vegoftheweek

Awhile back, I told you how I was rooting for my favorite protein bar to cross the finish line. But Amelia Kirchoff (right) and her daughter Jolanta Sonkin (left) have already won several races. Amelia beat cancer and both women have a successful macrobiotic food business that started in Amelia’s kitchen. And amazingly, the only real “horror” story, so far, is a burned cookie here and there.

On How Go Macro Got Started:
Amelia: It was really the fact that I got breast cancer. At the time, I was very concerned and Jola had an aunt that had lymphoma and it had been diagnosed as a terminal cancer. And she had been told she only had six months to live. She went on a macrobiotic diet and has been doing great. And it’s been at least 10 years now. So that was a great incentive for me. And I went on a macrobiotic diet at the time as well and later when I got better I started to make desserts-macrobiotic desserts because really there was nothing available.
Jola: My mom wasn’t just making them to start a business. It was my husband who suggested that, “These are so good, you guys should sell them.” It was so random. Who would have thought we’d be here with this company. I said, “Mom will you make a batch of these. I’m going to try to sell them to my local health food store. She made me a batch and we wrapped them in Saran Wrap. We printed up these labels-I just typed up labels and pasted them on the back and went to the local health food store in Downtown Chicago.

On The Challenges Of A Self Owned Business:
Amelia: I can’t think of any real horror stories, other than of course we have thrown out batches. And still do occasionally. Not every batch turns out well. I think Whole Foods told us our first packaging looked washed out. So that was a bit of a disappointment (laughs). But we got new packaging.
Jola: And there was the one issue of gluten-free (testing) and it forced us to invest in gluten-free testing products.
Amelia: We used one testing procedure and we had to change to a different one. We learn as we go along.
Jola: I think there’s been challenges along the way like any business…Everything that happens, really it’s been a positive thing for us because it’s forced us to improve.

What They’ve Eaten For The Week:
Amelia: Years ago, I always used to like Beef Stroganoff. And there was a recipe for something similar using tempeh and several different types of mushrooms. It was a vegan sour cream for the sauce. And some spices.
Jola: Seitan Pear Pie. But not a sweet pie. It was made with wild rice, dried cherries-the pears were on top. The seitan was mixed in with the wild rice and dried cherries. Some brown rice syrup-those are the main ingredients.

Learn what Amelia and Jolanta wouldn’t mind eating over and over again after the break…

On Reasons For Going Veg:
Amelia: We still have our business on a farm in Wisconsin and we do have horses and various animals here and we just cannot eat meat. It’s hard when you get to know all the animals and all the different personalities.
Jola: It was health (too). Obviously, my mom getting cancer was a wake-up call. Health and stress as well. The macrobiotic lifestyle is not just about diet, it’s about living a stress-free, carefree life. And diet is associated with that.

On Personal Stories From Their Customers:
Amelia: Talking to people that are going through cancer is the most moving experience for me because I’ve been through it and I know how scary and difficult it can be.
Jola: I remember a couple of stories of parents who had children that are gluten-free. He (the son) loved one of our gluten-free bars. It was kind of a relief for her (the mother) to find something her son actually enjoyed.

Tofu or Tempeh:
Amelia: I like both, but I eat more tempeh. I feel it goes better with the different recipes I make. I think my husband is more likely to eat tempeh. He does not like tofu.
Jola: One of the reasons I would choose tempeh over tofu is because of the grains. Tofu has no grains.

Seitan or Soy Crumbles:
Amelia: Soy Crumbles is a processed product. Seitan is just wheat gluten and a basic health product that’s been eaten for 100s if not 1000s of years. I definitely believe that people 100s of years ago in the East really knew what to eat and we’ve gone a long way from the basics. I definitely think seitan is the healthier option.

Red Bell Pepper or Green Bell Pepper:
Jola: I would choose red bell pepper because it’s sweeter.

Favorite MacroBar:
Amelia: I just do not have a favorite. It depends on the situation. If I’m eating it as a meal replacement, I’ll usually have a Granola (Delight Bar). If I’m eating it just as a quick snack and I want something a little bit sweeter, I’ll probably have the Cashew Butter.
Jola: Chocolate Crunch with Spirulina.

On Being Stuck In A Food Monotony:
Amelia: The hardest time for me was probably when I had the cancer because I did go on a very strict macrobiotic diet. At the time I had a macrobiotic counselor. It was a very limited diet. But the interesting thing about it is when you are very limited in your choice of foods, your taste develops. A lot of people would think that eating carrots and turnips is not very inviting. But you’d be surprised at how many ways you can cook carrots and turnips.
Jola: I sort of decided that at least once a week-usually on Fridays, I would try to create one macrobiotic meal. I would definitely say that for the first year (of going macrobiotic) my grain was brown rice. And I was eating a lot of it. But there are so many other great grains that are more nutritious than brown rice that I wasn’t using. It took me a couple of years to get used to using them.

What They Wouldn’t Mind Eating Over And Over Again:
Amelia: We’re so addicted to brown rice. We’re kind of boring I’m afraid (laughing). (But) there are a lot of things you can do with brown rice. You can turn it into a pudding even.
Jola: Macro Bars (laughing). Honestly, brown rice. You can even have it as a dessert. You can have it for breakfast. You can have it as a side at lunch or dinner. It’s definitely brown rice.
Amelia: For both of us.

So I guess it’s really not necessary to break the monotony of rice as there are 100s of ways to cook it. If anyone starts up a riceoftheweek blog, I’ll gladly link to it.

As always, if you’re interested in being featured and profiled in vegoftheweek please contact me using the form on the contact page.