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Gluten-Free Oil Free Vegan Plant-Based Baked Donuts

Gluten-free and none-fried donuts and vegan plant-based?

Enough to satisfy health-conscious donut lovers.

Autumn and winter’s weather is getting cooler and cold, baking and longer cooking are warm up the house, and the aroma of baking foods and snack help to ground our energy. Instead of going out like summertime, we stay home and read, write or create inside at home is a natural universal order. Restful activities support our health for next spring.

The original recipe of Gluten-Free Baked Donuts is on Eric’s revised dessert cookbook “Love, Eric,” none-fried donut, but it has a little oil in the ingredients.

If you are interested Eric’s desserts cookbook, you can purchase from my website https://sanaesuzuki.com/product/love-eric-revised/

Gluten-Free and None-Fried Vegan Donuts Original with oil

Make 12 donuts

For the donuts:

3⁄4 cup gluten-free flour mix

1⁄2 cup almond flour

1⁄4 cup arrowroot powder

1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder

1⁄2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1⁄4 teaspoon sea salt

1⁄8 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

1⁄3 cup maple syrup

1⁄3 olive oil

juice from one lemon

zest from one lemon

1⁄2 cup hot water

For the toppings:

1/2 cup almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans or any other nut of your choice

olive oil for brushing donut tops

To make the donuts:

1. Combine the flours, arrowroot powder, baking powder, xantham gum, salt, baking soda and rosemary in a bowl and set aside.

2. In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients until creamy.

3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mix, add the lemon zest and stir until the mixture is slightly lumpy.

4. Using a 2-ounce ice cream scoop, pour the batter into a donut pan and bake at 350°F until golden brown, about 16 minutes.

To make the topping:

1. Place finely chopped nuts on a plate.

2. Brush the tops of each donut with olive oil and sprinkle with chopped nuts.

Recently, Eric created gluten-free and oil free baked donuts recipe for Chef AJ’s youtube show. It will be on Saturday, November 14th, 2021, at 11 am by Zoom. You can see it on her Facebook too.

Now it is on YouTube.

Gluten-Free Oil-Free Vegan Baked Donuts

MAKES 12 DONUTS

For the donuts:

3⁄4 cup gluten-free flour mix

1⁄2 cup almond flour

1⁄4 cup arrowroot powder

1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder

1⁄2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1⁄4 teaspoon sea salt

1⁄8 teaspoon baking soda

1⁄3 cup maple syrup

1⁄3 coconut yogurt

1⁄2 cup purified hot water

For the toppings:

1 tablespoon kuzu (also known as kudzu medicinal starch)

½ cup purified water

½ cup strawberry jam or maple butter

To make the donuts:

1. Combine the flours, arrowroot powder, baking powder, xantham gum, salt, baking soda in a bowl and set aside.

2. In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients until creamy.

3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mix and stir until the mixture is slightly lumpy.

4. Using a 2-ounce ice cream scoop, pour the batter into a donut pan and bake at 350°F until golden brown, about 16 minutes.

To make the topping:

1. Mix the kuzu and water in a pan, bring to medium heat and frequently mix until clear and thicken. Add the jam or maple butter and mix again.

2. Top each donut of jam with a spoon.

I enjoy my baked donut with my roasted brown rice twig tea or grain coffee.

Enjoy your delicious baked donuts!

Love,

Sanae

Healing Balance in Season – Late Summer

The common season we usually know is four seasons.
I have been practicing “The Five Element” theory of five seasons since 1993.

Spring – Wood

Summer – Fire

Late summer – Earth/Soil

Autumn – Metal

Winter – Water

as the principal elements of the material world.

Each season has a different balance of our health with foods, ways of cooking, and lifestyles.

Quick examples:

Summer is a hot season, and you eat cooling food with quick-cooking.

Lifestyle is active. Wear light material clothes and open the window. Use fun or AC to cool down.

Winter is a cold season, and you eat warm food with longer cooking, presser cooking, stewing and baking.

Lifestyle is time to slow down, wear warmer and thicker material clothes, close the window. Use a fireplace or heater to heat our house.

I live in Santa Monica, California – the northern temperate zone is in late summer season right now. Late Summer begins around the third week of August and runs through the Fall Equinox, which is late September.

Do you know what to eat for late summer?

According to the five elements, it is Earth/Soil season.

Late summer is around 3 pm of the day when we take a little rest to have tea and something naturally sweet.

For whole grains, sweet rice, millet is supporting us in late summer – earth/soil energy organs of spleen/pancreas and stomach. And round vegetables (cabbage, kabocha squash, cauliflower, etc.) are recommended to eat.

One of my self-published cookbooks, “Love, Sanae” has more details on what foods support each season, not just grains and vegetables, page 88~91. I hope you check them up!

I want to share late summer season balanced whole grain millet recipes today.

Millet is rich in plant-based protein, whole grain and fiber, nutritious, non-glutinous (non-sticky), and not acid-forming foods, thus making them very easy to digest when you learn how to cook.

Millet supports pancreas and spleen organs which need to focus in late summer.

I showed how to cook millet in my cooking classes every late summer:

Millet and Kabocha Squash with Roasted Pumpkin Seed

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

1cup millet

4 cups purified water

1 cup kabocha squash, cut into about 1” dice

1 “ kombu kelp

1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds

1. Wash millet:

1) Place a strainer into a larger bowl and fill it with purified water. Wash millet gently, stirring with your hand in a counter-clockwise direction when you want to be more energetic or in a clockwise direction when you want to be more relaxed.

2) Drain the water (reserving it to water your plant later) and repeat the washing step three times or until the water is almost clear.

3) Strain the millet and cook as it is or soak or roast, depending on your health condition.

2. Place 4 cups water in the large pan and bring to boil. Add millet and Kombu kelp. Reduce heat to low and add Kabocha squash and cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, rinse the pumpkins seeds and strain them, and roast on a skillet.

4. When millet and kabocha are done, remove from the flame and allow to sit another 5~10 minutes.

5. Take the cover of millet and kabocha. Use wood rice paddle or spoon that has moistened in water to prevent sticking, stir gentle from outside.

6. Serve with the roasted pampering seeds.

7. Itadakimasu (bonappetit)!

Here is youtube link how to make “Millet and Kabocha with Roasted Pumpkin Seed”,

Creamy Millet with Fresh Parsley Sauce

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

1 cup millet

5 cups purified water

pinch sea salt

Fresh Parsley Sauce

To make the millet:

1. Wash millet:

2) Drain the water (reserving it to water your plant later) and repeat the washing step 3 times or until the water is almost clear.

3) Strain the millet and cook as it is or soak or roast, depending on your health condition.

2.In a large saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add millet and sea salt. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Remove from the flame and all pan to site undisturbed for another 5 to 10 minutes before you remove the cover.

4. Serve with Fresh Parsley Sauce.

5. Itadakimasu (bonappetit)!

For the parsley sauce:

2 table spoons kuzu*

1 cup purified water

1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped and squeezed of excess water

sea salt

To make the parsley sauce:

In a small saucepan, combine the kuzu and water/ Stir well until kuzu is completely dissolved.
Place the saucepan over a medium flame, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the chopped parsley and cook for another minute.
Serve over the Creamy Millet.

*Kuzu (kudzu)-A white starchlike extract made from the wild root of kuzu vine; used for thickening soups, beverages, desserts and sauce. Also used for medicinal purposes.

One of my self-published cookbooks, “Love, Sanae” has more millet recipes and also shows what kind of whole grains, vegetables, beans, sea vegetables, cooking style and many more for each season.

If you want to purchase my book from me directly, please email me at sanaehealing@gmail.com

After surviving two different cancers and a near-death car accident, healing balance is vital to know.

Knowing what foods support us each season takes time to learn.

I also realized our health has seasons. Finding out which season your health is in is critical—and understanding what and how to apply your health seasons is the key to heal yourself.

I hope to share what I have learned from my experiences with you when the time is right.

Love,

Sanae ❤️

Santa Monica Homemade Umeboshi Plums

There is a word in Japanese “teshigoto” (手仕事）means Seasonal Handwork. Making Umeboshi plums is one of seasonal handwork for early summer. Japanese Ume Plum season in Japan is usually June through July, but California is usually in May.

I am fortunate to appreciate and continue to practice the Japanese origin culture even I left at 19 Japan, where I was born.

One of my favorites is making Japanese-style pickles.

I wouldn’t say I liked eating pickles growing up, and I also did not pay attention much when my grandmother and mother were making pickles.

It tasted salty and smell funny to me at that time. I always favor eating something sweet taste when I was younger.

Umeboshi plums are the only pickles I ate when I was a child because they were usually inside rice balls (onigiri) that my grandmother and my mother made. Their saltness blended well with rice, and I love nori seaweed wrapped outside of balls. I also like it over the rice in an obento box. The color of reddish-pink in white rice (I was growing up mostly eating white rice as the primary grain) was also attractive to me and did not have the weird smell that most of the pickles had.

There are many memories of eating rice balls with umeboshi plums.

I want to share one of them.

When I was three years old, my mother made a rice ball (onigiri) before going to a public bath (銭湯sento) because I was hungry. My parents were young, and they did not have good incomes so they did not have money to buy enough food on those days and I got hungry a lot. When I get too hungry, my mother made a small rice ball with an umeboshi plum. One small rice balls(onigiri) was not enough to satisfy my tummy sometimes so my mother said, “Suck the umeboshi pit if you are still hungry. “

I sacked for 2~3 hours; the pit got a little softened and I was able to break it. There was a seed inside the pit, which had the skin and when I took the skin out to find a tiny seed, I called Kamisama (God). I had no idea why I called it Kamisama (God). My mother told me that you are a strange child. And asked me, why do you call inside umeboshi pit is Kamisama (God)? I just said, “because it is so precious, I feel Kamisama (god) is inside of Umeboshi pit. “

Photo: Umeboshi plums’ seeds – Left, umeboshi plum’s seed with skin separated shell after suck for 2~3 hours and dry for a few days on the kitchen counter. Center, over 20 years aged umeboshi plum’s seed and separated skin and shell. Right, three years aged umeboshi plum’s seed and separated skin and shell. The front umeboshi plum seed with shell.

When I grew up, I found out the legend that Tenjinsama (god in heaven at Tenjin shrine; a shrine dedicated to the memory of Sugawara no Michizane, who is deified as a symbol of learning.) is inside Umeboshi plum pit.

I could not believe it when I found out that Yenjinsama is inside the umeboshi plum pit, but then I confirmed what I felt every time I suck the umeboshi plum pit and got the seed inside there was Tenjinsama (god in heaven). Inside the umeboshi plum pit’s tiny whitish seed has a slightly bitter taste. It has plenty of vitamin B17 and helps to reduce fever.

I was connected to Umeplums since I was a young age. I was fortunate to go and help Kazuko and Jyunsei Yogi’s Ume orchard (they had over 400 ume plums trees and have made the first American grow organic Umeboshi plums 1983~2007) in Oroville, California, a few years later when I started to practice macrobiotics with my friend Nanayo. Kazuko and Jyunsei taught me how to work hard and appreciate the nature of Ume trees with their fruits heavest to make umeboshi plums and grow red shiso leaves. After Junsei passed in 2000, Kazuko kept working, but she retired in 2008. Now the orchard is owned by Kyoko and Nobu (since 2010) as Mume Farm https://mume.farm/. They make traditional Umeboshi plums, vinegar, syrup, and ekisu.

I have been supporting selling Kazuko’s 20 years aged California Organic Umeboshi plums which have medicinal benefits. The site to purchase Kazuko’s 20 years aged California Organic Umeboshi plums is here. https://sanaesuzuki.com/product/california-organic-umeboshi-plums/

I make my Umeboshi plums (pickles) also every year and below is from last year umeboshi I made.

I also make Ume vinegar, Ume syrup, Ume enzyme juice, Ume wine, Ume jam, Ume sauce, Ume oil spread, Ume ginger, etc.

It is not easy to find good quality fresh ume plums to make my own pickles and other ume products.

I could not get fresh ume plums after Kazuko-san sold her Ume orchard; I did not know where to get fresh Ume plums. I tried Japanese market store-bought fresh Ume plums, but they did not come out good at all. I thought I had to give up making my own Umeboshi plums etc.

I had no idea that I was lead to finding Nankou Ume (南高梅）which is a very well-known Ume tree in Minabe, Wakayama, Japan. I have been supporting a woman who is growing Nankou Ume (南高梅）for 40 years and help to sell her fresh Nanko Ume plums every season for the last three years. And this year, I got some Kazuko and Jyunsei’s Ume offspring tree’s fresh Ume from Fresno, California.

My healing room was full of fresh Ume plums two weeks ago. I wish I could share the aroma of Ume plums. It is not just a sweet aroma like other plums. It has a distinctive pungent sweet smell. The smell of something brings me back to my childhood.

These are this year’s fresh Ume fruits that I got for making Umeboshi Plums (Ume plums fruits for making Umeboshi Plums are more rape than green hard ones).

I am also growing red shiso leaves (Red shiso leaves are also good to make Red shiso juice; here is the recipe from my blog https://sanaesuzuki.com/2019/07/22/red-shiso-juice-delicious-summer-remedy-drink-for-health/).

Here is the recipe I make homemade Umeboshi plums here in Santa Monica.

Santa Monica Homemade Umeboshi Plums

Ingredients

1 lb/about 450 g fresh ripe Ume plum fruit (if you get green firm ume plums, leave them in a cool room temperature room in a bamboo try if you have till the color turns yellowish)

120 g sea salt – 15% of ume plum fruit (traditionally 15~20 % sea salt has been using in Japan) I use Si sea salt, which you can purchase from us.

1/2 tbsp Japanese Gin or Shochu (This is for sterilizing; Gin’s alcohol content over 40%. Shochu’s alcohol content is less than 40%, commonly between 25% and 40%. You can use alcohol higher than 35% ABV like vodka too.)

Fresh Red Shiso for color

45 g red Shiso leaves (10% of Ume plums)

2 tsp sea salt for red shiso leaves

Equipment

A large mouse container (glass, ceramic, or enamel: avoid plastic and metal because of acidic sensitivity. I love #1 crock from Ohio Stoneware.
Bamboo toothpicks
Weight (Recommending 1.5 to 2 times of Ume plums. If it is too light, then it will be a cause of molding. I use stones as weight, but you can put baking beads, water, or other things in plastic bags to make as weight)
A bamboo tray (to dry the pickled Ume plum to make Umeboshi)

Instructions

1. First, sterilize the container by boiling it in a large pot or pour hot water. Take out and let it dry to set aside.

2. Wash Ume Plum fruits.

3. Pat dry the ume plum fruits with kitchen towels or cloths.

4. Using a bamboo toothpick, remove the woody bits (calyx) where the fruits are attached to their stems. It’s tedious work, but please do not skip it, so it prevents not get mold. Gently dry the ume entirely with a clean kitchen towel.

5. Put ume plums in a large bowl and pour over the Gin or Shochu to disinfect and sprinkle 1~2 tablespoons of sea salt to mix with hands. Make sure your hands are clean.

6. Pour Gin or Shochu on a clean kitchen towel and clean the inside of the container with the alcohol.

7. Sprinkle salt to cover the bottom of the crock. Then add two layers of ume. Sprinkle salt on top, followed by two layers of ume again.

8. Repeat this to make layers of umeboshi and salt until the umeboshi is all used.

9. Place a weight on top of the last layer. I used stones, but you can use baking beads inside a ziplock bag as a weight.

10. Recommend to write down the date and quantity of ume and sea salt used on a tape and put it over the crock.

11. Store a cool dark area out of sunlight. After a few days, the ume will start releasing moisture and you should see a layer of ume plum vinegar (梅酢, umesu) on top. If the ume plum vinegar does not come up in a few days, increase the weight so that the ume will sink in the vinegar quickly (this will protect from going bad/growing mold).

12. After one week, open the crock lid for the first time. Use clean hands and equipment to check.

13. If the ume plum vinegar is 1 inch (2.6 cm) above the plums, decrease the weight (roughly equal weight as the plums). If the plums are smashed/torn, also reduce the amount of weight. Store in a cool and dark place for at least one month, making sure the ume are soaked in plum vinegar.

Wait Until Red Shiso is Available

Patiently wait until red shiso is in season, usually mid to late June. You can leave your ume in the container as long as they are soaked in the pickling solution (ume plum vinegar). My case, my shiso leaves in my garden are ready to pick mid to late June so I usually check the weather report around that time and find three consecutive sunny days to dry sea salt pickled ume. I learned this method when I went to Kazuko-san and Jyunsei-san’s place. Fresh Ume in Japan is ready to pickle in June, but the season is a little early here and red shiso is not growing big enough to pick so I keep sea salt pickled ume for more than one month some years and dry ume first and add red shiso after I finish dry ume three days and nights.

How to dry sea salt pickled ume:

On day one, remove the sea salt ume from the conteiner and place it onto a bamboo tray to dry. Make sure to leave a space for each ume so they are not touching. I turn each ume in the morning and in the afternoon one time each. Leave them overnight.
On day two, repeat the same as day one to turn and leave them on the tray at night too.
On day three, repeat the same as day two.
This is a way to get Yin and Yang energy. Sunlight gives strength and moonlight provides softness.

Harvest red shiso leaves from my garden or when I see them in the Japanese grocery store. If you can’t get red shiso, you can skip red shiso leaves and just sun dry to make white umeboshi plums.

Pick shiso leaves from the stems and put them in a large bowl.
Prepare the red shiso leaves: Wash the shiso leaves and drain the water as much as you can.
Sprinkle half of the salt amount on top of the leaves.
Mix the salt and shiso leaves with your hands and then massage them.
Squeeze and discard the dark purple liquid that comes out.
Sprinkle the remaining half of the salt over the shiso leaves and massage again.
Squeeze out the dark purple liquid from the leaves again.
Place the shiso leaves into a small mixing bowl.
Add 1 tbsp of umesu (plum vinegar) from the jar of plums.
Add the leaves to the container of umeboshi plums.
If you want to make red shiso condiment then you can dry red shiso as you dry the umeboshi plums.

From my experience that umeboshi plums are best to start eating at least one year from pickling. Some people eat sooner than in one year, but they will be much saltier. If you want to have much milder umeboshi plums, wait for three years. More umeboshi plums aged they become medicinal.

I will update to edit this section to add more photos later.

If you have any questions, please send me email at sanaehealing@gmail.

Love,

Sanae

Liver Healing Remedy Drink

Spring is here.

Chinese medicine and macrobiotic practice that spring associated with the Liver organ. (One of my books, “Love, Sanae” has a list of five transformations of each seasons’ organs, foods, emotions, and temperaments, etc.)

I was diagnosed Only Weeks to Live with stage IV Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma of the Liver almost four years ago.

I just went to see my oncologist, Dr. Mead at UCLA hospital in Santa Monica. She told me that lymphoma has a recurrence record after 3~5 years of treatments so I have passed the first step and she was very pleased.

Photo: with my oncologist Dr. Mead (too bad that you can’t see our big smile because of wearing the mask).

This lymphoma was my second cancer (the first one was ovarian cancer). I was very sick and weak this time and felt that I might die. I was over 60 years old so even though I did not want to take chemotherapy, but the holistic approach was not catching up with cancer. I wanted to live so I decided to take chemo treatments with my macrobiotic practice. It was one of the hardest things I had experienced. (My blog “Chemo Sucks!“)

Dr. Mead does not know what is holistic approach nor macrobiotics practice, but she has seen what I applied to help my conditions when I was taking chemotherapies and through now with healing remedy drinks, macrobiotic plant-based foods, holistic modalities, meditation, etc., and she trusts me that I have been taking care of myself.

I would like to start sharing more about what I have been doing to help my conditions.

The first one is my morning ritual remedy drink.

I have experienced that this remedy is helping me even with side effects from chemotherapy too.

I really hope you try taking this remedy for yourself.

Liver Healing Remedy Drink

It is best to drink one cup in the morning before you drink or eat something. After you drink this remedy, 30~60 minutes later, you can eat breakfast or drink something else.

4 cups spring water.

1 tablespoon organic dried burdock root

1 tablespoon organic dried dandelion root

1 tablespoon organic dried nettle leaves or organic dandelion leaves

1. Add all the roots first in the water and bring the water to boil and when it boils, turn the heat to lower, then add nettle or dandelion leaves to simmer for 15~20 minutes.

Photo: add roots ingredients first.

Photo: Bring the roots ingredients to boil.

Photo: Add leaves to simmer.

2. Strain the tea and drink one cup at a time/day and cool the rest of the tea to storage in the refrigerator and heat one cup at a time to drink.

3. I recommend drinking this without sweetener, but if you must, then I would recommend one teaspoon of brown rice syrup, a half teaspoon of maple syrup, or beet sugar. No honey, brown sugar, white sugar, palm sugar, or cane sugar.

If you are going to use a teabag, then use one teabag of each ingredient with 2 cups of spring water.

I make mine with also red clover and horsetail to support bone health since I broke my bone after chemotherapy while I was hiking with my dogs. You add 1 tablespoon of each ingredient and add one more cup of spring water. You add them with nettle or dandelion after boiled roots.

All the ingredients can be purchase at Natural Food Market that carry dried herbs near you. I usually get mine from Co-opportunity Market (this website is near me in Santa Monica and Culver City in California, but if you have Co-opportunity Market then I think you can buy there too ) and Online herb stores: Mountain Rose Herbs and StarWest Botanical

Below is itemize what all these ingredients help.

Burdock root – Antioxidants, which remove toxins from the blood, may inhibit some types of cancer.

Dandelion root – Potent antioxidants. help fight inflammation. aid blood sugar control. help reduce cholesterol. may lower blood pressure. promote a healthy liver. aid weight loss.

Nettle leaves – Reduce inflammation, hay fever symptoms, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels.

Dandelion leaves – Antioxidants, reduce inflammation, reducing cancer risk, boosting the immune system.

Red clover – Osteoporosis, arthritis, hot flashes, skin and hair disorders.

Horsetail – Supports bone health, acts as a natural diuretic, promotes wound healing and nail health, promotes hair growth.

The liver is one of the organs that really important to support your health. It is always working to regulate most chemical levels in our body blood and excretes a product called bile. This helps carry away waste products from the liver. All the blood leaving the stomach and intestines passes through the liver.

Anybody who has taken any medication, not eating balanced food, oily food, drink alcohol, sugary juice, living in cities, and experience frustration so on…means everybody, right?

You can check online easily about how to take care of your liver, etc, but here are what I read so I want to share them with you.

The primary functions of the liver are:

Bile production and excretion.
Excretion of bilirubin, cholesterol, hormones, and drugs.
Metabolism of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.
Enzyme activation.
Storage of glycogen, vitamins, and minerals.
Synthesis of plasma proteins, such as albumin, and clotting factors.

The symptoms of poor liver function?

Symptoms

Skin and eyes that appear yellowish (jaundice)
Abdominal pain and swelling.
Swelling in the legs and ankles.
Itchy skin.
Dark urine color.
Pale stool color.
Chronic fatigue.
Nausea or vomiting.

I really think that you do not need to wait for till showing any symptoms. Once a liver is showing symptoms, it will take a long time to heal so the key is to proactive and support the liver. In my case, I did not have any symptoms and I was very sick with lymphoma.

Here are 13 tried and true ways to achieve liver wellness

Maintain a healthy weight. …
Eat a balanced diet. …
Exercise regularly. …
Avoid toxins. …
Use alcohol responsibly. …
Avoid the use of illicit drugs. …
Avoid contaminated needles. …
Get medical care if you’re exposed to blood.
This is my liver wellness…enjoy your life and take a rest!

I believe that taking care of your liver saves your health and life.

Have a supportive liver healing remedy drink!

Love,

Sanae❤️

New Year Elderberry Mocktail

The last day of 2020.

The whole world has been to go through an upheaval year.
This America has had the most Covid 19 virus-infected in the whole world;19,455,045 cases and 350,778 death was reported so far.
The sad year of 2020.

Not Pandemic related, but I have had my own painful experienced this year.
I have been meditating every day more mindfully observe and purified my mind to see the blight side.
I’m ready for the new year of 2021.

Christmas weekend, Eric and I went to North Fork, California (near Yosemite) with our six dogs and two cats family.
For the first time, we just did not do much, ate, slept, did meditation, walked in nature, and watched Netflix.

We came back to Santa Monica and we had lots of rain three days ago.
It was a beautiful day today.
Looked at the sky and felt sunlight.

I spent a slow relaxing time and just planted shallots in the planter on the rooftop garden.
Usually, I feel I needed to plant much more after rain, but it was just shallots and I was satisfied and relaxed.
I am learning to do much less.

Animal family is also relaxed when I am relaxed.

I am grateful for this relaxing last day of 2020.

Grateful to have health and welcome 2021.

Grateful to Eric and the animal family to live with me.

Grateful to family, friends who support my soul.

Grateful to my garden, trees, flowers, plants, and birds.

Grateful to sky, sun, moon, ocean, mountain, and nature.

Grateful to be able to write this blog.

Grateful to people who read my blog.

Grateful to 12 steps program.

Grateful to Vipassana meditation.

Grateful to macrobiotics practice.

Grateful to myself.

Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.

I want to introduce a tasteful new year mocktail (none alcohol cocktail) with elderberry which I love to make tea and introduce on my blog before

Healing Elderberry Tea

I am in 12 steps program and sober for almost 36 years so I am looking forward to drinking this special mocktail to enjoy.

***New Year* *Elderberry Mocktail***

Makes 1 drink

Ingredients

Peach juice
Infused elderberry and white grape juice (*see below how to make)
Lime juice

Directions

Fill a champagne flute or a glass about halfway with peach juice.
Gently pour infused elderberry and grape juice over the top to create layers of color.
Add a squeeze of lime juice to add.
Enjoy!

Pro Tip: Using a spoon to catch the initial splash helps to maintain the two-tone color.

*Infused Elderberry and White Grape Juice

Makes 6-8 drinks

Ingredients

8 ounces organic white grape juice
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup dried elderberries, to taste
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup dried lemon peel, to taste

Directions

Put all ingredients into a saucepan over medium-low heat.
Heat to approximately 200°F, just before boiling.
Remove from heat, cover with a lid, and let infuse for 30 minutes.
Strain the grape juice into a separate pint jar.
Store infused-grape juice in the refrigerator—it should be used within 5 days.

Recipes source from https://blog.mountainroseherbs.com/elderberry-bellini

Love,
Sanae ❤️

Loquat Leaves Body Scrub/Rub

I moved to the house where I live now in 1985.
When I moved, I noticed right away my next neighbor, the older couple, Joe and Virginia, had a big beautiful loquat tree ( I think it was about 20 feet) in their back yard.

I just moved and I did not know them yet, but I had to give my compliment to them about their loquat tree. Joe and Virginia did not know much about loquat except it produce fruits. I told them leaves have health benefits in Japan and Asia.

The loquat trees that I see here in the Santa Monica area produce smaller and little sour fruit than those I saw and tasted in Japan. But I am grateful to see loquat trees are here.

I got loquat leaves from Virginia and made tea and extract for wound and skin inflammation like my mother made in Japan. Later, I got a seedling of a loquat tree from the next neighbor and started to grow my own loquat tree in my garden. It took time to grow, but it has been growing well and I have been using their leaves for making medicinal teas, skin compresses, medicinal hot water for body scrub/rub, and moxibustion treatment.

Photo: Loquat tree in my garden with morning sunlight

* Loquat (<i>Eriobotrya japonica</i> Lindl.) is a subtropical fruit tree with high medicinal value native to China. Different organs of loquat have been used historically as folk medicines and this has been recorded in Chinese history for thousands of years.

** Also, Loquat leaves are listed for their health benefits in Japanese Pharmacopoeia (Nippon Yakkyoku-hō,) the official record of approved medicinal herbs, published by the Government of Japan since 1886.

* sauce from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5187783/

** sauce from https://wawaza.com/pages/how-to-make-loquat-leaves-tea-biwa-cha-japanese-way/

Loquat flowers are modest-looking and the color is very pale cream. It is the season right now to bloom here.

Photo: Loquat flower buds

Photo: Loquat’s blossoms

Photo: When loquat flowers completed

Most people here in America don’t know much about loquat leaves benefits so I want to introduce what I use for it every day as body/rub today here. I will write about loquat tea some other time.

Generally, in macrobiotics practice, we recommend body scrub/rub.
The body scrub/rub helps activate circulation and better energy flow through the entire body. It helps to discharge excess fat accumulated under the skin and open pores to promote smooth and regular elimination of any toxins. It also promotes clean, clear skin.
The body scrub/rub can be done once or twice daily, in the morning and/or at night, before or after a shower or bath, but apart from it.

I add loquat leaves because in Japan, where I grew up using loquat leaves as a traditional cure for preventing and treating respiratory ailments and have many benefit of preventing and treating respiratory ailments.
Also, loquat leaves contain compounds demonstrated to lower blood lipid and sugar levels and alleviate inflammatory skin conditions, including atopic dermatitis (eczema.)

I love the earthy greenish (when you use fresh leaves) aroma of loquat leaves when I apply scrub/rub to my face and body every morning.

I did it when I was taking chemotherapy, when I broke my legs, when I was going through PTSD, when I was feeling “shit” and sad, and loquat leaves body scrub/rub always have helped me and lift me up to start my day.

If you are going through your hands/fingers or legs with side effects from chemotherapy (neuropathy, nerve pain, numbness, or weakness) like I did or/and other medications, you soak your hands and legs in loquat leaves hot water (it should be very hot, but not too hot to get burn yourself) and rub/massage them inside the hot water.

Doctors don’t know this kind of holistic healing method so if you ask them, they might not recommend it. You are taking medication so you have to do this for yourself with commitment. It works for me so I do this every day. I hope you try it for at least three months and get the benefit.

Photo: This is my pot to make loquat leaves hot water. It has changed the color and shows a loquat presence.

Here is how to make and apply medicinal loquat leaves hot water for body scrub/rub:

Add two heaping tablespoons of loquat leaves (dried or fresh) to 4 cups of cold water in a stainless pot.
Heat to a full, rolling boil.
Turn heat down and let simmer for 15~20 minutes.
Strain the leaves and put medicinal liquid in a bowl of glass or stainless (not plastic).
Photo: My loquat tree leaves and its medicinal warm water is ready for body scrub/rub with organic hemp fabric washcloth that I have been using for many years.
When you can put your hands in, then dip your organic washcloth (cotton or hemp), squeeze or wring out excess liquid and start scrub/rub your whole body one section at a time and dip the cloth and squeeze or wring out the liquid again.
If it gets cold, must heat it.
I start from my face, ears, neck, shoulders, chest, arms, hands, fingers, belly, back (you might need a longer cloth if you want to do it all by yourself), thighs, legs, feet, toes, and I go back up and also do the area I have pain, pressure, or discomfort.
The skin should become pink or slightly red. This result may take a few days to achieve if the skin is clogged with accumulated fats.

For your animal family:

When you apply loquat leaves scrub/rub for animals (puppies/dogs & kittens/cats) make medicinal hot water shorter simmering time of 5 ~ 10 minutes to make it less intense and make sure to cool it down so it is not too hot for them. If they taste or drink it, there is no harm, but if they are especially puppies and kittens, I will not encourage them to drink because it might be too stimulating. After all, their digestive system is too venerable.

It is beneficial if your animal has skin issues and fleas’ itchiness. It will soothe their skin and help and preventing fleas if you apply every day.

Especially, puppies and kittens up till 1-year-old at least are fragile and fleas love their skin. I would never recommend any chemical flea treatments and flea shampoo to puppies and kittens so instead, I gave them gentle scrub/rub using this loquat leaves warm water for them after I comb with a flea comb. I will write about this subject another time that how much these chemical is harming our beloved animal family.

Below is Lani, who is four months old, getting loquat leaves body scrub/rub and he enjoyed it so much and was getting sleepy. You can see the liquid I made for him is much lighter than the one I use for me above photo.

Photo: Lani is receiving body scrub/rub and so relaxed

I do this for myself every morning, almost no matter what.
I also recommend and offer it for my family including animal family, friends, and my clients, whenever I can.

If you do not have loquat leaves, you can scrub/rub your body with sea salt hot water: 4 cups hot water with one tablespoon sea salt. For animals, use one teaspoon sea salt.

If you do not have sea salt then just do with hot /warm water.

I know that scrub/rub helps my skin and my bloodstream move smoothly and purify and activate my blood. Also, help my animal family getting benefits for their health.

I hope this blog helps you and your animal family’s health.

Love,

Sanae ❤️