Jan Tz - McDougall Hero

Dr. McDougall calls them Star McDougallers, but to me, Jan Tz is more of an everyday hero than a star. Stars burn bright and eventually fade, but Jan keeps on shining, even when her light dimmed a bit a few years ago and she regained some of her lost weight.

It was Jan's posts on the old McDougall forums on VegSource that showed me eating healthy doesn't have to involve complex recipes with 20 ingredients and take hours to cook. Her 3-ingredient recipes were lifesavers at a time things were super hectic in this household, caring for a m-i-l with Alzheimer's & leukemia, homeschooling a kid through high school years, moving 1200 miles from home, then back again less than a year later, and now, caring for a different relative with Alzheimer's (m-i-l's sister).

Her quickbreads are legendary for saving many a party in McDougallers' households.

Jan would disappear from the forums from time to time, but then she would come back with a vengeance. One year she gave up posting to Internet forums for Lent, but another year she took that sacred time to recommit herself to the McDougall program.

Like many of us, Jan has had her ups and downs when it comes to weight loss, but she also knows that the best, healthiest way to regain her health and lose those pounds again is with the McDougall program. It's her persistence (and her recipes) that keep people like ME doing the same.

Some of my favorite Jan Tz meals follow. I usually copy/paste the messages from the forums to my AZZ Cardfile program so I retain all the notes and directions the original author wrote. That's the case with all of these. The McDougall forum on VegSource no longer exists so the links in these recipes probably won't work.

Our all-time favorite quick dinner:

From: Jan Tz 

Subject: Three Ingredient Recipe: Pioneer Baked Beans
Date: October 14, 2003 at 3:57 pm PST

PIONEER BAKED BEANS

Peeled and cored apple, cut into big chunks
Onion, sliced thinly and separated into rings
Vegetarian Baked Beans

Combine all ingredients in whatever quantities you need, put into a baking dish, and bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 350F.

I remember reading about "Apples 'n' Onions" in one of the "Little House on the Prairie" books some years back. Baked beans were popular then, too. They seem to go well together.

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/mcdougall/messages/9916379.html

A Holiday staple:

From: Jan Tz 

Subject: Three Ingredient Recipe: Cranberry-Sauced Chickpeas
Date: October 15, 2003 at 4:12 pm PST

CRANBERRY-SAUCED CHICKPEAS

2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce
dash of powdered cloves

Preheat oven to 300 F. Put the chickpeas in a casserole dish. Put the cranberry sauce on top. Sprinkle lightly with cloves. Bake uncovered for about 30 min.

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/mcdougall/messages/9916386.html

A favorite cold-weather meal:

From: Jan Tz 

Subject: New 3-Ingredient Recipe for You
Date: December 28, 2002 at 3:28 pm PST

This is a variation of the Barley-Mushroom Bake that many of you requested. It has only 3 ingredients (not counting water and pan spray), and is very meaty and satisfying.

BARLEY-MUSHROOM BAKE

3/4 cup quick barley
1 (8 oz.) box fresh mushrooms, whole, cleaned
1 envelope Lipton Recipe Secrets, any fat-free flavor (check the boxes)

Put all the ingredients in a casserole dish. Stir in 2 cups boiling water. Stir to mix. Cover and bake at 325 F. for 45 min. Uncover and bake another 15 min. Stir lightly before serving.

http://www.vegsource.com/talk/mcdougall/messages/9915541.html

My go-to cornbread recipe, savory:

From: Jan Tz 

Subject: Re: Cornbread.........
Date: February 16, 2005 at 11:34 am PST

In Reply to: Cornbread......... posted by Sunny on February 16, 2005 at 7:52 am:

I think they posted mine. Here it is...

Ingredients:
1 cup flour (many people here use whole wheat pastry flour)
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 and 1/4 cups water
1 Tbs. + 1 tsp. vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease/spray an 8"x8" cake pan. Mix the dry ingredients together. Mix the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. When the oven reaches temp., stir the wet into the dry. Mix quickly and don't overmix. Pour into prepared pan. Bake about 30 minutes -- toothpick test for doneness. Let stand in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack.

My go-to cornbread recipe, sweet:

From: Jan Tz 

Subject: Sweet Cornbread
Date: August 16, 2003 at 5:28 am PST

In Reply to: JanTz.....Could you please give me ....... posted by Bambi on August 16, 2003 at 4:40 am:

I think what I posted was my version of Chi Chi's Sweet Corn Cake mix. Here is the recipe:

1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 Tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 Tbs. baking powder
1 small can chopped green chiles
1/4 cup water
1 can (15 oz) cream-style corn

Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Grease or spray a 9 x 5 loaf pan.
Mix the dry ingredients together first, then stir in the rest. Mix quickly and do not overmix. Pour into the loaf pan. Bake uncovered for 40-45 min. or until liquid has been absorbed.


One of my favorite quickbreads:

From: Jan Tz 

Subject: Gingerbread
Date: March 17, 2001 at 8:36 pm PST

GINGERBREAD

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease or spray an 8" x 8" cake pan.

Combine the liquid ingredients:
1 and 1/4 cups hot soymilk, ricemilk, or water
1 Tbs. + 1 tsp. white vinegar
1/4 cup molasses

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon

When the oven reaches temp, pour the liquid into the dry ingredients. Mix quickly and do not over-mix. Pour into prepared pan. Bake about 25 min.--toothpick test for doneness. Remove from oven and let stand in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and wrap in a clean dry kitchen towel until completely cooled. May dust with powdered sugar or eat with applesauce.

http://www.vegsource.com/mcdrecipes/messages/13143.html

And the quickbread I'm making tonight, using canned apples (NOT apple pie filling)

From: Jan Tz 

Subject: Recipe: "SallyBread": A New Quick Bread
Date: April 14, 2001 at 6:16 am PST

Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bread? Is it a pie? No...it's...
SALLYBREAD!

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray or grease a 9" x 13" baking pan.

Combine the liquid ingredients together:
1 and 1/4 cups HOT soymilk, ricemilk, or water
1 Tbs. + 1 tsp. white vinegar.

Combine the dry ingredients together:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda

When the oven reaches temp, stir the liquid ingredients into the dry. Mix quickly, and do not over-mix. Pour into prepared pan and spread it around evenly to cover bottom of pan.

Now pour the contents of:
1 (21 ounce) can of fruit pie filling

on top of the batter in the pan. Spread it around to mostly cover. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes -- toothpick test for doneness. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan. Serve warm or cover and refrigerate.

I used blueberry pie filling for my test batch, but you can use any fruit filling you like. Happy Easter, everyone!

http://www.vegsource.com/mcdrecipes/messages/13275.html

And tonight's dinner:

ACK! I lost the original post! It was another of her simple 3-ingredient recipes but it's not in my Cardfile or anywhere on this computer! I've been making it so long I don't even look at the recipe any more so it's probably still on the old, non-working, computer.

It's another super simple recipe she called Spudz-Onion Casserole. Take a few potatoes and slice them thin. Take a big onion or 2 and also slice it thin. Take a casserole dish and alternate layers - onions, taters, onions, taters, etc. - until you run out of both. This is one meal I make that I'm so glad I spent the money to buy a fancy mandoline for slicing. You can sprinkle each layer of spuds with any spice combo you want, or just plain old salt and pepper. 

If you want to healthy this up a bit you can add some greens, to keep Jeff Novick happy. I have a bag of spinach in the freezer and will use some of that.

Cover and bake, the usual 350ºF for 30 - 45 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. If you want the top layer crunchy, uncover for the last 15 minutes or so.

Jan, if you're reading this, I want to thank you for saving my butt so many times over these years. I hope you continue to post on the McDougall forums for many years to come.