Kushi's Kitchen

Autumn. It's correlation to the 5-element energy & transformation wheel

2011-10-03T12:09:00.001-05:00

By Gabriele Kushi
When the autumn colors are embracing the northern hemisphere, we can look for seasonal foods that support the tendencies of the season. It is the season of harvesting, letting go and changing, and also of planting seeds. For some animals, it is the rutting season--laying down the starting point for new creation in the spring. Applying the unifying principles of the universe to your kitchen will help you sort out what to eat at this time and be your start for preparing a dish with seasonal vegetables and ingredients to satisfy you— mind, body, and soul.
According to the 5-element transformation wheel, the autumn season brings the downward condensed force, also called metal energy, the contracting energy that corresponds with both grief and hope and influences the health of the lungs and large intestines. Activities that support these organs are grief rituals where you can weep about things and people you have lost.
Foods that support these organs are short and medium grain rice, sweet brown rice, and mochi. Choose vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, daikon radish, onion, and lotus root; fruits like peaches and pears; legumes like navy beans and soybeans, including tofu and tempeh; and nuts like walnut or hickory nut. If you are eating animal food, let your first choice be very small amounts of cod, flounder, or halibut, and then organic turkey or beef. Drink mint tea and use spirulina as your algae source.
The metal energy is found in various aspects of these recommended foods. Metal energy corresponds with hot and pungent tastes such as garlic, scallions, watercress, onions, chives, grated daikon, gingerroot, garlic, mustard, and horseradish.
The metal element also corresponds with the color white. The white-hued vegetables of autumn--garlic, onions, cabbage, and others--contain allicin, a phytochemical that may help lower cholesterol and blood pressure. Other phytochemicals, polyphenols, found in white-hued pears and green grapes, may reduce the risk of some types of cancer.
Establish rhythmic order in your life, and use the color white more often in your cooking. You can even wear it sometimes. Do daily breathing exercises to strengthen your respiration and bring resolve to your body, emotions, mind, and energy. Bring clarity and peace to the world by gathering your neighbors and friends and sharing your culinary delights.

For Fall Classes and Online Study Programs visit www.kushiskitchen.com

Kushi's Kitchen Summer E-News

2011-08-01T23:38:00.000-05:00

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Hello and how are you? Welcome to Kushi's Kitchen
The 2011 Macrobiotic Summer Conference, sponsored by the Kushi Institute in Massachusetts, is starting August 4. I will be lecturing, counseling, book signing and teaching an exercise class. I hope to see you at class or maybe at the delicious meals.
Wishing you a wonderful Summer
Gabriele Kushi, your macrobiotic kitchen coach
My E-Newsletter will be coming out quarterly starting this summer.

ARTICLE OF THE MONTH
THE PHILOSOPHY OF YIN AND YANG
© 2011 Gabriele Kushi
Nature’s principle is constant change. The relationships between these ever-changing energies of the universe, the yin (expanding energy) and yang (contracting energy), are forces, which influence our lives. Macrobiotics brings awareness to these universal forces and helps us to understand and use them to achieve what we all want: health, peace, happiness, and a long life full of prosperity and vitality.
Macrobiotics yin yang approach to natural foods is based on traditional formulation with the principle of balance, using foods that work in support of one another and to realign natural energies and promote health and well being. These macrobiotic yin/yang guidelines can assist us in balancing our natural cycles with seasonal foods that are inherent in nutrients like phyto-oestrogen, calcium, vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates, and proteins.
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CLASSES AND EVENTS
If you are not able to attend Gabriele's Cooking Classes, don't worry!
Her complete set of Natural Foods and Macrobiotic Cooking Classes are available to download directly to your computer. Click here to see how it's done.
A complete Box Set is available for the first time for a discount fee at the Kushi Institute Summer Conference.

Bellybiotic™
Movement Class by Gabriele Kushi
Friday August 5, 2011 from 3-4:15 pm, Sunday August 7, 2011 from 7-8 PM
The Kushi Macrobiotic Summer Conference
Location: Dolce-IBM Executive Conference Center,
334 Route 9W, Palisades, NY 10964.
Registration: http://www.kushiconference.org/ , 413-623-5741 x111
This class, designed by Gabriele Kushi, embraces elements of Yoga, Visualization, Qigong, Pilates, Dance and Macrobiotic Nutrition to strengthen the belly. The Japanese martial art term Hara, and the TCM term Dantian describe the belly as the center of being. When we have a healthy and strong belly and our digestive system is working properly, we can enjoy well-being into old age. Class includes gentle to strong movements. Bring your yoga mat or a towel to class for your comfort.
Book signing for Gabriele’s book Embracing Menopause Naturally: Friday 1-1:30 pm
Embracing Menopause Naturally.
Lecture and powerpoint presentation by Gabriele Kushi
Lecture and discussion:
August 6, 2011 from 9-10:15 AM
The Kushi Macrobiotic Summer Conference
Location: Dolce-IBM Executive Conference Center,
334 Route 9W, Palisades, NY 10964.
Registration: http://www.kushiconference.org/ , 413-623-5741 x111
In this exciting lecture, macrobiotic teacher Gabriele Kushi explores natural ways of working with the menopausal transition. Menopause marks a redefinition of the feminine self that is activated through physical, emotional, and spiritual changes. Gabriele Kushi has created an interactive, supportive, practical, and personal guide to balancing your midlife transition naturally. You will learn how to nurture your spiritual growth, adjust your food intake to your changing needs, use internal and external home remedies, and find support from other women to enjoy balanced health throughout the midlife years and beyond.

Be Your Own Sushi Chef: Vegetarian Sushi 
With Gabriele Kushi  
Wednesday August 24, 2011 6:00-8:00 pm $30/$25 members
Location: Mississippi Market Natural Foods Co-op
500 West 7th St. St. Paul, MN
Registration: 651-690-0507
Description of Class:This fun demonstration and hands-on cooking session will teach you how to be your own sushi chef. You will be introduced to sushi making with brown rice nori rolls with vegetables, avocado and other fun ingredients. As a bonus Gabriele will introduce the green vegetable roll, with no grain or seaweed.

Midwest Shamanic Gathering – Labor Day Weekend
The deadline for registration is August 24th
Join us at the beautiful Beaver Creek Reserve in Fall Creek, WI Labor Day weekend, 2011 for another weekend of profound teachings and ceremony by national and international wisdom teachers and practitioners. Including star teacher Abba Liban Dabassah Guyo from East-Africa.
The cost for the weekend is $210 if registered by August 3rd and $245 after that date. The registration fee includes 7 catered meals. Lodging is an extra charge and the cost depends on whether you stay in a cabin or camp. The cabins are bunkhouse style and cost $20 per night. The grounds can accommodate small campers and tents and the fees for camping are $15 per night.
For further information, registration and work exchange ideas visit:
http://www.midwestshamanicgathering.com
Inner Engineering - Online Classes taught by profound mystic and yogi, Founder of Isha Yoga Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
This technology for well being is derived from the ancient science of yoga. An authentic program for self-empowerment and personal growth, the course opens up the possibility of living life to your fullest human potential - a potential modern physicists and psychologists say is almost unlimited. You will gain such potential from a simple, yet powerful, online course. Experience Inner Engineering, and help yourself realize the ultimate potential within. To register, visit www.innerengineering.com or call 1 877 831 2705

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RECIPE OF THE MONTH

Summer Red Lentils Soup

COUNSELING and STUDY PROGRAMS

Gabriele Kushi offers private Macrobiotic Counseling sessions and Holistic Health with Natural Nutrition Long-Distance Study Programs. As your counselor and health coach she will inspire and educate you as you transition and grow beyond old eating patterns. She will support you, as you make simple but powerful lifestyle adjustments - step-by-healthy step. You will realize dramatically improved health, greater enjoyment from eating and choosing the right foods for your self and your family, and the confidence that comes from knowing how.

For additional information, please visit my Web site.

GO SHOPPING WITH GABRIELE
Gabriele Kushi provides quality Cooking Class DVD’s. Visit her Web site to order them.
Shop conveniently from the comfort of your own home for High Quality Natural Macrobiotic Products Natural Import Click here to see all the products.
To purchase Gabriele's book Embracing Menopause Naturally visit Amazon.com
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ABOUT GABRIELE KUSHI
GABRIELE KUSHI, BFA, MEA, CHHC, AADP, the director of Kushi’s Kitchen is the author of “Embracing Menopause Naturally” and a recognized expert on healing with natural foods and macrobiotics. She is a board certified Holistic Health Practitioner with 30+ years of experience in her field and offers Online Natural Nutrition Programs and Individual Counseling worldwide via Skype and at her Twin City and NYC Studio. For further info visit her Web site.
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Gabriele's Book: Embracing Menopause Naturally

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Kushi's Kitchen E-News © 2011 Gabriele Kushi with Kushi's Kitchen, a division of GK Studio, LTD

Three Steps for your Kitchen Makeover

2011-05-03T12:09:00.000-05:00

Are you struggling with finding ideas for what to prepare for dinner? Is breakfast a grab and go thing? Does your family not appreciate your sweat-filled efforts in the kitchen? Are you getting tired of the endless sandwiches, lunchboxes, salads, and soups you’re consuming?

If these scenarios ring several bells, and if you are willing to step into your kitchen to unleash your creativity in a new way, I have outlined 3 steps you could take in this direction.

Step 1. Get support in your kitchen

We spent many hours in the kitchen, planning, preparing, storing, cleaning, shopping, and then, well it repeats every day. Why not start getting support by carefully maneuvering and probing some little helpers, or even adults in our households to step in and make your kitchen life more powerful.

Step 2. Set up your kitchen with recording devices

Recording devices will allow you to retrieve your successful creations, and powerful and tasty efforts more easily.

A large mirror over your countertop can provide visitors and family members views from all angles. Laptops with seasonal recipe files help you create records of your new creations. A camera ready to manifest your beautiful dishes, as well as family dinners will bring another level of excitement into your kitchen routine.

Step 3. Step outside your kitchen

If you refer to the ebb and flow of your ideas you can find solace in what the season has to offer. When you have the chance to go to a farmers market and enjoy the produce the local farmers have brought that day, your outlook on your kitchen will drastically change. Your energy will be uplifted and each vegetable will offer a new dish, and another powerful creative idea for your kitchen. Bring your camera and capture a few images your eye likes to linger over or crabs your attention. File these images away with your recipes.

These 3 steps will drastically change your perception in your kitchen. Try it out and send me your new creations.

Best to you Gabriele Kushi

www.kushiskitchen.com

How to retrieve your Memory

2011-04-04T11:36:00.000-05:00

© By Gabriele Kushi with www.kushiskitchen.com

I spent most of the 2010 winter in Africa, traveling through Kenya and Uganda to teach in the bush about the macrobiotic teachings on how and why to best avoid white sugar and refined white foods, and what the best way for retrieving their ancestors food. In 2011, I decided to stay put in snowy Minnesota to write.

Still, I visited an event with my favorite African nonprofit organization Give Us Wings, and I had a great conversation with the author Pat Samples, who works with elders and the arts.

By telling her my story of how I retrieve events, I gave her ideas for her elders’ circle to help them make more of their memory available. So how can you make more memory available?

You’ve had the experience of forgetting a word, a name, or the exact order of an event, or where you put your keys, or what it was you wanted to do when you go into a room. Those are all memory losses we naturally experience at some point in time. For some of us these losses can be more so when we get older. Our genetic inheritance and the food we have eaten during our lives will have an effect on the strength of our minds, as well as how we have exercised our minds.

Because I was born in Germany and my native language is German, but I live in an English-speaking country, I have to know a lot of non-native vocabulary to be able to speak fluently. Sometimes I can’t find the word for a certain item–let’s say burdock root. I might remember it in German, Klettenwurzel, or I might remember only how it looks and grows or what it is good for.

So I have realized that when I start to describe the item—how it looks, what it feels like, or whatever information comes into my mind—at some point in my creative description the word itself will pop into my mind and completes the story I created for myself and my audience.

Try this exercise yourself with any word you might forget or an event that is not clear in your mind, and let me know how much fun you are having with your story and how much more memory you gain from it.

When we are unfolding a story, instead of closing it off by saying “I don’t remember,” we will open our minds to the story, to the creative force that can engage us in the world at any age.

Blessings for your life,

Gabriele Kushi
www.kushiskitchen.com

MIDLIFE ISSUE - HEART DISEASE

2010-12-08T11:39:00.000-06:00

© 2010 Gabriele Kushi - Excerpt form the book “Embracing Menopause Naturally”

Heart disease is the number one cause of death among postmenopausal women in the US. This probably has little correlation to menopause and is more a result of the aging process. However, there are a number of things that women can do to decrease the likelihood of developing heart disease. The most important ones are regular physical activity, a heart-healthy diet, and not smoking.

To choose a diet that promotes heart health, one should emphasize.....continue reading here:

http://www.kushiskitchen.com/MIDLIFEISSUE-HEARTDISEASE.html

For the recipe continue reading here: http://www.kushiskitchen.com/recipe-FlaxandPumpkinSeedMixture.html

Gomasio - Sesame Salt

2010-07-15T16:19:00.000-05:00

GOMASIO - Sesame Salt Condiment

This condiment is helpful in neutralizing acidities in the blood and relieving tiredness. Gomasio is traditionally known to strengthen the nervous system.

Black sesame seeds are preferable to brown, but brown seeds may be used if black are unavailable.

Please follow your personal recommendations for ratio of sea salt and sesame seeds.
The standard ratio is 1 part salt to 18 parts sesame seeds.

Wash the sesame seeds in a fine mesh strainer and allow them to dry.

Dry-roast the sea salt in a stainless steel frying pan over a medium-high flame until the sea salt becomes shiny.

Place the salt in a Suribachi and grind into a fine powder

Roast the seeds on medium heat. While roasting, push seeds back and forth gently with a wooden paddle or wooden spoon to avoid burning. The seeds are done when they crush easily between the thumb and index finger, in about five to ten minutes. The sees will being to pop when done and give off a nutty fragrance. Lower the flame toward the end, and do not overcook or the seeds will have a bitter taste.

While they are still ht, add the sesame seeds to the ground salt in the suribachi. Slowly and gently grind the seeds in an even circular motion with the suribachi pestle, making sure to use the grooved sides of the suribachi to grind against instead of the bottom of the bowl. Grind until each seed is crushed and thoroughly covered with salt.

Allow the Gomasio to cool, and then transfer it to an airtight glass container to store.

Use sparingly over grain or vegetables.

Suribachi

SPRING INTO SUMMER BROCCOLI SALAD

2010-07-11T15:26:00.000-05:00

SPRING INTO SUMMER BROCCOLI SALAD

Ingredients:

2-3 heads of broccoli, cut into bite size pieces and slightly steamed
6 stems of scallions, finely sliced
2 stalks of celery, finely sliced and slightly steamed
¾ cup of seedless grapes cut in half
½ cup of slivered almonds, soaked and lightly toasted
½ cup of sunflower seeds, soaked and lightly toasted

Dressing:

2 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice
1 tsp of tamari
1 Tbsp of dark sesame oil
Pinch of sea salt

Preparation:
Mix the slightly steamed broccoli and celery, with scallions, grapes, almonds, and sunflower seeds. Combine the dressing ingredients and stir with a whisk or a fork. Merge the dressing together with the dry ingredients and let marinate for ½ hour. Serve at room temperature.

Dinosaur Kale with toasted Garlic and Lemon Juice Dressing

2010-01-17T12:28:00.001-06:00

Serves 4

Vegan / gluten free

1 bunch of Dinosaur Kale, washed and cut into bit size pieces

1 Tbsp chopped Garlic

1.5 tsp Extra Virgin Olive oil

2 tsp of Lemon juice

1 tsp of Tamari soy sauce

Garnished with fresh sprig of Parsley

Place a steamer basket in a large skillet. Add water to come up to the bottom of basket and bring to a boil over high heat.
Add chopped kale; cover and simmer for 3 minutes. Lift basket from skillet; drain water from skillet.
Add olive oil and garlic to skillet; add kale and toss over medium heat 1 minute or until fragrant.
Pour lemon juice and tamari soy sauce over the vegetables. Mix and let steep for a minute.
Garnish with a sprig of parsley and serve as a side dish

Green Vegetables anyone?

2009-02-01T14:59:00.000-06:00

GREEN VEGETABLES
Green leafy vegetable are the foods most missing in modern diets. Learning to cook and eat greens is essential to creating health. When you nourish yourself with greens, you will naturally crowd out the foods that make you sick. Greens help build your internal rain forest and strengthen the blood and respiratory systems. They are especially good for city people who rarely see fields of green in open countryside. Green is associated with spring, the time of renewal, refreshment and vital energy. In Asian medicine, green is related to the liver, emotional stability and creativity.

Nutritionally, greens are very high in calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous, zinc and vitamins A, C, E and K. They are crammed with fiber, folic acid, chlorophyll and many other micro nutrients and phyto-chemicals.