Let me tell you about our daughter Karyn. When our granddaughter, Brittany, was 18 months old, Karyn called me saying, I just gave Brittany her first macrobiotic cooking lesson! She cut the vegetables, stirred the food, measured the water, added the rice, and made gomashio!

Music to my ears. With all the love we have for our children and grandchildren, it’s so gratifying to know they are choosing healthy foods and lifestyle. And even teaching the next generation when kids adore playing in the kitchen with mommy! When it’s fun!

Karyn’s pantry and fridge contains all the foods on a macrobiotic diet, plus some traditional items for company. And her children know the difference. When Brittany was about 2 she declared in a children’s music group her favorite food was TOFU! All the other children claimed french fries, chicken wings or pizza. Macrobiotic food, as you learn in macrobiotic cooking classes, is very tasty, and kids love that genuine taste and aroma. It smells so good is a familiar comment in a macrobiotic kitchen.

Brittany and her sister Alyssa often participate in meal preparation, and even help select recipes, browsing macrobiotic cookbooks for some new, yummy dish. They have taken many Whole Foods cooking classes for kids, even the week-long summer camp. They assisted in these classes as well. At age 10 Brittany and Alyssa have each assisted during Warren Kramer’s cooking classes at our home, truly contributing. Kids love to help, and teaching them cooking skills while they are young and helping is fun for them is the key!

So what macrobiotic dishes are perfect kid-starters? Scrambled tofu – you get to scrunch up the tofu in your hands, and chop the veggies. Mochi waffles with Suzanne’s Maple Rice Syrup. Tempeh and seitan, deep-fried! Pasta salads with pickles and olives, blanched veggies, and yummy dressing. Kanten fruit desserts blended into a strawberry mousse or orange soufflé. Creamy pureed vegetable soups without the cream. Nori rolls with almond butter, cucumbers and whatever else your kids like. Fried fish, hummus dip and crunchy veggies. Tempura everything! Parsley’s the best, broccoli and other greens, even nori rolls. Kids love stirring the batters, and let them be inventive! Even if you are on a stricter diet, they might add coconut or healthy rice crispies to roll the battered seitan and what a treat you have!

You’ll want to buy the tiny iwachu iron pot for the deep frying, and sometimes we just keep ours on the stove. You can order this pot from Essene in Philadelphia by calling:  215 . 922 . 1146.  Sometimes you may have to describe the pot: it’s round with an iron handle, and wood lid, costing approximately $49 plus shipping. You definitely want the small size which allows you to use less oil.

Kid’s school lunches! Let ‘em look like everyone else. Sandwich, fruit, noodles, hummus and blanched veg, nori roll if they are comfortable with it. With all the sushi and nori rolls prepared at the grocers today, this macrobiotic favorite way of carrying rice and veggies might be the in thing.  And when they get home have a hearty dish to tide them over for dinner. Leftover warm soup & steamed sourdough bread may be very welcome on a cold afternoon. Or if you drive them directly to an activity, bring a favorite dish in the car. Pasta and sauce, fried tofu, warm apple juice, fried seitan, thermos of warm bancha tea. Let them request!

And making meals easier for your new attendees! Sometimes your youngsters get inquistive, asking what’s for dinner? I always just answer dinner. Especially if your kids show any resistance. Learn their favorites, and include them often!

Relax, have fun with the macrobiotic foods and let your kids have a fun ride on your new regime for health. Everyone benefits in the long run, and what wonderful peace of mind, knowing your children have the best quality food, and healthy horizons ahead! That’s Everything!

Great macrobiotic books for families with kids:

The Macrobiotic Community Cookbook, by Andrea Bliss Lerman features kids favorites made in the macrobiotic cooking style: pizza, stoganoff, lasagne, burrito, millet-cauliflower mashed potatoes that make perfect potato pancakes, without any potatoes at all. And lots more.

Sweet and Natural, by Meredith McCarty features 120 desserts without sugar, eggs, butter, cream and yeast. Pies, tarts, cakes, cookies – everyone delights in these recipes.

Grains and Greens from the Deep Blue Sea, by Mark Hanna and Sandy Purkel features recipes from the Macrobiotic Cruise. Each one becomes your new favorite! So get ready to try them all! The Millet Croquets taste just like tuna fish, and the tartar sauce is amazing! The desserts are wow! Can this really be good for us! Yes indeedy!

Cooklets by Melanie Waxman. All Melanie’s recipes are terrific, and you might want to get the complete bound issue. Having seven children of her own, Melanie has excellent recipes for children in Cooking for Children section, and throughout all the cooklets! Try the Soba Knots in Oodles of Noodles! With 7 children of her own, Melanie is the expert  keeping kids interested in their health eats!

Cooking the Whole Foods Way, by Christina Pirello. Delish cuisine, kids will enjoy & request their favorites!

Cook Your Food to the Life You Want, by Christina Pirello. Christina Pirello’s recipe books are quite excellent, as she has taken traditional European recipes and perfected the macrobiotic conversion for you.  Amazing variety to delight all your family!

In every macrobiotic cooking class when kids are still within the home, my clients ask, what do I feed my children? It’s a huge concern. Young women diagnosed with breast and other cancers, and researching alternative cancer treatments, invariably worry this dilemma. Realizing they want to change their eating, but not wanting to make waves within their home. Not wanting to impose their needs on their husband and not wanting to worry their children or make any noticeable fuss at home. In fact, Warren Kramer, our Senior Macrobiotic Counselor says one of the reasons young mothers get sick, and often develop breast cancer is they don’t take the time to take care of themselves; they are so busy taking care of everyone else.

I always encourage my clients to cook one way. Let the family eat macro too. Kids adore this food. It’s nothing new under the sun. The macrobiotic diet goes way back to eating a more natural, common sense cooking style, like our great, great, great grandparents. Before packaged food. Before frozen foods. Before microwave and health bars. True food, cooked well, but not overcooked. Actually it’s exquisitely prepared cuisine.

Have you ever heard the person wearing the apron strings in the home controls the health of the family? That’s the ticket! While your children are still living at home, you get the perfect chance to influence and improve their health. What better gift for your spouse and children than to effectuate the way they eat. You’ll get to influence your kids’ food choices for all the times in their lives away from home –  school, camp, college, and restaurants just to name a few.

As you experience macrobiotic diet benefits firsthand, you will learn even more reasons to feed your family the same balanced meals you eat. Letting your kids assist you in the kitchen truly lets them participate in your healing process in a very personal and special way. They will feel better too. Skin problems, fatigue, easier concentration at school, improved athletic performance are just a few of the benefits they will enjoy right away. I always say, as you see them improve, you’ll know you are on the right track too.

And your spouse. Well, some of my clients say, my husband is wonderful and supportive, but he’s a meat and potato man. Okay, but he’s your biggest cheerleader too, your partner, so invite him to participate. When you set up your kitchen, set up two complete workstations: 2 wood cutting boards and 2 chef’s knives. And double some of the other kitchen gadgets you learn to use in our macrobiotic cooking classes. And voila, you immediately have a partner in the kitchen! What I call romancing the stone after Michael Douglas’s films. Our CD’s are nearby, and we always have a favorite song we are dancing to. Kids enjoy this too. I always say our kitchen is really a wonderful dance floor that just happens to have a stove in the middle of it!

Just have a taste, or try this, honey, it’s so delicious. New phrases for introducing dishes to your family. One of my clients had a everyone has to taste everything on the plate rule. When they did, a quarter went into this huge jar. When the jar filled they went on a trip somewhere. Or did something special. You should have heard her sons urging each other to try the food! And some 14 years later her health has improved, and all three sons & their wives eat very healthy. And their own children. You can snowball this very same effect.

What a wonderful legacy to give your family! I think it’s the best information we’ve given our own children, and set the pace for future generations. And it’s been very empowering when health issues arise to be able to reach for The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health, by Michio Kushi and Alex Jack, and tell our daughters what page a specific home remedy is on. If a situation is new to me, I suggest a call to Warren Kramer for his advice. Because we’ve established that direct tie with our children and Warren too. I’ve gotta say strengthening the bond with your kids & your Macrobiotic Counselor has to be one of the most satisfying moments of all! And one of the greatest benefits of our being on a Macrobiotic Diet! Getting our kids on it too! This is the one of the greatest gifts you can give your children: their ability to choose a healthy lifestyle.

Books with wonderful recipes for families

• The Macrobiotic Path to Total Health, Michio Kushi and Alex Jack
• Sweet and Natural, Meredith McCarthy
• The Macrobiotic Community Cookbook, Andre Bliss Lerman
  
• Grains and Greens from the Deep Blue Sea, Mark Hanna & Sandy Pukel