Photo from New Cascadia Traditional.

I grew up in Connecticut with parents who migrated there from Brooklyn and Queens because, well, that’s what most of their peers aspired to. As was the tradition in his family, my father and I went to the deli every Sunday morning and picked out a dozen slightly overdone bagels. Salt or plain. Thin sliced Nova Lox. Whipped cream cheese. And Kenny, behind the counter at Gold’s, would always give me a big fat salted pretzel. On a good day (if the Giants were playing and might actually stand a chance) I could also talk my dad into getting me a few of those little mini salamis that would hang off of the back wall like crepe paper streamers at a birthday party.

You can imagine my horror when I moved to Portland and found that the bagels here are, well, not bagels. Almost 20 years after my arrival we did get one place in town that had almost an East coast bagel, but alas they just got bought out by some big chain who, of course, just ate them up and didn’t bother to keep the recipe.

Truthfully, after the initial shock I didn’t really care. I’ve been off of wheat for years and I’m not really a carb cravin’ kind of girl. But funny enough, now that I’m gluten-free as well (feeling so much better by the way, but that’s another post altogether) I’m a bit more focused on the specialty items in the store. Today at the co-op I saw a gluten-free bagel by New Cascadia Traditional. If I didn’t actually roll my eyes I’d be surprised, but thankfully I was alone.

I bought it.

I brought it home.

I toasted it.

I took a tiny bite. Then I ate the whole thing.

Lo and behold, it was good! The texture was bagel-like. Not perfect. Not Gold’s. But certainly as close as any so-called bagel I’ve gotten in Portland in the last 2 decades. The outside is crunchy, the inside chewy. There’s a tiny bit of bitter taste to the dough, but with toppings, it’s barely noticeable.

Next weekend I’m going on a hunt for Nova lox (ooh, I bet I know who will have the answer to that.) And I’m going to serve my five-year-old bagels and lox. Perhaps it will become a new tradition.

A few weeks ago I was chatting with a patient about my upcoming vacation. She said “you’re going to really enjoy yourself, right?” I asked her what she meant and she said she supposed I would just eat whatever I felt like eating because I was on vacation.

I answered yes, I do eat whatever I feel like eating when I’m on vacation, but after years of eating things that don’t make me feel well, I now pretty much always feel like eating food that makes me feel vital, energetic and incredibly satisfied. Even on vacation.

Here’s the deal. On occasion I eat something that isn’t “healthy,” but across the board I stay away from foods that don’t agree with me. Yes, it’s sometimes challenging logistically but I’ve worked out the details over time and I know how to navigate vacations so I can take care of myself. Here are some tips so you can too.

1.     Book an apartment or a suite with a kitchen instead of a hotel room. Often it’s no more expensive but even if it is, you can usually make up for the price difference by by cooking a few meals in instead of going out to eat. I’ve had (mostly) great luck on airbnb, usually paying 30-40% less than I would have on a decent hotel room with more space as well as a place to cook. VRBO is another good option.

2.     If you do end up in a hotel, make sure the in-house restaurant can accommodate your needs. A quick phone call to the kitchen will get that answered for you. Often they are happy to take care of you. If not, there is usually another hotel option nearby.

3.     Also, if you end up staying in a hotel, ask them to put a small fridge in the room before you arrive for restaurant leftovers and a few things you may pick up at the store (cereal, milk, etc.) Many hotels have these available for free. You can always empty out the honor bar in a pinch.

4.     Scout out grocery store locations before you get to where you’re going. Where do you usually shop for healthy foods at home? The perimeter of a regular grocery store? Costco? The health food store? Trader Joes? There’s a good chance you’ll find something similar where you’re going.

5.     Pack some healthy snacks to go. If you have special foods you may not be able to find when you get to your location, bring them along.

6.     Scout out restaurants before you go as well. There’s no harm in looking at reviews before you even head out, regardless of dietary needs. Almost all restaurants have menus on line these days and you can get a pretty good idea of what may or may not work. Just like when you’re at home, choose your meal not just by what sounds good, but by what sounds good AND is good for your body.

7.     Consider your ability to eat healthfully and get exercise as part of your choice of destination. For example, if you know that on a cruise you will eat too much and not get enough exercise, skip the cruise and go to a city that’s good for wandering.

8.     If you’re visiting family, let them know ahead of time that you’ve made some changes to your diet and you’re feeling great. If they can’t accommodate you, or you don’t want to ask, no problem. Take care of your own food, or do the best you can. There is a great deal of harshing going on these days toward people who choose to avoid certain foods because it’s a ‘fad.’ I say stand firm in your knowing that you are choosing to eat in a way that makes you feel well and is in integrity with what you want for your body and for your health. If people don’t understand that, it’s their problem.

9.     You may choose not to be as strict as usual when you’re on vacation but vacation doesn’t mean throwing your progress away.  Spend some time thinking before you go about why you have made the diet changes, and why you might (or might not) want to stick with those changes while you’re on vacation. Getting clear about this before you go can be very helpful.

10.  Do your best and don’t stress. It’s not what you do some of the time, but what you do most of the time that counts. These are just some ideas to support you, but take it easy on yourself. It’s vacation after all.

Do you have any to add?

Enjoy!

-Dr Samantha

I’ve got a LECTURE tomorrow WED APRIL 18th, 7pm at New Seasons Market on Division. Hormone Health and Balance for Women in their 20s and 30s.

Mood and sleep disturbances, PMS, fertility issues, headaches and migraines, digestive problems, painful periods and other cyclical symptoms are often signs of a hormonal imbalance. It is typical for young women to be given few options, other than birth control and anti-depressants to address them. Dr. Samantha explains the nuts and bolts of your hormone health and offers practical strategies to help you gain hormonal balance and take control of your body- and your life.

Give a call to sign up if you can 503.445.2888, or just show up. It’s looking like a pretty good sized crowd. Come join us and bring your friends!

This may draw the wrath of my colleagues but I’m not the biggest fan of a detox. Mostly because “detox” so often comes with the idea that there is something that needs to be purged from the body.* You overdo it with foods and habits that are harmful to your health, then do some strict plan and go right back to where you left off when it’s over. I’m not all that sure there’s much benefit in that, to be honest.

Detox programs can be extreme, forcing low blood sugar or purging the digestive tract with laxatives. You may feel better when doing this kind of detox, but often this improvement is because you are avoiding unhealthy foods, fast foods, sugar and alcohol.

Now, that said, spring is a great time for new beginnings and I think that instead of a “detox” spring is a great time for a “reboot.”

Almost every year in the spring my husband and I take a month (or so, depending on our goals) to avoid all of the foods that may be hard on our bodies and focus on treating ourselves well, inside and out. This includes increasing our dedication to our self-care regimens and committing time and space to the things we do that serve to improve the health of our bodies, minds, and spirits.

There are some aspects of a spring reboot that are beneficial to everyone: avoiding dairy, gluten, soy, and other foods that may produce an immune response or sensitivity. Also, everyone benefits from avoiding alcohol, coffee, and sugar. But when I suggest a spring reboot to my patients, I focus on a plan that meets their specific health goals and needs. For some patients I focus on an anti-inflammatory program, others gut healing, and others liver support. And some really just need to address the emotional issues that come up when they stop eating sugar every day (this is no small task, I may add.)

Then, when the month is over, foods can be reintroduced one at a time and you have the opportunity to experience how your body really feels in response to each food. (The metaphor I use is that if you hit yourself on the head all day with a hammer, after a while it won’t hurt so much, you’re used to it. But if you stop hitting yourself for a month and then start again, it may hurt even more.) And, perhaps more important than reintroductions, the spring reboot offers the opportunity to choose not to reintroduce things that you know don’t serve you, be it something you’re sensitive to or simply things that no one should be eating such as hydrogenated oils and corn syrup.

This spring, consider taking some time to look at your health goals. Are you eating in a way that works for you? Are you ready to finally stop messing with diets and figure out what foods are right for your body? Do you think that eating more healthfully would help you feel better? Yes? A spring reboot is a great place to start.

You in?

-Dr Samantha

*There are cases where people actually do have a build up of heavy metals or other chemical toxins but this should be diagnosed with testing and treated by a qualified physician.

Please check out my guest post on MizfitOnline, a fabulous blog on fitness and life. I write about taking health headlines with a grain of salt. You know which ones I’m talking about: “Red Meat Kills!” Really folks? I don’t think so.

Every year around this time I get an influx of patients who are sick. Runny nose, cough, irritated eyes, full ears. And often enough it’s the same patients year after year. I get out my thermometer, stethoscope, peek in their ears and ask “Are you sure it’s not your allergies acting up?” “Oh, right! But isn’t it too early?” Some hop right on Claritin or Zyrtec and it’s a done deal. For others, this doesn’t work as well as they would like or there are too many bothersome side effects. And in some cases it doesn’t work at all. Most who seek care with me are willing to take a medication if it’s a last resort but would prefer to address things as much as possible on their own. Or at least with a lower dose or a less heavy hitting medication.

If you’re a regular reader you’ll notice that I tend not to write entries that suggest that you ‘do this’ or ‘do that’ to treat any given condition. That’s not about keeping secrets, it’s about doing my part to advocate for what we do best as naturopathic physicians. What makes our approach unique is that each person is treated with a slightly different approach, no matter what the “diagnosis.” In our office, anyway. We believe simply that there isn’t one test, drug, herb, nutritional approach or supplement that should be thrown at all patients.

So given that, there are four basic tenets to how I (we, that’s Dr Butler too) approach allergic patients. Though there are some things that are very patient specific there are also some things that anyone can do to help decrease symptoms.

1. Avoid exposure to your offending allergens. If you don’t know what they are, get tested. You don’t necessarily have to treat them the way the allergist wants you to, that’s your call, but knowing specifically what you’re allergic to may help you figure out how to at least decrease your exposure. Here are some other ways to decrease general allergen exposure.

• Neti pot or other sinus irrigation. Please use distilled or boiled water or you may end up with a brain eating amoeba (ok that’s unlikely but it did happen once, somewhere, so better safe than sorry.)
• Use air purifiers in as much of your home as you can. Non –negotiable in the bedroom.
• Wash your hair before you go to bed, or rinse it at least. When you’ve been walking around all day you get pollen in your hair then roll your face around in it all night.
• No “day clothes” in bed. Or even get out of outside clothes entirely when you get home if you have severe allergies.
• If you suspect a dust mite allergy at all (via testing or waking with allergic symptoms.) Get barrier covers for your mattress, sheets AND comforter. If you use blankets, wash them weekly.
• Don’t dry your clothes outside.
• If working in the yard really irritates you see if you can pawn this off on another family member or source it out. Wear a mask if you need to.

2. Thin mucus.

• Drink plenty of water.
• Consider supplements that have this function. We call these mucolytics. There are a number out there and this is one of those places where it is really best to tailor prescribe.

3. Stabilize mast cells- the cells that release the chemicals that cause allergies into your bloodstream and local tissue.*

• Vitamin C.
• Quercetin and bioflavonoids.

4. Balance the immune system. This is the most complicated part of addressing allergies. Allergies are your immune system inappropriately overacting to a stimulus. Folks who suffer with allergies often get sick more often than their non-allergic peers because their bodies are so busy fighting off that crazy dangerous pollen they don’t have the resources to fight off a virus, or bacteria. Not to mention that viruses and bacteria find the dark damp milieu of the allergy sufferer’s respiratory tract the perfect environment for settling in and multiplying.  It’s a fine balance that we address with personalized nutritional recommendations (though for everyone, watch the sugar- it decreases immune function, and watch the dairy, it makes more mucus.)

* I’m working on a short video that explains the nuts and bolts of this process, so if you’re interested, sign up for our weekly newsletter. The plan is to give a weekly health tip, links to our new blog posts, and a running list of current important bits of health news!

I’m not much of a prepackaged mix kind of cook but for tacos I’m all about that package. When I was growing up we had tacos often and when I found a health food-ish version of the mix my mom used, I added tacos to my grown-up comfort food list (along with hot dogs and beans with melted “cheese” but that’s another post.)

There are several brands of taco mix available at the health food store and I have settled on Bearitos (wow, that may be one of the most dated websites I’ve seen in ages) as my favorite. Again, it might not actually be the best one but it is the one that most approximates my childhood favorite.

The great thing about this dinner is it’s easy. And it can be quick depending upon how many different toppings you want to have available. I also offer my boys a choice of taco meat on salad greens (low carb), baked corn chips, soft corn tortillas or fried taco shells. Usually  it ends up being some combination for my kid, soft tacos for me, and salad for my husband.

There are a few options for what kind of meat to use. We tend to do buffalo, but I also recommend grass fed and finished beef, or you can even use chicken or turkey. When we ate soy I used to use half beef and half firm tofu that had either been frozen/crumbled or had the water squeezed out with a cheese cloth. You could probably also cut the meat with tempeh but that is an acquired taste so go for it if you know what you’re getting into. The package will have directions and I usually use about 3/4 of the package instead of the whole thing because it’s pretty salty.

Toppings: shredded romaine hearts, fresh or drained canned OG tomatoes, avocado, marinated onions, jalapeños, sliced olives, or whatever strikes your fancy. We don’t eat cheese but there is a non-dairy non-soy cheese called Daiya that we really like and sometimes I’ll melt this over the chips or meat before  I serve it.

The really fun thing about this meal is that everyone can build their own dinner. Oh, and don’t forget to serve it with a side vegetable. Always a side vegetable.

Enjoy!

-Dr Samantha

From the garden.

A recent research article was published with the finding that the scent of rosemary improves brain performance. Since I’ve got a lovely old rosemary bush in the back yard I figured why not set my sights on developing some recipes that incorporate this lovely and aromatic herb? I mean, who can’t use a little bit of extra brain power, right?

My first thought- frittata. A quick Google search “rosemary frittata” led me to the website of an ND turned recipe developer/food photographer/health blogger, Winnie Abramson. Her blog Healthy Green Kitchen is absolutely lovely through and through. I recommend you check it out. Her frittata was similar to the one I usually make so although I didn’t use her recipe I’ll link it here as I’m sure it’s absolutely fabulous.

Ingredients 

On the cutting board.

• 3/4 to 1 lb of very thinly sliced red potatoes
• 1 cup of diced onion
• 5 cloves sliced garlic
• 3 cups tightly packed chard cut into fine strips (this was a whole head for me)
• 4 TBSP olive oil
• 2 TBSP minced rosemary
• 6 farm fresh eggs beaten and mixed with ½ cup cool water

Instructions 

Stovetop.

1. In a large oven safe skillet (I used a giant cast iron pan) over medium-high heat sauté potatoes 3 TBSP olive oil until lightly golden brown and cooked through.
2. At the same time in a smaller skillet, also over medium-high heat, sauté the onions and garlic slices in the remaining TBSP of olive oil. Once the onions are cooked through and lightly browned add rosemary and toss for about 30 seconds.
3. Add the chard to the onions mixture and sauté until well wilted.
4. Once both the potatoes and the vegetables are done add the veggie mixture to the potatoes and lightly toss.
5. Turn on broiler.
6. Pour eggs over vegetables in large skillet and leave over medium heat until the eggs set well around the edges.
7. Put the frittata under broiler until eggs are completely set and the top is lightly browned. Should set in 8-10 minutes.

This fed the three of us for dinner with enough left over for my kid to take to school for lunch tomorrow. And the house smells divine.

The final recipe had about 3x as much chard as this but the photos were awful so I'm posting an earlier version.

Enjoy!

-Dr Samantha

Pre-massage

I’ve been cooking healthy food for 20+ years. I’ve worked in a macrobiotic restaurant. I’ve worked at the deli at a health food store. I’ve worked catering gigs. And I’ve taken countless classes in vegetarian cooking. But I have never, ever, heard of massaging kale.

My husband, who can barely cook his way out of a paper bag (ok, with the exception of whole grain scratch pancakes- he can totally rock those suckers), came home from visiting a friend of ours in Seattle and announced that he had learned a great new way to prepare raw kale. I was suspicious at best. He explained that she had him massage the kale for 10-15 minutes, squeezing it as hard as he could and the result was soft and yummy kale salad.

Within 24 hours I was set up in my kitchen to give it a try, partly because it seemed so ridiculous. But sure enough cowboy, it worked! And even better, I suspected it would go more quickly and easily if you actually massaged oil into it. Bingo!

Now to decide how to dress it. I remembered a pretty decent dish that I learned how to make about 25 years ago when I was following some absurd detox program. It was shredded carrots and celery with a dressing of almond butter and apple juice. But I don’t particularly like celery so the recipe settled into the recesses of my mind, until now. The dressing would work well here, I was certain.

The first time I made it I used regular kale, boxed OG apple juice and roasted almond butter. The second time I made it I used lacinato kale, raw almond butter and unpasteurized apple juice. The second round was tastier but I’m not sure if it was the different kale or the quality of the ingredients that made the difference. I’ll see if I can work that out. Please give me your feedback if you try it both ways.

Ingredients

I love orange!

• 1 medium sized head of kale
• 4 medium carrots
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup almond butter
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup apple juice
• Optional one inch piece of ginger
• Pinch or two of salt if your almond butter was unsalted

Instructions

1. Clean kale, remove tough center rib and rip into pieces.
2. Grate 4 carrots.
3. Pour oil on kale and massage it for about five minutes as if you’re kneading dough or giving someone a really deep back massage. You can add a little more oil here if you like. The pile should reduce in size by about 50% by the time you’re done.
4. Add grated carrots to kale.
5. Mix apple juice, almond butter and salt together with a fork. If you want the dressing a little thinner you can add some water. Here is where you would grate (on a ginger grater) ginger and squeeze the juice in if you go for the ginger part.
6. Pour dressing over kale and carrots and toss well.

The finished product.

I’m on a kick to eat a head of kale every 2-3 days. This is helping.

Enjoy!

Dr. Samantha

I originally found the recipe for Scrumptious Halibut Fish Tacos on Epicurious about 4 years ago. I bookmarked it and have gone back at least a dozen times. This time though, I wanted a slightly less expensive fish for a weekday meal so I asked Lyf at Flying Fish Co what he thought would work well. It took him about 5 seconds to choose Pacific ling cod. It was fresh, never frozen, about half the price of halibut, and Lyf was 100% sure. And really, who am I to doubt the fishmonger?

There are a few other changes I made because I didn’t want to buy pre-julienned carrots or non-organic broccoli slaw. And next time I’m going to make my own tortillas. I bought a tortilladora about a year ago (I’m a sucker for kitchen gadgets) and my first try was a disaster but I really need to get back on that.

I served the tacos as shown with a side of refried black beans. My five year old came up with that idea and was thrilled it helped everything “stick” so well inside the tortilla. And if you wanted to make this even lower in carbs you really could serve the fish over the slaw and skip the tortilla.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb Pacific ling cod (these fish are actually unrelated to cod) or other mild but meaty fish cut into pieces about 1 x 3 inches.
• 1-2 T Olive oil
• Flour for dredging fillets. I’ve used whole spelt flour for this and last night tried a coconut flour to make it GF. It didn’t work great. I’ll use corn meal next time.
• 1 bag of corn tortillas

SLAW DRESSING

• 1/2 C fresh lime juice
• 1/3 C honey
• 2 T olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp. cumin powder (better fresh ground from seeds but not necessary)

SLAW

• 1 1/2 C thinly sliced red cabbage
• 1 C shredded carrots
• 1/2 med. red onion slivered
• 3 T rough chopped cilantro (on the topic of kitchen gadgets, just bought these- love!)

GARNISHES

• 1 sliced avocado
• 3 scallions diced
• fresh diced jalapenos (optional)

I serve with lime wedges, avo, refried black beans (amy’s are my favorite), scallions and fresh jalapenos.

Enjoy!

Dr Samantha