My point being that the world, she is a changin’.  In so many ways, so quickly.  Arlen Specter just became a Democrat.  Normal guys are eating millet.  And with a little nudging, seaweed.  Don’t you just love life?

More Proof: here’s a link to an article in the L.A. Times which ran last week; it’s about the massive proliferation of macrobiotic restaurants in the area and includes interviews with  Lee Gross, Eric LeChasseur, Sanae Suzuki and Yours Truly. 

My apologies to anyone who subscribes to this blog and experienced my radio silence for the last few months; I’ve been working on a SECRET PROJECT that I can’t discuss until this fall.  Suffice it to say that it has involved a lot of writing, so blogging became less attractive since I’ve been at the computer all day every day for a while now.  But I’m back and looking forward to connecting again.

Calling all Southern California Hip Chicks and Chucks: I will be teaching a class in Santa Monica on May 30th; it’s Cooking for Romance and we’ll be discussing the different needs of men and women.  If you’re interested in coming, email me at jessicathehipchick@gmail.com

Here’s an amazing recipe for watermelon soup I made in class this weekend (although I didn’t create it–thank you internet!)  I know it may not be hot enough everywhere in the country to crave it yet, but try it out as soon as you see the watermelons coming!  It’s ridiculously easy and tastes fantastic. When I drank some in class, it was so relaxing and refreshing that I literally felt my smile get bigger…

Watermelon Soup

4  cups  Cubed seeded watermelon
1/3  cup  Frozen (thawed) apple juice – concentrate
1 tablespoon  Fresh mint leaves
1/2  teaspoon  Ground ginger
1/3  cup  Plain soy yogurt 
Freshly ground pepper and mint sprigs

Dice enough watermelon to measure 1/3 cup; reserve for garnish. In blender or
food processor, process remaining watermelon, apple juice concentrate, mint
 leaves and ginger until smooth. Refrigerate, covered, for 1 hour to blend flavors.
Serve in small chilled bowls; garnish with reserved diced watermelon,
dollop of yogurt, pepper and mint sprig.

 Makes 6 servings
 

So it is with my blog this week.  I have blogged for another site and I am sending you all there as a sort of re-blogging.  It’s actually a really beautiful site, which I highly recommend… agrainaday.com 

So consider yourself lucky to not be receiving a fart book!

Happy Holidays,

Jessica

I’ve been drinking coffee this week.  I really, really hate to admit that I have a problem with the stuff, but I do.  And I have for a while–meaning years.  I don’t drink it every day, which is part of the problem.  I think if I had graduated from college a daily caffeine-user, I wouldn’t have any clue the agony it puts me through.  But because I’ve gone on the meditation retreats, eaten all that rice, and inspected my poop for its diagnostic information, I have a general physical sensitivity against which the hammer of caffeine slams hard.  And believe me, this ain’t no health food–no matter how much the coffee industry wants to lead us to believe it has no ill effects and may even be good for us.  Coffee affects the immune system, fertility, and a few other slightly useful functions I’ll discuss below. 

And yet I do it.   In general, about every three weeks or so (although that is just a gut-check estimate–I wish I’d kept a journal of the dates) I go on a bender.  And it’s a real bender, like stockbrokers in the 80s snorted coke; I start late in the day, I drink a couple of double espressos… unlike the brokers, I’m not at a disco sporting sequins… but I’m up on my computer ’til three a.m. cruising nonetheless.  Sometimes I call my friends and the ones who know me really well will ask, after a few minutes of my blahblahblah "um Jess, are you on coffee?"  I cannot tell a lie, so I giggle and say "Yeeeeeeeeesssssssss!!!!".  And they laugh too–bless them–because they’re not quite as hard on me as I am myself. 

I truly feel like Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde on this topic because I have a regular me, and a caffeinated me.  And I know them both extremely well.  And–and this is where I’m not sure many people relate because they caffeinate every day–these two selves ARE SO DIFFERENT IT’S KINDA SCARY.

I remember when I was messing with the stuff about five years ago and I told a friend "after three days of coffee drinking, I get on my knees and make a deal with God: "I will stop drinking coffee if You please give me my soul back!"  And I was deadly serious. 

That’s why I’m writing now.  I need a place to say, out loud: I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that 90% of the individuals in this country ingest a caffeine beverage every day!!  And I say that without judgement because I love the stuff (well, the good side of it) BUT IT SUCKS THE SOUL RIGHT OUT OF THE BODY!!! 

How to explain?  Well, let’s get anatomical for a second:

Caffeine produces a huge adrenaline rush that feels good at first, but quickly taxes the kidneys and adrenal glands.  That’s why you pee so much after drinking a cup of coffee.  Plus, that’s why coffee makes you fear-based and defensive… which is not how we’re supposed to feel all the time!  I was reading this groovy New-Agey self-help book the other day and the author said that our lizard brains basically give us signals of lack and attack ALL THE TIME.  And all I could think–having spent many, many years of my adult life eating really healthy food and being caffeine-free was "this chick drinks a ton of coffee" because that’s SIMPLY NOT TRUE.  We are not meant to be jousting with fear 24/7.  We’re not meant to have sirens and alarms going off in our brains all the time.  We’re just not.  Stop drinking all caffeine for ten days, chew some rice 100 times a mouthful and you’ll see what I mean.  But isn’t it totally crazy that even the New Age chick believes that?  She’s probably been drinking green tea for the past 20 years and has no idea that even that is mood and mind-altering.  When the nervous system is calm (and whole grains contain B vitamins which relax the nervous system), we actually emit positive vibes which build a foundation of positive experiences which attract more of the same.  Life–not lived from fear–is really quite magical. 

Caffeine raises the blood sugar and then drops it on the floor like a rock.  Blood sugar is the brain’s favorite food, so after that first sip of java, my noggin gets CRAZY happy, and about 30 or 40 minutes later, I am jittery, moody and don’t want to interact with my fellow human idiots, whom I despise.  Any well-metabolized carbohydrate would raise my blood sugar at that moment, but because caffeine is quite addictive, it sounds to my brain like the perfect fix for my caffeine-induced misanthropy.  Hence, more coffee.  I think if you scramble the letters in the word caffeine you get: M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E-R-O-L-L-E-R-C-O-A-S-T-E-R-F-R-O-M-H-E-L-L.  No, sorry, that’s not it.  It’s: S-E-R-I-A-L-K-I-L-L-E-R. 

Coffee, because it’s roasted, tends to irritate the liver.  When the liver is irritated, we become irritated.  The very particular bitchiness of the coffee crash is also due to the liver feeling overworked and pissed off. 

Because coffee creates acidity in the blood, the body offers its minerals to balance the acid.  With a daily habit of caffeination, it’s easily to become de-mineralized and for the blood to become weak.  And remember, many minerals are actual metals (like iron and copper) that produce a natural magnetism.  This is why I feel soul-less after a few days on the ‘feine.  I’m truly weaker, and it’s not a "haven’t been to the gym lately" weakness–it’s my bloodstream, which underlies my whole energy system; weak, depleted and without its regular magnetic charge.   

Finally–and this is the one that really kills me–caffeine interrupts the rhythm of the heart.  Ever noticed  palpitations when on coffee?  Caffeine has a very pronounced impact on the cardiovascular system.  In fact, did you know that caffeine is a naturally-occuring pesticide found in certain plants, killing the bugs who chomp on their leaves?  So you can be sure it’s slugging the average human ticker pretty hard.  But it’s not just the anatomical heart that coffee screws up, it’s the metaphorical one.  We all put out a "vibe" in the world, and when the heart is functioning in a balanced fashion, that vibe is warm and expansive and inviting.  Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter is so pleasing because it mimics the rhythm of the healthy heart.  This rhythmic vibration has the power to calm other people, to connect with God, and to channel true creativity.  I know this from experience.  But when a certain pesticide gets ingested, that "vibe" becomes spiky and erratic and it pushes people away.  It talks nonsense to its friends on the phone.  It twitches and bumps into things.  I know this from experience too. 

So I guess this is what freaks me out:  Although I’m not proud of it, I know–without the tiniest shred of doubt–that I have a Dr. Jekyll and Mrs. Hyde and that Mrs. Hyde lives only at Starbucks.  She is not the real me.  She is a distortion, an addict, an over-thinker and a little bit of a jerk (even though she’s Canadian enough to keep her mouth shut).  Yes, I let her out regularly and I’m realizing that has to do with all sorts of boring issues I have about craving drama and not being able to tolerate too much joy and letting my life be as fully abundant as the universe would have it be.  Or I’m just psycho.  But that’s another blog.  Back to the original freakout; Are 90% of Americans (including many macrobiotic people) inhabiting their Mr. Hyde without ever having met their Dr. Jekyll?  Are we all walking around slightly afraid, bitchy, giving off spiky vibes AND WE THINK THAT’S NORMAL?  Do kids who go from Mountain Dew to double lattes ever experience their bodies in their natural state?  Let alone their minds and emotions?  Are road rage, divorce, Prozac and the NRA all connected to a cup of Joe?  Knowing my Jekyll and Hyde pretty well, I offer the thesis that there’s a very real connection. 

If you drink caffeine daily, believe me, I do not judge you.  On some level, I’m jealous that you get to arise every morning with the delicious anticipation of that first ambrosial cup.  But, if you’ve been doing that for years, I invite you to entertain the idea that you may actually be someone you’ve never met.  That you may have never–if you’ve had caffeine ever since you were a child–relaxed into your truest, healthiest self.  And that’s not just a biased opinion–remember Nature designed caffeine to kill things!  If that’s the case, just let me tell you–as I prepare myself to get on my knees and swap my soy cappuccino for my soul tonight–that the real you is worth it. 

Until my next late-night rant,

Thanks for listening,

xoxo Jessica

Mysteriously Good Noodle Dish

1/2 package whole wheat spaghetti noodles

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 collard greens, washed sliced with spine chopped into thin slices

ume vinegar

3 Bok Choy thingies, washed and chopped into bitesize pieces

3 Nappa cabbage leaves, washed and chopped into bitesize pieces

1 tablespoons cashew butter

1 tablespoons shoyu

2 tablespoons Vegenaise

Cook the whole wheat spaghetti noodles in boiling water, snapped in half, so they’re short. In a frying pan, heat the oil, add collards and saute with a sprinkle of ume vinegar.  Keep moving them around for a couple of minutes–collards take a little while to cook.  When they are soft and bright green, add the bok choy and Nappa.  Saute a few seconds, then add cashew butter mixed with shoyu.  Cover and let simmer for 3 minutes.  When noodles are done, strain them and stir in Vegenaise.  Serve yummy veg on top of noodles, and if it’s not yummy enough, add another sprinkle of ume vinegar.

While I’m on a recipe jag, IT’S TOFU TURKEY TIME!  Click here for the recipe.  I just made it in a cooking class last week and it turned out so well.   Your family will be very happy.  

I’m adding recipes for a cranberry sauce and a yam side dish… you lucky dogs!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Yam Casserole

Filling Ingredients:

4 garnet yams, washed, cut into 1 inch squares
2 cups spring water
pinch of sea salt
3 TB fresh apple juice
2 TB kuzu, dissolved in apple juice
3/4 cup barley malt or agave nectar (for sweeter casserole)
zest of one orange
1 tsp vanilla extract, alcohol-free variety
1 tsp cinnamon

Topping Ingredients:

1 cup pecan, chopped or halves
1/4-1/2 cup maple syrup

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Bring water and yams to a boil with pinch of sea salt. Cook over medium flame until tender.

3. Remove from water and place in large bowl. Mash with potato masher, or blend in food processor.

4. Add in dissolved kuzu and barley malt, and blend until smooth.

5. Stir in orange zest, cinnamon, and vanilla. Pour into casserole dish.

6. Mix pecans and maple syrup together in a bowl. Pour evenly over casserole and bake 1 hour.

Variation:
Add shredded coconut in with the pecan topping.

COOKED WHOLE-BERRY CRANBERRY SAUCE

3 cups fresh cranberries (1 standard 12-ounce package)
1 1/2 cups boiling water  (or apple juice)
pinch of sea salt
2 tablespoons kuzu
½ cup cold apple juice
3/8 cup maple syrup or brown rice syrup

   1. Wash and pick over the cranberries. Discard stems and soft berries.
   2. Place the cranberries in a saucepan.
   3. Cover with boiling liquid and turn the stove on to high heat.  Add pinch of salt.
   4. When the water begins to boil, continue to boil for a few minutes until all the berries have burst open.
   5. Turn off heat and stir with a wooden spoon, mashing some of the berries against the side of the pot until most of the berries are broken. It will be like a thin applesauce.
   6.  Dilute kuzu in cold apple juice, and add to cranberries, stirring constantly until slightly thickened and glossy.
   6. Add sweetener to warm cranberries and stir to dissolve. If you have trouble dissolving the sweetener, reheat to boiling, stirring constantly.
   7. Allow sauce to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cool. Sauce will set up as it cools.
 

I was at the gym, lifting some free weights–like the total jock that I am–and I thought I would just do a little multi-tasking.  So I set my iPhone down between my thighs, on the bench, and continued to watch episode 2, season 2 of The Wire, which I had downloaded from iTunes.  All the while, pumping extraordinarily heavy weights.  Like 6,800 grams in each hand!  Anyway, even though everyone raves about The Wire and says that it’s the best television ever produced, I beg to differ.  And so does my back.  With my neck tilted forward and all that weight heaving up and down, something tweaked.  And I’ve been in bed for the last 48 hours.  Every time I roll over, I grimace and moan and my cats look at me with concern. 

Because I’m macrobiotic, I can’t blame this all on the weights, or my position, or even The Wire (even though it’s soooo not Six Feet Under, or even a lousy week on The Sopranos).  I have to actually look at this injury in terms of yin and yang.  So here goes:  We’re always looking at duality: up/down, front/back, in/out.  So where is the back?  Well, the name says all–at the back.  And the backs of things are the more yang parts.   Fronts tend to be expansive, backs contracting. 

And my back hurts in just one part–the lower part–also yang.  Yang, contracted things gravitate downward, so it’s the yang  part of my yang back. 

One more question:  did the injury feel like a stretch or a squeeze?  Definitely a squeeze.  Anyone who’s ever thrown their back out ("Get out of here you dirty back!  AND DON’T COME BACK!) knows that it all begins with a weird twisting that feels like a fist is squeezing the energy matrix on which the actual muscles rest.  That twist gets the muscles all tight and bingo!  Bed for two days.  In terms of yin and yang, stretching is yin (opening, expanding) and squeezing is yang (tightening, contracting). 

Sooooo, I seem to have a yang injury (tightness) in the yang part (lower) of my back, which is yang to begin with.  That means… drumroll… I HAVE BEEN EATING TOO MUCH YANG FOOD!  Like salt and baked flour.  And where there’s strong yang is usually strong yin (chocolate rice milk, anyone?)  Plus, I’m not getting enough good quality yin, like vegetable dishes and lighty seasoned soups.  The stomach meridian also runs down the back, so it might have to do with that, but I’m no accupuncturist, so don’t confuse me!  The food stuff all makes sense, as I have been to many restaurants lately (salty) and was noshing on corn chips ad nauseum over the weekend.  And yes, the chocolate rice milk too.  Oy.  

BUT I DON’T WANT TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS!  As my friend David Snieckus says:  "I love macrobiotics!  Everything is my fault!"  And he’s only half kidding.  Being macro means searching for the causes of things and because we eat more than just about anything else we do, there is usually a food component to the many physical issues we deal with.  Sure, there are other factors, but food is always in the mix. 

So the back pain will teach me.  When my lovely friend Sanae brought me homemade miso soup yesterday, followed by aduki bean tea, I felt much better immediately.  I could sit in a position I hadn’t managed for the 18 hours previous.  When my sister brought me lunch pre-made from the store, my mouth loved it, but my back suddenly tightened up again.  Believe me, I’m not perfect.  I will slowly arc in the correct direction from now on.  It’s hard to give up yummy, easy, convenient food.  Especially when it’s basically healthy.  But the back will keep teaching and I will keep learning.  And that’s cool.

By the way,  I will be teaching online cooking classes Wednesday November 5th, 12th and 19th.  For details, click here.

See ya,

Jessica

5 Element Theory is the heart and soul of macrobiotics. In order to truly support your own health it’s necessary to understand how the 5 elements work in the kitchen and in your life. This class explores a cooking style from each element and Jessica explains how to select and cook foods throughout the year.

What’s on the Menu:

Simple Greens - Spring
Corn Chowder w/Cilantro Pesto - Summer
Nishime – Late Summer
Kinpira – Fall
Kayu Bread – Winter

You will never eat store-bought Tofurky again! Jessica’s simple, delicious Tofu Turkey recipe will inspire you to try it for your Thanksgiving dinner this year. Along with other holiday recipes, this class will make you thankful and hopefully spare a few turkeys.

Thanksgiving Menu:

Tofu Turkey
Cranberry Jelly
Seitan Gravy
Sweet Potato Casserole

It’s a very important question.

Crisis is yangizing.  Which means contracting.  When you hear that the economy is collapsing, you get tense, which is a form of contraction.  Fear causes contraction.

So if that’s what’s happening inside the body, what’s going on outside?  Same thing.  The economy is literally contracting–less money, less confidence, less expansion.  It is shrinking from all the contraction.  Yang force.

Now let’s keep in mind that this is what economies do–they expand and contract–like all things.  But this time, the contraction is mighty because the expansion was mighty.  Predatory lending allowed the economy to reach way beyond its natural limits, and now we’re experiencing the realest form of karma; what comes up must come down.  Or better yet: people who can’t afford $400,000 homes generally stop paying the mortgage.

I know you didn’t come here for a lesson in economics; believe me, I know less about the whole thing than many friends of mine, but I am looking at the whole thing through the yin/yang lens, which is what macrobiotics is all about.  And my study of yin and yang tells me this:  When one force goes to its extreme… it becomes (or creates) its opposite!  “Necessity is the mother of invention” is another way of saying “yang creates yin”.  How cool is that?  In other words, just as all those sub-prime loans turned into foreclosures, all this yang contraction should be turning into yin expansion sometime soon, because it’s pretty extreme right now.  But does that mean money will just fall on your head from the sky?

I doubt it.

The expansion happening now is occurring on subtle, but very powerful levels. So as you get squeezed materially, look for ways in which you are opening vibrationally: Is your mind opening up to new ideas and possibilities as opposed to running along its old, comfy channels?  Is your creativity generating new ways to conserve, or to share?  Is your heart opening up to people in a new way–feeling your interdependence?  Is your spirit expanding as you reach to God, or the Universe, screaming: “HELP ME PAY THE FREAKIN’ BILLS!!”  Although this transition may not be comfortable, as we relax into it, we may see ourselves changing in quite positive ways.  It’s a time for our spirits to expand.

An economy flooded with wealth feeds the illusion that we are separate, that we don’t need each other, or the natural world.  We each hang out behind our computer screens, buy “food” created in factories, move “money” around in cyberspace and generally lounge in our egos.  But massive global economic contraction challenges all that and eats away at the delusion of separateness.  As the material self (stuff) erodes, our vibrational selves (minds, emotions, spirits) are forced to intermingle.  And that’s good.  Because the truth is we’re all one, we’re all in this together, and it’s about time we figured that out.

Today, call a friend or family member you haven’t spoken to in a while and feel the wealth of human relationship.