Macrobiotic Pregnancy and morning sickness

It seems like all my female friends and family are preganant. That is so thrilling for them. I can't wait to see their sweet keikis! My cousin was asking about what to eat on the macrobiotic diet to have a smooth and healthy pregnancy, and another friend was telling me that she has morning sickness. Here are are few ideas for them:

For a healthy pregnancy, eat the standard macrobiotic diet. See www.macrobiotichawaii.bravehost.com/standarddiet.html for exactly what this is. The main point is that it's important to avoid extremes.

For morning sickness (nausea, queasiness, and lack of desire for certain foods, or foods in general), in Macrobiotic Pregnancy and Care of the Newborn, Aveline Kushi says:

Yin morning sickness comes from the overintake of sugar, fruit, fruit juice, milk, and other dairy products, spices, tomatoes, and other more yin items. The standard diet, together with reducing extreme yin, will help offset the morning sickness. Stronger cooking methods are recommended in these cases.

Yang morning sickness comes from too much salt, baked food, animal products, and other more yang items. The stomach stomach and other organs become overly contracted. Women often lose their appetite for things like brown rice and cooked vegetables (yang repels yang). Relax your lifestyle and make your diet more yin. Soft cooked rice and other grains are helpful, as is mochi/sweet rice, umeboshi or sour pickles, grated raw daikon with tamari and nori. In addition, tempura can be taken a few times a week, and sweet vegetables are nice too , such as squash, daikon, carrot, parsnip and others. Other recommendations are to reduce salt, enjoy some yang berries in small quantities, amazake, or hot apple juice.

For a home remedy for low appetite, miso soup is good, and so is umeboshi , as with ume-sho-bancha or ume-sho-kuzu drinks.

This book says not to worry about morning sickness. It's not a serious problem, and will go away after the third month.

Macrobiotic Pregnancy Recommendations

1. Be happy about having a baby
2. Every day, pray for a safe pregnancy and for a happy and healthy baby
3. Avoid upsetting or overly stimulating movies, entertainment, or books
4. Keep all of your personal relationships smooth and happy
5. Wear clothing made from cotton and other natural vegetable fibers
6. Keep your home and surroundings clean and orderly
7. Keep active and busy

Succulent BBQ Tempeh Dish

Now that I am back in the US, I get to play with all the yummy ingredients we have here that I couldn't find or that cost and arm and a leg in Japan. The weather in Hawaii has been scorching, and I can't help but have that summer feeling..... BBQ just popped into my mind.... This recipe is in Fresh from a Vegetarian Kitchen by Meredith McCarty. I cut the tempeh into bite-sized pieces, oven baked them in the sauce, and put into the pita bread with the fixin's like a gyro. Variety is the spice of life. This dish packs a lot of flavor and is fun for an occasional indulgence of the senses.

Barbecued Tempeh Cutlets in Pocket Pitas

8 oz tempeh, cut in 4 pieces or in bite sized cubes
1 c Red BBQ sauce (recipe follows)
2 whole wheat pita pocket breads
1/2 cup tofu mayonnaise (recipe follows)
lettuce, sprouts, onion, cucumber, or whatever you would like to stuff the pita bread with

Red BBQ Sauce
1 C Red Sauce
(6 carrots, 1 small beet, and celery pressure cooked for 10 minutes and blended. Use the leftovers for an Italian Pasta Sauce or Tofu Pizza. Yummy!)
1/4 C apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup natural soy sauce
2 T onion, minced
2 T brown rice syrup
1 T wet mustard
1 T sesame oil
1/4 t basil
1/4 t oregano
1/4 t cumin
1/16 t cayenne pepper powder

Mix ingredients well. Marinate tempeh in BBQ sauce for 30 min. Preheat BBQ, broiler, or oven while you make the rest. Cut each pita bread in half and steam for about 2 minutes to soften it. Spread some tofu mayo inside and stuff with veggies. BBQ tempeh, covered, for 5 to 7 min on each side, turning just once. To broil, cook on first side until toasted about 8 min, then turn it over, spoon on a bit more sauce, and cook 8 min more. To bake, cook for 15 minutes at 450 degrees, then turn the cutlets over, and bake 15 minutes more. Add cutlets to the pita sandwiches.

Tofu Mayonnaise

250 g tofu
1 T ume vinegar
1 T lemon juice
Dash of oil (optional)
1 t wweet white miso
pinch of salt

Blend all ingredients in the food processor, and adjust flavors to taste.

Macrobiotic Method to Stay Happy

Do you feel depressed, nervous, or that perhaps your condition is currently bad? One great way to move yourself through this energy is to surround yourself with happy things and happy people. Not only do we take in nourishment and energy from the food that we eat, but we also take in from the environment around us. Surround yourself with happy, healthy, successful people. For example, right now I am working on starting a business, so finding and reading success stories of others who have started from scratch, watching movies, or meeting people who have made it happen for themselves is what the macro doctor orders.

If you are feeling sad about love, romance, and relationships, find yourself a great story, book, or movie about a relationship that has a happy ending. If you are fighting with your loved ones, your own condition is not good, so work on improving your condition, and the rest will work itself out. If you think too much about the problem, and hang around depressed, sad, down people, or those with relationship problems, it will pull you down further. Find some positive energy and cheerful people. Sing a happy song!

Keep a positive image in your mind, and find how your macrobiotic life brings the miracle you want.

Modern Macrobiotic/Vegan Cooking Lessons

Leslie’s whole food cooking classes are for people who seek a healthier lifestyle and a natural approach to diet and healing. Learn how to bring more balance, flexibility, and joy into your life through the power of food. Discover the importance and health benefits of a whole food diet consisting of grains, land and sea vegetables, beans and bean products, fruits, seeds, nuts and natural sweeteners. Recipes are low in fat and salt but high in fiber and complex carbohydrates, and contain no sugar, dairy, or other refined foods. Only the freshest, organic, seasonal ingredients are used in a variety of sumptuous and enticing ways. Learn macrobiotic cuisine, international cuisine, foods in healing, home remedies, sugar free desserts, seasonal gourmet dinners, and more.

Discover the healing potential for conditions such as weight gain, food allergies, candida, emotional imbalances like depression and stress, acne, PMS, cancer, osteoporosis, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis and others.

Classes include an introductory lecture, demonstrations, hands-on experience, free recipes and educational material. We enjoy learning and cooking together, and sit down to enjoy a delicious meal, followed by cooperative kitchen cleanup. All questions welcomed during the cooking classes.

For more information, go to http://macrobiotichawaii.bravehost.com/cookingclasses.html