Happy New year everyone! Happy new month, Happy new day!
The more busy I get the more (I neglect my blog and I am sorry to myself about that) can't realistically make three full decked out meals a day. So I have been relying on a full, well balanced breakfast to really ground me and get me through the day. I find if I have a solid breakfast, I can get away with a light lunch and a regular dinner. and I have been feeling great!
To save time most of our breakfasts, are in part reheating leftover grain, while adding a freshly made miso soup or reheating soup from the night before, and some boiled veg and pickles and thats it!

My favorite breakfast combination my partner and I have been making every morning has been looking something like this
 Brown Rice, or what ever leftover we have around.
(watch my video on how learn how to make Brown Rice here)

Miso Soup. Always a great way to start the day with a little warm Miso soup.
I have been loving Angelica Kushi's Miso Month (check it out here) and all the fun inspiring videos she is posting on her youtube channel !
(watch my video on how to make Miso Soup here)

Blanched or steamed vegetables
A lot of green Cabbage or Kale.

Pickles. I try to keep some pickles fermenting at all times. I think pickles are very important for digesting a whole grains diet, and they are just freaking delicious!

and last but not least we have been eating lots and lots of Natto!
(watch my video on how learn how to make Natto here)
You guys probably know by now how much I love Natto and this year I have been loving the Natto Phiya has been making. It has been coming out so delicious and stringy!
Natto is served over steamed rice and this dish of natto rice is considered a high protein Japanese breakfast staple. It is a rustic dish of fermented soybeans characterized with a strong aroma and slimy texture. It is seasoned with soy sauce, along with, chopped green onions, spicy mustard, sliced dried and seasoned seaweed, or other flavor add-ins. Packaged natto is available in the refrigerated section of Japanese and Asian grocery stores or you can check out my video and make it yourself! it is really not that complicated.

Yes, it is very inspired by Japanese cuisine. Growing up with Macrobiotic cooking, and how much it was influenced by Japanese teachers and Japanese culture it has stuck with me as a comfort food.
Although a Japanese breakfast comprises what Westerners might view as a complete meal appropriate for lunch or dinner, (lets be honest it looks a lot like a regular meal for me sometimes as well) it is not intended to be heavy or too filling. Portion sizes for breakfast are adjusted to meet one's appetite, and dishes tend to be lighter, for example, they tend not to be greasy, deep fried, or rich. 

Sauerkraut is one of my favorite fermented foods. Fermented food are pretty crucial to a plant based diet I have found. nothing helps digest whole grain like fermented foods.

Here we (and by we I mean mainly a young man named Connor who is our fermented foods guy in Ionia) usually make our Sauerkraut in the early winter with cabbage harvest from the Fall before. There will be a whole group of us around the counter chopping cabbage while Connor mixes it with Salt and shoves it into crocks. and The outcome is so so delicious! I think everyone making their own pickles at least once. to have the enzymes that are naturally in your kitchen be apart of your food.  

How does it all work? 

 "The process of lactic acid fermentation used to transform salt and cabbage into sauerkraut increases vitamins, particularly vitamin C and B vitamins, and food enzymes.  Moreover, homemade sauerkraut is also extraordinarily rich in beneficial bacteria – friendly microorganisms which help to colonize the gut, train the immune system and manufacture vitamins in the digestive tract." ----From a beautiful blog called nourishedkitchen.com

Check out the master himself Sandor Katz teaching how to make Sauerkraut here he also has a wonderful website to check out here


For Lunch
Brown Rice
(watch and learn how to make Brown Rice here)
-
Sauerkraut 
-
Blanched Greens, Manly Parsley 
-
Tempeh 
Pan fried then cooked down in a Shoyu Dashi for an hour 
-
Nori

For Lunch 

Pesto Angel Hair Pasta

Pesto made with Basil, Walnuts, Salt, Garlic , and Olive Oil.

-

Blanched Bok-Choy and Carrots 

-

Cucumber Dulse Salad with a Brown Rice Vinegar Dressing 

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For Lunch

Brown Rice

(watch and learn how to make Brown Rice here)

with Pickles Shiso Leaf

-

Steamed Bok-Choy and Squash 

-

Pan Fried Tofu with Onions

(watch and learn how to make Tofu here)

-

Sautéed Mushrooms

-

Miso Soup

(watch and learn how to make Miso Soup here)

For Lunch

Brown Rice

(watch and learn how to make Brown Rice here)

With ground Almonds

-

Onion Shoyu Pickles 

-

Fried Chickpeas with Onions and Garlic

garnished with Cilantro 

-

Pan Fried Tofu cooked down in a Shoyu Wakame Broth 

(watch and learn how to make Tofu here)

-

Blanched Bok-choy and Collard Greens

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For Dinner I helped my dad make one of his favorite ways to have fish. a good thing to perk him up after a long day of medical tests
For Dinner

A Salmon Miso Stew

with 

Onions, Carrots,Squash,Cabbage,Ginger, Broccoli,

Penne Pasta, and Salmon. seasoned with Miso

garnished with Scallions. 

-

Peta Bread 

For Lunch

Brown Rice

(watch and learn how to make Brown Rice here)

-

Natto mixed with Mustard and Shoyu

(watch and learn how to make Natto here)

-

Left over Fried Black Eyed Peas

-

Blanched Kale and Brussels Sprouts

-

Kimpira with Carrots and Burdock

(watch and learn how to make Kimpira here)

-

Squash Soup

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For Dinner

Tempeh Sushi 

made with Tempeh, Cucumber, Carrots, and Umeboshi paste 

-

Tofu Sushi

made with Tofu, Cucumber, Carrots and Umeboshi

(watch and learn how to make Tofu here)

-

Blanched Collard Greens, and Kohlrabi 

For Lunch

Deep Fried Brown Rice Balls with Adzuki Beans

(watch and learn how to make Brown Rice here)

-

Grated Daikon

-

Blanched Vegetables 

Broccoli, Carrot, Kale, Lemon

-

Nishime Root Vegetables 

Squash, Onions

-

Miso Soup

(watch and learn how to make Miso Soup)

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For Dinner

Whole Grain Corn 

with Roasted Pecans 

-

Sautéed Turnips

-

Hijiki Salad with Tofu dressing 

Lettuce, Cucumbers, Hijiki, Carrots, Cauliflower 

(watch and learn how to make Tofu here)

-

Pickles

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For Dessert

Strawberry Kantan Pudding

with Roasted Pecans 

For Lunch

Chickpea Brown Rice

-

Roasted Sunflower seeds

-

Natto! (cooking video coming soon) 

-

Sauteed Collard Greens

-

Squash Soup

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For Dinner
Pinto Bean Brown Rice
-
Walnuts roasted with Miso
-
 Vegetable Salad
-
Nishime with Carrots and Onions
-
Umeboshi Onion Pickles

 The Snow is just starting to melt yay!! we are probably going to have a flood in the next three weeks. 

It is a very exciting and busy week in the community right now, so many people have come home. 

 we are going to be having a visit from Mr. Warren Kramer this week also!He is a very good Macrobiotics teacher who we like to bring out to us every once and a while to get some spring time inspiration! he is going to give a couple of lectures and cooking classes (which I am very excited about) 

I am also planing to do alot for this humble site, giving it a bit of a makeover and all that fun stuff!

 I have been having fun testing out my design skills with the pictures, what do you think!?

 For Lunch

Buckwheat

-

Sweet Vegetable Lentils

-

Blanched Vegetable Salad

-

Clear Broth Soup with Ginger and Kombu and Shitaki

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For Dinner

Millet with Sesame Seeds

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Sauteed Brussels Sprouts

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Blanched Collard Greens