.

Workshop  4 –

Kitchen: Standard macrobiotic menu for summer.

Theory: Protein of animal or vegetable origin? Vegetable  proteins.

COURSE STRUCTURE AND DURATION:

The duration of the course is 24 hours. You can choose one of the following programs:

-          During the week workshops: Wednesdays from 3 to 7 pm. Dates: 19^th March, 26^th March, 2^nd April, 9^th April, 16^th April, 30^th April.

-          Weekend workshops: Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 16:00 p.m. Dates: 23^rd March, 13th April, 4^th May, 1^st June. There is also the possibility of doing the one- day workshops on Saturdays.

-          Intensive program:  23^rd- 26^th April 2014 from 10:00 a.m. to 16:00 p.m.

FEES:

·         During the week 4 hour workshops: 40 Euros/workshop.

·         Weekend 6 hour workshops: 60 Euros/ workshop.

·         Intensive program (Four 6 hour workshops in 4 consecutive days): 240 Euros. 

SUSHI ROLLS

MACROBIOTIC SUSHI ROLLS

Ingredients: short grain brown rice fresh or left-over, stir- fried vegetables freshly made or left over, brown rice vinegar, nori sheets, toasted sesame seeds, and shoyu, ginger, wasabi, etc. to serve.

Directions: 1. Mix rice with brown rice vinegar. 2. Spread brown rice thinly on the Nori sheet. 3. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on the rice. 4. Place a line of the vegetables in the middle of the roll and roll it. 5. Slice and serve with wasabi, ginger, shoyu, mustard or any other condiment you like.

Add other ingredients to the filling such as sauteed mushrooms, tofu, etc.


If you haven' t made  sushi rolls yet, this video explains very well how to make them. I  find it  very useful to learn the technique.

What is macrobiotics?

What is macrobiotics?

Research has linked modern diet and lifestyle habits to virtually all the debilitating chronic degenerative diseases, as well as lesser health issues generally attributed to aging. And this is precisely what Macrobiotics addresses:  the dietary and lifestyle changes that can make us recover and keep health.

Macrobiotics is a system that can be used to create extraordinary health, through using both traditional wisdom and modern knowledge to ascertain the underlying causes of an individuals’ current health challenges, and make adjustments to their food and lifestyle choices that support health improvement. 

Not simply a “diet”, macrobiotic recognizes the profound effects food, environment, activities, and attitude all have on our body-mind-emotions.

Time to detox our bodies

Time to detox our bodies

Spring is the time to purify our bodies. When this time comes, there come also the questions about what is the best diet to feel lighter and get rid of excess in our body. I think that any drastic change provokes a reaction of a similar intensity that will affect us in the long and short run in many aspects of our life.

It is a yo-yo syndrome, in other words, we eat in excess and then we “punish” ourselves with strict diets that deprive our bodies of the nutrients they need and, in this way, they generate the need to compensate with new excesses. 

It is essential to integrate foods that purify in a tasty, simple and creative way so that our body changes in a progressive way and will feel the benefits of a healthy and natural diet.

Purifying our bodies does not have anything to do with chewing celery all day long. We can use a variety of ingredients (grains, vegetable proteins, seaweed, fresh vegetables, seeds, oil and salty seasonings) in  moderation.

We have to increase the daily intake of foods that help us detox: radish, mushrooms, green leafy vegetables, ginger, “detox vegetables” such as artichokes, endives, celery, beetroot, fennel, asparagus. 

We have to reduce or avoid the consumption of baked food, all kind of fat of animal origin, raw salt, salty snacks, fried food and the excess of oil, smoked food since all these foods will produce the opposite effect to that we are aiming at. They generate a very contractive  energy and we want to eliminate and purify. 

Mushroom Consommé

Ingredients for two people:

2 onions cut in fine slices

2 cups of mushrooms cut in fine slices

2 wakame stripes (soaked in water for 2 or 3 minutes and cut into small pieces)

1 table spoon of olive oil

2 table spoons of white rice miso

Finely cut chives for decoration (optional)

Preparation:

1.       Sautée the onions in low heat  with the olive oil and a pinch of sea salt for about 10- 12 minutes.

2.       Add two cups of water, the mushrooms and  the seaweed. Cover and cook for 10 minutes in a low- medium heat.

3.       Serve in small bowl. Season with one table spoon of miso per bowl and decorate with the chives. 

The bitter side of sugar

The bitter side of sugar

Sugar, whether white or brown , as well as honey, fructose, saccharine, sorbitol and other artificial sweeteners have  multiple negative effects on our organism. These simple sugars all have a demineralizing and acidifying effect, alter the intestinal flora, and provoke a sudden increase of the glucose levels in our blood.

However, the sweet flavor is one we need. It is toning and nutritious and it should be the one most present in our diet.  What to do then? Avoid simple sugars and have a diet rich in complex sugars. Complex sugars, which do not have the extreme and harmful effects of simple ones,  are present in grains, pulses and vegetables  together with the minerals, enzymes and vitamins necessary for their assimilation.

And what about desserts, sweetening our tea or our morning cereals? For this, the best alternatives to simple sugars are:

• Cereal syrups: rice, barley, corn or wheat syrup.
• Jams and fruit compotes made without sugar or fructose.
• Raisins, dried apricots, prunes.

And a recipe of an apple pie with no "bitter" side to it. This recipe is toning, relaxing, relieves tension and, consequently, invites good humor. 

Ingredients:

For the compote

2 kg of apples, peeled and cut into pieces.

2 table spoons of kuzu.

2 table spoons of agar agar.

Half glass of apple juice.

A pinch of sea salt.

For the base

150 grams of sugar free biscuits

Lemon zest

 2 table spoons of white almond paste

2 table spoons of concentrated apple juice

For the glazing

One glass of apple juice

2 table spoons of rice syrup

1 tea spoon of kuzu or arrowroot

1 tea spoon of agar agar

Preparation

Make the compote with the apples, the agar agar , the apple juice, the pinch of salt and the kuzu (previously dissolved in a bit of cold water).

Crush the biscuits and mix them with the lemon zest, the white almonds paste and the concentrated apple juice. With your hands, spread it on the base of a springform pan.

Spread the compote on top.

Bring the glass of apple juice to the boil and add the syrup, the agar agar and the kuzu (previously disolved in a bit of cold water). Stir constantly until the mixture turns transparent. Pour on top of the pie.

Let it cool before cutting it.

A macrobiotic menu

Suggestion for a menu:  

miso soup + white beans with baked sweet potato + risotto of brown rice and artichokes + boiled vegetables.

Miso soup

Ingredients for two people:

•     1  onion
•       1 carrot
•        1 stripe of wakame seaweed
• .       barley miso

Preparation:

1.    1.  Peel and cut the onion and the carrot into small cubes.

 2. Soak the wakame stripe and then cut it into thin slices.

2.     3. Boil the vegetables and the seaweed with a pinch of salt and water just to cover the vegetables for 15 minutes.

3.     4. Pour the soup into small bowl and add a coffee spoon of miso in each bowl.

White beans with baked sweet potato

Ingredients for two people:

·         1 cup of boiled White beans

·         1 sweet potato

·         1 stripe of   kombu seaweed

·         Fresh basil leaves

·         1/2 cup  of crushed almonds

·         Sesame oil

·         1 clove of garlic

·         Olive oil

·         Sea salt

Preparation:

1.     Boil the white beans with water, a bit of salt and the kombu stripe.

2.     Cut the sweet potato in small cubes, put  them in an oven tray with some olive oil and salt. And bake it for about  45 minutes at 210º.

3.     Cut the garlic small and sautée it with the almonds with some olive. Add the white beans. Crush the basil leaves with the sesame oil and add it to the beans.

4.       Serve the beans on top of a layer of  sweet  potatoes.

Risotto of brown rice and artichokes

Ingredients for two people

•    A cup of brown rice
•    One onion
•   Four spring onions
•  Two artichokes
•  Olive oil
•   Salt
•   Black pepper

Preparation

1.     Wash the brown rice well and boil it with two cups of water and a pinch of salt for 50 minutes.

2.     Peel and cut and the onion into small pieces. Clean and cut the spring onions into small pieces. Peel, clean and cut the artichokes into small pieces.  

3.     Sautée the onion with some olive oil and a pinch of salt for about ten minutes. Add the spring onions and the artichokes and sautée until tender. Add the brown rice and season with black pepper and salt to taste.

Boiled vegetables

Ingredients for two people:

•   One big carrot
•   Some broccoli sprouts

Preparation:

1.    1.  Peel the carrot, wash it and cut it into matchstick.

 2.   Wash the broccoli and cut small sprouts

 3.  Boil the vegetables one by one in water with a pinch of salt: The carrots for 3 minutes and the broccoli for 4 minutes.