The seitan sucks. I kept it at a simmer - Isa and the PPK gals taught me that - but this thing looked like a steaming pile of grey brains in that cheesecloth. There was no cohesion - the whole thing was crumbly, and I remember reading somewhere that this happened to others, who compared it to under-cooked ground beef. Yep, that's about it.
I thought maybe I can wrap it up in foil and toss it into the oven, maybe that would do something to it, but before I could do that I tasted some of the crumbly pieces. Yecch! It tasted nothing like corned beef at all. I chucked the whole mess into the garbage. I'm really disappointed and now kicking myself for not picking up a hunk or real corned beef to cook, one of the few meat meals we eat all year.
I hope my husband won't be too disappointed. If he is, he can always call Blimpie. Our local franchise (Blimpie Base #2, IIRC. #1 is in Hoboken, about 10 miles away) makes corned beef sandwiches every year on Saint Patrick's Day. Of course, there are also about a dozen mom-and-pop delis between our house and Blimpie, but they don't deliver like the Blimpie Base does.
All those spices, wasted. I finished up the caraway seeds and only have a bout a teaspoon of the fennel seeds left. My hand is sore from crushing them in the mortar and pestle I've had since my nursing school days back in the 1970's. My sink was so greasy I had to take a Brillo to it, and the bowls and utensils needed a good scrub with grease-cutting Dawn to get them clean again. That'll teach me from veering away form tried and true recipes. That stew just better taste good or I'm really screwed as far as today's dinner goes.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
This Irish gal is making a traditional Irish dinner today.
For starters, I'm making a stew loosely based on this recipe from the old McDougall recipe forum on VegSource. Very loosely. In fact, all that recipe did was put the idea of adding cans of tomatoes into the stew. My stew is about 6 Yukon Gold potatoes (peeled and chopped), a small head of cabbage (chopped), 6 carrots (peeled and chopped), 2 onions (chopped), 2 cans of plum tomatoes (broken into pieces), a few cloves of chopped garlic, and about a quart of veggie broth. Just plop it all together in the biggest pot you have (I had to spread it over over 2 pots - Yikes!) and let it simmer all day so the house smells fantastic and the concoction cooks down to this melt-in-your mouth Irish stew.
Every stew needs its bread, and I'm making a plain loaf of whole wheat with some instant potato flakes tossed in for flavor.
And to go with the stew and bread, corned beef seitan from the recipe by Brian McCarthy found here on Everyday Dish. I've been meaning to make this since I first saw the recipe a year or so ago on that site but never got around to it. This year, it's now sitting in my biggest pot simmering away. This is why my stew had to get split over my next 2 smaller pots. I really have to get myself a nice big soup pot.
For the past week I've been playing all my Irish/celtic music CD's and even watched Feet of Flames twice to get myself in the holiday mood. Man, I love how Michael Flatley dances, but that man has an ego the size of all Ireland! LOL
Monday, February 23, 2009
Luscious Lemon Cake
So many people on the McDougall forums are talking about the Luscious Lemon Cake by Anne Esselstyn that I just have to make it myself today. If I can get my camera to work I'll take a photo of it before my husband devours it.
I need to do this. Ever since October I've been drifting too far away from the McDougall program, mostly because my husband would bring home all kinds of cakes, donuts and pastries from the bakery on his way home Fridays after work. I know he has a very stressful job, and in this economy everyone is on pins and needles, expecting to be laid off with no notice, but this stress eating has got to stop. If it can't be stopped, at least I can make it a bit healthier. He also had started requesting lots of meat-based dishes instead of the low-fat vegan ones we'd been eating, and I was only too happy to oblige.
But lately our health has been suffering. My sinuses have been so bad I can't breathe out my nose at all. My arthritis has been so painful it keeps me awake at night. My husband started complaining that the gouty arthritis in his feet was acting up again. And I won't even tell you how bad things have been on the scale lately. :(
Over the weekend I cleaned out freezer out of all non-McDougall foods, and in doing so discovered half an Esselstyn banana bread and a log of Susan V's Seitan Pepperoni. We ate all the banana bread, and that prompted the need to make more healthy munchies. Also, my husband realized that I'm not the only one getting all kinds of sinus trouble from the dairy we've been eating lately and is looking forward to returning to slabs of spicy seitan in his sandwiches again. I'll be making up another 2 batches to keep in the freezer today, too.
It's so good to be returning to McDougall eating! And now that my husband is getting back on track with me he'll stop sabotaging my efforts like he's been doing recently. In the three days we've been off dairy and fatty SAD foods again my sinuses are starting to clean and our arthritis pains have lessened. My husband feels so good he told me that he's going to join me in cheese-free pizzas from now on, and I felt so much better while doing this morning's exercises. I really hope I remember this when I start sliding off the plan again. If only I could find a good tasting seitan kielbasy recipe.
I need to do this. Ever since October I've been drifting too far away from the McDougall program, mostly because my husband would bring home all kinds of cakes, donuts and pastries from the bakery on his way home Fridays after work. I know he has a very stressful job, and in this economy everyone is on pins and needles, expecting to be laid off with no notice, but this stress eating has got to stop. If it can't be stopped, at least I can make it a bit healthier. He also had started requesting lots of meat-based dishes instead of the low-fat vegan ones we'd been eating, and I was only too happy to oblige.
But lately our health has been suffering. My sinuses have been so bad I can't breathe out my nose at all. My arthritis has been so painful it keeps me awake at night. My husband started complaining that the gouty arthritis in his feet was acting up again. And I won't even tell you how bad things have been on the scale lately. :(
Over the weekend I cleaned out freezer out of all non-McDougall foods, and in doing so discovered half an Esselstyn banana bread and a log of Susan V's Seitan Pepperoni. We ate all the banana bread, and that prompted the need to make more healthy munchies. Also, my husband realized that I'm not the only one getting all kinds of sinus trouble from the dairy we've been eating lately and is looking forward to returning to slabs of spicy seitan in his sandwiches again. I'll be making up another 2 batches to keep in the freezer today, too.
It's so good to be returning to McDougall eating! And now that my husband is getting back on track with me he'll stop sabotaging my efforts like he's been doing recently. In the three days we've been off dairy and fatty SAD foods again my sinuses are starting to clean and our arthritis pains have lessened. My husband feels so good he told me that he's going to join me in cheese-free pizzas from now on, and I felt so much better while doing this morning's exercises. I really hope I remember this when I start sliding off the plan again. If only I could find a good tasting seitan kielbasy recipe.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
DVD Review: Vegan Cooking for Animal Lovers
We finally did something this past weekend that we spoke of doing for a couple of years now but our budget couldn't handle - we joined Netflix. We already have over 100 DVDs in the queue, and when we chose our first three, I popped this one in: Vegan Cooking for Animal Lovers. I read about this DVD a while ago but could never find it for rental anywhere local, and at that time I could only find it for sale in one place on-line and I wasn't going to buy a recipe DVD from someone unknown to me. To this day I still can't find his recipe son-line any where.
Anyway, if you're new to vegan cooking and don't need to lose any weight, this is an okay DVD. Some of the recipes look great, like Tamil Tiger Rice and Mosh Pit-tatoes, but are way too rich for me. Everything he sautés is drowned in Earth Balance margarine; he insists on full-fat coconut milk for the two recipes that require it; the salads that use Veganaise use a LOT of it. Dr. McDougall would have a spaz attack just watching this video!
Each dish made comes with an on-screen recipe directions, but as other reviewers have mentioned, a printable file with the recipes would have been better. He doesn't always follow the recipe, either. "3 cans" of coconut milk (no size given) in print turns into 3 cups of coconut milk when he says it when cooking, yet it looked like a heck of a lot more than 3 cups in the bowl. He has the weirdest way of peeling and cutting cucumbers, then he uses what he said to trim off because it was bitter, anyway.
"Awesome!" Get used to that word. I think he says it at least a hundred times, not only while cooking but also when visiting a HFS in Portland at the end of the video. Also, he drops a lot of F-bombs, but no more than my son and his friends do, all of them around this guy's age (early 20's).
If I had unlimited funds and didn't need to lose over 100 pounds, I would certainly purchase this video for my collection. If nothing else it would help the poor guy pay his rent after his room mate stole his half and he wouldn't have to eat the extra-spicy sloppy joes to keep his belly warm while living under the bridge after being served with the eviction notice. (He explains it all in the DVD)
And hey, he even gave a shout-out to the PPK! Come on, ya gotta love a guy who does this!
If you can afford it, buy it. If you can't afford it and belong to Netflix, rent it. My disk will be heading back later today so it'll be available again on Monday, if this is their only copy in NJ.
Anyway, if you're new to vegan cooking and don't need to lose any weight, this is an okay DVD. Some of the recipes look great, like Tamil Tiger Rice and Mosh Pit-tatoes, but are way too rich for me. Everything he sautés is drowned in Earth Balance margarine; he insists on full-fat coconut milk for the two recipes that require it; the salads that use Veganaise use a LOT of it. Dr. McDougall would have a spaz attack just watching this video!
Each dish made comes with an on-screen recipe directions, but as other reviewers have mentioned, a printable file with the recipes would have been better. He doesn't always follow the recipe, either. "3 cans" of coconut milk (no size given) in print turns into 3 cups of coconut milk when he says it when cooking, yet it looked like a heck of a lot more than 3 cups in the bowl. He has the weirdest way of peeling and cutting cucumbers, then he uses what he said to trim off because it was bitter, anyway.
"Awesome!" Get used to that word. I think he says it at least a hundred times, not only while cooking but also when visiting a HFS in Portland at the end of the video. Also, he drops a lot of F-bombs, but no more than my son and his friends do, all of them around this guy's age (early 20's).
If I had unlimited funds and didn't need to lose over 100 pounds, I would certainly purchase this video for my collection. If nothing else it would help the poor guy pay his rent after his room mate stole his half and he wouldn't have to eat the extra-spicy sloppy joes to keep his belly warm while living under the bridge after being served with the eviction notice. (He explains it all in the DVD)
And hey, he even gave a shout-out to the PPK! Come on, ya gotta love a guy who does this!
If you can afford it, buy it. If you can't afford it and belong to Netflix, rent it. My disk will be heading back later today so it'll be available again on Monday, if this is their only copy in NJ.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
January Is Thyroid Awareness Month
Visit this page by Mary Shomon for all the thyroid info you could ever need.
Check Your Neck, Change Your Life! 2009 Thyroid Awareness Month Campaign Kicks Off
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Bryani
Another recipe from Mary McDougall. The book says it serves 4, but not in this house. I usually double this recipe and it serves the three of us for dinner plus enough left over for one serving for lunch the next day.
If you have a slow-cooker, you can also dump all the ingredients in the pot in the morning, set it on Low, and come home to a nice hot meal 8 to 10 hours later.
* Exported from MasterCook *
Bryani
Recipe By :Mary McDougall
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:20
Categories : Grains MWLP
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 cup onion -- chopped
2 cloves garlic -- crushed
2 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cloves
2 3/4 cups water
2 large carrots -- thinly sliced
1/2 cauliflower -- broken up
1 cup peas -- fresh or frozen
1 medium tomato -- chopped
1/2 cup raisins, seedless
1 cup brown rice -- uncooked
In a large pot, cook onion and garlic in 1/4 cup water for 5 minutes.
Add curry, cinnamon, and cloves, cook 2 minutes.
Add the remaining water, rice, carrots, cauliflower, and raisins. Bring to
a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer about 40 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes and peas. Cook an additional 15 minutes.
Serve hot.
Source:
"McDougall Health Supporting Cookbook Volume 1 Page 51"
Copyright:
"1985"
T(cooking):
"1:00"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Per Serving: 304 Calories; 2g Fat (5.6% calories
from fat); 8g Protein; 67g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 0mg
Cholesterol; 32mg Sodium. Exchanges: 3 Grain(Starch); 2 Vegetable; 1
Fruit; 0 Fat.
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
If you have a slow-cooker, you can also dump all the ingredients in the pot in the morning, set it on Low, and come home to a nice hot meal 8 to 10 hours later.
* Exported from MasterCook *
Bryani
Recipe By :Mary McDougall
Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:20
Categories : Grains MWLP
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 cup onion -- chopped
2 cloves garlic -- crushed
2 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cloves
2 3/4 cups water
2 large carrots -- thinly sliced
1/2 cauliflower -- broken up
1 cup peas -- fresh or frozen
1 medium tomato -- chopped
1/2 cup raisins, seedless
1 cup brown rice -- uncooked
In a large pot, cook onion and garlic in 1/4 cup water for 5 minutes.
Add curry, cinnamon, and cloves, cook 2 minutes.
Add the remaining water, rice, carrots, cauliflower, and raisins. Bring to
a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer about 40 minutes.
Stir in tomatoes and peas. Cook an additional 15 minutes.
Serve hot.
Source:
"McDougall Health Supporting Cookbook Volume 1 Page 51"
Copyright:
"1985"
T(cooking):
"1:00"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Per Serving: 304 Calories; 2g Fat (5.6% calories
from fat); 8g Protein; 67g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 0mg
Cholesterol; 32mg Sodium. Exchanges: 3 Grain(Starch); 2 Vegetable; 1
Fruit; 0 Fat.
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Fresh Vegetable Chili
This is another family favorite. I'm lazy, I so use canned diced no-salt-added tomatoes, frozen chopped broccoli, canned and rinsed kidney beans, and double the amount of peppers, sometimes using half a bag of frozen pepper strips because a whole pound of that comes out cheaper than one measly fresh green pepper that yields just a few ounces after taking the seeds and stem out. I'll have this either with brown rice or make cornbread.
* Exported from MasterCook *
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
* Exported from MasterCook *
Recipe By :Mary McDougall
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:30
Categories : Low Fat Main Dish
MWLP Acceptable
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:30
Categories : Low Fat Main Dish
MWLP Acceptable
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 cup water
2 medium onions -- chopped
1/2 pound sliced mushrooms
1 medium green pepper -- chopped
2 small zucchini -- cut in half then sliced
4 medium tomatoes -- chopped
2 cups broccoli florets
2 tablespoons chili powder
3 cups cooked kidney beans
2 tablespoons arrowroot -- or cornstarch mixed in
1/3 cup water
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 cup water
2 medium onions -- chopped
1/2 pound sliced mushrooms
1 medium green pepper -- chopped
2 small zucchini -- cut in half then sliced
4 medium tomatoes -- chopped
2 cups broccoli florets
2 tablespoons chili powder
3 cups cooked kidney beans
2 tablespoons arrowroot -- or cornstarch mixed in
1/3 cup water
1) Place 1/2 cup of water in a large pot. Add onions and sauté over
medium-high heat for three minutes.
medium-high heat for three minutes.
2) Add mushrooms, green pepper, zucchini, tomatoes, broccoli, chili
powder, and remaining half cup of water. Cover and bring to a boil.
powder, and remaining half cup of water. Cover and bring to a boil.
3) Reduce heat to medium. Cook for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
4) Add beans and heat through, about another 5 minutes.
5) Mix the cornstarch mixture together and add to the vegetables while
stirring. Cook and stir until thickened.
stirring. Cook and stir until thickened.
Description:
"A wonderful meal to prepare when you have lots of fresh garden
vegetables to use up."
Source:
"The McDougall Health Supporting Cookbook Volume 2, page 70"
Copyright:
"1986"
T(cooking):
"0:30"
"A wonderful meal to prepare when you have lots of fresh garden
vegetables to use up."
Source:
"The McDougall Health Supporting Cookbook Volume 2, page 70"
Copyright:
"1986"
T(cooking):
"0:30"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Per Serving: 192 Calories; 2g Fat (6.6% calories
from fat); 12g Protein; 37g Carbohydrate; 10g Dietary Fiber; 0mg
Cholesterol; 48mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat;
2 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fat.
from fat); 12g Protein; 37g Carbohydrate; 10g Dietary Fiber; 0mg
Cholesterol; 48mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat;
2 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fat.
Serving Ideas : Serve over brown rice. Pass the optional toppings to spoon over the top, if desired.
1 bunch green onions, chopped fine
chopped cucumbers
sliced radishes
diced canned green chilies
sliced black olives
chopped fresh coriander
chopped cucumbers
sliced radishes
diced canned green chilies
sliced black olives
chopped fresh coriander
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Monday, December 1, 2008
Back to Soups
Even my husband is ready to get back to plain meals, and today we're having Greeny Beany Soup from the McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook. I still have to go through my ABM recipes to find a nice loaf of bread to go with it, something with a little tang to it. Maybe I'll just make a basic whole wheat loaf and add a tablespoon of Italian salad seasonings to it, like the Good Seasons fat-free or the one I buy in bulk from Penzy's Spices, which meets McDougall standards.
And the official damage from those donuts was 3 1/2 pounds. One week of healthy eating and they should be gone again. And soon the new MWLP DVD should be arriving to give me that extra boost, too. I need all the help I can get right now.
And the official damage from those donuts was 3 1/2 pounds. One week of healthy eating and they should be gone again. And soon the new MWLP DVD should be arriving to give me that extra boost, too. I need all the help I can get right now.
Updated an old site
I had some times to kill yesterday while my husband took a nap on his last day of vacation, and added some of the more recent recipes to an old web page I had made, McDougall Plan Recipes.
And just when I convinced my husband to let me replace the broken camera, the scanner died yesterday. There goes the camera, and now I have to search high and low to find a scanner that will run with Windows 98.
And just when I convinced my husband to let me replace the broken camera, the scanner died yesterday. There goes the camera, and now I have to search high and low to find a scanner that will run with Windows 98.
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