Our macrobiotic counselor Warren Kramer says balance is the most important part of our macrobiotic diet. We eat in, we eat out. And believe it or not, this can be a difficult part of practicing macrobiotics. Why eat out, we ask? Our food at home is organic, top quality Mitoku products, cooked exactly as we teach in our macrobiotic cooking classes, wide variety of veggies, beans, grain, soup without added cream. No sugar or msg in our food. So, why play with chance at the restaurant?
And the economics of eating at home or a restaurant. Especially in present economic concerns. Sometimes we feel stretched eating organic and purchasing imported specialty foods used on a Macrobiotic Diet. And we always eat less expensively at home. Our wild-caught fish purchase varies from $7-12, for two. Day-to-day expense for macrobiotic meals featuring whole grain, beans, tofu, seitan and tempeh as protein of choice, is considerably less. Even buying organic. So, how do we justisfy a restaurant tab of $14-25 and more per person? For only conventionally-grown vegetables served PLAIN! Restaurants sauces have sugar, msg, cream, cheese and more. Our yummy healthy sauces are all at home!
Here’s our compromise to Warren’s suggestion that we eat out twice a week. We dine at restaurants with dear friends for an evening out. And Warren’s right: it’s so nice to just converse and visit, being catered to, enjoying the restaurant’s ambiance. No dishes, no cleanup, just a relaxing evening. And these are friends who eat differently than we, so easier at a restaurant than our home for dinner. In fact, we ask our friends to select the restaurant, because they dine out more frequently than we. This way we learn new places, and our friends always consider our vegan preference.
And before leaving home we soak whatever we’re cooking the next day to complete that kitchen-is-closed feeling when we arrive home from the restaurant. This way we’re out of the kitchen completely the whole evening. And clearly we’ve enjoyed a break! I always freshly start my cooking the next morning!
Our restaurant choices balance our macrobiotic diet as well. Because we often cook with shoyu, shiitake mushroom, brown rice, nori, and many other ingredients found in Japanese restaurants, Warren’s suggesting to vary our dining experiences at other types of restaurants. So Italian, seafood, tapas, are among some of the choices we enjoy. Something different than your everyday ingredients. It’s okay even to stir things up a bit.
Remember that 5% category, EWYW. Eat Whatever You Want. We are pretty discriminating, but we’ll order pasta sauteed in olive oil and a bit of garlic with onion and sometimes marina sauce on the side. Enjoying the tomato we usually avoid. We’ve learned it can be very relaxing. And the mixed garden salads are lovely, as Fred declares!
We save our Japanese dining for a very special gourmet restaurant – our special place for our anniversary with dear friends who share our anniversary date!
So where is romantic dining alone! Everyday at home. Music finds us dancing in the kitchen at some point. Because we are so often in our kitchen, we enjoy our dining room during the colder months for all our meals. And when the weather warms, and the pollen finishes, our outdoor deck in the treetops is our dining haven. Fred positioned tiny lights around the banister, candlelight, warm tea – sometimes a little warm sake, and everyday, everyday expressing our appreciation for this wonderful way of eating. That’s the balance of our eating in.
We share the cooking, the cleanup, packing leftovers for the next day, soaking whatever we are planning to cook, so it’s not impossible or overly tiring. And there’s always the music, the dancing – the Cary Grant moments of being together. Voila, the balance, the yin and the yang of it all.
Title: Balance eating your macrobiotic diet eating at home with restaurant outings.
Description: Even on a macrobiotic diet, restaurant dining is helpful for balance, visiting friends, eating a wider food selection, and relaxing for the evening. Dining at home is very special and romantic as well.
