Welcome to Medicinal Cookery!
The purpose of this blog is simple: we want to help you get the most medicinal mileage out of the food you cook.
We’ll be writing about and integrating topics like nutrition, botanical medicine, and cooking techniques. Sprinkle in some humor, add a touch of interesting information, and we’ve got ourselves a blog! We also recognize that in modern life there’s a lot to read and a lot to do on any given day, so we’ll always work to keep things simple, easy, and accessible.
So, how is this going to work?
Every other week, Medicinal Cookery will explore a new ingredient; from its medicinal properties to its modern uses. We’ll give you an idea where that ingredient originally came from, how to find quality examples of it, and most importantly: what to do with it.
On average, each post will take 5-10 minutes to read and will include recipes for you to try at home. The posts will be searchable by ingredient and also by medical condition, so when you experience the “I know I read about something being good for a cough…”, you can find it easily.
Who’s behind this nutritional/botanical/culinary nerd-fest, you ask?
My name is Todd Robinson and if you haven’t noticed from the rest of this website, I’m a naturopathic doctor. That means I specialize in non-drug treatments like diet and lifestyle change, nutritional supplements, and botanical medicines. I approach patient care from a holistic perspective and help my clients use natural medicine to their best advantage. The “why” of this blog comes from me.
I’ve been in practice for over five years now and I’ve observed a shift in what my clients are seeking, a shift away from supplements towards food and simple homemade remedies. I’m not entirely sure where this push comes from, but if I had to guess, it’s related to a rejection of the over-commercialization of natural medicine. Let’s face it, multi-level marketing schemes and natural medicine gurus pushing their own product lines are around every *bleeping* corner of the internet.
These days, clients are increasingly asking very, very detailed questions about food and food storage and recipes and cooking techniques. Now, I can teach my clients all manner of information about nutrition and botanical medicine, but, when it comes to cooking…I’m more than a little out of my depth.
Enter my partner in crime for this endeavor, Whitney Hudson.
Whitney has been donning an apron for over 10 years now. She’s run the kitchen at a natural foods market, worked every station you can find in a restaurant from dishwasher to manager, and executed all manner of catering events. Though she’s stepped off the commercial kitchen line for the most part, she still teaches classes on cooking and menu planning, manages a small food blog of her own, and throws one heck of a dinner party. What I really love about Whitney’s style of cooking is her total dedication to one golden rule: a dish isn’t done until she would serve herself a plate. Her food is friendly, accessible, and satiating, and that definitely comes through in every recipe.
And, for the purpose of this blog, Whitney knows tons about the stuff I don’t – cooking! Our hope is that by putting our heads together, we’ll create a beautiful and interesting fusion of food and medicine.
As it stands, Whitney and I have a pretty great list of topics in the hopper already (including our series on “forbidden” foods!), but we’d definitely love to hear what YOU are interested in reading! Drop us a line to make a suggestion or share any feedback or personal stories you may have. Even a simple “I don’t know how to make carrots interesting” is all we’ll need to get started (don’t worry, that particular topic is already on the list).
Up first we’ve got…
BLACK PEPPER: THE SECRET SYNERGIST
We do have one bit of legalese, before we go:
“Wellness Working Group, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.”
Put simply, links in this blog that take you to www.Amazon.com are affiliate links and we do make a small profit on items purchased in that way. This doesn’t increase or impact the cost to you in any way, but it does help us to keep the lights on. If you like our content, using our affiliate links is a great way to show your support and keep us going.
Okay, now on to the good stuff! Coming soon, Black Pepper…