Category Archives: simplicity

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Wintertime Oatmeal with Apples & Walnuts

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In view of the fact that I’ve been asked once again to repost this recipe, and since it’s autumn (the most glorious autumn I can remember in years), I am reposting this recipe for Apple-Walnut Oatmeal. I’ve adjusted the proportions to make enough for two. 

Looking out the dining room window as I write this, all I can see are dozens of cool, grey-brown branches against a pale blue, sun-lit sky. It’s beautifully stark, and riveting, calling me to the outdoors while the sun is still low in the eastern sky. But before I venture out into this beautiful day, I’m going to make this oatmeal recipe to warm me from the inside out. This recipe has a lot of flavor, with all the right kinds of yummy. You will probably smile while you’re eating it. I know I do.

1 cup rolled oats
1 small apple, peeled, cored, and diced small
3 c. water
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. flax meal
3/4 tsp. cinnamon, scant
1 tsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. toasted walnuts, chopped coarsely

In a medium saucepan, heat the oats, apple, water, and salt over medium heat. Heat 5-8 minutes until simmering, lower heat to medium-low, and cook 5 minutes more until the apple softens, stirring often.

Add the vanilla, olive oil, flax meal and cinnamon, and stir well. Pour into a serving bowl, top with nuts, and serve. I’ve also made this recipe with amaranth to replace the oats, and almonds instead of the walnuts. It comes out delicious! Feeds 2-3 very nicely.

Old-Fashioned Gratitude

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Many years ago, when I was eleven years old, my parents bought a Corning Cooktop stove, a fancy new appliance whose coils remained white even when they were hot. You simply had to take it on faith — or not. No matter how long I stared at that new stovetop, I could not convince myself that the white coils were hot. And that is why I still remember so clearly, this many years later, the perfectly oval burn on the tip of my right index finger. I touched it only once, but that was enough. It was all it took. I couldn’t take anyone else’s word for it.  Continue reading →

With Years Come Wisdom, Guest Post by Joe Gardewin

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Our recent guest post on aging inspired yet another guest post, this one by long-term reader Joe Gardewin. I hope his words inspire you as much as they inspired me!

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Dear Doc Roxanne, 

I may not be an expert on aging but, at 78, I do consider myself aged or, as my friend, Tom Isern, says, “seasoned.” In other words, most of my life is in my rearview mirror. Ha! That is not a bad thing, because I’ve had a pretty full life. But I do hope to live for a while yet and, in all honesty, I think I will. I think that, in part, because I have a good family doc who has now followed me for 20 years. In her words I am “… not the patient I worry about most.” 

These are my thoughts on [hopefully] living a long, healthy life:  Continue reading →

Making Your Kitchen Fruit-Friendly

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For the record, I do not want you to think that I have always eaten the way I do now. It has been a process. There have been important milestones and realizations along the way such as, for example, the day I realized that there was absolutely no high-fructose corn syrup in my refrigerator. Or the time I decided that we were going to begin diluting the boxes of marginally nutritious “breakfast cereals” with dried fruit, nuts, seeds (e.g., sesame, pumpkin, sunflower), and rolled (steamed) oats until they contained essentially none of the original agents. 

And then there was the time I realized that we had inadvertently made an important change in the way we unpacked the groceries. This change, though virtually invisible, was to have a significant effect on the way we ate.  Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Wedding Delicata Squash

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I was introduced to delicata squash some years ago while celebrating the wedding of friends in Santa Cruz. Delicata is a small, lovely squash that looks gorgeous and tastes the same. It’s a little bit sweet, and a little bit not. Plus, unlike most other squashes, you can eat the skin of the delicata! 

This was a wedding to remember. In keeping with an old family custom, and so that we could easily identify the affiliation of each of the guests, those invited by one partner were instructed to wear gold while those invited by the other were instructed to wear white. We were members of team white, and I was thrilled to have an opportunity to wear a knitted cream dress that had been hanging in my closet for a long time. Once we arrived at the outdoor venue, we all joined together in a sea of yellow, gold, beige, cream, and white to form a new, beautiful, extended family. It was very moving, and most memorable. The simple beauty of this recipe will always remind me of the love and joy we helped to create on that beautiful October day.  Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Two Israeli Fennel Salads

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By the time you read this I’ll be in Israel visiting my son and daughter-in-law, and celebrating the first birthday of my beautiful grandson. The next few weeks will be inspired by the delicious meals and celebrations for which Israelis are famous! First up are a couple of salads using the vegetable fennel.  

Fennel is a very special bulb of a vegetable, with the faintest sweet taste of…what?…licorice(!)…but very faint, so don’t be put off. To me it tastes more like the bergamot that gives Earl Grey tea its characteristic flavor and aroma. If you’ve never eaten fennel before, these recipes are a perfect introduction. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Tofu Time

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One day last week my son-in-law made a fantastic tofu curry, and it came up in conversation at least a few times in the following days how much my 18-month-old granddaughter enjoyed that curry. By the third telling, I got the impression she loved that tofu curry so much that there wasn’t much left for her parents! Continue reading →

Dieting: It’s Not for the Birds and It’s Not for You

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This week I’m sharing a conversation that I have had with a lot of patients lately. They want to weigh less, they know that it’s better for their health, but they cannot figure out how to make it work. I tell them that making it work requires a frame shift, a change in the way you think about food. When we talk about what that means for them, I see the lights go on in their eyes and their expressions. It’s slightly magical, every time. They leave with renewed faith and self-confidence, not to mention relief. It was never about dieting. It was about the food. Continue reading →

Sometimes You’ve Gotta Go Slow

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A while back I learned that race car drivers have a saying: “Sometimes you’ve gotta go slow to go fast.” If you want to shave seconds off your time, in other words, you need to slow down as you head into the curve. If you want to keep up, sometimes you need to back off a little. It’s especially true right now. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we’re actually headed into the roughest part of the pandemic. I had no idea that this whole year was just a dress rehearsal for the real thing. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Savory Tofu Barbecue

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I know I promised that I would be posting recipes for fudge and fancy cocktails, but then I came across this recipe and it seems perfect for a pandemic. I think you’ll be glad to have it. It’s very forgiving, and if you make a batch and store it in the refrigerator, you (or your kids) can pop a few blocks in your mouth without a second thought, and keep moving. No planning, no organizing. Just pure protein, delicious and nutritious. Continue reading →