Discussion Board

My gosh when you get talking about your cooking, your enthusiasm is contagious!

You got me all eager to cook my butternut squash and pumpkin from my garden.

I hope you continue to feel better.

Now I want to turn on the Food Network and watch your new show!

I love butternut and acorn, have never had hubbard, is it similar?

The wife bought me two white sweet potatoes the other day, very good, closer to the texture of white potatoes with maybe 75% of the flavor of regular sweet potatoes.

A Vegan chef on the Food Network would be awesome. One curious side not about our trip to the Master Chef auditions last weekend. At one point in-between shot, Gordon Ramsey asked the crowd, "Who brought vegetarian dishes?". That's it, no follow-up, no explanation, no clue why he would ask such a question. Interesting though...

thanks for stopping by weespeck, toadfood, and dissolution

Hubbard is a very creamy texture. Not as sweet as butternut. It is absolutely wonderful in soups because it's so creamy! I cooked so much food yesterday, the three sisters soup will have to wait.

There is now a gallon of ratatouille and a gallon of smoky lentil butternut soupin my freezer. There are huge (six-eight cups) of aloo gobi, smoky lentil butternut soup, garbanzo beans, and rice in my fridge. Today I want to make Moroccan Sweet Potato Stew, enough for several meals. I'll also set the black beans to soaking, in preparation for Three Sisters Soup. I *may* bring the soup to Thanksgiving Dinner at my church...heck, it's based on Native American foods, right?

I spent a half hour this morning, before I got out of bed, envisioning myself thin. Imagine getting up and going to weight myself, and stepping boldly onto the scale (no more easing myself on there, to hit the lowest possible number, like I do now ) and watching the dial stop at 136 (that's what I would LOVE, as it is the low end of the scale for my height and frame size)

Imagine the belly flat, not flabby. It will always have stretch marks, but it doesn't HAVE to look like over-risen bread dough! Imagine slender arms. Imagine my skinny jeans, a tight size 14, baggy and falling off of me Imagine going straight to the size 8-10 jean section when I shop. Imagine grabbing medium size t-shirts and having them fit normally. Imagine waking with energy, healthy, pain free, ready to go! A bike would be nice. I'm kind of hankering for that kind of thing. Walking hurts my foot, but bicycling would be a non-impact way for aerobic exercise.

Yeah, it was pretty nice. I don't take time for that as often as I should. Then I got up and stepped on the scale. 184 Oh, well, what should I expect if I ate off-plan treats for two weeks, hmmmm?

TODAY'S PLAN:
B: grapes; aloo gobi; spinach
L: gonna skip lunch. I may have a baked potato on the road
D: okay, this is where I have to be prepared. We are going out after church. It's kind of an important meeting, with our bishop, to talk about an allotment of money. I suggested Sizzler, since I know I can eat there MWL and cheap. My friend is saying "No, too far from the airport (where we have to send Bishop S on his way)...so she's saying a pizza place. California Pizza Kitchen. Never been there...

so...I'm prepared to have a salad for dinner, and bring along a passel of baked potatoes for munching IF I need them. I will take my own salad dressing. and I am looking forward to this. Haven't seen Bishop S for a long time and he's a sweet man with a sweet, gentle spirit.

oooh, baby! There's a HUGE salad menu, and half of them are vegan (you can add chicken or shrimp, but they aren't *in* the salad) This could be good...Still taking my own salad dressing, though! Ha! and! I discovered instructions for making MANY of their meals vegan! woot! This could actually be okay

STILL. TAKING. MY. OWN. SALAD. DRESSING. THOUGH. <<<<grim determined face

Sigh.... I fully understand.

Although I'm very frugal, I love clothes. Especially smaller clothes that fit. Or are too large and hang on me. I want to be able to go into any store, and into the 'normal' sized clothes areas to shop.
Enough of that dreaded 'women's' section with all the dowdy clothes.

Oh, it is SO COOL to be out of "women's size-land"...I mean, some of my jeans are 14-W, but my tops are all M or L, not XL and YAY not 3x (where I was a five years ago)

I did okay at the restaurant yesterday, but the salad didn't fill me up. I could have ordered the full, instead of the half, I suppose. But a cardinal rule of McDougalling showed itself true: without starches, you do NOT get satiety. But it tasted good and the company was pleasant.

TODAY'S PLAN:

B: grapes; cheezy steel cut oats w/spinach (actually, spinach w/cheezy steel cut oats! )
L: smokey lentil and butternut soup
D: ??? I have a pretty busy evening, so I may skip dinner. Maybe some grapes to top of the day as I unwind for bed.

Nice job, buns! All that great food is making me hungry...

Tell me about that lentil-butternut soup. I would like to make that very soon.

I found the recipe at Lani's blog. Just click on it, where the text appears sort of dull reddish brown. That is a link, will take you right to it. I made it without the jicama, since I didn't have any.

it is good, but I want more smoke. Prolly needed to put in more smoked paprika, but I'm almost out. Also, I could put in more heat, via chili peppers, but my kids won't eat it if it's TOO hot...

It is tasty, though.

Buns, You're doing AWESOME!!!!! Your food sounds AMAZING!!!!! And you're having whole days with NO OFF-PLAN foods!!! You ROCK!!!

I wish I could find a discount grocer here with prices like THAT!!!! You go girl!!!!

well, I was going to post yesterday evening, but no computer access at home.

I did terrific yesterday! Mr S and I made a birthday cake for a staff member, and I licked off a small drop of batter that had dripped on my finger. HOW NASTY! The predominating flavor was baking soda! I didn't have any of the batter, nor any cake.

For foods, instead of the lentil soup, I had rice and curried red beans for lunch. Some grapes as an afternoon snack. I did eat dinner...oh! I remember. Kale and garlic over rice, with about 1/4 c of the lentil soup over the top. THAT was yummy.

Then I did have some kale and rice right before bed. Not because I was really hungry. Just because.

Looking back over my menus, it looks like the off plan treats really started dwindling about a week ago. I did have a rk treat on Wednesday and one on Thursday last week. Those are the ONLY off plan ANYTHING I've put in my mouth in a week. Since Friday of last week, I haven't eaten any off plan food. That makes today Day Five. (I want to keep track of how many days in a row.)

Did another visualization session this morning, but it was stupid. Thing is, I can't imagine my life any different than it currently is...well, I couldn't this morning, anyway. so, though I could fully imagine the sensations of waking up and going to step on the scale, I could NOT see the scale number. No matter what I did, I couldn't see it! I briefly saw myself with a flat belly, and imagined putting on skinny jeans, but that didn't last. It wasn't a very full, nor very detailed, session.

What did keep coming at me was a picture of myself with a wallet that had several bills in it. Me, at the mechanic JUST PAYING for the repairs that my car needs (instead of living with little irritating foibles as I am right now, because I can't afford to have it fixed) Me, seeing an adorable little dress for my grandbaby and JUST BUYING IT, because I can afford to. That was where my visualizations ALL ended up this morning. *shrug*

My energy levels are very good. I feel terrific, and am still going strong at the end of a day. THAT'S nice. It's a nice change from the weariness and exhaustion of the summer.

TODAY'S PLAN:
B: grapes; rice w/spiced garbanzo beans; a spoonful of peanut butter, while making the Thai Peanut Sauce
L: stir fry over rice w/Thai Peanut sauce
D: rice, steamed kale and garlic, lentil butternut soup
S: grapes; popcorn (I will have popcorn today for sure. I'm holding it over my own head as a reward for not munching, cuz I feel the Munchy Monster breathing and stirring and wanting its own way today...it'll have to wait for the popcorn HA! )

Looks like your doing great Bunso. Way to go!!!

DAY SIX

B: saute'd kale and garlic; rice; baked carnival squash. Seasoned with duck sauce on the rice, garlic and onion powder on the squash and kale
L: lentil butternut soup; baked potatoes
S: grapes; baked potatoes
D: minestrone!

My daughter and her boyfriend are coming up, spending the night. I bought some pancake mix (no egg needed; no egg in the mix; buttermilk in the mix) for their breakfast tomorrow. I'll put some ground flax seed in it.

Thanksgiving meal at my church. I'm making mashed potatoes, cranberry relish and broccoli something. And my own gravy. I also decided to get some pistachios and make some homemade hummus for the game time at my mom's after eating. She always makes clam dip, and I'm having none of that...but I want something to dip my veggies and crackers in, so hummus. And pistachios because, hey, it's a feast.

and feeling frankly sad this year, because my ex will be all alone on the day.

Weight staying the same, but I'm taking a page from katydid and pinkrose, and have been "front loading" my non-starches, as much as I can.

Thing is, starches keep for ages. Green veggies not so much. Thank You Lord for freezers.

"Did another visualization session this morning, but it was stupid. Thing is, I can't imagine my life any different than it currently is...well, I couldn't this morning, anyway. so, though I could fully imagine the sensations of waking up and going to step on the scale, I could NOT see the scale number. No matter what I did, I couldn't see it! I briefly saw myself with a flat belly, and imagined putting on skinny jeans, but that didn't last. It wasn't a very full, nor very detailed, session.
What did keep coming at me was a picture of myself with a wallet that had several bills in it. Me, at the mechanic JUST PAYING for the repairs that my car needs (instead of living with little irritating foibles as I am right now, because I can't afford to have it fixed) Me, seeing an adorable little dress for my grandbaby and JUST BUYING IT, because I can afford to. That was where my visualizations ALL ended up this morning. *shrug* "

I can so relate to this, Heidi. I know that no matter how much weight I lose, nothing will change for me as far as my income, etc. At least you have a job though. Never thought the profession I chose to spend 41 yrs. of my life would turn it's back on me. But seems like that is what has happened. Very discouraging. I also do a lot of visualization, seeing myself opening mail that contains checks, that kind of thing. Sometimes it has happened. There was one of those lawsuits on my car insurance company. I just decided to send in the information since I had the ins. since 1998 & at one time I remembered they had upped my premiums for about a year, then they went down. I was quite suprised when I received a check for over $100 from the attorneys. Just got to keep at it I guess. I would also like to be able to buy things for my daughter & my grandaughters as well, whenever I want & yeah, pay cash for them. So that is what I am working on. I have a hard time visualizing myself as thin, because I was thin when I was much younger, thru my teens, it wasn't until my 20's that I started putting on a few lbs here & there & it slowly added up. Oh, well.
I hope you & your kids have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday. I know I have a lot to be thankful for, I have a wonderful son in law, beautiful daughter & 3 gorgeous grandaughters. Oh, & even thankful for Debbie's dad, retired Deputy Sheriff. Not so much his wife though. But together we created a beautiful girl & had many good times together before we divorced.

I did okay for Thanksgiving. for my dinner plate, I had my own McDougall mashed potatoes. I sampled several different types of stuffing that I know did contain fat. Sweet potato dishes as low sugar as I could find (and there was one VERY DELICIOUS offering that didn't look oily, with a crust of pecans and cinnamon on the top. THAT was good) all covered with vegan brown gravy. I had broccoli on my plate, too. Another fat-free dish I brought, along with a dollop of cranberry relish that I made. I had a small serving of seconds on two especially yummy dishes. Oh. I had a tiny piece of pecan pie, too.

I ate enough at dinner to feel full without being painfully stuffed. I'm sure it was overall pretty low fat. That was at the church potluck. Once we got to my mom's for munchies, desserts, and games I ate veggie stix and crackers with hummus that I KNOW was high fat, and I ate pistachios. I got VERY full here, even getting to a place where I got tired of nibbling.

Now, this is totally a first for me. Tired of nibbling? really? But, there it was. The hummus, the crackers, the veggies, the pistachios were all sitting right there in front of my nose, and I wasn't eating them. Not because of that overfull "if-I-think-of-food-I-will-barf" sensation, but just because I was tired of eating.

Had a very small piece of soda cracker pie, no whipped cream. (the pie itself is made with whipped egg whites and walnuts, in addition to sugar and crumbled soda crackers...it is a family favorite that we enjoy at every Thanksgiving)...so, yeah I ate a lot of food, and I did treat myself but I think my "treating" was within reason except the overindulgence on the hummus.

TODAY'S PLAN:
B: banana; apple; had a taste of peanut butter but it was too much.
L: minestrone soup
D: ratatouille with rice

Planning on making some simple Indian foods, aloo gobi and probably saag aloo to use up some kale I have in the fridge. At this point, I have several gallon ziplocs of various prepared foods in my freezer, so I can eat without cooking if I want. Or I might just nuke a potato or two and some spinach and have something that simple for dinner.

I need to make a decision TODAY, about treats. It occurred to me while at my client's job. He and I eat lunch in the employee lounge at his work, and the employee lounge was packed with lunch and breakfast treats today (Black Friday; Shopko; gotta feed the workers so they can keep on working)

well, I had a cookie, and then it hit me. If I don't make a decision TODAY about treats, I will have a confrontation every single day, where they will be offered, or otherwise available...every day from now until New Year's Eve there will be an opportunity to "just have one"... so I must make a decision TODAY that I'm not going to have any holiday treats before Christmas Day. If I don't make that decision, and determine to be self-disciplined and avoid all treats, I *will* indulge. Every day. So...

And I also need to decide TODAY, what treats I will have on The Day. I already know I want avocado, pistachios, dates, and possibly a piece of 85% dark chocolate.

I'm just not going to have any treats. they will be there, they will be wherever I am, at work, or at my client's work, or at church, at friends' houses, at my mom's. Make the decision now.