CNN recently put out this list of 25 of the world’s greatest sandwiches. Pan Bagnat is listed first. Although their list is not in order of best to worse, it’s where I would put Pan Bagnat since it is my all-time favorite sandwich.
I have yet to find a good Pan Bagnat in Houston (or other cities in the US). The French chefs I’ve talked to say it’s because they can’t get the right kind of bread for a classic pan bagnat. There’s no question the bread in Southern France is better (IYKYK) but really?
In the meantime, it’s never hard to find my second favorite sandwich, which is ubiquitous in Houston… the Bahn mi. If you haven’t experienced this amazing combination of tastes, you are missing one of the best sandwiches in the world. This sandwich comes with more choices (and less oversight) than the French pan bagnat, but you can’t go wrong with the classic version – Bánh Mì Đặc Biệt:
It seems paradoxical to say that paying attention to the moon is a practice that grounds you, but it does. Try it for a month or two. Download an app (this is my favorite app) that can show you when and where to look for moonrise and what phase the moon is in.
Then walk outside and look up for a dose of #MoonJoy.
What a fascinating journey this morning as I travelled 1500 years back in time (via the internet) to this medieval portable altar.
On my first roll of the digital dice on this website that randomly links to other websites, I arrived at a database of portable medieval altars, created by a historian whose research interest is “portable devotion”. Lots to think about here…
“Socializing” an idea
I suspect the word has been around for a while, but I learned that “socializing” has become part of “business speak” in medical centers and hospitals, as in… “Go socialize that idea with them first.”
It turns out this new vocabulary is just a new way of describing what great leaders have known all along…you don’t know what you don’t know.
“Socializing” a new idea starts with determining who might want to “veto” your new idea and then meeting with them, not to persuade them, but to learn from them. With each meeting you learn more which lets you refine the project and, at the same time, allows your organization to evolve with you.
The best thing I learned is that the concept now referred to as “socializing” came from the Japanese concept of Nemawashi (根回し)… “Nemawashi literally translates as “turning the roots”, from ne (根, “root”) and mawasu (回す, “to turn something, to put something around something else”). Its original meaning was literal: in preparation for transplanting a tree, one would carefully dig around a tree some time before transplanting, and trim the roots to encourage the growth of smaller roots that will help the tree become established in its new location.” (Wikipedia)
There are lots of people who spend nights in the hospital to care for others… physicians, nurses, techs, and many others.
Especially for trainees who work long hours, eating well when you are on call is not easy. There are usually few (if any) options available in the hospital, and when you are exhausted it’s hard to prepare and bring your own food.
But eating well is really important …. not just nutritionally, but emotionally as well. Here’s a link to the system I’ve found works the best, but deciding that Diet Coke, graham crackers, and cereal are not major food groups is the critical first step.
p.s. I post recipes that meet the “pizza rule” (less time to cook than it takes to order a pizza) on Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram with the hashtag #CallFood.
p.p.s Here’s the recipe for my breakfast tacos (which are also the best 2am #CallFood you will ever have).
Every year at Thanksgiving, I make my great-grandmother Sallie’s cornbread recipe. She and my great-grandfather were “dirt farmers” who lived in Oklahoma during the depression. This bread, some beans, and vegetables from their sustenance garden (if there were any), was all they had for dinner most nights.
As I mix the ingredients for this cornbread (and then use it to make stuffing), I can’t help but ponder their life…how hard it must have been and how, as my ancestors, they made my life possible.
I don’t want you to just sit down at the table. I don’t want you to just eat and be content. I want you to walk out into the fields Where the water is shining and the rice has risen. I want you to stand there far from this white tablecloth. I want you to fill your hands with mud, like a blessing.
-Mary Oliver
Mix together with a big spoon
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Make a large “hole” in the middle of the dry mixture with the spoon
Beat one egg with a fork, add 1 tablespoon of oil (which is what my great-grandmother used) or melted butter (which tastes better IMHO) into well in the middle of the dry mixture and mix with a fork
Add 1 cup of buttermilk
Let rise while heating the oven to 450 degrees (about 10 minutes) with your cast iron skillet in the oven.
Gently whip the batter down with a fork
Pour any excess oil from the pans into the batter and then pour the batter into the hot cast iron skillet.
Bake 20-25 minutes (until a toothpick or knife comes out clean)
So that’s my great-grandmother’s recipe (and yes, the photo at the top of this post is of her and my great-grandfather). This recipe makes the right amount for a weekday dinner but it doesn’t make enough for Thanksgiving. So I did the math to make enough for everyone (and the stuffing, and breakfast the next morning!) If you don’t have enough cast iron skillets, no worries. Use muffin tins, cake loafs, whatever you have.
The recipe is the same but starts with melting a stick of butter in the microwave (It’s supposed to be 7 tablespoons but a stick of butter = 8 tablespoons and I can’t imagine a little extra butter hurts!)
Dry ingredients:
One bag of cornmeal (2lb)
3 1/2 cups of flour
7 tsp of baking soda
3 1/2 tsp of baking powder
2 1/2 tsp of salt
Wet ingredients:
7 eggs
“7” tablespoons of butter (see above) – or use oil if you prefer
“7” cups of buttermilk – the batter should pour but not be thin
One of my favorite accounts on Bluesky. There’s no other site I know that posts photos of the daily salad given to a 40 year old tortoise who is constantly looking for true love, goats in Halloween costumes, and political commentary. They sell great cajeta (IYKYK) on their website (and there are super cool photos, too).
The 12th annual Theology Beer Camp took place last weekend, with the 50th anniversary of Monty Python and the Holy Grail as a theme. I posted my “Top 10” from this amazing conference here.
The Highest Court in the Land? I learned on the PBS Newshour this week that “The Highest Court in the Land”is the name of the basketball court on the top of the Supreme Court building. It somehow seems important that it’s not a regulation size court?
This recipe! I made this for the first time this week and it was AMAZING. In case you are wondering, I use the hashtag #CallFood on both Bluesky and Instagram for recipes that (usually) follow my “Pizza Rule” i.e. healthy and delicious food that takes less time to make than ordering a pizza.
I love good recipes and cooking in traditional ways … but I’m absolutely convinced that busy students, trainees, practicing docs, other healers (and all busy people for that matter) should own Instant Pots.
p.s. if you have the time and interest, it’s probably 5% tastier to sauté things first i.e. follow the recipe… but I know the pressure you are under (no pun intended). The 5% isn’t worth it compared to having delicious, fast, healthy food.
p.p.s. If you know a really busy person, take note – this is one of the best birthday/holiday/special occasion gifts you could possibly give them!
No medical student, resident, physician (or any other healer) has much time to cook which is why I came up with the “pizza rule” i.e. you should only cook things that take less time than it takes to order a pizza.
I discovered a cookbook today written by one of my favorite cookbook authors that starts with this sentence… “Do you have 20 minutes to make a great meal?”
It’s an entire cookbook that follows the pizza rule!!!
Cooking real food for yourself, or in a group (i.e. 3-4 friends each cook a large batch of something every week and then split it to share) is not only healthier for you, it has a lot of other advantages, too. It’s hard not to be mindful when you cook which means you can make it a practice that helps calm and center you for the rest of your busy life. Cooking also means you are taking care of yourself, and that feeling of care goes a long way to soothe days where you don’t feel much care.
If you want to hack the process of cooking for yourself to make it easier, check out this post or this one.
p.s. The book is on sale right now on Amazon for $1.99
p.p.s Even if it’s not on sale, you should buy it.
p.p.p.s If you search for #callfood on my social media feeds (@drmlb) you’ll find other recipes that are delicious, healthy, and meet the requirements of the pizza rule.
It is hard to eat well when you are a med student, resident or busy doc (also true for busy people not in medicine!). The key to eating well if you are busy is to have a strategy. You/ve developed strategies for studying to get where you are… so you have this skill set already! (Trust me, if you can learn how to take out a gallbladder or diagnose a complicated infection, you can learn to do this, too.)
As I’ve written before, here are the basic steps that you need to follow to eat well if you are “too busy to cook”:
Find recipes that sound good (but take less than 30 minutes to prepare)
Fill in a calendar with the plan for your meals (at work, on call, at home)
For the last 6 years, I have used an app that make this process incredibly easy. Paprika is not free, but it’s money well spent. I recommend downloading both the phone app (which right now is $4.99) and the app for your computer ($24.99). Try the phone app first if you aren’t sure, but I think you’ll find the laptop version is more than worth the money.
The reason I think this app is perfect for healers, healers in training, and anyone who is super busy is because it takes the four steps listed above and puts them all into one place. It not only makes it easy to choose recipes, plan your week and shop, it almost makes it fun. Here’s how:
Find recipes that sound good (but take less than 30 minutes to prepare)
Click on the browser tab to find new recipes and download the ones that work for you. As you save recipes in the app, it becomes your own personal “cookbook” which is searchable by category, name, or ingredients.
Fill in a calendar with the plan for your meals (at work, on call, at home)
This was the first moment I knew this was a great app. All you do is drag and drop the recipes you want into the appropriate day. Wow.
Make a shopping list and go shopping.
This is when I was completely sold. When you pull up the recipes you’ve chosen, there is a little “hat” icon at the top:
When you click this icon EVERYTHING IN THE RECIPE appears in a shopping list. Click what you need and repeat for the week’s recipes and voilà – your shopping list.
Because this app is on your computer and your phone, just take your phone with you to the grocery store. As you pick up each item, click the box next to it to take it off the list. If you are sharing the app with your significant other or roommates, anyone can add to the grocery list or unclick things they have bought.
Ryder Carroll suggests that goals should be lighthouses, not rules. Instead of the usual New Year’s resolutions, this year set your goals as destinations… as “lighthouses” in the distance. Write them down and revisit them often (every journey needs a map).
“When goals are lighthouses, success is defined by simply showing up, by daily progress no matter how big or small…” Ryder Carroll
At least once a day think about how to move in the direction of your goal(s). If you veer off course, that’s part of the journey…. look up, find your lighthouse, and correct your course.
Potential New Year “Lighthouse” goals
Learn more about compassion and practice it
Be a better friend
Write genuine thank you notes to people who have helped you
Become stronger, faster, more fit
Eat real food for as many meals a week as possible
Find out more about who you are through meditation
Keep a “stop doing” list
Be better at your work through deliberate practice (practicing and learning the things you don’t like and aren’t good at)
Read things that bring you joy
Keep a journal, even if it’s just 3 things you are grateful for every day
Learn the names of as many people at work as you can
Rituals have great power, but some more than others. For me, going to the Farmers Market has become a ritual that is almost as important as the food I buy there. So I spent some time this morning pondering why…
It’s outside. Sun, clouds, breeze. Sometimes a little cool, sometimes too hot… but always the season that matches the fruits and vegetables being sold that day.
There is music. And dancing… people dancing with children, children dancing alone, folks dancing in their wheelchairs.
Everyone is happy. Seriously. Not a dour face anywhere!
There is delight in the colors, odors, and tastes.. It’s beautiful… and that sensual beauty evokes all kinds of good emotions – delight, joy, and even awe.
It anchors you to the season. We don’t have peaches in January at the farmer’s market. So when they show up in May it’s a day of celebration! Eating what is being grown in the season keeps you somehow anchored to life around you and, according to some traditions, is better for your body. It’s certainly better for the planet, since this is food grown within miles of where it’s sold… not half way across the world.
You develop relationships with the people that grow your food. Lisa’s new tortoise gets a spectacular salad every day, so we chat about his salads and her goats. I get to practice my French with the Congolese farmers who grow their produce on an inner city farm developed to provide new refugees a place to farm. Some of the vendors know my name, most of them know and recognize me with a smile (even if they don’t know my name), and all of them are happy to share how to prepare their food and what’s happening on the farm.
And then there is the food. There is no question it’s often (but not universally!) more expensive to buy your food at the farmer’s market, but for the reasons above it’s worth it. But there is one other reason … which is probably the most important reason of all.
One of the very first times I went to a farmer’s market, I bought potatoes. I remember distinctly thinking that it would not be worth the extra money because “it’s just a potato”… but I did it anyway. Every potato I had ever bought in a store tasted the same as every other potato … so I didn’t expect these to be any different. Wow… I was SO wrong. A potato that has been pulled out of the ground the day before you cook it is absolutely amazing. A light went on. Fresh food raised in smaller quantities by people who are devoted to doing it tastes better. It just does.
There is most likely a farmer’s market near you if you live in a city, but if there isn’t you have a other options (The USDA Local Foods Directory is a wonderful way to find farmers markets, gardens, and local farms near you if you need help. )
CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture). Google “CSA’s near me” to find farms that make up boxes with small portions of anything they are harvesting that week to distribute to people who have signed up with them.
Community Gardens. If you love to garden (and you can spare a few hours every once in a while) you might want to actively participate – it’s also pretty soul soothing to dig in the dirt and grow your own tomatoes. But it’s also worth asking if you can buy any produce that isn’t otherwise promised.
A local farmer or neighbor who has a big garden. You don’t know unless you ask. Offering to buy some of their produce might end up being a win-win. They may have too much produce, need a little extra income, or both. And you end up with fresh produce and a relationship with the person who grows it!
All of us have a list of things we know we should do every day… and usually don’t. They shouldn’t be that difficult to fit into our day, but we somehow end the day holding our intentions and the struggle rather than the completed task. I’m not talking about the things other people need from you, or the requirements of jobs or school. I’m talking about the things that bring you joy (whether immediate or delayed), things that are really important to you.
Why don’t we do the things that bring us joy? The first step to conquer this paradox is to make a master list of the things that bring you immediate joy (e.g.prayer/meditation, reading, journaling, playing music, calling or writing to a friend you haven’t seen in a while, walking in nature, checking in with older relatives if it’s been more than a couple of days, learning something new, cooking for your family and/or friends) …and things that might be hard at the moment but will bring you joy in the long run (e.g. working out, organizing and cleaning your living spaces, working on a big writing project)
Once you’ve made this master list, acknowledge there is no way you are going to be able to do all these things in a day. It’s important to name these things, to make this list and revise it as new things are recognized… but it’s equally important to acknowledge that you are going to have to make some choices. Pick what you currently think are the two or three most important things on this list and make a covenant with yourself that you will do them “every” day. The “every” is in quotes because let’s be real… life happens. Promise yourself that you will do these things every day, but give yourself grace for the occasional day when it’s just not possible.
Next, pick a way to remind yourself and keep track of your progress:
Schedule them on your calendar. This is probably the best way to do this for most people, but you have to build in a “what if” plan. If for some reason you don’t accomplish it at the time you scheduled it, it doesn’t break the promise you made to yourself. Move it on the calendar, commit to doing it later, but don’t blow it off.
Keep a “routine checklist”. This is separate from any other to-do list you create. This is for you. Not the things you have to do for other people, but the things you are doing for yourself, the things that add goodness to your days.
Morning is best (if you can). There is an adage in finance that you should pay yourself first. In other words, the first thing you do with your paycheck is to put money aside for investment in your future. Time is no different. Doing the important things first, the things that are just for you, is an investment in the day and your future.
The power of streaks. Put an X on a calendar every day, like Jerry Seinfeld or get the app that lets you put the Xs on a digital calendar. (There are other streak tracking apps, too.) Alternatively, create your own visual record of a streak with Excel or a Word document. The power of a streak is that you become more and more invested in not breaking the streak as time goes on.
Final thought. We are all busy, and we are all tired. This era, more than most, is one of being pushed and pulled in so many directions and in so many ways. Take the time to identify the things that bring you joy. If that’s all you do, it will be a good start, because just making that list will make it more likely you will add joy to your days. When you are ready, make a real covenant with yourself, a promise that you will do the one, two or maybe three (no more that three!) things at the top of that list every day. And then, do your best. Give yourself grace when you stumble… and start over.
