Incorporating the Macrobiotic principles of balance and seasonal foods:

Fall and winter is a good time to increase the "fire energy" in foods, which means longer cooking, baking, pressure cooking, etc. Use a bit more oil, cook thicker, heavier foods, root vegetables, and more whole grains like short grain brown rice (grown in cooler mountainous regions), whole oats, barley, Job's tears, millet and buckwheat.

Spring and summer foods have less or no fire energy -- raw foods, sprouted foods, lighter and less oil. Marinades, quick grilling, cold and frozen desserts, cool soups, Oriental noodles and grains like couscous and bulgar, which require only soaking.

Compare your cooking methods to the strength of the food you are eating:

The most efficient foods are in the middle. Diets should ideally be made up of primarily grains, beans and vegetables, with some fruit. Avoid microwaves like the plague -- you can see where they line up on the food chart -- right under drugs and chemicals! Eating from the edges makes scattered, erratic energy. Extreme Yin makes you very weak and susceptible to illness, while extreme Yang stresses out your organs and wears them out prematurely. Staying in the middle creates calm, centered, focused energy. The foods in the center are the most efficient -- requiring less energy to digest, and requiring much less energy from the earth to produce.

YIN
Cold/Expansive/Fragmenting/Spastic/Dispersing/Damp