Moments to be Mindful

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This week I would like to share a few examples of mindfulness. Goodness knows we can all use a few more.

Some of the these ideas are mine, and others come from friends, co-workers, and family members. One was contributed by our chocolate Labrador retriever (may her memory be a blessing), though it was honestly more of a demonstration.

Nourishing oneself comes in many different forms and flavors. Food is what I usually think of first when it comes to being nourished, but the truth is that we also nourish ourselves with peace and quiet, regrouping, putting away cellphones, taking our brains off the rail, being kind to ourselves, spending time alone and with people we love. Here are some of the examples I came up with, but please add your own below in the comments section.  Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Orange Soup

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One of our family’s favorites, Orange Soup (mah-RAHK kah-TOME), is a recipe that I have shared in the past. I have found that no matter how large a pot you make, it is always gone within a couple of days. In other words, this recipe makes a lot of soup, but it still won’t last very long. It’s quintessential comfort food. Continue reading →

Gratitude 2026

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This week I am thinking about gratitude. That’s not hard for me. I was born an optimist; I always see the glass half-full. I always make lemonade from lemons — what else would you do with them? While it is certainly true that I have had my share of bad days, I’ll be the first to tell you that they have made me a better person. And they made me a better doctor, too. See what I mean? Glass half full. It’s a given.  Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Yellow Eye Heirloom Bean Soup

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Today was a lovely day, temperatures notwithstanding. School was cancelled, of course, because no one in their right mind could require children to stand outside in these temperatures waiting for school busses. This is why, having received the text from my daughter late yesterday, family camp was in session today. 

The children unrolled our many yoga mats end-to-end all over the living room, and then raided the pantry to build a long winding row of mostly dry and canned beans that they subsequently climbed over and among for close to an hour. In the meanwhile, I put up a pot of soup in my beloved 5.5-quart Staub Dutch oven (cocotte). Continue reading →

Breakfast in Winter

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I really love snow, and last weekend Northeast Ohio got more than a foot of snow, a real snowstorm. My neighbors reported that their dachshunds’ morning walk was extremely challenging, and the roads weren’t passable until mid-morning. I myself spent a lot of time shoveling snow, so I needed to eat a breakfast that provided more fuel than usual. Today we’re talking about breakfast. Continue reading →

Real Food is Love

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It’s a new year, and I’d like to talk about why I write this blog. I want to make sure you understand how very big is the difference between real food and manufactured calories. Real food nourishes. At best, manufactured calories entertain. Manufactured calories also cause a great many serious medical problems. Like breast and colon cancer; diabetes, obesity, and arthritis; strokes and heart attacks. For starters.  Continue reading →

Color Your New Year

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It’s a new year, and I’d like to talk about why I write this blog. I want to make sure you understand how very big is the difference between real food and manufactured calories. Real food nourishes. At best, manufactured calories entertain. Manufactured calories also cause a great many serious medical problems. Like breast and colon cancer; diabetes, obesity, and arthritis; strokes and heart attacks. For starters.  Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Butternut-Peanut Soup

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Make this one cold evening with a couple of friends, light some candles, and sit back with a glass of wine while you wait for the soup to cook. Then ladle the soup into mugs and pass them around. This soup will warm you from the inside out. Remember that peanuts are a legume, so that makes it nourishing and a good source of protein. Also, be forewarned: the peanut butter and coconut milk make it quite rich, so one cup goes a long way. If you’re up for it, you can add a simple green salad, and call it a meal. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Red Lentils & Sweet Potatoes

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I think that it might be exactly the right time of year to have this recipe in the refrigerator. You can make this recipe over the weekend, and then have it ready to eat on the days between the endless holiday parties, celebrations, after-work stopovers, and other seasonal social events. It’s incredibly flavorful, it’ll give your mind and belly a well-deserved rest, and you’ll be glad not to have to think too much about what to make for dinner. Or lunch.  Continue reading →

The Wrinkle-Free Diet

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It’s been decades since my parents, Chef Ira and The Gardener, first coined a name for the way they eat. They called it the wrinkle-free diet. Though it started as a joke, an answer to the fact that they didn’t seem to be aging as quickly as their friends, it did not stay a joke for long. The magic of their wrinkle-free diet, it turns out, happens not on the surface, nor in the words themselves, but deep inside, through changes to the section of chromosomes called telomeres. Continue reading →