Discussion Board

Hey Dissolution, my turn to be impressed: I couldn't jog if my life depended on it! Also, with the reading I have done recently I am thinking the 60 pounds might be on the heavy side of the appropriate BMI. So, maybe it's more like I need to loose 80. OMG, what a huge number that is though! I guess the right weight is the one that feels best though. Like I'd know now, it's been like 10 years since I was at the right weight!!!!!

yeah it's very fitting for this lifestyle I'd say.

Again the scale moves not, I am OK with this though, it seems to stall and then move again. Got to get going on my grocery list now, it's swim and shopping day. I love shopping now my sticker shock at the checkout has disappeared, even though I pretty much get all organic. I love my store. Any SF Bay Area people might want to check out Piazza's. I think they have three locations. Really great gluten free selections, organic - health food oriented. They even do their own line of organic canned goods at a reduced price! And the produce is pretty good too:)

Today was swimming, so I was in town and this means errand day too! I started at Target - so I could procure a non-stick pan and a rice maker.

I still have reservations about the health aspects of non-stick. I haven't read anything lately, but I do recall about ten years back there was a rash of articles about Teflon. So, I apparently have gotten over that and now only lament about the BPA in all these canned goods I am now eating. As the canned goods are mostly beans, I guess that's alkaline and not likely to have as much BPA exposure.

I digress, so the rice cooker/steamer was also found and purchased. I have been completely lazy about buying rice precooked at TJ's and nuking it. I kind of went this way originally, as I thought I might pig out on starches, if I made enough for the week. I have now done that exact same thing I feared on the expensive rice packets and realize I will still loose weight - so I am over that now too.

Both of these items, were purchased with money saved from becoming unprocessed whole food plant-based. I had no idea how much I would save when there were no multi-ingredient or fake meat foods in the basket. It's a significan difference and so each week with that savings I purchase yet another item, that will assist me in doing more recipes and/or help in saving even more money.

The pressure cooker is next. This is for beans mostly and will get rid of the beans in cans BPA issue for me too.

The problem is my kitchen is beyond small. It is a galley kitchen that most boats would find too dinky. Changing the WOE, did gain me some shelf space and the food went off merrily to the food closet , where I volunteer. But I now feel guilty that he clients eat my cast off bad food - good grief I worry about everything, hahaha.

So each day I am going to weed through yet again, searching for food that can be redirected - and new shelf space for these new toys. But the blender still doesn't have a shelf and the juicer really is too ugly to be out - so I need to house 4 big things - including the pressure cooker that will not fit with the pots and pans I already have.

Did anyone tell me I'd have to remodel my kitchen to eat this way and save money - I don't think so. Too late no turning back now - I am getting to healthy. Well, except for the odd worry, ehehe...Until then they live in the hatch of my car

I purchased a small rice cooker/steam a couple of weeks into this WOE. I love it and use it all the time! One of my favorite meals is to cook the rice and beans at the same time with a bunch of cajun spices.

Dissolution - all your posts make me sooooo hungry. That's just fine I can eat all I want now!

I did a MWL Green Potato soup last night liked it, I want to try it with kale next time, leeks, potatoes and spinach was really good though. Oddly, it was so rich it actually tasted buttery?

blondie : I just ate and your post made me hungry again. I think it's all the potato talk, it still seems like a forbidden food!

So, it's fall and time for soup and stews! It has been the perfect time for me to start this WOE and getting consistent about exercise again, because this is when I love to be in the kitchen and out for walks the most! It's also the time for apples, pumpkins, potatoes, kale, spinach, leeks and sausages. Oops, I am going to miss sausages that's a fact! I guess I can have a sin food soy sausage every blue moon, or every other blue moon?

So yesterday I made, soup of potatoes, spinach, & leeks and tomorrow will be black bean pumpkin and they are good soups, I am happy:) I like nothing better then to make soups and bread. Bread is out for the duration, but corn tortillas just a couple will do here and there.

My favorite cookbooks are by a woman named of all things Crescent Dragonwagon. Somehow I don't think she came into the world with that name, but it's unforgettable and I have forgotten the names of her cookbooks. One is just soups and breads, the other is a huge vegetarian cookbook.

When I have mastered the way of McDougall cookery, I think I will start to McDougallize my favorites from those cookbooks. And someday, probably when the odd blue moon materializes, I will have some modified potato soup recipe, with some vegan sausage & a good hearty fresh out of the oven bread. Until then I will dream about it

Wow - I dropped 3 lbs. overnight! I have never had such a big overnight loss! It could be a number of things. One of which I am paying for today in pain.

Yesterday on my walk I took a trail that dumped me out on the property of a private school in my town. So I walked through the campus and ended up next to the track. Being that I was there & had my phone with the exercise ap on it - I decided to time myself on a mile. You can then use the number of minutes for that mile to rate yourself for aerobic level in your age group. Happily, despite all my extra weight and the aches and pains - I came out average for my age group! I guess that can only improve, right

You are doing so well! Congrats on the weight loss, you are the shrinking woman!!

blondie: I have to do good, you lost 4 pounds last week and your right behind me...if you keep that up you'll quick pass me! Which of course would be fine, but the 4 pounds has inspired me - that and knowing that I have to get down a bunch before Turkey Day!

I had a really weird day, but I still ate completely on my posted menu. Thank goodness I had leftovers for every course!

I was about to leave the house to take my car to the shop, and all of a sudden got a whiff of something burning. I tracked it down and it seemed to be coming from the area of the fridge. I couldn't move the fridge - mostly because of the 6'x4 shelf that rests on it, which is completely full of cake stands, clay pots for doing big birds, giant salad bowls, Mongolian hotpots, cookie jars & you name it it's up there. Anyway, moving all that stuff with the fibro was out of the question!

Like any normal woman I --- quick cleaned the whole house and the refrigerator, and then called the fire department. They're at the end of my street, in a really small town and they are more bored than Maytag repairmen. Mostly, sadly, they go once a day to the huge retirement complex here for a heart attack or something similar, but I think they have only had two actual fires this year, knock wood!

They got here in a jiffy, four of them and started moving stuff off the shelf. In seconds had they refrigerator pulled out, were checking the wiring to it and it really thoroughly going through everything it could possibly be. They found absolutely nothing!

Yet, we all could smell it and it was still there. They checked all around and nothing, but it did seem like the smell was dissipating. Having looked at everything in the kitchen and then the house, nothing could be found, so they left.

After this my house was a huge mess and I spent the day cleaning all those terribly dusty things that came off that shelf. This was pretty cool actually because I got out a big box and started filling it with meat and cheese related things I won't ever be using again! The big roast/turkey /ham carving boards, a cheese board with a built in wire cutting mechanism, platters with turkey's on them, and lots of other stuff - you only use for the Holidays.

Someone is going to think how fantastic all this stuff is here at Goodwill just in time for Thanksgiving and I am thinking totally fantastic, I now have a place to put all my new gadgets for my plant-based eating.Like the new rice maker, the juicer and the blender all of which have been crowding out the little bit of counter space I have. Not anymore, now everything has a home at the front of that shelf readily accessed for use! Yay.

So, if you've read all this - you're probably thinking, she is doing all of this and hasn't figured out what is burning yet, wuzzup with that?
Actually, after I was done with my cleaning and clearing at the end of the day, I decided to treat myself to a cup of tea, just a fast microwave of some water first.

Well, turns out that recently the microwave hardly gets used, just for reheats. Apparently, somehow a piece of paper got stuck to something I put into the microwave and I surmise that has been burning away in there unnoticed for who knows how long. Since I have been cooking up a storm for weeks, I guess all the smells in the kitchen masked it until this morning when I reheated coffee.

The firemen did ask me if I had used the microwave, but when I said just to heat water - they didn't bother with it, even though it's right next to the fridge.

So, to say thank you, I guess I'll get a copy of the Engine 2 Diet book for my favorite firemen next time I am in town

Sounds like a crazy day. Congratulations on the 3 pounds!

Dissolution: TY for the congrats, but more craziness I am back up 2 pounds this morning> Oh, by-the-way, I think I had the exact same food as on the day I lost all the weight! Oh well, I am still down a pound from last week - it's still some kind of progress and that other was really TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

Last week Excursion Weigh-in Nov. 4, 2011 = 215
This week Excursion Weigh-in Nov. 11, 2011=214

Lost one itty bitty pound

I owe this to one night out, really trying to eat on program + .5 pounds and only one day of exercise. Next week will be better if no emergencies creep in at the last minute

My Weight Chart:
>

Down a tiny bit today in weight and there has been no time at all for exercise. I have been really busy with meetings this weekend, preparing for them and attending them - not much time for myself. I did pretty good food wise by making a lot of meals and doing left overs for the end of the week and through today. I'll be able to cook again starting tomorrow - but I have been terrible keeping up with the excursion log -- I was just all typed out the last few day, lol.

So, this week is not going to well. I am doing too much, am flat out tired and even a bit cranky, which is not like me in the least. I must get control of it fast.

Today, swimming got cancelled, so I am taking the time to get ahead on some recipes to stash in the fridge & freezer. I intend to write down in my Tuesday post each week, my plan for the week's meals. I usually grocery shop on Tuesdays, but as I am taxing myself on weekends & Monday's with volunteer work, I have to have a down day to plan, at least this is my new resolve.

My recipes to cook, eat and freeze this week are:

Pumpkin & Black Bean Soup (Sunday) ( Done)
http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougal ... ecipes.htm

Green Soup ( Tuesday)(Done)
MWL 235

Mattar Guchi (Tuesday) (Done & need a pea recipe not the best but good)
MWL 283

Sweet Potato Bisque (Wednesday) (Done & *keeper*)
http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougal ... ecipes.htm

South Western White Beans (kale) (Wednesday)(Done and keeper)
http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougal ... ecipes.htm

Butternut Squash Soup (Thursday)
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2005nl/ ... ecipes.htm

Italian Garbanzo Stew (Thursday) (Done & keeper)
MWL 267

And next week for sure - this is lifted from Pacificfords Journal
Her Sister's Rice Salad -- looks mighty good to me, especially as I over did the rice making in the new rice maker, EGAD!

Rice and Bean Salad (from Pacificford's my sister)

2 cups cooked brown rice, cooled
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
2-4 cloves of garlic, pressed
1-2 jalepeno peppers
2-4 scallions
1 can beans (any variety that you enjoy)
1 - 4oz can of chilies
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped (optional)
1 cup corn (or other favorite veggie)

Mix all together! Even better the second day

Also found blondie's Hopping John to try
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Hopping John is a Southern style Black-eyed pea dish -- here's my version of it!

1 lb. frozen black-eyed peas
2 cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can diced chilis
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. minced onion
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Cook frozen black eyed peas according to directions on pkg. and drain. Add all other ingredients and return to boil, simmer for a few minutes to let flavors develop. Serve over brown rice.

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I think I'll call Friday a day of rest, or the day I finish what I planned and failed to accomplish - let's not use fail in a sentence - more like found impossible to even consider doing given: life , liberty and the pursuit of happiness!

BTW, this appears to be a lot of cooking for one person it is - I got pretty big eyed at Trader Joe's, when I found pre-cut sweet potatoes, butternut squash and a kale, collard mix. I have way too much of this stuff and it requires cooking it fast - so much for time savings. I will also learn fast for this mistake and hopefully have dinners in the freezer for a while too.

Meanwhile, as life got away from me obligations-wise, I have not been keeping up with the Excursion the way I would like - so that's on the agenda after I finish tonight's volunteer assignment, which is right after my second recipe for the day. I must stop raising my hand or whatever!

Really, the food in MWL is pretty simple and fast, I am just not used to life without the deadly, fattening, uncompassionate and earth unfriendly convenience foods! There all that should get me over my funk,