All Paths Naturopathy

Category: Ashland

Chocolate Chip Cookies

So what do you do on a summer day in Southern Oregon when you have to stay in the house as a result of poor air quality from forest fires? Well, since it has been cool enough to turn on the oven, I thought cookies sounded like a good idea. Moons ago, I was blessed with a few bags of chickpea flour, also know as besan or gram flour. This legume flour is high in protein, and low glycemic index. When paired with a seed these cookies not only taste great, but are a complete protein source as well, which makes them great to take as a snack with fruit and nuts when hiking or adventuring in the Rogue Valley or checking out a play in Ashland or music in Jacksonville. If those attributes were not enough to convince you to try this recipe, they are also gluten free, vegan and paleo friendly!

One of the great aspects of this recipe is that if you too have fond memories of eating cookie batter before it has made it into the oven, this batter will surely break you of the habit. It has to be one of the worst tasting batters I have ever tried. It is amazing the wonders of heat and time in there ability to transform the batter into some of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever baked.

Ingredients

1 flax egg
1 and 1/4 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup sugar ( I used coconut)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp xanthum gum
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground clove
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips ( carob, coconut nibs or even butterscotch can be substituted)
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp milk or your favorite substitute

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F

Grease cookie sheets

Sift together dry ingredients and set aside.
Cream sugar and butter. When well combined switch to a whisk and beat until fluffy, continue beating while adding the milk and flax egg.
With out over mixing, combine the dry ingredients with the wet, before adding the chocolate chips.
Using 2 teaspoons, scoop out rounded teaspoon size balls onto the greased cookie sheet.
Bake until the edges are lightly golden brown approximately 8-9 minutes.
Remove from oven and gently transfer to a cooling rack after letting the cookies rest for 1-2 minutes on the baking sheet.

In Health,

Dr Amanda Hochman

Naturopathic Physician
All Paths Naturopathy & Midwifery LLC

August 3, 2013
Safety in this time of smoke and fire

Here in Southern Oregon the air quality has been hazardous as a result of forest fires burning throughout Josephine and Douglas counties. In total, nearly 40,000 acres have burned. Fortunately, the temperatures have cooled and the atmospheric conditions contributing to the poor air quality have actually been beneficial to fighting the fires. The daily Oregon Department of Forestry Reports are available at their blog. There is an associated blog Oregon Smoke Information, where individuals can find current air quality conditions. With the current conditions being very unhealthy, many individuals should consider wearing a mask to lessen inhalation of particulate. The Department of Forestry has recommended the N95 and NOISH respirators.

Those individuals with facial hair may need to trim to ensure that the mask fits the face securely over the face, if it does not then maximal protection can not be achieved. If you have never worn a respirator before, it can be difficult to breath through initially, but if you relax and breath slowly you will be less likely to hyperventilate. This is most important for those with pre-existing heart or lung conditions, however even for healthy individuals, it may feel claustrophobic.

It is recommended that individuals should limit time out of doors and stay in air conditioned locations. Additionally, it is important for the air conditioner to recirculate the air rather than draw in air from the out side.

In Health,

Dr Amanda Hochman

Naturopathic Physician
All Paths Naturopathy & Midwifery LLC

August 2, 2013
Flax Pesto Potato Salad

Here in the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon, as well as in other parts of the country the CSA boxes as of late have been brimming with beautiful vegetables. So much so that beets, and cucumbers went into a quinoa tabbouleh, flax pesto with fingerling potato salad, and the salad greens were again the soup though this time they were paired with miso and ginger rather than vegetable bullion. The weather has been so hot in the evenings that there has been smaller than usual appetites and a bit less desire to turn on the oven. Fortunately on Sunday I had a day of divine inspiration in the kitchen. Having a bowl full of flax pesto sitting in the fridge just asking to be combined with fingerling potatoes in a mayonnaise less potato salad.

Flax Pesto:

1/4 cup flax – freshly ground
1 + 1/2 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic peeled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
zest from 1 lemon
juice 1/2 lemon

Combine all ingredients into a blender or food processor. Blitz until thoroughly combined.

For the Potato Salad

1 pound of fingerling potatos cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1/8 cup sour cream or tofutti
1/4 cup flax pesto
1/4 cup cottage cheese ( can be omitted)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
greens from 3 scallions

Boil the potatoes until fork tender. Pour off the water and reserve for soup stocks. Let the potatoes come to room temperature and combine the rest of the ingredients into a large bowel. Stir to ensure that the potato pieces are well incorporated. Enjoy right away or chilled for 60 + minutes.

In Health,

Dr Amanda Hochman

Naturopathic Physician at All Paths Naturopathy & Midwifery LLC

July 23, 2013
Current rates of vaccine preventable diseases

This is not a piece about whether or not families should choose to vaccinate or not. Instead, it is a review of the current rates of diseases that vaccines are designed to protect against. From a public health stand point, vaccines are designed to protect individuals through a direct immune response to the viruses and bacterium contained within the inoculation, but also via herd immunity. The theory that through high rates of vaccination, those who are unable to be vaccinated due to age, being immune compromised, or previous adverse reaction are also protected from the wild type viruses and bacteria.

In a number of communities including Ashland here in the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon, families are choosing no or significantly less vaccines. Leading to less protection for vulnerable individuals because the herd immunity is not as effective, but also there is the risk that non-vaccinated individuals are also at risk for developing a vaccine preventable disease. As a result, it is useful to know what communicable diseases are occurring in the Southern Oregon and surrounding regions so families can make informed choices that protect themselves as well as others from exposure to or illness resulting from a vaccine preventable diseases.

According to the Oregon Health Authorities A Monthly Communicable Disease Surveillance Report for May 2013, there have been 154 cases of pertussis also referred to as whooping cough in the state with 4 of those cases occurring in Jackson County. Additionally, there has been 1 case of tetanus reported as well.
Farther from the Rogue Valley, in Seattle, there have been 2 confirmed cases of measles reported by Public Health- Seattle & King County in Washington state. For individuals who may have been in Seattle or the surrounding areas July 9-10 visit Public Health website for Seattle & King County for more information.

In Health,

Dr Amanda Hochman

Naturopathic Physician at All Paths Naturopathy & Midwifery LLC

July 20, 2013
Lettuce pea soup

The pictures of the soup do not bring out its beautiful green color, and I am sure that a few more peas would have not hurt either. Yet, I had been pining for pea soup and had bags of lettuce sitting in the fridge and no desire to eat salad or much of anything, for that matter while the temperature had been in the upper 90’s. With inspiration from a recipe I had seen on my search for a chilled pea soup, this little number came into being. It was a perfect number now that the temperature has finally dropped to a more seasonable 80 degrees here in Southern Oregon, following the veritable heat wave. It had been so hot, that the mere thought of even turning on the stove top was just unbearable so there would be no fresh made chicken stock for this soup base and we do not usually have boxed stock in the pantry hence, the use of the bullion cubes instead. The meal was also inspired by all of the beautiful summer small plates being served here in Ashland at some of our favorite establishments.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter or butter substitute of your choice

1 cup onion diced

1 /2 lb salad mix or torn head lettuce

1 lb sugar peas shelled or whole with strings removed

1.5 squares of low sodium vegetable bullion

um vegetable bullion

4 cups water, boiling

Warm the onion with butter until the onions take on a golden hue in a sauce pan approximately 7 minutes. Melt in the bullion cubes as the onions are cooking. Add 4 cups of boiling water to the sauce pan. Add the peas and simmer for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and add the lettuce to the pan, stir gently until the lettuce is wilted. Carefully transfer a portion of the mixture to a blender and blitz to incorporate. Continue in this fashion until all of the soup has been blitzed and transferred to a storage container. At this point you can either enjoy the soup now. This soup is also good chilled or at room temperature. To help chill the soup faster, I transferred portions to their serving bowls which were then placed in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Fresh pea soup with lettuce after it has been chilled in the refrigerator.

This soup paired beautifully with tomatoes filled with baba ganush and cucumber-turnip salad.

In Health,

Dr Amanda Hochman

Naturopathic Physician at All Paths Naturopathy & Midwifery LLC

July 6, 2013