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Wanowa’s once a month bento box catering was today. I made Gomoku Gohan (Japanese mixed rice) using seasonal organic vegetables, Daikon stew using home-made Demi-Glace sauce, vegetable croquette, sautéed lotus roots, beets salad, Konjac stake, and gluten-free apple tarts for dessert. All 100% plant-based, and it costs $20. I decided to do bento catering in order to introduce this to the people in the Bay Area so they can experience what is like to have fully plant-based food for one meal. There is no meat, no dairy, no refined sugar, no food additives, and no chemical seasonings, just organic vegetables, grains, and fruits. I make everything from scratch using local organic vegetables, and carefully selected seasonings such as sea salt, properly fermented miso, soy source, apple cider vinegar, brown rice syrup and so on. Since I prepare everything by myself, I only can make 10-15 bento boxes. Considering the time that I dedicate to make those bentos (usually, I stay up all night because I want to bring a fresh meal and it takes a lot of time to create healing cuisine due to lots of preps) and the cost of all the organic vegetables and condiments, there is not much profit. But, if my bento brings a bit of joy & harmony into those who have my bento, I can live with it. Although I can only do it on a once a month basis. Since we are now in the autumn, we are influenced by metal elements according to the five elements theory. Since each element resonates with paired yin-yang organs, the lung (yin), and large intestine (yang) are influenced by metal elements. They work together as partners and share similar functions, to bring in the new and to take out the waste. The lung brings in the fresh air, help to circulate the energy, blood, and lymph in the body, and expel carbon dioxide and toxins. The large intestine eliminates solid residue after digesting the food and fluid. Also, the toxins and waste are discharged through the skin by perspiration as well. Hence, the skin is often considered as the "third lung" from TCM (traditional Chinese medicine). I used a lot of vegetables that help to nourish the above organs. Daikon, onions, scallions, dried shiitake mushrooms are great vegetable medicines. If your lung and intestines get cleansed, your skin gets cleared up automatically. They are connected with the meridian line and corroborate together. I also used our Japanese super food, Konjac to cleanse the stomach and intestines. I tried to incorporate Konjac at least one dish for any catering for the cleaning purpose. Here's the info. about Konjac. https://wanowa.weebly.com/alternative-medicine/konjackonnyaku-broom-for-the-stomach I also used lotus root to nourish the respiratory system. Lotus root is the root of lotus flower, it grows in the water, so it has a great drainage effect. So, by taking those lotus roots into our body, it helps to clear up the accumulated dampness, mucus in the lung. "You are what you eat" is so true... They also have a lot of health benefits. They are very crispy, flavorful when you just sauteed lightly. You can get lotus roots at any Asian market. But, usually, they are not organic and came from China. It is very hard to find organic lotus roots in the USA. So, I soak them in the water together with sea salt, rice bran, and apple cider vinegar overnight to remove harmful chemicals. Then, rinse well before I cook them. One of the teachings that I learned from Macrobiotic philosophy is to appreciate what you have. So, I am grateful that I can still get those lotus roots at the Asian market. ♡♡♡ If you are interested in Wanowa's bento catering, please email me at Shinobeau@iCloud.com. I can inform you when will be the next catering day so you can plan ahead. I usually bring them to Mountain View near Nijiya market at the specific time so people ordered the bento can come to pick them up. You can also come to my house in Scotts Valley for a pickup. Also, I am happy to take orders from 6 or more if I am available. The delivery fee will be added ranging from $20-50 depending on how far I need to drive. We also rent out our guest room on Airbnb in Scotts Valley, CA, and I make vegan breakfast for the guests. If you like to have a little retreat, please come and stay at our guest room. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/12127917
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My son and I drove all the way to join Kazuko-san’s Beiju birthday party at Mume farm in Chico last weekend. In Japanese culture, reaching the age of eighty-eight is considered a big milestone. This celebration is commonly known among Japanese as Beiju. Bei means rice. In Chinese the character for rice is 米. It looks like the character of eight(八) on top and ten(十) in the middle, and an another eight(八 )at the bottom. So, when you reach at 88 (八十八), you are officially reaching at the rice(米) age!!! 🎉🎈🎊 In Japan, rice is not only the staple diet, it is the sacred food. Rice, sake (made by rice), salt and water has been offered to the foot of shrines together with branches of Sakaki (clever Japonica/holly greens) since ancient times. Kazuko-san and her deceased husband, Junsei Yagi helped introduce the macrobiotic diet in the US together with the father of modern macrobiotics, George Ohsawa, Michio Kushi, Herman Aihara and many other teachers. It was so wonderful to see the leaders from the French Meadow camp, and all the friends who adore Kazuko-san. Hope we all work together to continue to pass on your legacy to the next generation. Thank you Ron & Kiyoko for hosting the beautiful event💕Kazuko-san, 祝米寿 Beiju Omedeto Gozaimasu❣️ We all love you❣️ Ron & Kiyoko who took over Kazuko's organic Ume (Japanese plum) farm a few years ago. They are working so hard to continue to produce wonderful Ume products such as Umeboshi (Japanese pickled plums), Umesu (Ume vinegar), activated Ume charcoal and so on. Mume Farm (organic Japanese plum farm) 4192 County Road S, Orland, CA 95963 Orland, CA 95963 Here's the info. about Umeboshi (Japanese pickled plums) The oldest Japanese record of pickled plums being used as a medicine is in a medical text written about one thousand years ago. Umeboshi were used to prevent fatigue, purify water, rid the body of toxins, and cure specific diseases such as dysentery, typhoid, and food poisoning. Slowly, extensive folklore developed about umeboshi's ability to prevent and cure certain diseases. You can check the website for more info. → https://www.macrobiotics.nl/library/UME1.html I am so happy to hold Tomoko Amano’s cooking class this coming Wednesday. Tomoko is a holistic healing cooking instructor in Japan. She will teach us how to cook Jerusalem artichokes in many different ways such as potage soup, spring rolls, chocolate muffins and more. Jerusalem artichokes, also know as sunchokes, sunroots or earth apples, are tuber vegetable that look like a ginger root. Jerusalem artichokes is a powerful food that prevents the growth of many kinds of cancers, controls high blood pressure, stops obesity, improves the conditions of diabetes and pre-diabetes and its related complications. Here's the recipe how to make Kimpira (stir-fried) Jerusalem artichoke. Sorry it is in Japanese, but since it is so simple to make, I think it is easy to follow! (^.^) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihmor29Jqsc Here’s the info about Tao school where she teaches the way of macrobiotic cooking. I am interested in Tao’s work & study program (for free). https://taojuku.jimdo.com/english/lectures-and-classes/  Today, my hometown, Hiroshima, marked the 73rd anniversary of the atomic bomb. Ever since I can remember as little girl, every August 6 starts with sirens wailing throughout the city at exactly 8:15am when the bomb was dropped. Then, followed with a solemn moment of silence in remembrance. Remembering the 140,000 irreplaceable human lives that were lost, either on the day of the bombing or in the ensuing months, and the numerous atomic bomb survivors who still suffer from the aftermath even to this day, 73 years has already passed since. And we now have 54 nuclear reactors in Japan, and about 450 nuclear reactors are in operation around the world.
To honor this day, I would like to share the Nobel peace prize acceptance speech by Setsuko Thurlow 0n December 10, 2017. Thank you all for taking time to read her speech. Your Majesties, Distinguished members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. My fellow campaigners. Here and throughout the world. Ladies and gentlemen. It is a great privilege to accept this award, together with Beatrice. On behalf of all the remarkable human beings who form the ICAN movement. You each give me such tremendous hope that we can - and will - bring the ear of nuclear weapons to an end. I speak as a member of the family of hibakusha - those of us who, by some miraculous chance, survived the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For more than seven decades. We have worked for the total abolition of nuclear weapons. We have stood in solidarity with those harmed by the production and testing of these horrific weapons around the world. People from places with long forgotten names like Moruroa, Ekker, Semipalatinsk, Maralinga, Bikini. People whose lands and seas were irradiated, whose bodies were experimented upon, whose cultures were forever disrupted. We were not content to be victims. We refused to wait for an immediate fiery end or the slow poisoning of our world. We refused to sit idly in terror as the so-called great powers took us past nuclear dusk and brought us recklessly close to nuclear midnight. We rose up. We shared our stories of survival. We said: humanity and nuclear weapons cannot coexist. Today, I want you to feel in this hall the presence of all those who perished in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I want you to feel, above and around us, a great cloud of a quarter million souls. Each person had a name. Each person was loved by someone. Let us ensure that their deaths were not in vain. I was just 13 years old when the United States dropped the first atomic bomb, on my city Hiroshima. I still vividly remember that morning. At 8:15, I saw a blinding bluish-white flash from the window. I remember having the sensation of floating in the air. As I regained consciousness in the silence and darkness, I found myself pinned by the collapsed building. I began to hear my classmates faint cries: “Mother, help me. God, help me.” Then, suddenly, I felt hands touching my left shoulder, and hard a man saying. “Don’t give up! Keep pushing! I am trying to free you. See the light coming through that opening? Crawl towards it as quickly as you can.” As I crawled out, the ruins were on fire. Most of my classmates in hat building were burned to death alive. I saw all around me utter, unimaginable devastation. Processions of ghostly figures shuffled by. Grotesquely wounded people, they were bleeding, burnt, blackened and swollen. Parts of their bodies were missing. Flesh and skin hung from their hands. Some with their bellies burst open, their intestines hanging out. The foul stench of burnt human flesh filled the air. Thus, with one bomb my beloved city was obliterated. Most of ts residents were civilians who were incinerated, vaporized, carbonized - among them, members of my own family and 351 of my schoolmates. In the weeks, months and years that followed, many thousands more would die, often in random and mysterious ways, from the delayed effects of radians. Still to this day, radiation is killing survivours. Whenever I remember Hiroshima, the first image that comes to mind is of my four - year - old nephew, Eiji - his little body transformed into an unrecognizable melted chunk of flesh. He kept begging for water in a faint voice until his death released him from agony. To me, he came to represent all the innocent children of the world, threatened as they are at this very moment by nuclear weapons. Every second of every day, unclear weapons endanger everyone we love and everything we hold dear. We must not tolerate this insanity any longer. Through our agony and the sheer struggle to survive - and to rebuild our lives from the ashes - we hibakusha became convinced that we must warn the world about these apocalyptic weapons. Time and again, we shared our testimonies. But still some refused to see Hiroshima and Nagasaki as atrocities - as war crimes. They accepted the propaganda that these were “good bombs” that had ended a “just war”. It was this myth that led to the disastrous nuclear arms race - a race that continues to this day. Nine nations still threaten to incinerate entire cities, to destroy life on earth, to make our beautiful world uninhabitable for future generations. The development of nuclear weapons signifies not a country’s elevation to greatness, but its descent to the darkest depths of depravity. These weapons are not a necessary evil; they are the ultimate evil. On the seventh of July this year, I was overwhelmed with joy when a great majority of the world’s nations voted to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Having witnessed humanity at its worst, I witnessed, that day, humanity at its best. We hibakusha had been waiting for the ban for seventy -two years. Let this be the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons. All responsible leaders will sign this treaty. And history will judge harshly those who reject it. No longer shall their abstract theories mask the genocidal reality of their practices. No longer shall “deterrence” be viewed as anything but a deterrent to disarmament. No longer shall we live under a mushroom cloud of fear. To the officials of nuclear - armed nations - and to their accomplices under the so-called “nuclear umbrella” - I say this: Listen to our testimony. Heed our warning. And know that your actions are consequential. You are each an integral part of a system of violence that is endangering humankind. Let us all be alert to the banality of evil. To every president and prime minister of every nation of the world. I beseech you: Join this treaty; forever eradicate the threat of nuclear annihilation. When I was a 13-year-old girl, trapped in the smoldering rubble. I kept pushing. I kept moving toward the light. And I survived. Our light now is the ban treaty. To all in this hall and all listening around the world. I repeat those words that I heard called to me in the ruins of Hiroshima: “Don’t give up! Keep pushing! See the light? Crawl towards it.” Tonight, as we march through the streets of Oslo with torches aflame, let us follow each other out of the dark night of nuclear terror. No matter what obstacles we face. We will keep moving and keep pushing and keep sharing this light with others. This is our passion and commitment for our one precious world to survive. Here is the video clip that you can watch.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BQjMHHk1ys Please join us for the special event on Friday, 6/22 at 6-8:30pm at a private house in Scotts Valley! Beautiful LIVE music will be performed by Izumi Hayakawa in a midst of tall redwood trees♬ Izumi, a talented jazz singer has been performing based in Bay Area and Tokyo. You can visit her website and listen to her music from this site. https://www.izumihayakawa.com/untitled-cfvg The dinner starts at 6pm before the music, I will serve you 100% plant based healthy Indian food! I will make everything from the scratch using local organic vegetables! You can check out the blog to see our previous concert which was held 2 years ago. https://wanowa.weebly.com/blog/live-jazzbossa-nova-on-super-full-moon-night If you have time, you can come much earlier, and walk around the woods or just sit around the porch in front of the house with your friends and enjoy the fresh air of the mountain! The exact venue will be informed after receiving your reservation.  A lovely couple who stayed at our guest room for a few days left me a note every morning to thank the breakfast I made for them. I never expected anything like this at all, so I was so stunned when I found it at first day. They kept surprising me with sweet notes until they left. Sometimes I wonder, or should I say worry if the breakfast I prepare for the guests meets their expectations. Because most of the guests are Americans and they usually eat American breakfasts which is totally different from my vegan breakfast. So, even though I know my breakfast is very healthy (I make everything from scratch using local organic vegetables), I am always a bit nervous whenever I serve them. So, when I received a note from them, I felt a lot of encouragement. Whenever I feel a doubt about what I am doing or where to aim for the next step, I always receive a sign from somewhere. This time was a very clear note from the guests, but sometimes it can be very subtle. It could be kind of hidden from the conversation with your friends or an article you accidentally found from the internet or newspapers. But there is always a sign for us. For my case, after I change my diet, eating more whole grains and organic vegetables avoiding white sugar and dairy, I think the quality of my life in general has been shifted. I get more tuned to the universe and bring the good synchronicity into my life. I think it is because all grains and vegetables grow naturally, receiving all kinds of energy from the earth such as soil, sunlight, rain, wind, and love from the farmers, so they are packed with full of well balanced energies. If we cook them using good seasonings such as sea salt, properly fermented miso or soy sauce, we can create very powerful food that can nourish us. I heard when we take in good vibrations, they correct distorted frequencies within our cells, and I think it is so true. The couple who left me a note asked me if there is a cook book that I can recommend for them. So I recommended a book called "Mayumi's Kitchen" by Mayumi Nishimura. Mayumi used to work as a chef for Madonna for years. Her recipes are simple but very creative. I have her several books in Japanese. I love all her books but this English version has a lot of photos and is easy to follow. If you are interested in the macrobiotic diet, you can check her book! https://www.amazon.com/Mayumis-Kitchen-Macrobiotic-Cooking-Body/dp/1568364814 I worked as a chef for David’s spring detox retreat at the beautiful Hidden Villa in Los Altos. I am so relieved that I was able to complete my mission to deliver heathy healing cuisines to 28 wonderful yogis. At my nutrition seminar, I was able to introduce a "macrobiotic diet" which is based on our Japanese traditional way of eating & philosophy. Since it was a short time period, i explained the most fundamental & powerful tool to be a healthy, balanced well being - chewing! The mouth is our important digestive organ. The first chemical breakdown of the food we eat starts in our mouth. If you can chew more, the secretion of saliva increases. There are thousands of vital enzymes in your saliva which help your digestion, nourishing your organs, and restoring balance. But if you don't chew properly, your stomach and many other organs have to work harder to break down larger chunks of food into smaller pieces so its easier to digest. We don't need to go to the store to buy digestive pills or enzymes. We can actually produce our own by chewing well. Here is the link about the article of conscious eating. http://www.greatlifeglobal.com/services/health-a-wellness-consultations/34.html I know that chewing well sounds easy to do, but it is so challenging to practice into our busy daily life. But we could at least try and chew the first bite of every meal, we can chew until the food becomes liquified. I think it will make a big difference. Michio Kushi, a macrobiotic teacher said "Through what we consume, we change the quality of our body, mind, and spirit. Each of us is responsible for his or her own life and destiny. We are our own masters, and no one can chew for us." Thank you, David for giving me the opportunity again to be on your team! It is always a great learning experience! Looking forward to work with you in spring again. And thank you Yasuyo and Seiya to assist me all the way through. Truly enjoyed working in the big beautiful kitchen with you! And all the yogis who enjoyed our food with a big smile💕 Here's the whole menu: 3/23 friday ☆ Before dinner - Sweet Vegetable soup as a welcoming drink (sweet vegetable soup is a home remedy soup to nourish the internal organs) https://wanowa.weebly.com/alternative-medicine/sweet-vegetable-drink 7pm - dinner - Vegetable creamy quinoa & brown rice risotto with probiotic chickpea miso - Green salad with creamy tahini dressing - Broccoli with tofu - tahini sauce - Apple cinnamon cup cake with blueberry sauce - Nettle tea (Cleansing & Detox) 3/24 saturday 8am - light breakfast (self-served) - Beet & cranberry shot - Rosemary gluten-free focaccia - Homemade Granola - Hard boiled eggs (optional) - Fruits - Organic herb Teas & coffee noon - lunch - Mushrooms Demi-glace stew with rice - Shungiku pesto quinoa pasta - Fresh green salad with creamy probiotic miso dressing - Cucumber salad - Matcha mousse with strawberry sauce - Mugwort tea (Cleansing & Detox) 3pm- snack - Home made trail mix - Sliced apples with Umesu https://wanowa.weebly.com/alternative-medicine/umesu-eliminator-for-toxins 7pm - dinner - Gluten-free noodles with homemade ramen broth - Nitamago (flavored boiled egg) can be topping - optional - Marinated tomatoes & corn for toppings on the ramen - Vegan Kale bacon for topping on the ramen - Gluten-free vegan strawberry shortcake - Nettle tea (Cleansing & Detox) 3/25 sunday 8am - light breakfast (self-served) - Gluten-free noodle with wakame, cauliflower rice, and greens - Rice & barley miso risotto with vegetables using dried shiitake mushroom broth - Boiled eggs (optional) - Fresh fruits - Mugwort tea (Cleansing & Detox) 12:30pm - brunch - Probiotic Japanese Kenchinjiru (hot savory vegetable stew) - Vegetable sushi rolls - Marinated beets salad with probiotic Amazake dressing - Mango pudding - Burdock with mint tea (Cleansing & Detox) All food was 100% plant based and organic. In accordance with David's request, I used fresh eggs from Hidden Villa as an option. 🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚 I hold a 100% plant based gluten-free cooking workshop at Scotts Valley today! We had a lot of fun cooking together. Here' the menu! ☆ Demi-glace sauce ☆ Mushroom demi-glace stew ☆ Barley rice with lotus seeds ☆ Focaccia ☆ Oil-free vegan butter ☆ Beets & apple salad ☆ Matcha & Mugwort mousse ☆ Amazake (alcohol-free) Demi-glace sauce is a classic condensed brown sauce of French cuisine. It usually served as an accompaniment for meat. This rich & flavorful sauce is usually takes a full day to make. First, you roast the veal bones and veggies, then you simmer all together with herbs in the big pot for a half day... But, my gluten-free vegan recipe, it takes about 15 min. to make, and you can keep it in the refrigerator for a month. I always keep this stock because I can use it in many ways. When I am in a hurry, I can create a delicious brown stew within 20 min. For the workshop, we made mushroom demi-glace stew. To accompany with the stew, we cooked barley & rice with lotus seeds. Since we are currently in the the season of spring, I used barely to help rejuvenate liver. According to the five element theory from traditional Chinese medicine, spring is related to the wood element, and it governs liver and gallbladder. So,it is very important to take care of these organs. If your liver is healthy, it will keep the balance of your whole body and build the healthy foundation for summer. All the green vegetables such as broccoli, parsley, lettuce, kale, brussels sprouts are good to your liver. The reason I added the lotus seeds in the rice is that they have a lot of anti-aging enzymes. . As for desert, I made a matcha & mugwort mousse. Although matcha is packed with antioxidants, I added a bit of mugwort powder since it is used as liver tonic to remove impurities from the blood. In California, you can buy dried mugwort at the organic grocery store. So you can make mugwort tea. If you can't find it, you can use nettle instead. Nettle is used as a natural allergy relief remedy, it has a lot of medicinal benefits as well, Whenever I find the fresh nettle at farmer's market, I grab them. I usually sautée them with a bit of olive oil seasoned with salt & pepper. By rejuvenating our liver, we can tune up the condition of our wood energy. So, we can move our life upward while anchoring our feet to the roots just like a tree. I hope we are fully ready to embrace the energy of wood & move forward with a healthy vision! 🌳🌳🌳 |
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