Comments Apology

For some reason Blogger stopped sending me notifications of comments awaiting approval. Today I got an email asking if I still want to be notified of them, and suspecting it was a spam-type message, came directly here to my settings to make sure everything was set the way I want them.

While poking around, I clicked on the Comments - Awaiting Comments link, and was surprised to see 7 comments there awaiting approval going back into July that I never got notified about!

So, all comments have now been approved and posted. Those that need a reply, I'll get back to you with the info you requested.

Again, sorry about this. And once again I reflect on my love/hate relationship with computers.

Ann & Jane - Plant-Based Sandwich Contest

Um, not a contest, by any means. Jane makes a cucumber sandwich from the cookbook, Ann makes a cucumber sandwich with ingredients her son Ted had on a sandwich recently. Both ladies use hummus, cucumber, and greens but Jane's also uses mustard, scallions, and lemon pepper seasoning, and Ann's has radishes and an apple slice.

To be honest, I wouldn't - couldn't - eat either of them. I can't find an oil-free, whole grain gluten free bread, even if I wanted to eat any flour products. And I have no idea how people can eat Mestemacher bread even without double toasting it. Jane laughs because her daughter calls it a shingle, it's so hard. How is that enjoyable to eat?? And I, personally, do not like cucumbers or radishes. I'm sure there are many of you out there who, like Ann and Jane, do, so go ahead and enjoy these sandwiches with no fear I'm going to be jealous or try to steal it from you. LOL

AJ's Mushroom Chili - A Newly Recorded VIdeo

I made this chili last night, and for the first time since I bought my first Instant Pot a few years ago, it failed to cook. This was the newer of the 2 pots, the 8-quart. I had all the ingredients in there, including the bag of frozen corn. I made it the way I always made it, based on a very early cooking webinar video of her doing it - slight changes from the recipe in the UWL 21 Day Recipe Guide, like 3 cans of black beans instead of one can each of black, kidney and pinto beans, as originally written.

An hour and a half after I put it on I realized I wasn't smelling the chili like I should have, so put down my book and went into the kitchen to check. There was the pot reading 1:02 on Keep Warm mode, but the pot itself was at room temperature, and when I removed the lid, there was my chili ingredients, lukewarm and uncooked.

ACK!

I played with the silicone ring, I removed the cover over the vent and made sure there wasn't anything blocking it, and put everything back on and watched. After a few minutes the button never raised, but it started counting down. No! I repeated the troubleshooting and tried again, and again it started counting down without getting to pressure, but it took over 10 minutes to get to this point. Different, but still not good. Off with the lid again, but at least this time everything was not only hot, the chili was boiling. I figured it has to be the silicone ring and took it completely out, rinsed it off, and reset it. Crossed my fingers and turned it on again, and this time the button popped up after about 5 minutes, and a few minutes later it started to count down. Whew!

While all this was going on I dug out my older 6-quart pot and got it set up by another outlet, just in case. By then the corn had defrosted, the mushrooms started wilting a bit, so it would probably fit in the smaller pot. Luckily I didn't need it and put it all back in the box again for next time I needed to use it.

After dinner, while putting the leftovers away for another night's dinner, I noticed a lot of scorching on the bottom of the pot. That got me thinking about the ingredients again. I remembered when putting it together I did what I do every time I make this and double check that there was no added liquid, that the recipe uses the liquid from the beans only, and in that early video she said if you're using homemade beans instead of canned, add 1/4 cup of water for every 1 1/2 cups beans because that's how much is in each can, so 3/4 cups of water. People frequently ask her about this on the UWL Facebook community, because it's strange because the pressure cooker needs liquid to make steam that causes the pressure, and she always says no added water, just the bean water. I had canned beans, so I didn't add water. I told myself next time if this happens, just add water. In fact, maybe I should just go ahead and add water right at the beginning to prevent this from happening again.

Then I saw the link to the above video on FaceBook, and because of last night's disaster decided to watch it, even though I saw about 5 previous videos of her making this in the past. I noticed she was doing things different than the written recipe I have. When she talks about using homemade beans instead of canned, she says to add 2 cups of water, not 3/4 cups. 

Wait a minute now! 

I looked at the years-old printout of the recipe from that early cooking party video, and nothing about added water. I opened up the PDF of the UWL 21 Day Recipe Guide, and that one has no mention of adding water either (but does have the 3 different types of canned beans). I then open the Kindle version of the UWL book and check, and sure enough, in that version of the recipe she says to add 2 cups of water if using homemade beans, but doesn't mention adding any additional liquid if using canned ones.

Aha! 

So, as a public service message, those of you who have the older original recipe, or the recipe in the 21 Day Guide, the one that uses three different types of beans - go back to your recipe file and add in to make sure you have a total of 2 cups of liquid, between the bean water and additional water. If all you have is the Secrets to UWL book, that has the corrected recipe already, so you're safe.

But now I'm wondering why, after all these years, did this recipe not work in the Instant Pot this time around. I used the same brand of fire roasted tomatoes, the same brand of beans, even the same brand of frozen corn! The only thing different was the mushrooms. I usually use cremini (baby portobellas), either in their entirety or mixed half those, half button, but yesterday at the grocery store they had no decent looking cremini but beautiful creamy white sliced button mushrooms, and on sale, too, in one pound boxes. And they were pre-washed, something the 8 ounce size boxes never are. Was that the reason my batch wasn't coming to pressure and later burnt? Was it the difference in moisture content between the 2 types of mushrooms, or because the mushrooms I used were dry, not newly cleaned?

Beats the heck out of me!

For now I'm going to chalk it up to the Full Moon. 

But next time I make it, even though it makes a lot of liquid when fully cooked, I'm going to add water right at the beginning, too. I'm lucky I put the pot on so early yesterday, hours before dinnertime, and was able to rectify the situation with enough time so I still got dinner on the table with no delay. Although I made this dozens, maybe over a hundred, times with no problems in the past, I don't want any problems in the future. Why risk it.

Plant-Stock Available for Everyone Now!

Hello, all you lovers of all things Esselstyn!

Couldn't get to Plant-Stock last weekend? Wish you had been able to see 2 1/2 days' worth of whole food plant based speakers? Missed Ann and Jane's antics?

Fret no more!

For the first time ever, all the Plant-Stock lectures were professionally recorded and are available for streaming! Yes, you have to pay for it (unlike last year when someone used their cell phone then put them all up on FaceBook), but it costs a bit less than one of the McDougall Advanced Study Weekend series and contains many more hours than those!

From their intro page, where a promo video is available:

Preserve your Plant-Stock Memories (or see what you missed!)This series includes professional video and sound recordings of each speaker that took the stage at the 2018 Camp Plant-Stock event in Black Mountain, North Carolina. We've published this video series like an online course, with lectures and supporting documents. Watch the series at your leisure and refer to it as often as needed, strengthening your arsenal of plant-strong information.

So, why not invest in your health and sign up today? 

Kale in the Komics

I have admitted a few times in the past that I read the daily comics on-line. Remember the one about The Starch Solution? I wrote about that before Dr. McDougall did.

For the past few days, a strip called "Betty" on GoComics has been doing a thread about a visiting relative, the male lead's brother. He had been a "bad boy" most of his life, even spent time in jail, but has recently cleaned up his act, and that includes (most of) his eating habits. The past few days were strips about his love of kale and its health benefits.

Unfortunately, GoComics won't allow me to show the actual strips, so just follow the link. Here's the first kale strip. After this, just click the forward arrow on each day's strip to get to the next.

Ann and Jane - Plant Perfect Potato Salad

Someone posted the recipe to Pinterest, too

My husband recently asked about potato salad, but most of the vegan ones I've found rely heavily on tofu, including Mary McDougall's, or are vinegar-based, which just isn't the kind of potato salad we were brought up on. I have a few bags of those tiny potatoes in the refrigerator, so maybe I'll surprise him and make this tomorrow morning so he can have it with his lunches over the weekend. A perfect topper to a pretty crappy vacation week.

Dr. McDougall Interviews Dr. Luke Wilson

Looks like Dr. and Mary McDougall are back in California again. And he's going to continue his appearances and talks in the 10 Day Programs. Good to hear.

A New MWLP Recipes Site

A fairly new member of the McDougall forums, who calls herself Idgie, started up a website exclusively for MWLP recipes called Idgie's MWLP Recipes. 

It's brand new - she only has 4 recipes up so far - but she expects to grow it as she continues following the food plan.

It's nice to see that McDougall followers are still growing in number, even as Dr. McDougall is easing himself out of the business himself. I wonder how long Heather, Dr. Lim, and the rest of the staff will be able to keep the live program, well, alive without Dr. McDougall participating.

McDougall Webinars are BACK!

Tuesday, August 14th, 2018 (9AM PDT)

Register Now

Title: Live with Dr. John McDougall and Dr. Luke Wilson

Description: A candid conversation between two doctors from two different countries (USA and New Zealand) and two different generations.

Questions: Email your questions ahead of time, to webinar@drmcdougall.com.

Host: Moderator, Gustavo Tolosa, DMA

~~~

I found Dr. Wilson's web site, Two Zesty Bananas, for those also wondering who he is.

Looks like it'll be an interesting talk. Even though I'm really glad to see him back on the air, so to speak, I just hope Dr. McDougall doesn't monopolize the conversation.

Ann & Jane - Frying Zucchini Slabs!

Temps have been high around here again - I woke up this morning at 4am to 76º outside, 82º in my kitchen - so needless to say, I never did make any more of that zucchini bread from the last episode and I still have those other 2 zukes in my fridge. Thankfully, the Esselstyn families also have a zucchini problem, so Ann and Jane to the rescue with this recipe based on one in the original Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease book. Here's the recipe from page 184:

Fried Zucchini
makes 2-4 servings

2 medium zucchini
Bragg's Aminos or low sodium tamari soy sauce
garlic powder
onion powder
black pepper

Cut ends off zucchini and slice lengthwise into at least 4 long slices.
Sprinkle a large non-stick pan with a small amount of Bragg's aminos, then arrange zucchini on the pan by first swiping each slice front and back in the Bragg's. Flip the slices around in the pan so each slice will brown.
Cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, then carefully turn each slice over. If the pan needs liquid, add a little water or a bit more tamari.
Sprinkle cooked side with garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper and continue cooking another 5 minutes, adding tiny bits of water as necessary until both sides are browned.   Zucchini cooked this way is so tasty it's easy to eat lots.

And here's how Ann does it today:




Since Dr. Esselstyn is now against added salt and soy products - and Bragg's is both - Ann now uses a thick balsamic vinegar instead of Bragg's Aminos, and seems to omit the other spices all together. I wish one of them addressed this change and the reason for it in the video.

So, it's nothing like the original recipe at all except it's fried thick cut zucchini. The taste would be totally different. Probably still good, but lots different.