Spices

I don't know why but today I am reminded of my trip to Morroco.

The Spice market in Morocco was a sight. I am reminded of Dates stuffed with almonds and a particular spice mix called Ras El Hanout.

Spices used are cinnamon,ginger,black pepper and nutmeg. Add a few threads of saffron and the spice mix is ready,

A popular recipe of this spice mix calls for m

 Few saffron threads

Salt

1tsf ground ginger

1 tsf ground turmeric

1/2 tsf ground allspice

1/2 tsf ground nutmeg

1/2 tsf ground cinnamon

1/2 tsf fresh grounds ground black pepper.

Morroco reminds me of chickpeas, and Tagine a special cooking utensil so attractive I had to buy one as a souvenir.

Rose oil

I was fortunate to visit first hand the original roseoil factory in Bulgaria.My nephew married a beautiful Bulgarian girl and we were invited to the wedding.

We reached Sophia, first and then took a taxi ride to Kazanluc,Bulgaria.itis about 2 to 3 hours car ride from Sophia.The scenery from Sophia to Kazanluk is  just beautiful.

Our hosts had planned a trip for us to see the original Bulgarian rose oil factory.

Yes, we had to purchase gifts from Rosa damascena.

I will tell you in details benefits of rose oil but most immediately that comes to mind that smelling the rose essentil oil can reduce anxiety and performance anxiety prior to sexual relation in regards to performance or stress.

Eat more fruits and veggies

I am always partial to being vegetarian and always looking for ways to convince my patients to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Well, just today I came across two articles,

The most recent one in British Medical journal which stated increased consumption of fruits and vegetables keep blues away.This study was done at the Warwick medical school and hospital.

Another study published recently by Jacksonville Florida hospital and community health clinic reveals

Eating plant based diets helps in reducing obesity and cardiovascular risk factors.

I am reminded of a song put out specially to encourage children to eat healthy at the initiative of Michelle Obama.

"You are what you eat from your head down to your feet so keep it fresh and clean and eat your broccoli."

The whole song easily downloadable on youtube.

Brown bag lunches

I remember making a brown bag peanut butter and jelly sandwich for my son all the time. He would ask me to make double or triple sandwiches so he could share with his classmates homemade lunch.I would always add a fruit like banana, apple or Grapes and he would buy milk from school.

It is called Brown Bag Bragging.

It is interesting that I was talking to a patient of mine to start brown bagging for their children and grandchildren when I came across article from another medical colleague,Dr.Ingrid Kohlstadt MD,MPH.

In medicine,we have used brown bags for calming a hyperventilating patient. Re-breathing can normalize a blood chemistry.Without planning for a lunch people find themselves eating junk or skipping lunch.

Dr.Kohlstadt has produced a field guide for Brown paper bag refueling rescue.

It is called PickNic2014 and access at www.ingridients.com/ publications

PickNic stands for Pick Nutritious Ingredients Cost effectively.

It is a list of 100 best Brown Bag lunch ideas.

More to come on this topic

The patient is the boss

Hello everybody,

In medicine we are always learning from our peer physicians.

I have been following Dr.David Katz M.D who studied Internal medicine and Preventive medicine and then headed a residency program that combined both and trained further residents.

He says:

No matter how many prescriptions you write or what advice you give to patient unless he is convinced that "he wants to make a change and be healthy", everything stays in the book, just like excellent medical records from all specialties that "examine every system and create a 10 page EMR note.

To reduce cost of medicine we now hire PAs and NPs and scribes and computer savvy staff so that we satisfy the appropriate authorities to make the book of medial record superb "5 star" rated medical records.

Coming to the point, in 1993, state of the art article was published in JAMA,that the incidence of chronic disease is reduced if we eat well, exercise and don't smoke.The article talked about the real causes of death in USA. People need skill power and willpower to achieve .

Dr.Katz states it's like sandbagging a levee if the patient is convicted that sugar is present in pretzel, tomato sauce, pizza sauce, breads and that they will read the label before buying.

They will reduce frequency of eating out and eat fresh home cooked meal.This is adding another sand bag to the levee.

I feel eat the smaller salad plate for dinner and fill it with 3/4th vegetable and or salad and rest 1/4th with lentils, beans or a protein .

It should help reduce BMI and reduce incidence of heart disease.

His site is www.DrKatz.com

Mango pudding

We loved eating at a Buddhist vegetarian resturant in Houston,Texas on westheimer.It was more of a Vegan place.I loved the Mango pudding and I stumbled upon the recipe.

The mango can be interchanged with any other fruit.

Well it's easy,
Use packet of soft tofu,with its water still to be drained over for about 20 to 30 minutes? Add  two cut up mangoes,tsf of agave syrup and blend.use some Marie biscuits that absorb and swell up when put in.and make layers of blended mango tofu and cookies and leave in refrigerator for a while and it's ready for desert.
Now,as the mango season is almost over, you can still use strawberries, or nectarines,peaches or any fruit to make this.
Enjoy!

Basic tomato sauce recipe

This is what I sent my kids to try,home made and delicious marinara sauce.

I know my kids love pasta and the Dave's are culinary chefs in the making so I am sharing a interesting home made recipe for tomato sauce.
As I learnt from my research on veggie wisdom highest lycopene is present in canned tomatoes and cooking tomatoes increases lycopene content.
So, you can take a big can of tomatoes and add to it about 2 tablespoonful of tomato paste and then add fresh basil ,salt and pepper to taste.
Adding some Extravirgin olive oil ,garlic or caramel zed onions increase the taste.
Basically in a big stainless steel pot you can cook these ingredients over 20 minutes on low heat or in a slow cooker on hi heat over3 hours.
Caramelization of onions is done separately in warmed up olive oil adding chopped onions till they become glistening,and then add to the tomato sauce.
This is our marinara sauce.
Luv,mom