Part 2 of Dr. McDougall's Latest Potato Talk

Dr. McDougall Talks About the COVID-19 Vaccine Again

 This time he emphasizes yes, he'll take it, but only AFTER it's been proven safe and effective. He goes on to explain why he has a dislike of many vaccines, then blames covid-19 on climate change.

Richard Simmons Making A Comeback?

 Well, someone is doing something with his material.

A few weeks ago the Richard Simmons YouTube page came alive again with uploads of many of his old videos, from 10 minute snippets to complete workouts. The occasional post would also appear on his Facebook and Twitter pages. And today I found out his entire website has been revamped, and the Clubhouse link no longer causes my McAfee to jump up and say "Whoa! Don't go there, dude! It's gnarly!" OK, I exaggerate the warning, but not by much. It wasn't just the yellow warning band, it was bright red lettering and I do remember exclamation points.

I remember when I had the 2 McDougall Groups over on Yahoogroups (RIP - Yahoo is shutting the door on Groups this coming Tuesday after slowly killing them the past few years.) there were many members who used either Richard Simmons Deal A Meal and FoodMover gadgets to keep track of their eating. Even more were still Weight Watchers members and using those tips and tricks to try lose their weight while eating the MWLP way. 

 

Perhaps the Richard Simmons company is coming out with something new in the near future. If so, it's got to be cheaper than a membership in one of a certain "chef's" many for-pay food plans and support systems (Same program but with 3 different names, so far. No wonder she hosts seminars on how to monetize the vegan food programs.).

Anyway, it'll be nice to see the old gang over there again. So far not too many people have joined the new message boards, but once word gets out it's sure to grow. Us old farts adored that fuzzy headed ball of energy! LOL

New(ish) Lecture by Dr. McDougall About Potatoes

Dr. McDougall is in a pretty good mood in this new talk. No ranting and raving, no veering off topic to complain about politicians or climate change (Although he does mention both in the Q&A). He's even joined by Mary during the Q&A session.

But to answer the question on everyone's mind, before he launched into his talk he said he would get the covid vaccine once it's made available.

Rancho Gordo in the News!

I just couldn't resist going back on the waitlist for Rancho Gordo beans earlier this year when beans of all kinds were in short supply in all stores, even many Amazon vendors. Even on the Rancho Gordo website store, at one point they were down to only 6 beans and one type of lentils available. I bought a few bags every few weeks, and now it's become habit to make a pot of beans and rice for dinner a few times a week. 

I was pleasantly surprised a few weeks ago when I got the email that there was a space for me in the Bean Club if I still wanted it. Of course I did! I now have the 4th quarter of 2020 box in my pantry and already know what I'll be doing with those Super Lucky 2021 Black Eyed Peas that were included in this shipment! 

A few days after that box came, I started getting emails from Rancho Gordo telling me many of the other beans I was on the waitlist for had arrived, but were in short supply, so I quickly made up another order of over a dozen more bags of beans. I didn't click to but at the time, giving myself time to think things over, am I sure I wanted another 2 dozen bags of beans on top of what I already had in my pantry PLUS what was in the club box? Of course I did, and the next afternoon I went to send the order in, only to find that 4 of the beans were already sold out! Well, that was fortuitous. I didn't have to choose between them and just got the dozen bags that were still on my list. Let's see if any sell out before they fulfil my order.

Since then, I've been on sort of a bean information kick, not only reading loads of back posts in the private Bean Club Members only FaceBook group but actually got 2 books from the library out on beans - one is about the history of beans (Beans: A History), a cookbook (Grains, Rice and Beans), but also saw that one of Steve sando's own books (He's the owner of Rancho Gordo), Heirloom Beans: Recipes from Rancho Gordo, was on sale for Kindle for only $2.99, so bought that. I haven't looked at the recipes - I just wanted to know about all those beautiful heirloom beans he sells.

And here's another surprise I just read about yesterday (Saturday) - Steve was interviewed by CBS's Sunday Morning TV show and it aired this morning! It's very short, just a few minutes, but was so nice to see beans, especially Rancho Gordo ones, getting favorable press.

Now to make room around the apartment to store another dozen bags of beans! And after that, talk myself out of ordering from other heirloom and specialty bean sites I've been reading about, and from buying a wooden bean spoon, machacadora (bean masher), and a clay bean pot.

Potato Healing Benefits

 

Sandburg Stretches

 This weekend the Esselstyn crew did another series of videos, the topic of these being Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue. Because it was a typical busy weekend around here, I missed almost all of them when they aired live.

But I did catch a few minutes here and there, and a few times I saw mention of something Rip had talked about called Sandburg Stretches. Hmm, wonder what that was all about?

Well, a quick search turned up this blog post that not only explained that they came from Rip's great grandfather, poet Carl Sandburg, who did them into his 90's, but multiple videos of Rip back in 2015 demonstrating them all!

 

Tami interviews Dr. Alan Goldhamer. Founder of TrueNorth Health Center ...

WEIGHT LOSS MAGIC TRICKS WITH DR. DOUG LISLE

AN ENCORE VISIT WITH DR. JOHN & MARY McDOUGALL

Chef AJ Interviews Dr. McDougall This Thursday

From an email with this week's interview schedule from Chef AJ:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday,  October 15

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Surviving in These Stressful Times

9:00 am Pacific

Watch here

John McDougall, MD has co-authored many bestselling books with his wife, Mary, and is featured in the documentary and book Forks Over Knives. 

Dr. McDougall is the founder and director of the nationally renowned McDougall Program: a ten-day residential program that he and Mary McDougall host where medical miracles occur through diet and lifestyle changes.

 

Promo Video for Advanced Techniques Course

What's embarrassing is that I never finished watching the first series of lessons he did! As soon as he showed how to hold the veggies, with the knuckles as a cutting guide, I was out. With my arthritic hands, my fingers no longer bend that way. One of these days I'll watch them all - looks like some nice recipes he included in it. And this new series in December? Well, I'll have to see what he's cooking, if all the recipes are still allowable on the McDougall and Esselstyn food plans.

Dear USPS

 Normally I don't mind when you decide to take my packages on a tour of the Eastern seaboard. Almost every package the past few months goes from its home, maybe a stop or 2 before it hits a sorting center in Avenel or Kearney, but then heads back out of state, sometimes to Maryland, sometimes Pennsylvania, once to Vermont, twice down to Southern states, before heading back to the same center in Avenel or Kearney before hitting my city's post office.

Once my own city's post office sent it out all the way to Texas! It took over a week to make it back to my city, then a few more days before you delivered it the 10 blocks to my home.

But this time I'm a little worried. You see, this package contains my allergy and heart medications. It's bad enough my heart med is a month behind because of nationwide shortages and for the last 2 weeks I've been breaking what few pills I had left in half to stretch them out, but it has now taken almost a week to go from the pharmacy to Avenel (on an overnight delivery package), but the postal workers in Avenel decided to send the box off to Pennsylvania 2 days ago, and finally yesterday afternoon the people in Pennsylvania found the poor fellow and decided to send me a not telling me they have it by mistake, that it must have been mislabeled or had the wrong zip code (It didn't, believe me. I've gotten meds by mail for years and they always had the right address on them). 

 

But they didn't tell me what they did with it next! Is it still sitting in Pennsylvania? Has it been sent back home to New Jersey? Back to the pharmacy in yet another state? Or was it sent somewhere else and it's now on another magical mystery tour like many other packages have been sent on in recent months?

Please, USPS, send my poor package home to me! I have 3 days of medication (at half strength) left! If it doesn't get here by the time these half pills run out I'll have to contact my doctor (again!) and have him send a new prescription to the local pharmacy, fight with them to fill the prescription (because it was just filled last week by the mail order section) and I'll have to wait for them to get the med in (Remember, there was a nationwide shortage), and then wait on line in a crowded building where social distancing is impossible to do, the main reason why I started having the company mail it instead of picking it up locally.

Pretty please? I even made a sacrifice to the USPS gods and purchased some stamps from the USPS website to appease them, hoping it would expedite delivery.

PCRM Interviews Esther Loveridge

The beginning of the interview is with Dr. Barnard. This is where the interview with Star McDougaller Esther starts.


Don't forget to join her Facebook community Esther's Nutritional Journey for info on how to simply follow the McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss.

Jeff Novick's Behind the Scenes Pictures

Over on the McDougall forums, Jeff Novick posted this link to a set of photos taken during his talk for the new McDougall's 12 Days to Dynamic Health program. The page says they expire September 30, 2020, so don't hesitate if you want to see Jeff in his tie-died apron with a dozen spice bottles, cans of tomatoes, stainless steel pots, and jugs of dehydrated vegetables.

Here's one with all of them!

 

Maybe Sriracha sauce Isn't All That Bad, and More Beans, Mr. Taggert

Over on the Engine 2 Seven Day Recipe Rescue Facebook group there's a gentleman named Joseph Alexander who frequently shares all sorts of recipes he's developed. The other day he posted a sort of batch cooking guide for his lunches for work for the week, and included in this pictorial was his recipe for maple mustard dressing. Here's what he wrote under the photo of this sauce:

This sauce is loosely based on the Forks Over Knives Maple-Mustard Dressing, and I do mean loosely. This batch has
- a can of cannellini beans with the liquid
-1/2 cup nooch
-2 Tablespoons maple syrup
-3 Tablespoons stone-ground, no-salt-added mustard
-2 teaspoons powdered garlic
-2 teaspoons onion powder
- fresh-ground black pepper
-1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
-2 Tablespoons sriracha
all blended in my Vitamix.

Alrighty. Let's see - the base is cannelini beans. I've seen and done a number of dressings that start with this, so no problem.

Nooch? Natch! Ditto the rest of the ingredients. So far sounds like a number of other recipes.

Sriracha sauce. 2 TABLESPOONS??? Is he crazy??? One drop leaves my tongue sweating for an hour!

But my husband loves it, and it's him I'm making this for, so I go and add 2 tablespoons of the devil's tear drops to the blender.

This made close to 3 cups of dressing, so I had to split it up between 2 jars. It's also an ugly dark beige, but a lot of Chef AJ's recipes look unappetizing yet taste good, so I didn't let that throw me.

As I'm pouring it from the Ninja to the 2 jars my husband walks into the kitchen and says "Whatcha doing?" Annoyed, I reply that I'm turning doggie crap into gold, what does it LOOK like I'm doing?!?! After 42 1/2 years of marriage I can say what I want to him, right?

Anyway, I offer him a taste and his eyes light up. "This is great! Even you would like it!" I tell him there are 2 tablespoons of sriracha and he says you can't even taste it, for me to give it a shot. I take about a quarter of a teaspoon of it.

He was right - it's not a throat-burner and actually tastes pretty good!

So, we now have another liquid to pour over our rice and veggies. Since more of our meals lately have been that simple - rice and veg, rice and beans, potatoes and veg, pasta with veg - it's nice to have a variety of sauces to make them seem a little less plain.

Over the weekend I started flipping through some of the McDougall books, copying down a few other dressing/sauce recipes, so I hope to post a few more in the future.

Another thing I did this weekend was order some more beans from Rancho Gordo. I used to belong to their Bean Club (3 or 4 times) but when they kept sending the same beans, the last time I got 2 bags of the same bean in the same shipment, I kept cancelling it and started buying single bags of beans we liked most, instead.

At the beginning of the covid crisis I wanted to load up on beans, but they were sold out of just about everything, so I ordered other beans from Amazon, because store shelves around here were pretty bare, too. Even though I ordered organic, the price was still better for those big bulk bags than Rancho Gordo's beans, but they're just not as tasty. In fact, the cannelini beans are nearly tasteless, no matter how I cooked them, so that bag will be buried in the back and saved for desperate times. I've been able to buy other beans locally lately and now have a stash of Goya beans on hand for adding to soups and stews, but for plain bean and rice meals we both decided it's worth the price to get Rancho Gordo again.

So I'll have a half dozen each of cranberry and yellow eye coming within the next few weeks, and after that I'll order 6 bags each of a few others they offer. 

Why not order them all at once?

Well, because these boxes have to be carried by us up 3 flights of stairs after they're delivered.  Carrying up 12 pounds is bad enough, but who wants to carry 25 or more pounds in one big box? I made the mistake of making an order even heavier than that a few months ago and we wound up opening the box down in the foyer and transferring things to tote bags so we can make multiple trips up the stairs. Now I pay attention to the total weight of an order. And the size, too. We once had a Harmony House order of dehydrated foods that wasn't particularly heavy, but the volume was so much that it was all delivered in a box big enough to fit a small chest freezer! It wouldn't even fit through the front door! The landlord got a laugh watching us unload the box from the front porch into the foyer, then bagging everything to carry upstairs from there. At least we didn't have to worry about getting rid of the giant box - he asked if he could have it because it was the perfect size to store some of his bulky stuff out in the garage. I wouldn't be surprised if I find out he put his grill in it for the winter, it's that big!

In past years I made sure I had at least a 2 week supply of foods handy in case we lose power from a hurricane during the summer, blizzard during winters. With covid-19, I want at least a 2 month supply on hand! Our local stores still aren't totally restocked, and it appears many items are never coming back. I haven't seen a bar of soap since early March, nor single boxes or rolls of tissues. Many brands and varieties of canned and frozen vegetables are gone. The rice and bean aisles are still half empty. It's crazy! At least we have enough rice and pasta on hand, although the rice in those 20 pound bags are the white variety and a few precious 2 pound bags of brown are in the pantry, and much of the pasta is whole wheat instead of Tinkyada brown rice.

Yadda, yadda, yadda. You've seen me complain about this way too often. I'm just grateful for what stores do have in stock, and what items I can get via mail order. As the Rolling Stones sang decades ago:

It Pays to Be Stocked Up

We have a potato problem in our area - so many stores are full of green potatoes, russets that look like they've been hanging around for years, or split or otherwise deformed looking spuds both white and sweet potatoes. Last week we managed to grab what we thought were decent enough looking Russets and planned to have them for last night's dinner.

So, the potatoes were in the Instant Pot, the frozen carrots were in the microwave, and a pot of fat-free Golden Gravy was on the stove. Our simple McDougall meal.

At 5pm hubby and I start making our bowls, and his is ready long before mine because I've been peeling the skin of my spuds because I find I tolerate them a little bit better when I do. Being a good husband he waits until I'm done before he eats. Finally I'm ready and take a bite of the plain, gravy-free potato and tell him to wait before he starts in eating. The potato tastes funky to me, to take a bite of his and see what he thinks. Many times I think something is off and he says it's fine and blames my sinuses for weird tastebuds. As expected, he declared to potato good and forked up a few carrots.

"Wait!" This time it's him saying it to me. "There's a bitter aftertaste. "Don't eat the potatoes!"

No argument from me! Now what to do about dinner?!? My stash to the rescue!

While he sat there picking carrots off his bowl I put on a pot of water for pasta. Luckily we had just gotten a VitaCost delivery of 20 pounds of various Tinkyada pastas last week. By the time I got the carrots picked off of my bowl and we got rid of the potatoes not only from our bowls and still in the Instant Pot but the few uncooked ones from the same bag, the pasta was finished cooking. Hubby grabbed 2 clean bowls while I drained the pasta and tossed everything together.

So, our three ingredient quickie McDougall potato meal turned into a pasta meal with carrots and gravy. Hubby mixed some cranberries in with his (The kind that come in the shape of the can, as Ernest P. Worrel described them in Ernest Saves Christmas). I still shudder thinking about it. LOL





Sorry about the bad audio but this was the only clip I could find.

Anyway, this wasn't the first time we had to chuck out a whole bag of potatoes. Luckily, thanks to my sensitivity to them we don't have them too often around here, and the few soup recipes I use do quite nicely with red potatoes. Amazingly, I've never had a bad bag of those. Otherwise, I still have plenty of dried ones left in my Harmony House stash. 

And all this happened just 2 days after I had to toss out a bag of organic sweet potatoes I bought just 2 weeks ago that liquified on me. No wonder they were on sale!

I think last night's dinner was the final straw and we won't be buying fresh potatoes any more, white, yellow, or sweet. I'll use the dehydrated or frozen hash brown cut ones, and that'll be that. I'm tired of spending good money on bad food.

The Esselstyn Plant Strong Community

Plant Stock 2020 was last weekend. A wonderful time was had by all who attended the virtual seminars. The link to the replay videos was mailed out the other day, and there was mass confusion! Instead of a link to the videos, the link went to a whole new on-line community called The Plant Strong Community. It was then a matter of click, click, click, return and click something else, nope - that wasn't it, click something else . . . Such a frustrating time! Eventually the replays were found, then it took a few dozen more clicks to find how to sort them so they appeared in order. 

It seems the videos were "sent" as posts to the new private social community and not in a separate section of just the videos. Clicking to sort the "messages" in order of when they were first posted only holds for as long as you remain on that page - click away to watch a video and return and you have to change the settings all over again to find the next video. 

So much wasted time! Most of the messages posted so far have been "Where are the videos? I can't find them!"

It doesn't help that the Plant Stock 2020 private community is a part of a main Plant Strong community that is/will be open to the public to join and all posts are appearing on both the private and main pages, and unless you change your settings, you're also getting all posts sent to your email AND in the Notifications section, and a little bell dings each time one appears.

I'm sure things will get better as time goes on. It's a brand new software (Mighty Networks), a brand new community, and, as I said, dumped on us without any warning.

For now, the Plant Strong Community is only open for those who attended Plant Stock, but some time this week it will open up to everyone. When that happens, if you use this link it totes up to my Ambassador page if you join. Ambassadors get points for every person who joins using their specific link. What do we get out of it? As far as I can tell, we get a little badge, the color depends on how many join from using our link. Why? Makes life interesting? Leads to competitiveness? Gives the Esselstyns more eyeballs on their page? Who knows? If the link doesn't work today, try again during the week. We members have no idea when things are happening (or why). All I wanted was to watch the replays of the Plant Stock 2020 talks.

It's Baaaaaacccckkkk!

Our city's covid-positive count recently went from 7 cases to over 30 in just one week.

And this week we had our first covid-related death since mid-July.

And 2 people are currently hospitalized for it.

Why does our son mock us for wearing masks every time we go to the store, use sanitizer after we touch things outside the home, and refuse to go where there are crowds? Because like all young adults he feels indestructible, I guess. His attitude towards covid-19 is in line with Jeff Nelson's! This is why I wipe down everything he touches and try not to get within 6 feet of him. Easy enough to do because he works nights and we barely see him, anyway.

But schools open around here in 2 weeks - all the public schools and many colleges may be doing virtual classes but all private schools around here will be in-person, the high schools going full time, so the light rail trains and buses will be filled again. Because restaurants, theaters, etc. are still closed, even in NYC, going in to work at night my son says the trains are still pretty empty, but coming home during the morning rush hour the trains look back to pre-covid level capacity already and will be worse when school starts. Even Mr. Skeptic is now wearing his mask on the trains and scrubs up when he gets in, so deep down he does believe.

Time to lock myself indoors again. I already started to restock my supplies, much like Mary McDougall said she started doing in the interview she did recently with Chef AJ. I've got VitaCost coming today, 2 Amazons early next week on top of the 2 this past week, and I'll soon put in another Harmony House order. At least I now know what items I need and not over-buy like I did in the Spring. I'm still trying to use up those Harmony House soup and chili mixes! My doc says to hold off on getting the flu shot (Yes, with my medical history I DO take them yearly) until October so it'll last all season. If I get it now, even the senior-strength dosage like I did last year, I'd need to get another one around January. Once is enough, thank you very much!

Who's Minding the Store?

A few days ago, this post appeared on the official McDougall message boards:

Post by JeffN » Fri Aug 14, 2020 1:38 pm
This was written in response to a few questions on the Mary’s Mini program and some comments that were made in a Mary’s Mini social media group.

“Allow me to clarify a few things.

The Mary Mini Facebook Group is an independent group and has nothing to do with Dr. McDougall Health & Medical Center. No staff oversee this group and we do not approve of everything they say and do not endorse it.

Mary’s Mini is not about weight loss. Mary’s Mini is a simplified way of eating to reset your taste buds and get back to eating the McDougall diet. This is great for people who have “fallen off the wagon” and want to come back to the McDougall diet. Mary’s Mini helps with weight loss because it is a simple diet that promotes eating monotonously.

If weight loss is something someone is seeking, they should follow the McDougall Maximum Weight Loss program. We have a forum on our website to help people achieve their goals and is moderated by McDougall staff and people who have been approved by us to lead as moderators.

In regards to fruit, Dr. McDougall stated long ago that if you want to lose weight you may want to limit your fruit consumption to two servings per day because some people have an tendency to overindulge in fruit. That being said, fruit is very low in calorie density, and we believe that eating fruit is a great way to still achieve your weight loss goals; however, if you find yourself eating copious amounts of fruit every day and are not seeing the results you want, that is an indicator that you may want to slow down on your fruit consumption.

This is an excerpt from one of our newsletters written by Dr. McDougall:

"While root vegetables like potatoes and sweet potatoes provide well-rounded nutrition—grains and beans lack sufficient vitamins A and C to be eaten alone; therefore add some fruit and/or green and yellow vegetables to make your grain and bean meals complete."

The goal of the McDougall Program is simple: to achieve optimal health through eating a starch-based diet with fruits and vegetables with no added oils or animal products. Weight loss is a side-effect of eating this way.

I hope this answers your question.

Best of Health,
Tiffany Hobson
Operations Manager

Hmm, the writing in this message that supposedly comes from Tiffany reads exactly in the type of language Jeff Novick uses in his program proclamations. And lately Jeff has really been pushing the fruit and said a few times fruit is encouraged because of its low caloric density. I had written out along reply to this, saved it as a draft, but when I went back to finish and post it, it was gone. Many people have complained over the years of things mysteriously vanishing from the draft folder, but stupid me didn't think to save it elsewhere. Now I have to start all over again but I'll post it here, instead, because for sure anything I post will be removed by a certain moderator, and I don't mean Jim.

Mary’s Mini is not about weight loss.

Um, yes it is. Doctor McDougall said so in the Mary's Mini webinar:


Listen at the 7:26 point: "...if you want to lose weight quickly..."

In regards to fruit, Dr. McDougall stated long ago that if you want to lose weight you may want to limit your fruit consumption to two servings per day because some people have an tendency to overindulge in fruit. That being said, fruit is very low in calorie density, and we believe that eating fruit is a great way to still achieve your weight loss goals. . .

Well, while fruit is allowed on the Maximum Weight Loss version of the McDougall Starch Solution program, he explicitly states that NO fruit is allowed on the Mary's Mini:



And in a more recent interview, Dr. McDougall again stressed to limit fruit because it's so tasty people tend to overeat it. Unfortunately, he's done so many interviews in recent weeks I can't find the exact one he said this right now. If I do wind up rewatching the one he said it I'll add the clip here.

So who is changing the guidelines? Is it Tiffany? Jeff? Certainly not Dr. McDougall!


Another instance - just yesterday an email and Facebook post appeared of a newsletter article from 2004: How to Prevent and Treat Degenerative (Osteo) Arthritis that recommended things like glucosamine. I commented that this was an old article, that he had written another one in 2010 saying glucosamine was useless, that he changed his mind about it. Less than 5 minutes after I wrote that another post/email appeared: Important Update on Glucosamine and Arthritis, linking to the 2010 newsletter article I referred to.

So, again I ask: Who's minding the store? Who is sending out all these emails and guidelines?

Flying Zucchini Slabs

Back in 2018, Ann & Jane Esselstyn did a video called Frying Zucchini Slabs that I commented on here.

Well, I finally got around to making some yesterday on the last day of our vacation. All week the daytime temps were in the 90's and night time not much cooler so I really didn't want to spend much time in the kitchen, but the heat broke yesterday so I had a chance to play.

Unlike Ann & Jane, I peeled my zucchini before slicing it, and like Ann, regret not slicing it even thinner than I did. I used the video's recipe that called for balsamic vinegar instead of the book's recipe's Bragg's Aminos. I also used the air fryer instead of a skillet. I placed my parchment paper circle down, laid out the slabs of zukes, coated them with balsamic, then air fried for 8 minutes @ 370º.

Well, it was barely warmed. I flipped them over, put on a coat of vinegar to the other side, then cranked the heat up to 400º and set it for 10 minutes.

 

Ah, looks a lot better now!

First I tried to just pick one up to eat, but it was a bit tough to bite into. I tried breaking it with a fork, but again no go. Out came one of the 42 year old steak knives. Some were cutting easily, but the tough parts were still tough. But to be honest, as tough as it was to cut, it really wasn't "chewy" tough. Maybe I'm just a weakling. 

And they tasted delicious.  

I have 5 more zucchini in the refrigerator, and will make up another one or 2 for today's lunch, but this time will do it as written, with Bragg's Aminos instead of balsamic vinegar. It'll be a bit neater because I'll use the spray bottle instead of pouring and using my finger to coat them. I'll also use the onion and garlic powder and maybe the black pepper that the original recipe also calls for. Once again they'll go into the air fryer, but I'll start off at 400º for 10 minutes. I'm sure it'll be just as tasty, if not more so, as this one.

AJ Interviews Mary McDougall

And Doctor McDougall sticks around and tosses his own 2 cents into the conversation frequently. :)

Is It Yak Shaving Day Yet?

‘Ren & Stimpy Show’ revival with new episodes coming to Comedy Central

“The Ren & Stimpy Show” is returning with all-new episodes — 25 years after ending its original run.

Full article can he read here. I'm sad John K isn't part of his - his years were the best, both in storylines and animation.

But for now, I'll go play with my log.

 

Dr. McDougall Speaks

So far it's a commercial for his new 12 Day program.

Esther's On the (Virtual) Road Again

Last month, Chef AJ released the interview she did with Star McDougaller Esther Lebeck Loveridge, of Esther's Nutritional Journey.

The other day, the McDougall Program issued an update on how Esther is now doing, even including a plug and link to her book, FROM DONUTS…TO POTATOES: My 366 Day Journey on a Plant-Based Diet. 

The next day the interview she did with Jeanne Schumaker was released.



In all of these places, Esther always sings the praise of Dr. McDougall's book: The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss. It's been in short supply lately (The book, not the praise), and people have been having a problem finding it in anything but the Kindle version. Sure, they can buy a used copy from a vendor for over $80, and the link on the McDougall website store only led to the regular Amazon page where no new copies were available. But all that is changed now. The McDougall store is now selling new copies of the book right from the website.

All is right with the world again.

Burgers et boulettes de Jeff Novick

Jeff's burgers are even a hit in France!

Jeff Novick from the Past

Look what I found on Amazon! 

Health Food vs. Healthy Food, and Going Nuts? The Facts on Fats!

Of course, being an old hard-to-find VHS recording it's only being sold by one vendor right now for $15 plus $3.99 shipping. If my VHS player was reliable right now I might be tempted to grab it, just to see a young Jeff Novick doing what he does best. 


But wait! There's MORE!


And on Max Senoff's Hard to Find Seminars I found this from 2012 (?):

Jeff Novick Interview

5 Simple Changes To Make Today That Will Help Prevent Heart Disease, Diabetes, And Cancer

On this page you can find both the mp3 of the interview and the PDF of the transcript.

See, even though Jeff hasn't issued anything new in years, you can still find his older stuff out there. Like Dr. McDougall, his teachings haven't changed in many, many years.

New On Dr. McDougall's Web Site!

It's a new section called the Online Center. It's not on the main page's link bar, but I was in the Store looking for something and noticed it on the bar on that page.

There's information on follow-up check-ins with Dr. Lim for people who had been to the in-person program in the past.

There's new patient sign ups for on-line consultations.

And whole new McDougall program, all on-line, called: 12-Days to Dynamic Health, the same as the title of one of his best selling books. Here's what they say about it:

Designed with daily life in mind, much of our 12-day program may be taken to fit each individual’s schedule. Plan on a total of 3 to 4 hours daily of live interaction. Each day will start with a morning check-in, followed by a discussion regarding what is on the menu of that day and to answer any questions to make cooking at home an easy transition. Live lectures during the morning and early evening will teach on a variety of health topics and allow time for questions at the end. Pre-recorded cooking demonstrations may be viewed any time during the day. The day will conclude with small group check-ins with support specialists to ensure you understand the material presented throughout the day, along with making sure the program is working for you in your home setting. Checkpoints and assessments throughout the course are taken at your own pace to reinforce the information presented and to ensure comprehension of the materials. You will have to finish the requirements of each day before moving onto the next.

Of course, it's not cheap.

Immersion Fees:
$2495.00 per person. Fees include medical care, education, support specialists, group chats and cooking classes through an online platform.
+$995 per additional family member to cover personalized medical care
For presentations/lectures, we welcome all members of the family to watch at no additional charge.

It looks like they're still working on the web pages for this, as some links still aren't working, but all the info you need is there. The programs are going to be run monthly. Time to start saving up, I guess.

Dr. Esselstyn Q&A with Chef AJ

Local Covid Milestone

For the first time since March there are NO patients in our local hospital in for the virus! The last one was discharged this morning with a lot of fanfare.

In the city itself we do still have many active cases - it was 77 on Friday - so it's still here, but not as prevalent as it had been. I'm still leaving the house only when absolutely necessary and still wearing my mask, even though doing so leaves me with a sore throat and wheeze for a few days afterwards.

Texas Armadillo Tater Tots and "Special Sauce" Ranch Dressing

My husband has been in a potato mood lately, and frankly, I'm getting a bit sick of plain old IPot steamed spuds with Golden Gravy and veggies on the side and wanted to make something different but still easy enough to make.

Enter the Esselstyn family instead of the McDougall one.

Here are the potatoes I'm making:

Texas Armadillo Tater Tots
makes 18 tots

18 red baby potatoes (or any color)
1 cup (8 ounces) hummus
1/2 to 3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning

Preheat oven to 425ºF and line a baking pan with parchment paper.

Slice most of the way through each potato at 1/4 inch intervals (Hasselback).

In a food processor, combine the hummus, water, and 1 tablespoon of the seasoning and blend well. Place this into a bowl.

Put all the potatoes into the bowl and stir to coat each potato and get the seasoning mix to sneak down into the wedges of the potatoes.

Place the potatoes on the lined pan and pour the remaining mix over them.

Bake until the potatoes are thoroughly cooked, about 45 minutes or longer, depending on the size of the potato. They should be tender in the middle and crispy outside.

Serve with ketchup or Rip's Ranch Dressing.


Engine 2 Cookbook
page 108

Of course, I used the Esselstyn's Our Hummus.

Our Hummus
From the book by Ann Crile Esselstyn and Jane Esselstyn. "The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook."

1  (15 oz) can no salt added chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 large cloves garlic
2 T. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 T spicy brown mustard
freshly ground black pepper to taste.
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

  In food processor, combine the chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, mustard, and pepper to taste. Add salt if desired and 2 T water and process until smooth. Serve immediately.

Variations.: Top with Caramelized onions, blend in cooked sweet potato, or add green onion.

But when it came to the ranch dressing, I didn't want Rip's because it contains cashews. Instead, I went for a ranch dressing from the McDougall forums:

Special sauce
post by Alvah » Tue Oct 06, 2015 5:14 pm

I'd like to share my version of a ranch dressing I use all the time, in salads, on baked potatoes, over vegetables, in panini. I modified the recipe by omitting the dill and jalapeño and adding a few other things.

Process in food processor:

2 green onions
1 package low fat silken tofu
1 t seasoned rice vinegar
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
1 t salt
1 t sugar
2 t mild curry powder
1/3 c nutritional yeast
1/2 c low calorie plant milk

Yummy!

Yes, I had tofu! Last week I noticed our grocery store changed the endcap in the "healthy" section from chips and cookies to assorted other foods, from organic pickle relish to organic Kosher jelly, assorted fizzy waters (organic, of course), and there, behind some organic chocolate bars, I noticed the familiar lilac of the MoriNu Lite silken tofu box peeking out! There were 2 of these beauties hiding back there! Just when I had given up hope that this tofu would ever reappear in the United States again (It's been sold out everywhere since March), I was blessed with these! Just in time (OK, maybe a little late) for summer salad season! I had no idea exactly what I was going to do with them, but I grabbed them. The expiration date is next month, but I'm sure I can use the other one next week in one of Mary McDougall's recipes, like a potato salad. 

As for Alvah's recipe, since I haven't had ranch dressing in a long, long time, I can't really say how close this came to it, but I do know I'll be making this sauce again. Next time, though, I'll either reduce or skip the salt entirely and use half the curry powder. It is a great tasting sauce, though.

The execution . . .

Well, some mistakes were made.

I made the hummus a bit too thick. By the time I was ready to use it, it was as thick as clay and just as difficult to use. Because of that, I wound up using too much water in the armadillo sauce. Since I had a bag of 40 of those tiny potatoes, I planned on making double the sauce. Two cups of the hummus went into the food processor. I reached for the Cajun seasoning and saw I needed to open a new jar. There were 2 jars in my spice box, 2 different brands, neither the one I just finished. I opened the first and tasted it. It had a weird chemical taste. Opened the other, and it was different, but not at all like the older one.  Oh, well, it’s going to have to do. In that goes into the food processor. My husband walks into the room and offers to help. I hand him the 2 cup measuring cup, tell him to double the amount of water on the paper and pour it into the machine. He does that and the water starts pouring out around the spindle! Instead of at most 1 1/2 cups of water he used 2 cups. He misunderstood what I told him to do.  You would think an 11 cup food processor could hold more than 4 cups, but you’d be wrong. I learned that last year when I tried to make that corn soup.

So, after I blended up the “batter” he cleaned the mess. It looked like hummus soup.

While he cleaned, I started in on cutting all those tiny slits in those 40 tiny potatoes.  My hands were so sore afterwards. The batter got poured into the bowl with the potatoes and I let them soak in it while the oven preheated and I got the parchment paper on the pans.

Using a slotted spoon, 20 potatoes went on each tray, and a bit of the liquified hummus got poured over each. The pans went into the oven, a timer was set for 20 minutes so I could rotate them, hubby helped clean everything up, and away we went into the air conditioned bedroom to watch TV for a few minutes. When the timer dinged I moved the trays around, reset the timer for 25 more minutes.

45 minutes came and went and the potatoes were still hard. How? These were those tiny things! Checked again in 5, then 10, and just took them out after an hour in the oven. Here’s how they looked:

Good enough. If they’re still too hard to eat I’ll nuke them, but as it turned out, most were okay enough. The few we have leftover will be eaten during tomorrow’s lunch and they'll soften up as they get nuked. The 2 pounds of cauliflower were devoured, though, as well as over half the ranch dip/dressing. The saltiness seemed to have died down a bit since I made it in the morning.

The verdict:

My husband loved every morsel of it, including some of the baked on batter that he peeled off the parchment paper. It tasted a bit like cheese crackers our son ate when younger. He liked the tiny slices that made these baby potatoes disguise themselves as Hasselback potatoes. The ranch dip, now as firm as I wish my hummus was, he declared “good” but not “great”. Even so, he already asked when I plan on making this meal again.

As for *my* opinion, if I had my druthers I wouldn’t bother with the slits and I wouldn’t bother with making these in an oven. I wouldn’t even be opposed to skipping the “batter” part, either, but the next time I will make the batter, but all by myself, so I can keep track of how much liquid it needs. Hopefully it comes out right, and the batter adds a lot of flavor, and roasting it in the oven transforms them into something magical. To me, that ranch dressing/dip made the whole meal.

Message from the McDougall Program

This email was sent out this morning regarding the free content. Better hurry and grab everything while you can!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dear McDougall Friends, Since mid-April Dr. McDougall’s Health & Medical Center has offered all digital content on our website for free. During this uncertain time, there is nothing more important than staying safe and healthy. We hope you have benefited from and shared Dr. McDougall’s powerful teachings with friends and family. Please note, on August 1st our digital content will revert back to paid content. Both online courses will resume offering continuing education, and certification for The Starch Solution Course will be reinstated. In the meantime, please enjoy:  Lecture series eBooks The Starch Solution Course* Dr. McDougall’s Dietary Therapy Course* We hope you share our materials with your family and friends. * During this time, both online courses will not be offering continuing education nor certification status for The Starch Solution Course. Best of Health,

Happy Independence Day (Weekend)

A Dining "Outdoors" Question

Is it still considered "outdoor dining" if you're in a 4-sided, windowed tent over brick pavement like this? Yes, that wall closes up and the restaurant says they can easily do that in inclement weather.

One Advantage of Being Hypothyroid

While my husband and son, 2 men who usually sport the shortest of buzzcuts, both look like shaggy dogs right now after 4 month of no barber (We were all due when they closed), my hair looks like it barely grew. In fact, a neighbor recently asked where I had it cut with all the places still closed.

Barbers and salons reopen here on Monday June 22nd, and they're still trying to figure out how to comply with all the new guidelines. We all have appointments for next Friday morning at 7:30am, as soon as our son gets home from work. I made myself this mask to wear. My husband has a beard and my son scruff so they have to wear regular masks somehow. My son said he may try the one with tape first and see if it sticks. If I can't find the fashion tape she says to use in the instructions, I'll use plain old Scotch double sided tape (Yellow dispenser). My skin can tolerate it for the 10 minutes or less I'll be in the chair.

On the page she also gives advice on how to use a cloth mask for a haircut, and even has a free PDF download of all the instructions when you send her your email address.

While on her site, take a peek at all her purse patterns. I've been making them since she released her first pattern, way back when we still had a fabric store in this city. Stylish and easy to make. I still use the Wonder Wallet I made from her very first pattern from "way back when".