All Hail the Potato Challenge!!

[Wild4Stars]

I love my Rival Crock-Pot. I have the big oval one. I can't answer the question about cost comparison, but I have always been told that the crock pots use very little power.

[Key Tones]

I'm not sure if you really want to buy a crock pot just for this. Maybe borrow one from a friend to see if you like it first. My local Goodwill charges too much for a used one vs. the large online store (you know who). Some of the popular six quart ones are less than $30 and some 4 quart ones are less than $20. Goodwill near my house charges almost this much for older looking ones so beware!

I tire of the roasted flavor of the crock after a few times, then switch to boiling, then bake (potatoes explode in the oven, even if forking the first), then microwave, then back to the crock pot....

I love the crock pot for taking casseroles to potlucks. It will come in handy in the summer when I don't want to turn on the oven.

Anyway, I like my large oval one. I didn't think I would like the programming feature (not my idea), but if you want to cook something then have it switch to warm, it is easy and a nice feature to have vs. having food turn to much if you can't get to it in time.

[Jenna]

I have heard that Hamilton Beach is the only crockpot that doesn't have lead. I have gotten a Hamilton Beacu 5qt (I think) crockpot with a locking lid from Bed Bath and Beyond for $30 and then 20% off on top of that, so somewhere around $25 with tax. You can also make rice and soup easily in a crockpot. We save a lot of money on a/c in the summer by using our crockpot to cook.

[Wild4Stars]

I love my crock pot and use it frequently for beans, soups, stews. All this talk about lead was freaking me out. I found a blog where a woman took several brands and colors (mine included) and had them tested. No lead was found.

http://www.terminalverbosity.com/2009/11/09/the-skinny-on-lead-in-crock-pots-it-may-surprise-you/

Seems the FDA in all it's wisdom considers a certain amount of lead as "safe" without even knowing how often I may use my crock pot. I guess the manufacturers are smarter than the FDA.

[TracyAnn]

I officially got out my crock pot and filled it with potatoes and set it on low for 8 hours. About 4 hours left. I fit about 7 pounds of potatoes in there! Hopefully enough to last a couple days!

I just have a couple of related questions, and thought you might know. I have only electric to cook with, so I was wondering if you or anyone has been able to tell if the cost of running the crock pot vs. boiling on the stove for 20/40 min. I am going to look for a used one.

What size are you using for this large amount of potatoes? Do you have a recommendation as to a best and worst brand?

I have a 6 quart crock pot and have Crock Pot brand....it works pretty well. I bought it a year ago and recently started using it more because I am eating more root vegetables for my starches than grains.

I am not sure if there are better/worse brands.

[Key Tones]

Hmm. I haven't heard of the lead issue. I have the HB crockpot. It has been awesome.

Take care if you have a ceramic sink. My daughter (18) managed to bash a couple of chips in the sink doing dishes handling the giant 6 qt oval crock pot. I repaired them with something you paint on. My neighbor is in construction and told me what to do since he has a chip in his sink too.

Next sink will be stainless steel - it is what I had before. This house came with the ceramic sink.

[Key Tones]

Anyone here have a really hard time losing weight?

I managed to drop about 20 pounds on the potato hack between end of January to end of March. I seem to be stuck now, but I notice I am able to eat more than I could at first.

I am thinking of limiting my eating to an 8 hour window to see if this helps.

I did kind of an odd thing - I made up my potatoes last night like hummus and brought it in to work today with carrots.

[Key Tones]

Lynn,

Wow, a fast 40 - I've never had that. That is great.

I usually don't lose very quickly. I had the hair-brained idea in college when I saw someone on Oprah Winfrey explaining that a potato is fairly complete in nutrition. Out of fear for calcium and protein, I added 1/2 cup of skim milk to a 100 calorie potato and at that 5x per day and lost 30 pounds in one month (I was young then!). I was starving - I now know the milk caused hunger somehow, because just potatoes does not do this.

Anyway, when I first started, I was eating only 6-7 potatoes and little else other than condiment-level anything (teaspoon to a tablespoon) for a couple of weeks.

I eventually found out Dr. Mcdougall was the source of the original potato hack in 2006, so here I am. I am finding I need more than just potatoes, even taking weekends off, so I have the MWL book and am reading.

I killed a terrible craving last night with a blueberry and banana smoothie. I ate more fruit than allowed, but it was better than falling off the wagon!

[yarnpetter]

Lynn,

Out of fear for calcium and protein, I added 1/2 cup of skim milk to a 100 calorie potato and at that 5x per day and lost 30 pounds in one month (I was young then!). I was starving - I now know the milk caused hunger somehow, because just potatoes does not do this.

I don't know, I think I'd be starving on 500 calories per day (or ~700 calories with the milk added in) even if it was just potatoes

[Key Tones]

Oh, I ate 7 potatoes per day plus condiments. Probably more like 900 to 1000 calories. I did have some very low calorie days, but not many.

[Key Tones]

Lynn-I forgot to comment on hummus.

It was...a little odd. I ended up eating the carrots separately. It came out like spicy mashed potatoes.

I used the recipe for hummus III on all recipes, with potatoes instead of garbanzo beans, and only 1 teaspoon of tahini (sometimes I use sesame seeds instead of tahini - it all goes in the food processor anyway). I also add curry powder and red pepper because I like it spicy.

Although it was odd, I'm doing it again!

[Key Tones]

Oh, don't laugh - I don't have a mixer! I never make cake or mashed potatoes (chronic dieter), but I just gave in and ordered one--a returned one, which is $30 cheaper than a new one (from the large online retailer).

[anni m]

even though i was just lurking, as i hadn't yet registered on this forum, i started doing the potato hack about 2 weeks or so ago now, and what a revelation! potatoes definitely provide the satiation that was lacking for me with other grains, so especially at night i would just eat and eat, but with potatoes i get full and stop! thanks to all of you who posted here, it's really been fun, and i felt like i had a community although i hadn't yet posted!

so i've decided to just keep doing this since i really feel like my weight has decreased and my clothes feel looser (i don't have a scale). i was already eating a vegan diet for the past 6 years, but was eating more fat than i had realized, so the bit of weight i would like to lose just wouldn't come off before now. and i know sticking to just potatoes for my "grain" has helped a lot.

i just nuke all my potatoes, and love how quick and easy it is to cook them up (my husband and i are doing a long term vagabond around the usa in our little camper van, so not much room to cook). i love sweet potatoes now, they provide a yummy dessert or morning dish sprinkled with pumpkin pie spice and a little maple syrup.

so i'm really loving reading what everyone has been writing! this, in addition to the evening meditation that i started listening to in january, has definitely given my 58 year old body a kick start! yay!!

[Key Tones]

Hi Annie!

My daughter likes microwaving best, actually.

I discovered the hard way I really can't stand boiled sweet potatoes, but microwaved is pretty good, really.

I'm looking forward to making hash browns. I bought one of those returned grillers too.

I don't eat grains - I've read too much about anti-nutrients in them blocking mineral absorption. I am leary. Also, they don't satisfy me, but potatoes do!

[KittyMcKnitty]

Hi Anni! Glad you joined the party.

I was a nuked potato fan, but now I'm on the crock pot thing. I will probably be eating 'taters every day for the rest of my life.