Good Morning! I hope you guys didn't miss me too much! I have to say, this week has been a little better but still hectic and all over the place. I doubt that I will be feeling any relief until next week. I wanted to share with you (as promised) my workouts lately. Honestly, my workouts this week have been scarce and limited. I am under the weather right now and really think that working out sometimes can hinder you getting better than helping. With that being said, I decided that rest was needed this week. I very rarely, if at all take a full week off. Sometimes though you gotta do what you gotta do. I always get my workouts from either:
or
These two sites can give you everything you need for a great workout and the best part is that it can all be done in the comfort of your own home. I wish more than anything that I would have found these sites earlier! I would have saved myself a lot of time on the stair climber and treadmill. Hopefully, they will be up and running for years to come.
Last night I saw a wonderful movie that I have been hearing about for quite some time! Have you seen The Fantastic Mr. Fox?
This movie was delightful! I loved every second of it and in fact, I watched it twice! This was just the thing to make me feel better when I'm not feeling so good. You know what else makes you feel better?
This is a simple, everyday approach to miso soup - it yields me a bowl of soup in five or ten minutes. Sometimes I go simple, other times I start adding ingredients. You can take miso soup in a thousand different directions depending on how you are feeling, what's in season at the markets, or the time of year. I tend to use lighter miso pastes in warmer months and the darker ones when I'm after a heartier, more substantial soup - sometimes I do a blend of two pastes. In place of the water you can certainly experiment with different broths, or even tea. And while this version incorporates noodles and tofu, you could certainly do all sorts of variations with sautéed vegetables. A tiny drizzle of toasted sesame oil is often a welcome addition, and mushrooms are a natural fit as well.
I would argue that this post is less a miso soup recipe, and more an encouragement to give it a go in your own kitchens. Let me know if you have any recommendations for your all-time favorite miso pastes - or if you blend, let me know your favorite blends as well. I'd be up for tracking down some new miso pastes - not just for soups, but for dressing and drizzles, and all that fun stuff as well.
Miso Soup Recipe
Miso Choice: This time around I used an organic white miso, but I'd encourage you to experiment with a range of misos.
3 ounces dried soba noodles2 - 4 tablespoons miso paste (to taste) 2 - 3 ounces firm tofu (2 handfuls), chopped into 1/3-inch cubesa handful of watercress or spinach, well washed and stems trimmed2 green onions, tops removed thinly sliceda small handful of cilantroa pinch of red pepper flakes.
ook the soba noodles in salted water, drain, run cold water over the noodles to stop them from cooking, shake off any excess water and set aside.
In a medium sauce pan bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and remove from heat. Pour a bit of the hot water into a small bowl and whisk in the miso paste - so it thins out a bit (this step is to avoid clumping). Stir this back into the pot. Taste, and then add more (the same way) a bit at a time until it is to your liking. Also, some miso pastes are less-salty than others, so you may need to add a bit of salt here. Add the tofu, remove from the heat, and let it sit for just a minute or so.
Split the noodles between two (or three) bowls, and pour the miso broth and tofu over them. Add some watercress, green onions, cilantro, and red pepper flakes to each bowl and enjoy.
Serves 2 - 3.
There you have it, a great miso recipe and if that doesnt help feed the soul than I dont know what would! Miso has some amazing benifits. Did you know? Get ready to be overloaded!
Miso's main ingredient soybeans are filled with high quality protein and has been called "meat of the field."Throgh fermentation, miso has become a very nutricious food, containing amino acids and vitamins, etc., that are not found in soybeans. Proteins in soybeans go through hydrolytic cleavage by enzyme, and about 30% of them become amino acids. They contain all 8 kinds of amino acids, that are essential to life. Other than this, miso also contains nutrients such as carbohydrate, fat, ash, vitamins, kalium, magnesium, and fiber, etc. There is not a food item, that contains this much nutrients besides miso.
There are 3 different functions in food, generally. Its primary function is nutrition, the secondary taste, and finally to maintain bodily functions or to prevent sickness. Food that has these 3 functions are called "food with health-promoting benefits."The functionality of miso has been researched scientifically, and many benefits are being unraveled.
There are 3 different functions in food, generally. Its primary function is nutrition, the secondary taste, and finally to maintain bodily functions or to prevent sickness. Food that has these 3 functions are called "food with health-promoting benefits."The functionality of miso has been researched scientifically, and many benefits are being unraveled.
By including miso in your diet, you can prevent stomach cancer.Mortality rate goes down among the people who often eat miso soup.
The higher the frequency is to eat miso soup, the less the mortality rate becomes due to stomach cancer-this is the result of the research "Relations between frequency of eating miso soup and mortality rate due to stomach cancer" by Dr. Yu Hirayama at National Cancer Center in 1981. When comparing people who eat miso soup and who don't, the mortality rate of people who does not eat it at all is higher by 50%, compared to people who eat it everyday. This tendency can be observed not only in stomach cancer,but also for cardiac infarct and liver cirrhosis, etc.
To prevent liver cancer, miso is beneficial. If intake of miso continues, even a tumor may not get bigger.
It has been confirmed by the experiment, that miso contains function to suppress occurrence of liver cancer. Male mice, that had tendency to naturally generate liver cancer,were each given "standard feed"and "feed with miso" for 16 months.The mice that were given feed with miso had smaller, less number of tumors,and the rate of reoccurrence has greatly decreased.
Miso may also provide protection against cancer and, most promisingly, breast cancer.
Among the most widely reported and promising of miso’s anti-cancer effects is its apparent ability to reduce the incidence of breast cancer. What gives miso this ability are phytoestrogens, naturally occurring plant compounds with estrogenic properties that are believed to provide protection against breast cancer. Researchers investigating the link between miso soup consumption and the later incidence of breast cancer discovered that, compared to women who had one or fewer bowls of miso soup per day, women who had two bowls daily cut their risk of breast cancer by 26%, while those who consumed three or more bowls a day reduced their risk by 40%. In other words, the research showed that the incidence of breast cancer decreased as the intake of miso soup increased.
Miso protects gastric mucosa. Eating miso for a long time could prevent diseases of the stomach.
Miso has a function to protect gastric mucosa. Research result indicates, that people who eat miso soup everyday or sometimes have less diseases of the stomach, compared to people who do not eat it at all, such as gastric inflammation, gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, etc. The research also indicated, that there is not too much difference between ages 20～50, however, high percentage of people who eat miso soup regularly are hard to incur stomach disease after age 60.
Miso's main ingredient soybeans are full of beneficial elements against cholesterol.
Cholesterol is essential for human being, however excessive ones will pile up inside the body, attach themselves to blood vessels and could cause stroke, heart attack, and thrombosis, etc. Saponin that is contained within soybeans are known to suppress serum cholesterol, and lecithin and dietary fiber function to eliminate cholesterol. Even after soybeans become miso, these functions do not disappear,and they will help suppress cholesterol level from going up. They will not bring cholesterol level too low.
Soybean protein maintains blood vessels in healthy condition, which can lead to prevention of strokes.
Major cause for strokes are due to hardening of arteries. Saponin keeps arteries healthy, and calcium prevents blood from clotting.Kalium and dietary fiber take excessive sodium out of body, and magnesium prevents sodium from piling up, suppressing blood pressure from going up.As a result, hardening of arteries are prevented, avoiding tendency to have a stroke.
Aging occurs mainly due to oxidation of cells. Miso suppresses this oxidation process and helps you to stay youthful.
Aging means for the whole bodily organism and functions to decline. It means for blood vessels and body cells to deteriorate, and its main cause is the oxidation of cellular lipids. This lipid peroxide triggers various kinds of lifestyle-related diseases and is considered to be a major factor to accelerate aging.Therefore to prevent aging, it is important to eat food containing antioxidant, such as miso.
Miso discourages combination of melanin, preventing blemishes and freckles.
Melanin is a substance which colors our skin and hair. Its reaction with ultraviolet rays can increase its number, resulting in blemishes and freckles.Isolation linoleic acid contained in miso discourages combination of melanin. Since long time ago it has been said, that people who make miso have fair, smooth hands. You can expect the effect on beautiful skin by eating miso soup everyday.
Food items you eat with miso are digested and absorbed well by the functions of amino acid and enzyme.
Protein is necessary nutrients for human body, but it takes time for digestion and absorption. However, 30% of protein contained in miso has become amino acid through decomposition, making it easy to digest and absorb. Miso also has digestive enzyme, that has high degree of activity, helping food items eaten with miso to be digested and absorbed easily.
Miso is a cleaner of the intestines.Fiber and microorganisms work together to clean the intestines.
This benefit was widely known, as there is a proverb from the Edo Period, "Miso cleans the intestines, working like a digestive agent."Fiber from soybeans cleans the intestines, and microorganisms within miso take septic organism and harmful substances outside the body.
Vitamin B12 contained in miso promotes blood-forming function and nerval recovery from fatigue.
Fermented product miso contains vitamin B12, which encourages blood-forming and prevention of nerval fatigue.When you eat aromatic miso soup, nerves are relieved, making you feel lighter. This is not just an imagination, but miso does possess power such as that.
Miso is "Health food for brain."It contains rich amount of nutrients, that makes the wheels turn faster.
When you eat protein and vitamin B group together, metabolism in the brain is encouraged, making the wheels turn faster.In addition, operation of the nervous system within the brain cannot be done without choline and acetylcholine.Lecithin in miso contains this choline richly, which is why miso is called "Health food for the brain."
Wow! I know right! If you want a great ready to go paste see if this brand is in your health food store.
This brand rocks and I love that you can make your miso as strong as you want it! What do you do to make yourself feel better when your under the weather?
Hope to see you tomorrow!
-Heather
