The Doctor's Order

From The Classroom to The Kitchen

in Breakfast· Vegan· Vegetarian

Avocado Toast Four Ways

Oatmeal, grits, cereal, and fruits are all great breakfast options, but you know they can get old pretty quickly. For many of us, its super important that breakfast foods are quick, easy, healthy, and transportable. Insert Avocado Toast 🙂 This quick, cheap, and easy breakfast will keep you full for hours and is super simple to prepare. If you prepare the toppings the night before, this meal can be made in less than 5 minutes. Additionally, pair it with multi-grain whole wheat toast and you are sure to get great nutritional value. 

Also, you can top your avocado with just about anything. Don’t like strawberries? Consider topping your toast with healthy pomegranate seeds or smoked chickpeas. The options are endless and the nutritional value is plentiful.

Health Benefits of Avocado Toast! 

Avocados are also packed with monounsaturated fats (good fat) which do wonders to help reduce your LDL (bad fat) levels! Check this link to learn about more of the health benefits of avocado! 

When I am on the wards and need a quick and hearty meal to help power through hours and hours of rounds, avocado toast is my go to recipe for fuel and health. My favorite is topped with smoked salmon! What’s yours??? Comment below and tell us how you like your toast. 

Avocado Toast 4 Ways
Serves 4
Avocado Toast 4 different ways
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Prep Time
5 hr
Cook Time
5 hr
Total Time
10 min
Prep Time
5 hr
Cook Time
5 hr
Total Time
10 min
Ingredients
  1. 3 Avocados
  2. 4 pieces of bread, lightly toasted
  3. 1 group vine tomato
  4. 1 egg, pan fried
  5. 2 oz smoked salmon
  6. 2 strawberries
Instructions
  1. Lightly Toast bread
  2. Open avocado and mash together in small bowl
  3. Top Avocado on bread
  4. Top Avocado toast with diced strawberries, tomatoes, fried egg, and smoked salmon!
The Doctor's Order http://www.thedoctorsorder.com/

in Desert· Vegetarian

Cinnamon Sugar Grilled Peaches

Peach season reaches its peak around July and August and we are ready for the madness. Peaches have been very affordable lately and quite delicious, especially here in Georgia. Peaches are a versatile summer fruit and there are so many great ways to enjoy an amazing Georgia peach. Additionally, peaches are packed full of B vitamins, are low in calories, and are a rich provider of minerals such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, and zinc. Check out the recipe below for Cinnamon Sugar Grilled Peaches as it is a quick and easy summer desert that is sure to leave the sweet tooth satisfied, while not ruining your summer body goals! 

Health Benefit of Peaches

If you’ve tried this recipe at home, send us your feedback! What would you do differently? What parts of the recipe did you love? Did your desert turn out great? We’ would love to see pictures! Feel free to comment below 🙂 

Cinnamon Sugar Grilled Peaches
Serves 4
A delicious summer desert to satisfy your sweet tooth without ruining your gym gains
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
10 min
Total Time
20 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
10 min
Total Time
20 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
  2. 1 teaspoon cinnamon sugar
  3. 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  4. 4 ripe peaches, halved and pitted
  5. Canola oil
  6. Mint leaves, for garnish
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl add the butter, cinnamon, sugar, and mix until combined.
  2. Heat grill to high. Brush peaches with oil and grill until golden brown and just cooked through.
  3. Top each with a few teaspoons of the butter and garnish with mint leaves.
Notes
  1. Try serving with a side of vanilla ice-cream!
The Doctor's Order http://www.thedoctorsorder.com/

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in Sandwhiches

Black Bean Burgers and Plantains

Salty, Frozen Dinners

I am not a fan of frozen dinners. Although as a youth in Detroit and as a college student microwave dinners were the go to for the quick meal, frozen foods are no longer my meal of choice. My disdain is based in the preservatives and salt content. Firstly, the salt content in the average, single frozen dinner is not only more than the daily recommended value but it more than than the yearly recommended value. Our diets are full of salt.  I just don’t see the need to add more. All that extra salt is asking for higher blood pressure, heart disease, and eventual heart attack and stroke. So no shade against those who eat frozen dinners, just they are not for me. I especially do not like frozen bean patties because they smell. 

Black Bean Burgers

Firstly, these bean burgers do not smell.  Secondly, they taste wonderful. Thirdly they have been upgraded. While the beans are the same, the preparation technique is simpler. The previous recipe was just mashed up black beans with a grainy, heterogenous and inconsistent texture.  This time, at the suggestion of my girlfriend, instead of a grossly,  coarse costing of oatmeal over the beans,the oatmeal into a fine powder to act as the binder of the beans mix. Performing this action allowed for better mixing and an even texture. Genius. 

Fresh is Better

The updated burger is still made with fresh black beans, garlic, pepper and no added salt. It is quicker, easy, and more adaptable; storing wonderfully in the freezer for anytime of the year to be doctored up to make a wrap, panini, or any other sandwich or ditch the bread and make a Black Bean Salad. The taste is juicy and full of flavor.These burgers are a nice break away from my carnivorous disposition. wow factor. They are packed with a nutritious punch of protein, antioxidants, micronutrients, low glycemic index and complex carbohydrates leaving me full and satisfied. 

Thanks for trying the food,

#goodfoodisgoodmedicine

Dr. Claiborne

Black Bean Burgers and Fried Plantains
Healthy Black Bean Burgers with Fried Plantains are the perfect meal prep and lunch you need for the wee
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
45 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
45 min
Ingredients
  1. Serving: 12 burgers
  2. Here is what you need below
  3. Hearty whole wheat bread
  4. One 16 oz bag of black beans or 15oz can of refried beans
  5. 1 Green, Orange, Red Pepper
  6. 1 Yellow Onion
  7. 1 Ripe Tomato
  8. Spring Mix salad
  9. about 2 cups old fashioned oats, blended without water
  10. Salt & Pepper
  11. 2 Tablespoons of Garlic
  12. Food Processor or Blender (optional)
  13. 2 Plantains
Instructions
  1. If you are using the bag of beans, you will have to soak them overnight or for at least 2 hours. Drain the water from the beans and wash again.
  2. Place the beans in a medium sauce pan on the stove and add the yellow onion, garlic, salt and pepper over medium heat for about 30 minutes or until the beans are soft. Once finished set aside to cool for about 5 minutes and Mash.
  3. Blend the oats in the processor until smooth, dust like particles. DO NOT ADD WATER.
  4. Form the Black Bean Patty: Take about 3 tablespoons of the black beans and form into a patty 1/2 the size your palm the oatmeal powder. Repeat until you have used all the mix.
  5. Take the formed patties and fry in olive oil them over MEDIUM HEAT for 5-7 minutes each side. If you fry on high heat, they will break apart.
  6. While they are frying, slice a green, yellow or red pepper with a tomato and onion length wise for your toppings and toast your bread.
  7. Once your patties are done, place on a paper towel.
Plantains
  1. Preheat canola oil to medium heat
  2. Peel the Plantain, and discard the rind.
  3. Next, cut horizontal into coin shaped segments.
  4. Finally fry the plantain until light brown in color and flip to other side.
  5. Place on a paper towel to cool.
  6. ENJOY!!!!
The Doctor's Order http://www.thedoctorsorder.com/

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in Uncategorized· Vegetarian· Vegeterian

Vegetarian Pho

Winter is officially here. Low temperatures, snow fall, and little sunlight make the winter months difficult to manage. Try this prescription for a nice and hearty bowl of Vegetarian Detox Pho to help fend off those winter viral infections and keep warm during these cold months. Use a low-sodium vegetable stock to cut the sodium content of the soup and you can also consider swapping the rice noodles for whole wheat noodles higher in fiber. Top your pho soup with fresh vegetables to add fiber, vitamin A and potassium to the meal. Common vegetable toppings include bean sprouts, bell peppers and red onions. Fresh herbs, such as cilantro or basil, deliver a small boost of vitamin A, and a squirt of fresh lime juice adds a bit of vitamin C. Skip the salty hot sauces in favor of fresh Jalapeno, which is naturally sodium free! 

Vegetarian Pho
Serves 4
A delicious and healthy recipe for a Vietnamese favorite
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Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
40 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
40 min
Ingredients
  1. 64 ounces low-sodium vegetable broth
  2. 6 green onions, thinly sliced
  3. 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated
  4. 1 1/2 tablespoon butter
  5. 6 ounces shiitake mushrooms, tough stems removed
  6. 1 1/2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
  7. 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  8. 2 teaspoons plum sauce
  9. 14 ounces rice noodles, cooked according to package instructions
  10. 8 ounces bean sprouts
  11. 2 jalapeño peppers, thinly sliced
  12. Fresh cilantro, basil, lime wedges, hoisin sauce, and chili garlic sauce for serving
Instructions
  1. In a large pot, combine the vegetable broth, green onion, grated ginger, and salt.
  2. Bring to a full boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
  3. While the broth is cooking, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
  4. Add the mushrooms and sauté for about 6 minutes, or until tender, stirring frequently.
  5. Stir in the hoisin, plum, and sesame oil and cook until the sauce thickens.
  6. Remove from heat.
  7. Add the cooked rice noodles, ginger broth, bean sprouts, sliced jalapeños, shiitake mushrooms, fresh basil, and cilantro and serve with lime wedges, hoisin, and chili garlic sauce.
The Doctor's Order http://www.thedoctorsorder.com/

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in Uncategorized

Simple Skillet Sweet Potatoes

New Year, same sweet potato! This super food has been a staple of our diet for quite sometime now. They are delicious and packed full of vitamins and nutrients that can keep you healthy during the cold winter months. Sweet potatoes are full of vitamin C, which can be helpful to ward off cold and flu viruses. Additionally, vitamin c is critical for collagen production which helps to maintain skin elasticity. Furthermore, sweet potatoes are full of vitamin D which helps to build healthy bones. Typically we get our vitamin D from adequate sunlight, however, during these cold and dark winter months it is important to increase our vitamin D intake. Low vitamin D levels have been linked to seasonal affective disorder, which can be treated with adequate vitamin D intake from healthy sources like sweet potatoes! Try this easy, simple, and paleo friendly recipe as a staple in your winter diet.

 

Simple Skillet Sweet Potatoes
Serves 4
Simple, easy, paleo friendly sweet potato recipe.
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Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
40 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
40 min
Ingredients
  1. 1 Sweet Potato
  2. 1/2 tsp Dried Parsley
  3. 1/2 tsp brown sugar
  4. Vanilla extract to taste
  5. Ground Cinnamon to taste
  6. 2 tsp Coconut Oil
Instructions
  1. Peel and dice the sweet potato into bit size pieces, about 1/2" cubes.
  2. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add the coconut oil.
  3. When the oil is hot, add the potatoes. Stir to coat all of the pieces with the coconut oil.
  4. When the potatoes begin to soften, add the parsley, cinnamon, and brown sugar.
  5. Mix well.
  6. Cook the potatoes, stirring occasionally, for about 10-20 minutes.
  7. Keep an eye on them so they don't burn, but make sure they get nice and crispy.
  8. Once potatoes are almost done, add vanilla extract to taste.
  9. Remove from heat when they are soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.
Notes
  1. Serve warm. Store leftovers in the fridge for a week. Can be reheated in a skillet to crisp them back up.
The Doctor's Order http://www.thedoctorsorder.com/

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in Food For Thought

It’s Just One Day

In the African American community, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and Memorial Day are staple holidays. These days are the premier times to celebrate the ever present unity of family and friends over delicious meals.  However within the festivities, some people believe these holidays are just “one day” to gorge on fatty food that you only get a couple times of year. Realistically, a majority of us eat these foods through out the year and  accepting this idea is dangerous. ENTER THE STORY OF THE LONE GOOSE…..

THE LONE GOOSE

Once upon a time, a lone goose was flying south for the winter. Along the way he was separated from his flock. As he was flying, he noticed another flock of geese in a pond on a farm. The lone goose thought he had been flying for days and needed one day to rest. So he flew down, splashed into the pond and on cue, the farmer’s wife came out with buckets full of the finest grain and choice meats to feed the farm geese. These farm geese were heavier with fluffy feathers and so they did not fly.

The lone goose stayed for the free and luxurious meal and rested.  As the sun rose the next day, the farmer’s wife came out again with another bucket of the same grain and meat from yesterday. The lone goose thought to himself, “I need a good breakfast. So another couple of hours won’t hurt.” Even though the lone goose was a different breed of goose, the farmer’s geese accepted him into their flock. He stayed for another day, then a week, then a month and finally the entire winter. Finally, spring came and he heard the honks of the flying geese overhead and he remembered the thrill of flying. He decided it was time to fly again and join his old comrades. However, as hard as he tried he could not get off the ground. He had become so heavy over the winter he could no longer fly. So he dropped back down to the pond and said to himself, “ Oh well, this is my life. I am safe and accepted here. Besides, the food is good.” Every spring and fall he would hear the geese honking overhead and would remember the feeling of flying until one day he stopped listening to it.

One spring, he noticed the farm flock became less and less and the food stopped coming. Until one day he was the only goose left. That day, the farmer came, grabbed the lone goose, killed him and gave him to his wife, who served the lone goose for Easter Dinner.

Moral of the story: The Day of Disaster is years after the Day you decided to be complacent with yourself.

ITS JUST ONE DAY……

So who are you in this story?  The goose flying with the group or have you been separated from them? Are you the farm geese, who have been “raised” to be over weight? Or the lone goose who has become content of being overweight? Interesting, one day of rest and luxury became a literal season of laziness and effectively limited the goose in his function and purpose on this Earth….eg fly. But the lone goose realized his mistake and tried to correct it. But because of his weight, he could not get off the ground, thus settled into his new life and eventually ate himself into an early death.

Similarly, excessive eating and adopting the mindset “it’s just one day” will lead into a lifestyle of physical, mental and emotional limitations and eventually death. You don’t believe me? Those with diabetes, if unchecked, will lose the ability to see, lose the ability to think, talk and move through a stroke, lose the ability to get rid of waste through kidney failure, and lose the ability to feel touch in your feet and hands through nerve destruction. Literally, this disease will limit your function and purpose on Earth as a human being. How many parents, friends, co workers, and colleagues  have settled in this limitation? How many holiday hospital admissions will happen because years of believing that it is only one day?

For the last couple of months I have met individuals who were admitted to the hospital because they could not say no to pound cake, or were admitted into the ICU because of stroke, and family members who have died because they believed that drinking too much alcohol was more important than their own lives and family.

Nobody wants Diabetes or the complications that come from it. But as a community, we persist in a mindset that it is only one day.

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BE HEALTHY

Like the lone goose who tried to correct his folly, we try to eat better, exercise and take our medicine. There are many people trying to maintain their blood sugar, insulin regimen, diet restrictions. But the motivation and will to do right is often squeezed out by the pain of an increased heart rate, the difficulty lifting the body weight we have grown used to, the inconvenient grocery shopping of our busy lives and the unfamiliarity of veganism, Paleo and other diets that are stigmatized in comparison for the luxurious fatty foods that we have become accustomed. So we settle on not flying and become unmotivated by those who do.

Claiborne Fam Holiday Picture 

Before I was a doctor, I was a personal trainer.  I had an older woman client named “Joanna” diagnosed with diabetes at a health fair and wanted a personal trainer because she never exercised and wanted to get in shape. Literally, she had never done a push up, pull up, squat or exercised. Over that year, through a strong determination and discipline, Joanna eventually lost 40 pounds and controlled her diabetes. Within two years she started running, biking and swimming in marathons, doing push ups every day and kept the weight off. As a trainer and physician, your body is an amazing machine and wants to do right. Work with it and Fly!!

In medicine there is a saying: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Doing a little bit now is worth more later.  If you are the goose who is unable to fly, realize you have all the resources you need to fly and it is never too late to make the decision to be healthy. Your doctor should have many avenues to assist you in healthy food choices. Additionally The Doctors Order (Shameless Plug) has many great recipes to start you on the right path. I am here for you and I want you to fly more than you know.

It’s not that you can’t enjoy the holidays, but just be aware that your choices mean a lot more than you believe. For those who know people with diabetes, be vigilant with them for portion control, tell them to stop smoking (if they do), push them to exercise 30- 60 minutes every day, monitor their blood sugar and blood pressure over the next couple of weeks, and help them maintain a holiday healthy diet. Because you will save their life.

Remember: An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure!

There are 33 days left in 2017. This is the real #HolidayClapback. 

 

With Love and Care,

From your friendly, neighborhood, internet PCP

Dr. Claiborne