Doctor's Pantry

Recipes by three sisters who are doctors by day and amateur cooks by night

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Doctor's Pantry has moved!

You can still find our posts at doctorspantry.com, but we'll no longer show up on your tumblr feed. We've moved to a different format, Wordpress, so that the recipes are easier to read and print! Check out our new recipe index!

Much love (whether we're sending it from tumblr or wordpress),

b, k, and l

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More October...and Fall Recipes from Dr. Dad

We had a weekend that could only be described as lovely. We drove home and visited both sets of parents- had a fun dinner with T's family, and then a delicious brunch made by my dad.

Dad Recipe: Oven-Roasted Tomatoes (Breakfast Candy)

- Roast halved small tomatoes on 400F until caramelized...about 30 minutes. No olive oil, no salt. One ingredient only, and it made the breakfast frittata even more delicious. 

Then, we headed to Hendersonville, NC, where we went apple picking, visited a winery, had a wonderful dinner with old friends, and picked out pumpkins from a pumpkin patch. 

And then we returned home to visit both sets of parents again. We decorated a pumpkin for T's parents, and my dad made another delicious fall meal: vegetable beef stew! 

- b

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Autumn! Crocheting! Tea! Pumpkins!

Finally...a day so cool that T hasn't even suggested turning on the AC! We woke up early (to the cooool cool air), went for an early run, and then ate crepes at Queen Street Grocery. So tasty. And we planned our future bed and breakfast - slash- brewery- slash- pumpkin patch. Where we may serve crepes. 

Recent fun fall activities and fall things:

Crocheting! I made these baby booties and newsies hat for some wonderful friends' fetus-soon-to-be-baby. And my love for crocheting has been rekindled.

Tea! My awesome mother-in-law gave me a tea set and a million fancy teas. Which I loooove! I have tried almost every tea...today I opted for "Bourbon Street Vanilla," one of my favorites!

Pumpkins! And pumpkin-y decorations. Including our first jack-o-lantern of the year. First of many!

-b

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Even more spiralizing...

Oodles and oodles of zoodles! (Every blog can say that once, right?)

In an effort to keep up with my sisters' spiralizing, I created this Paleo concoction:

Spicy Sunflower Zoodles

1T minced garlic

3T sunflower seed butter

3T coconut milk

2T coconut aminos (or soy sauce if not going Paleo)

sprinkle of crushed red pepper

2 zucchini, spiralized

juice of 1 small lime

Spiralize zucchini and let sit, salted, in colander while you prepare sauce. 

Mix all other ingredients and heat on low in saucepan. 

Lightly saute zucchini noodles. 

Serve sauce on top of zucchini noodles and sprinkle with red pepper. 

-b

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Joining the Spiralizer Bandwagon...and Proud of It!

First things first. I'll admit that I love pasta. I am capable of eating lots of pasta. But...I also like to pay some attention to recent health discoveries, and it turns out carbs aren't thabestforyou. Whoops. Good thing I also love VEGGIES. And I can eat a lot of them, too! That's why I was SUPER excited when K gifted me a spiralizer for [our] birthday! 

This week I set forth on a mission to make tasty dishes with my new gadget. I am totally love,love,loving it. I went onto www.inspiralized.com to seek out quick and easy recipes to start off with. 

These Garlic Sweet Potato Noodles with Pancetta and Baby Spinach were the bomb diggity: 

!!!!!! So tasty. I doubled the recipe, added a little more crushed red pepper than it called for (#imallaboutdatspice) and topped with a sprinkle of parmesan. Let me be clear. When you cook with the spiralizer, you shouldn't think of it as "tricking your body" by eating something that is shaped like pasta, but is not. You AND your body should know that you're eating sweet potatoes, and you can feel really good about it. Plus, it's delicious! 

Spiralizer round two: Avocado-Basil Zuchinni Noodles with Chile Lime Shrimp and Corn

Why have I not been eating zuchinni in noodle-form for FOREVER?!?! It's SO GOOD. Also, the sauce on the noodles is killer. I'm definitely going to make it in the future and dip lots of stuff in it. LOTS of stuff. I also followed the recipe for the most part here...but I added more avocado to the sauce than it called for (1.5 avocados instead of 1), and it think I like it a little thicker! The mix of the warm/cold in this dish is really awesome. 

Verdict: The Spiralizer is the shiz...and now that I know how to work it, I'm excited for some creative, original recipes in the future! 

Now I will leave you with this picture of my adorable breakfast:

The pumpkin seeds with pumpkin spice at TJ's right now are everything. Also, look at my cute loose-leaf tea brewing cup that B gave me! It's definitely made my days brighter. 

Happy beginning of fall, happy loose-leaf tea weather, happy Friday folks! 

-L

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Grain-free Fall Granola

To prove that I haven't abandoned Paleo eating just because the Whole30 is over, here's a recipe that I made last night to celebrate fall AND grain-free eating. Now that I know how much lower my blood pressure is while I'm grain-free, I figure I should keep with it...

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Grain-Free Granola

2 cups of cubed pumpkin or butternut squash

2 tablespoons ghee or coconut oil

1 cup hazelnuts

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup sunflower kernels

1/4 cup shaved coconut

salt to taste

1/3 cup honey

1 tbsp vanilla extract

generous dash pumpkin pie spice

Turn oven on to 275F. 

Put pumpkin in a baking dish and bake until getting soft, about 15 min.

Add ghee to pan and mix. 

In a food chopper or processor, chop the almonds and hazelnuts into small pieces (granola-sized pieces). 

Add any of the raw nuts (in my case, all except the pumpkin seeds, which were already roasted) and the coconut pieces to the pan. Mix well to distribute the ghee/ oil.

Continue to cook another 30 min or so until the nuts are all starting to get crispy.

Add the pre-roasted nuts, salt, honey, vanilla extract, and pumpkin pie spice. Mix well, and press it all down into the bottom of the pan. 

Bake another 15 min or so until it is crunchy in parts and chewy in parts. 

Serve with yogurt, if you're not going strictly Paleo, or with almond milk and eggs if you are. 

-b

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A 30-year-old's Whole30 Results

This weekend, we finished the Whole30, and then K and I turned 30 (with L turning 26)! It was a wonderful weekend.

So...for the Whole30 results...

I had started the Whole30 with a few goals in mind. Here's how they all panned out:

(1) To challenge myself to make new foods: SUCCESS! We made delicious foods this month, and I have a new appreciation for protein. 

(2) To "re-boot" my immune system so I wouldn't constantly sneeze and itch: SUCCESS. To be fair, I have no idea whether the Whole30 did this or not, but I'm happy with less itchy eyes. 

(3) To improve fertility: FAIL (I guess). It was unfair of me to expect the Whole30 to move mountains. But, to make a long story short: This was a horrendous month of fertility meds, injections, manipulated hormones, multiple ultrasounds, a lot of bloodwork...and zero results. In fact, it left us pretty hopeless in this realm, as I failed to respond to escalating doses of hormones. So, for job reasons, and because this month was so taxing on a physical, emotional, and financial level, we're tabling these plans indefinitely (while looking more into adoption and foster options). {I'd put a frowny face here, but it couldn't come close to conveying the actual frowny feelings}

So after that good/good/awful summary, here's a happy report of the amazing Whole30 side effects we experienced:

Weight loss: I lost 8 pounds in one month. I essentially got down to my college weight in one month. And, T lost 12.8 pounds! I don't mean to emphasize the weight loss, since it wasn't really the point of our doing this, but it was a very nice side effect. And nice to finally find something that works!

Inches lost: T and I each lost about an inch around our waists. That's always good. 

Blood pressure: This was the most amazing change; my systolic blood pressure (the "top number") dropped 25 points! My BP went from 122/80 to 96/70. That is a HUGE drop! And T's dropped about 15 points, too.

So, this was definitely worth it. I'm really grateful that T did this with me, since I know his sweet tooth made this challenging! Going forward, I'm still going to try to cook/eat Paleo at home (but I'll be much less strict when eating out...so that we actually can eat out). Except that I'm re-introducing yogurt ASAP. I feel great eating yogurt, and I think it's a good source of protein. And now I'm making my own yogurt thanks to a new gift from K&C...post to come soon...

I'll end with a pic of the three DP ladies on our birthday. I had the DP yoga tank tops made for K & L for their birthdays, and of course they made those silly shirts look nice. 

I could never love anyone as I love my sisters. ~Little Women

-b

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Whole30 Day 27: Cauliflower Patties

Three days left until we're done with the Whole30...although I still haven't decided exactly how done I'll be. If I feel better on Paleo food, there's really no reason to start eating grains again. I'm trying not to give my verdict until we're done...in only 3 days! We made, for the second time, these delicious cauliflower patties pan-fried in ghee. We followed this recipe word-for-word: http://thehealthyfoodie.com/creamy-cauliflower-fritters/

It's a great recipe, and the cauliflower patties are the epitome of comfort food. Which it turns out I've needed this month, which has been especially tiresome and emotionally draining. But...fall is around the corner, we have plans to go to the mountains soon, and my little 2-person-1-dog family is otherwise healthy and happy. So, on we go...for three more days! -b

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Whole30 Day 21 {and Almond-Hazelnut Milk and Crackers}

Nine...more...days... I'm not sure I ever achieved the state of boundless energy that other people have reported with the Whole30. I still feel pretty tired. Maybe it's due to a change in meds...or the fact that my sleep schedule is thrown off from working crazy hours...or maybe it's the working crazy hours part. BUT I am still loving the challenge of making strictly Paleo food. We made our own almond milk at the start of the Whole30, and then we made a batch of almond-hazelnut milk for the second half of our challenge. Very, very easy to do (although it would be even easier with a nut milk bag...next purchase). But, when you make almond milk, you have to strain out the almond pulp. The frugal part of me (which is pretty much all of me) hates that waste. So, I made the pulp into crackers. They were slightly sweet (from the date), with a hint of rosemary. Almond-Hazelnut Milk: -3/4 cup raw almonds -1/4 cup hazelnut -1 pitted Medjool dates -1 whole vanilla bean -1/4 teaspoon cinnamon -small dash of allspice -dash of salt 1. Soak nuts in cut of filtered water overnight. 2. Drain nuts. Add soaked nuts to blender with 3.5 cups filtered water, date, and vanilla bean. Blend about 1 minute. 3. Pour through cheesecloth (multiple layers) or nut milk bag into jar or bowl. Squeeze excess fluid out of pulp. 4. Rinse blender. Add the milk plus spices back in. Blend a few seconds to mix. 5. Pour into jar and keep in fridge.

And now for the frugal use of the pulp: almond crackers! You could use 100% pulp, but I didn't think to do this until I had trashed half of the pulp, so I used half pulp and half almond meal. Almond-Hazelnut Rosemary Crackers -1 cup almond-hazelnut pulp from the milk recipe -1 cup almond meal -1 egg -1/2 tsp salt -1/2 tsp rosemary (I used dried but would prefer about a tsp of fresh) -olive oil 1. Mix the pulp/meal, egg, salt. 2. Put on an oiled piece of parchment paper. 3. Cover with another piece of parchment paper. 4. Roll out until cracker-thin, using rolling pin or wine bottle. 5. Remove top piece of parchment paper and place bottom piece of parchment paper (with the "dough") onto cookie sheet. Score into cracker-sized pieces with knife. Brush a little more olive oil on top. 6. Press rosemary onto crackers. 7. Bake for 10-15 min at 350F, until golden brown. -b

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Whole30 Day 19 (plus dog pictures)

19 days in and going strong! I will mention that the only way we've been able to stick to the rules has been by eating at home (or at our accommodating friends' house) every single night. Which is so disappointing when it's Charleston Restaurant Week! Also, the restrictions are starting to feel really...restrictive. Some of them I find excessive: No extracts? No green peas? Nothing cooked in wine (even if the alcohol has burned off)? I think they take the "slippery slope" argument a little too far...I seriously doubt that any of those things contribute negatively towards anyone's health. So far, I think the main point of all of this is just to open your eyes to how much sugar is added to EVERYTHING...from pasta sauce to sausage to marinades. But, I'll reserve the rest of my comments on the Whole30 until the end of the month. On another note...it has taken so much time and money to try to eat "clean" this month; it has probably cost around $150 a week for two people to eat nothing but fruits, vegetables, and (sustainable) meats. I have no qualms about admitting that this type of eating is a total luxury...one that I'm not sure we could keep up (financially or time-wise). Why is real food so expensive and difficult to find?! Anyway, here are some recent Paleo meals we have enjoyed: Plantain nachos: 1. Mix 2 plantains, thinly sliced, with 1/4c coconut oil, dash of salt, and dash of chili powder. Bake at 375 until crispy. 2. Top with ground turkey, grape tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, and avocado/mayo/lime/cilantro dressing.

Dukkah-crusted Tilapia: 1. Make dukkah spice blend (Egyptian dipping spice): I used Nom Nom Paleo's awesome recipe from her cookbook. I don't have a spice grinder, so this actually required grinding it with mortar and pestle after chopping it in the food processor. 2. Mix 2 tsp dukkah with a tablespoon of Paleo mayonnaise. 3. Broil tilapia fillets (fresh or completely thawed) for two min per side, after squeezing fresh lemon juice and a splash of olive oil on each. 4. Spread the dukkah-mayo blend on each fillet, and sprinkle with some extra dukkah. 5. Broil 2-3 more minutes, until crispy on top.

And some recent pictures from the dog park, where our friends took their new dog for the first time! Not loving the bath station:

Leaving with tired dogs:

My loves:

-b

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Whole 30 Day 14 {and Tart Cranberry Sauce Recipe}

We've made it two weeks! I'm not feeling any different, but this has made us experiment with tasty new healthy foods, so we'll keep it going! Last night we made a super fast meal- turkey cutlets with paleo cranberry sauce and broccoli. This cranberry sauce only took about 10 minutes total...and it tastes like the holidays!! Tart Cranberry Sauce- Paleo and Whole30-compliant -1 bag fresh cranberries -1-2 large oranges (or in this case, 3 clementines) -1 medjool date -1/2 cup apple juice -handful of walnuts 1. Boil the cranberries in water about 5-7 minutes, or until they're soft and some are popping open. Drain well. 2. Meanwhile, peel the oranges. 3. Mix all of the ingredients (including the cooked cranberries) with an immersion blender until desired chunkiness is obtained. -b

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Doctors Pantry has an INSTAGRAM!

Hello out there tumblr folks!

If you love following our blog, think about following our instagram account as well, @doctorspantry ...you'll be glad you did! We'll be posting teaser pics of our most recent recipes. If it looks tasty, our blog link is in the profile and our recipes are at your fingertips! 

Thanks for all the insta-love we've gotten so far! 

Happy eating, drinking, and social media surfing!

-b, k, & l

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Middle Eastern Chicken and Chickpeas with Kale Salad

Several weeks ago I cooked a Bon Appetit recipe for Za'atar Roast Chicken with Green Tahini Sauce...it was SO tasty. Za'atar is a traditional Middle Eastern spice that I have come to learn tastes delicious on well..just about everything (hummus, veggies, yogurt, etc). 

Bon Appetit's recipe calls for fresh oregano, but I didn't have any lying around, so I settled for dried...still awesome! 

Za'atar

1 T oregano

1 T sumac

1 T ground cumin

1 T sesame seeds

1 t kosher salt

1 t ground black pepper

So yesterday, with some of this leftover spice hanging around, I decided to do my own, impromptu version of the dish. It was quicker, easier, and still full of middle eastern flavor! 

Middle Eastern Chicken and Chickpeas

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch strips

2 T olive oil

2 T lemon juice

2 t za'atar spice mix

1/4 t kosher salt

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Dash of crushed red pepper flakes

Greek yogurt

Fresh mint

Toasted pine nuts

1. Mix chicken, oil, lemon juice, za'atar and salt in a bowl. Let sit for 20-30 min (or longer! I was just doing this on the fly so I had to start cooking :) )

2. Toss into a frying pan on medium heat with another tablespoon of olive oil. Cook for 6-7 minutes, or until chicken strips are almost fully cooked. 

3. Pour chickpeas into the pan with the chicken and add the red pepper flakes. Toss this mixture for about 1-2 minutes, or until chickpeas are warm and chicken is cooked through.

4. Plate dish on top of grains (in this case, I used couscous), or eat it alone for a low-carb option. Top with 1 T of the yogurt, fresh mint leaves, pine nuts, and another sprinkle of that tasty tasty za'atar spice! Ta-DA! 

The Lemon-y Kale Salad on the side is super simple.

-Chop up a bunch of kale (stems removed)

-Toss in 2 T fresh lemon juice and 1 T olive oil

-Massage (yes, massage) the leaves with the juice and olive oil...it helps soften them up but remain crunchy!

-Finally, mix with grated parmesan cheese, salt, and ground black pepper.

-Top with pine toasted pine nuts!**

**The DP ladies would top everything with toasted pines nuts if they could...and if they weren't so expensive!!

Happy eating y'all! 

-L

Ps- I almost forgot! Q and I made the best Old Fashioned last night. Definitely not Whole-30 approved...sorry B! To create: muddle together a small orange slice, sugar cube, and several dashes of bitters. Top with ice cubes and a shot of bourbon! Garnish with orange peel to feel fancy. Cheers! 

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Turkey, Sweet Potato, and Spinach Hash!

In the Whole-30 spirit, this is a low carb, not-so-bad-for-you-but-may-have-some-weird-ingredient-I-don’t-know-about dish! The sweet potatoes and red pepper were purchased at the local Carrboro farmers market…so I think we’re good with at least those :)

1. Cut sweet potato into 1/2 inch cubes, place in salted, boiling water until slightly tender, but still firm (~3-4 min). Drain. 2. Meanwhile, put 1 lb ground turkey in the cast iron until mostly brown. 3. Add a diced, hot pepper to the meat. I used the red pepper in the pic (not sure of the name). It was slightly spicier than a jalapeño. 4. Add spices to meat/pepper mixture (chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper). 5. Toss in the potatoes, adding more spice as you go along if you choose. Here you can turn up the heat to med/high to cook potatoes further. 6. Add in a couple handfuls spinach. Toss. Remove pan from heat when spinach begins to wilt. 7. Add a handful of chopped cilantro and top with toasted walnuts!

Yum! Enjoy!

-L

Ps- that last pic is to let you in on my artistic secret of taking the photo on our deck…what? It has the best light! We did not, however, eat the meal off the deck.

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Whole 30 Day 10 {and Recipe for Sweet and Nutty Cashew Arugula Butter}

Day 10- We're 1/3 there! We've continued to eat great food, but this is SO time-consuming! Which is hard now that I've started back working an incredibly busy schedule. But thankfully that just means that my awesome husband (who's probably wondering how he got sucked into this) is doing more of the cooking. One of my favorite things we've made is this cashew-arugula butter. It tastes incredibly sweet for not having ANY sweet ingredients in it. It's delicious on vegetables (raw carrots, snap peas), but I also really liked it on some Mediterranean lamb meatballs we made. I plan to eat it on crackers once I can eat crackers again. Sweet and Nutty Cashew Butter: Blend the following ingredients in high-speed blender or food processor until it forms a paste: - 1 cup cashews, soaked in filtered water for over an hour - 1 lemon, juiced - big handful arugula - generous pour of olive oil - splash of apple cider vinegar - dash of salt Enjoy! -b

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Whole 30 Day 7 {and Tom Kha Gai Recipe}

Today will mark 1 full week on the Whole30 program. For the first time, I did experience one of the warned-about stages, which has been fatigue. I just wanted a nap all day yesterday (but somehow forced myself to do work and take our dog on a 3-mile walk). Today, I actually SHOULD nap all day, because I have to work night shift. And then starting tomorrow, I'm working in the ER again, so we'll see how the meal prep goes when I'm busier. Here's the recipe for (mock) Tom Kha Gai (no lemongrass or kaffir lime leaves required!). Eating this provided a nice break from the monotony of meat + veggies.

Easy Paleo Tom Kha Gai {Thai Chicken, Coconut, and Lime Soup} -2 chicken breasts -2 cans coconut milk -3 limes -cilantro -2 Tbsp minced ginger -2 Tbsp fish sauce (sugar-free!) -1/4 tsp cayenne pepper -1/2 tsp turmeric -enoki mushrooms (optional) 1. Sauté the chicken breasts in a small amount of ghee until cooked through. {Note, at this point, I left the chicken cooking while I visited our friends' awesome puppy...so the chicken ended up very dry. If you have the desire to play with a puppy, do it either before or after cooking the chicken}. 2. In a medium-sized pot, bring coconut milk and 2 cups water to a boil. Reduce heat to low. 3. Add ginger, fish sauce, lime juice, cayenne powder and turmeric (Turmeric will turn it yellow; leave it out if you don't want yellow soup). 4. Simmer on low for about 10 minutes, to allow tastes to combine. 5. If adding enoki mushrooms, just add these right before serving. They cook in the hot soup in just a few minutes. 6. Add fresh cilantro as a garnish and serve! -b

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Whole 30 Day 5: EAT all the things!

5 straight days of no added sugar, soy, grains, legumes, or dairy! As I mentioned before, we really didn't experience "the hangover" phase, and now I can also say we didn't experience the "KILL ALL THE THINGS" phase. But today I did want to EAT all the things...I was hungrier than usual, with the desire to snack all day. But I snacked on grapes and olives, so I think it's okay. Recent Paleo meals include... Breakfast bowl of kale, plantain, and bacon, with an egg and spicy mayo:

Spiralized sesame zucchini noodles. Coconut aminos are a really, really great stand-in for soy sauce!

Mock Tom Kha Gai (Thai coconut, lime, and chicken soup)...recipe to follow later.

Crockpot chicken and gravy. Recipe from Nomnom Paleo (http://nomnompaleo.com/post/4807547385/slow-cooker-roast-chicken-and-gravy). Of note, I couldn't find any chicken stock without sugar or MSG, so I boiled the spiralizer leftovers and browned giblets from the chicken. It made a nice chicken stock, the rest of which I'm saving for later deliciousness:

Our wonderful friends made a WONDERFUL meal of coffee-crusted pork tenderloin and salad. Enjoyed with apple peach butter!

And tonight, we had spicy curried drumsticks (drumsticks + ghee + spices in the (toaster) oven for 40 minutes at 400F). Served with Brussel sprouts and sautéed okra.