Kula’s 100th-Day Memorial

In Buddhist tradition, the 100th-day memorial is prominent after the 49th-day memorial. (I wrote about what we did for Kula for 49th-Day Memorial here)

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Kulas Albums with 214 photos in 84 pages.

 

We express our affection and gratitude to Kula—who departed on August 1, 2016—in a natural manifestation of untainted and pure emotion.         This is an occasion for sincere and deep reflection on life and death.

The 100th-day memorial is a time to sort out clothing and other items that belonged to the deceased and share them with others, sending gratitude to family and friends. After 100 days, you are supposed to stop crying.

 

I washed Kula’s collar, towels, and bed and gave them to other dogs.

I decided to send Kula’s 49th-day memorial cards—with my calligraphy and art envelopes—to family and friends who could not come.

That took time, but I completed!

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Sending Kula’s card with my calligraphy and art envelopes.

 

I feel Kula’s existence every day, but I felt it, even more, when I celebrated her 100th-day memorial. I practiced yoga felt Kula that morning so strongly and my tears came down as missing her…

 

We went to the beach restaurant where we used to go with Kula.

It was a warm day, even though it is November, so there was no parking by the beach. I called to Kula and asked her to find parking, and she gave us a perfect parking spot in a second. We knew Kula was an angle, but now she is also a parking angel!

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Eric & Happy at the beach

We decided to take Happy along with us since Happy has received the most influence from Kula since they walked together everyday for a few years; we went to the water after dinner and called to Kula!

Kula loved the beach so much, and we went to the beach with her for many years…we felt that she was there enjoying herself even now.

We thank Kula for her life and memories.

 

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Kula’s favorite plumeria flowers are still blooming this year!

With love and Kula’s favorite plumeria flowers (even November they are still blooming this year),

Sanae💖

Take Care of Your Kidneys – Ginger Compress Hands On Workshop

The kidneys are more active in the winter season and they do not like cold weather, so this is a good time to take care of them.

Your kidneys’ health is connected to:

  • Maintaining blood pressure
  • Controlling blood glucose levels for those with diabetes
  • Maintaining cholesterol levels
  • Helping regulates or loses weight
  • Relieving back, knee and joint pain
  • Reducing swelling
  • Helping/Preventing skin problems
  • And more!

 

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Azuki Remedy Drink with Kombu Sea Vegetable and Umeboshi Plum

 

In this class, you will learn:

  • How to make an adzuki bean remedy drink to help regulate kidney functions
  • How to make the azuki bean sweet which is gentle for the kidneys
  • How to make and apply a ginger compress to help dissolve stagnation and tension and to stimulate blood circulation for the kidneys and other areas
  • Meridian points for strengthening the kidneys
  • Exercises to stimulate for the kidneys

 

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What you need for Ginger Compress

 

This warkshop is a hands-on class so you make your own Ginger Compress and apply it over your kidneys or/and other areas that you want.

Please bring a 1-gallon stainless pot (so you can take your ginger compress with you and use it one more time at home), also at least two washcloths and two hand towels for your ginger compress, and a blanket (for you lie on the floor).

 

Date: Sunday, Oct. 30, 2016

Time: 2~5pm

Location: Studio “mugen” 2610 23rd St. Santa Monica, CA 90405

Fee: $60

Only 5 people can be taken this workshop!

 

http://www.meetup.com/Vegan-Macrobiotic-Community-Meetup-Group/events/234849170/

If you want to attend the class, please email me sanaehealing@gmail.com

 

Love,

Sanae💖

Pumpkin Season’s Healthy Tips and Recipe

Happy pumpkin season to all of you!

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Here are the Pumpkin Benefits for you:

  • Good for eyesight: Pumpkin is high in beta carotene and contains vitamin A, which is good for our eyes.
  • Helps weight loss: Pumpkin is high in fiber and low in calories, so we can get a full feeling with fewer calories.
  • Supports the heart: Pumpkin seeds help reduce LDL, or bad cholesterol.
  • Protects the skin: Pumpkin’s orange hue is from carotenoids, wrinkle-fighting plant pigments that help neutralize free radicals in the skin.
  • Mood booster: Pumpkin seeds are rich in the amino acid L-tryptophan, a compound that improves mood naturally and may even be effective against depression.

 

Seasonal Recipe:

MILLET with KABOCHA (Japanese Hard Squash)

This is one of my favorite recipes for this season. It is easy to make and very delicious!

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1 cup millet
3 to 4 cups purified water
1 cups Kabocha, diced
1⁄8 teaspoon sea salt
 or 1″ square kombu sea vegetable
roasted pumpkin seeds as you like

① Wash the millet and lightly dry roast the washed millet in a skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly until it smells toasty.
② Meanwhile, in a large saucepan over medium- high heat, bring the water to a boil. Add millet, kabocha and sea salt, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20       minutes.
③ Serve with roasted pumpkin seeds as garnish.

 

Hope you try it.

Love,

Sanae 💖

Making “Love, Seed Kitchen” Short Documentary Film

Seed Kitchen restaurant was our life for the last eight years. It was our dream to open our own plant-based, vegan, and macrobiotic restaurant.

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It started after I met my husband, Eric Lechasseur, in 1991. He was only 23 when I met him, but he was already an executive chef at one of the big resort hotels in México.

 

I was going through my separation and divorce from my first husband, and I was exhausted. I was extremely fatigued and got sick with flu symptoms almost all the time in 1992, and I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer the following year. I was told to meet a macrobiotic counselor, Cecile Levin, to get her advice for healing myself. I did my best to follow her directions for cooking healing, plant-based, vegan, macrobiotic foods, remedy drinks, special compresses, shiatsu massage, Do-In exercise and more. I started to feel better within three weeks or so, but it took a year to really know this was working, as shown by blood test results and other proof.

After I completely recovered from ovarian cancer in 1995, I started having many dreams.

 

Eric was a French training chef in Quebec and France, so after he helped me heal my cancer, he started to create his plant-based, vegan, macrobiotic recipes. Every chef’s dream is to open their own restaurant, so opening a plant-based, vegan, macrobiotic restaurant became one of our dreams.

 

I came up with the name “Seed” because I felt what we were doing was planting a seed in helping others and ourselves to be healthy and happy with delicious food. We did not have much money, and we didn’t have any family living in America, since Eric is from Quebec, Canada, and I am from Nagoya, Japan.

 

We established together our company, Mugen LLC, in 1999 and offered a plant-based, vegan, macrobiotic dinner club and put on special-course dinner events – we call a pop-up restaurant. Making our package foods at a commercial kitchen and deliver them to Co-op market, Erewhon Natural Foods Store and more.

 

I was faced with another challenge in my life in 2001 when I had a near-fatal car crash that left me with many bone fractures in my legs and caused my heart and lungs to fail. Under such distress, I fell into a coma for three days; after that, I was bedridden for one year, with no mobility for three years. But I kept my practice and faith in macrobiotics, and with time, I healed myself. Now I walk every day and became yoga teacher this year.

 

Even with all of our struggles, we never lost our dream. We started saving our money and looking for our dream restaurant location in 2005.

 

It was not a perfect place, but in 2008, we found a location near Venice Beach, where people were coming from all over the world. With just our savings, some help from my brother, and a couple of friends’ financial support, we opened Seed Kitchen.

 

We were so happy to have so many people come from all over to eat at Seed. We were delighted by many magazines’ coverage of our restaurant, as well as Eric had become a runner-up in a 2010 PETA food contest. We have such appreciation for all the staff who worked for Seed, as well as all the customers who enjoyed our food for so long.

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We love Seed Kitchen’s food so much! For eight years, we offered some of the best plant-based, freshly made food every day. Our five different burgers were definitely the most popular: Southwest burger with whole grains and beans, BBQ tempeh burger, seitan sirloin burger, Mediterranean burger, and slow-simmer BBQ seitan burger. Plus, we offered three different kinds tacos, a macrobiotic “Sai Sai” bowl, and three different curry dishes. We made all-fresh, in-house sauces, dressings, salsas and pesto, as well as Eric’s wonderful original seitan and, of course, his amazing desserts.

 

We were a small restaurant, but we made high-quality original, fresh foods. We also followed the macrobiotic principles that helped me in healing from ovarian cancer and my car crash. This brought us to cut refined sugar from any of the desserts, the BBQ sauce, and everything we make. We use sea vegetables for minerals in our sauces.

 

Eric’s favorites include the Blackened Tempeh with Mango Salsa Burger, Rosemary Seitan, Coconut Curry, BBQ Seitan Burger and Crispy Tempeh Chorizo. My favorites include the Japanese Curry, Miso Goddess Ramen, San Felipe Tacos and Southwest Burger. Of course, I think we just put our favorite foods on the menu.

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We really wanted people to come to Seed Kitchen before or after going to the beach. We love going to the beach ourselves and enjoy our life with ocean water.

 

We are very sad to be closing Seed Kitchen. A month before closing I decided to make a short documentary film—with the help of our good friend Claire Johnson—for ourselves, others who loved Seed Kitchen, and people who could not come to taste our food in person. Claire came to start shooting the film seven days before the closing.

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We could not capture everything and everyone, but we received so many emails, Facebook and Instagram messages, and phone calls from people who are going to miss Seed Kitchen. One woman came and was crying, asking where she would go from now on to eat delicious, safe and healthy food. We almost cried, too.

 

Making this film made us realize how much Seed Kitchen meant to so many people and to ourselves. The eight years’ labor of love, our passion, effort and even stress we had—they are so valuable for our future. We can’t thank you enough for these opportunities. We will miss our Seed Kitchen—and we plan to publish Seed Kitchen’s cookbook next year!

 

We hope that when this film is completed, it plants a seed of inspiration for your heath and happiness.

Here is the first trailer of Love, Seed Kitchen.

Hope you like it.

Love,

Sanae💖

Kula, Golden Retriever’s 49th-Day Memorial

Kula came into my life when I was in my wheelchair in 2003 after I had a near-fatal car crash. Her mother, Kin, was my service dog. After Kin departed, I wished for Kula to be my service dog. She was a very shy and quiet puppy, so even during the two years that we took her to training, I was not sure if she could be a service dog. But she worked to build her confidence and passed the test.

 

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Kula’s 49th-Day Gathering register desk with friends wishes for Kula.

 

Kula was the most gentle, smart and kind dog I’ve ever met. She became not only my service dog—opening the door, picking up things I dropped—but also my beloved dog daughter, who was there for me every day to enjoy her life with us. She loved going to the beach, on mountain hikes, swimming, diving into Manzanita Lake, and enjoying the snow. We had a beautiful life together for 13 years.

I felt much sadness after Kula departed on August 1, 2016.

I wanted to honor her life and process my grief and longing through a memorial gathering with my husband Eric and others who’d loved her all her life.

Kula used to go to senior homes, where she made many people happy, as well as to the Santa Monica Farmers Market, where she’d meet children and let them feed her organic apples.

Please read about her going to senior homes and Santa Monica Farmers Market on my blog.

 

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This is the memorial card I made for the friends/guests with her favorite flowers: plumeria and white hibiscus.

 

 

 

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Here is Kula’s photo album “Kula’s Beautiful Life”, which I made with Eric. It contains 84 pages and 214 photos.

 

We had 26 guests, and we got all kinds of great food (everything was vegan, except one dish). I made Kula’s favorite hijiki dish, and Eric made Kula Cake—vanilla flavor with almond cream.

These below photos were taking by our good friend, Claire Johnson.

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Sanae (me) and Eric with Eric’s Kula Cake and all the potluck food!

 

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Vadaka

 

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Jeff and Phung and their daughter, Quyen and son, Khai with Kula’s sister, Oro, Jessica, Florence and Manuela…

 

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Masano and Rin.

 

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Sanae (me) and Allison with Kula’s nephew, Bubu

 

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Michellee and her mom.

 

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Sanae (me) with Kula’s dog family Health Happy Pooches (let to right Bubu, Happy, Oro, Leo and Lumi).

 

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Sal & Mariko with Kula’s grand niece, Happy.

 

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Stephanie, Sally, and Karin.

 

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John, Carole, Manuela and Jessica…

 

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Eric with powerful vegan ladies: Chef AJ, Armaiti, Shayda and Lisa

 

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Michiyo, Dan, Masako and Yoko singing and dancing

 

 

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Singing Kula’s Pacific Blue

 

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Amanda

 

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Michiyo & Dan

 

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Everyone put incent for Kula.

 

Our friends/guests shared their wishes, thoughts, and love for Kula.

I sang “Kula’s Pacific Blue” (I changed the lyrics) with Eric’s ukulele, accompanied by Dan How, our ukulele teacher.

I was nervous and made mistakes—you can see how I sang—but it was from my heart, and I really want to share it with everyone.The video was posted by Kula and our friend Chef AJ on Facebook.

Claire and I were able to retrieve it and post on Youtube so you can watch it and remember we had a fun and good memorial for Kula.

Kula’s Pacific Blue!

As I said in this video, animals have feelings and emotions, just like humans. Honoring their lives and holding memorial services help us to experience healthy grieving and learn how to be good humans.

 

With gratitude and love of light,

 

Sanae 💖

 

 

Everything changes…

Eric and I have had many dreams since we met in 1991.
One of those dreams was to open our own vegan macrobiotic restaurant.
After I overcame ovarian cancer (1992~1995) and near fatal car crash (2001)
we started to save money and look for a location in 2005.

We found one where people come from all over the world: Venice Beach.

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September 2008 before we remolded the location

 

It was not a perfect location, but we thought it was a good location near the beach and many nationality people could just come to eat when they visit the world famous “Venice Beach” at that time, and we started to work toward the opening in Aug. 2008.

 

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Openings day November 4th, 2008 after remodeled

 

We opened Seed Kitchen on November 4th, 2008 with a hope and passion to be a successful restaurant making fresh and mostly organic house-made, delicious and healthy vegan macrobiotic food.

 

Seed Kitchen’s last day is September 27, 2016.

We are very sad, even though we know that “everything changes” in life.
We have tried our best to sustain the business, but over the last two and a half years, after the rent went up significantly, it was a very challenging time for us. We used all our savings to save the business, and we even borrowed money, but though we tried our best to keep a quality, honest business, we suffered financially. Our best may not be good enough, and after eight years, it is time for us to move on.

 

One of our chefs has worked for Seed Kitchen since its opening, so he was sad when we told him that we are closing. I was so sad and cried. We honor all the employees who worked hard for us, so we will make sure they all get their paychecks on the last day.

 

We were not a perfect restaurant, but we made fresh, mostly organic, vegan macrobiotic food every day for eight years in Los Angeles (one of the biggest cities in the world), so this itself is a success to us!

Thank you so much for last 8 years!

 

Eric will continue working as a private vegan macrobiotic chef for his private clients and special events, and I will continue to help people and animal family through whole-health macrobiotic counseling and teaching—including vegan macrobiotic cooking classes. I am also teaching Do-In yoga as a certified yoga teacher now and of course, Bach Flower registered practitioner, reiki practitioner, animal communicator, etc.

 

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Everything changes…

The universal order.

We hope to meet/see you somewhere when our paths cross.

 

With gratitude…

Love,

Sanae