JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Share your McDougall successes here in order to inspire others.

Moderators: JeffN, f1jim, carolve, Heather McDougall

JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Postby Lyndzie » Thu Jul 02, 2020 8:19 pm

Welcome to the McDougall Maintenance support group! Let’s join together for support and camaraderie while we strive to maintain our successes.

Many of us have lost weight and/or reached other health goals. We’re ready for that next chapter, maintaining the gains we’ve accomplished.

This group will have Friday check ins, where everyone can touch base. Weigh-ins are optional, and will not be tracked. Please feel free to share your non-scale victories (NSV) as well.

In order to foster group participation, we do ask that only participants post, so please do join! You can join at any time simply by hitting the “post reply” button and saying something along the lines of “I’d like to join.” As they say, the more, the merrier.


Hello everyone!

We have made it halfway through the year! Wow, 2020 has definitely been one for the record books.

And, speaking of books, what have you all been reading lately? Just this week I ordered a couple diet related books.

One is The Clear Skin Diet by Nina and Randa Nelson. Dr. McDougall wrote the forward for the book, and was one of the consulting experts, along with our good friend Jeff Novick, and a whole host of other recognizable names. Nina and Randa developed cystic acne in their early twenties and ultimately cured it with following this advice from Dr. McDougall. They shared their success and helped other people clear their skin, ultimately leading to writing a book. Dr. McDougall has additional information about acne here.

The other book is Dr. Attwood’s Low-Fat Prescription for Kids, a book from 1995 recommending a plant-based diet for kids. With a forward from Dr. Spock and accolades from Dean Ornish, Colin Campbell and Neal Barnard, it looks like another positive voice in the WFPB movement. (Disclaimer: it just arrived in the mail, so I haven’t vetted it yet. The Amazon reviews are good, though.)

What have you been reading lately?

First check-in this month is Friday, July 3, 2020.

Stay safe, wash hands and eat starch,
Lindsey
Lindsey
My food journal: Adventures in Eating
My pregnancy journal: Maybe a Baby 2017
www.lindseyhead.coach
User avatar
Lyndzie
 
Posts: 2709
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2016 7:24 pm
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana USA

Re: JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Postby Suey51 » Fri Jul 03, 2020 2:40 am

Hello everyone,

Lindsey - thanks for your question and for sharing those two book titles. They both sound interesting! Recently, I've read Ruth Heidrich's Race For Life and Lifelong Running. Some of you may already be familiar with her story as she's a Star McDougaller. She had surgery for breast cancer in 1982 aged 47 and then took part in a research study on breast cancer and diet run by Dr McDougall. She refused chemo and radiation therapy, adopted the McDougall diet and has gone on to run many Ironman triathlons, marathons etc in the years since.

This week my weight is holding steady and exercise has been on plan :-)

Best wishes, Sue x
User avatar
Suey51
 
Posts: 433
Joined: Mon May 08, 2017 11:21 am
Location: UK

Re: JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Postby Ejeff » Fri Jul 03, 2020 7:15 am

Good morning,

I’m just reading a light fiction book by Phaedra Patrick called The Library of Lost and Found. I mostly read fiction, although when I do read non fiction it’s usually something health related. I get ebooks from the library mostly.

All is well with me, like Sue weight holding steady as is exercise. One thing I have added into my twice weekly weights routine is following a couple of short YouTube videos that work the triceps more. My “batwings” are quite bad haha.

I’ve been able to get some spinach from my little garden and also have lettuce ready.

I was reading through the MWL forum, quite exciting to see all the new people wanting to eat McDougall. In the past when having SAD family over we often cook a separate dish. This time we didn’t and I made Brand New Vegans Chili with a few added cashews and everyone seemed to enjoy it. That’s a win.

Wishing you all a great week.
"The more disciplined your environment is, the less disciplined you need to be. Don't swim upstream."
Ejeff
 
Posts: 679
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2015 10:00 pm
Location: Alberta, Canada

Re: JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Postby Plumerias » Fri Jul 03, 2020 6:32 pm

I would like to join you, if I may.

Let's see, on the reading..... Well that one has been a problem as of late, due to vision problems. Those are being resolved, but it's been a tough few months. I kept putting off the cataract surgery, and then the virus hit, bah. But I've had it and now I just have to be patient and allow myself to finish healing.

So...... on the non-scale victories part...... :D :D :D When I went for my week after surgery check-up today, the doctor said I am healing very well, in fact, far better than average. YES!!! Let's hear it for that lovely healthy diet, shall we. :nod:

Weight is staying steady in my acceptable range, despite the frustrations of not being able to get enough exercise. I am cleared to use my hand weights, which is good, as my arms too need help.

That's it for now, eyes are tired and it's time for more medicine.
User avatar
Plumerias
 
Posts: 2060
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 8:36 am
Location: Mobile retirement

Re: JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Postby Lyndzie » Fri Jul 03, 2020 7:56 pm

Sue - Thank you for the book links! I had not come across Ruth’s story before, what an incredible tale. Glad to hear all else is well. How is the COVID stuff in your area?

Erin - Fiction is wonderful, the kids and I are on the fourth Harry Potter book now. I have that cool ranch hummus in the queue, thanks for the link. Your garden harvest sounds great! Our spinach already bolted, and I planted potatoes in it’s place. What else do you have growing? How long is your season?

Plumerias - Welcome aboard! So good to hear your recovery is going well. Have you been listening to podcasts while you heal? Also, are you up in the Northeast these days? (if you prefer not disclose, that’s totally fine)

Our neighborhood has preemptively been celebrating the Fourth of July for about six weeks now with nightly fireworks displays, and I am becoming quite the curmudgeon about the holiday, with all the banging noises going on every evening. On the food front, though, I’m rocking it. I had on my swimsuit at the pool for the first time this year and felt quite confident. Tomorrow we’re going to the farmers market to pick up sweet corn and hopefully whip up some burgers and watermelon to celebrate America’s attempts at democracy. Best to everyone!
Lindsey
My food journal: Adventures in Eating
My pregnancy journal: Maybe a Baby 2017
www.lindseyhead.coach
User avatar
Lyndzie
 
Posts: 2709
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2016 7:24 pm
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana USA

Re: JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Postby Ejeff » Sun Jul 05, 2020 6:40 am

Plumerias glad you are healing well, nice you wanted to join us!

Lindsey, our growing season is May to September. I’m growing mostly lettuce. Just a couple small boxes so very simple, but better than nothing. :-D
"The more disciplined your environment is, the less disciplined you need to be. Don't swim upstream."
Ejeff
 
Posts: 679
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2015 10:00 pm
Location: Alberta, Canada

Re: JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Postby Plumerias » Sun Jul 05, 2020 10:10 am

Thanks for the welcome!

In the RV life, internet connectivity is expensive, sometimes not so good, and in no way unlimited. Thus we have never heard a podcast and have always kept our video watching to a minimum. So nope, listening to podcasts while recovering never even occurred to either of us.

I don't mind saying where we are at all, never have. We've actually had quite an adventure as of late. When we started the RV life 10+ years ago, it was never meant to be permanent. We figured about ten years maybe, as there was a LOT we wanted to see. You learn early on that you cannot see everything, and that trying to do so is just plain nuts, thus you prioritize. We've seen all 50 states (no, the RV stayed behind and we flew to the 50th) and seven provinces. The next step was some international travel, some of which we've been fortunate enough to do already. But we're tired and long for a home. One of the purposes of the travel was to explore options for our later years. We did go back to our former hometown, Columbus, Ohio, several times to see if it could be home again, most recently last year. No, it cannot. We liked the west when we were exploring. So....... in early February we left Orlando and took our last cross country road trip. Long story short, we "came off the road" in Portland, Oregon. Eeehhhh, the timing was, well, we've had better, lol! We did manage to find a place to live, gosh living in a house is weird, and the RV is listed for sale. Of course, learning much about our new home is impossible at present, oh well, we're safe and have each other.

Back to the podcast question, I spent lots of time just sitting in my rocking chair resting my eyes. Most especially after the first one when I felt so horribly lopsided and disoriented. There is a thread, now in excess of 400 posts, on a European travel board to which I belong. It's title is "Traveling through the alphabet". The OP started with A and I honestly don't know how many times it's gone through the alphabet. I sat in that chair and did that in my head, one option being our RV travels, another being the National Park Service. It's wonderful to travel down memory lane, recounting some of the things we've been so fortunate to have done and seen. When I have full use of my facilities, that is to say proper reading glasses and I'm comfortable, I'm planning to write all those lists out, revisit my journal entries and the photo albums. Counting my blessings, yes indeed.

Erin, have you shared where you live?

We did try to plant a little garden, emphasis on little, as this is a postage stamp lot with lots of shade. The (expletives of choice) slugs, grrrrr. You need slug bait to grow something simple like marigolds and we're not fond of using lots of chemicals. The parsley plants have a distinct failure to thrive thing going on, as does the rosemary. It was interesting, shopping at an unfamiliar garden center, distanced and masked. But, on the bright side, folks here sure love to celebrate spring bloom, wow! And it lasted for a long, long time, which was both a surprise and a gift. I'm trying to learn just by looking at others yards. I wish I could go to a botanical garden and/or arboretum, because there's so much that's new and unfamiliar. Alas, safety first, plus, well, nothing's open here, so....

I miss shopping at the farmers markets. One of the really fun things was doing that across the travel spectrum, learning what grows where and when, learning new foods. At this time last year we were in Vienna, Austria. It was apricot season, and wow, are they celebrated there! Also the cherries and strawberries were burpalicious. Peppers (capsicums), gosh, you never saw so many different kinds! Potatoes were also cropping, and if I remember correctly, were all of a Euro a kilo! Guess which starch we ate?! So, I am studying the websites of local options, learning. They grow lots of kale and its kin here. Must be the slugs don't like that. One of the local fussy grocery stores is carrying local berries, sold by the half flat, oh, more burpalicious. My husband caught an article some time ago about a local farm that was developing its website so as to facilitate online shopping, you order and pick it up at the farmers market. I got some dried beans, three kinds, and some flour, this was during the time when the shelves were bare, so that was very nice. Hmmmm, a selection of locally grown dried pulses, that's new. Anyways, we did that in early April, but it just plain didn't feel safe, so we've not returned. But now they sell at their farm on Tuesdays, same online ordering for pick up, so we're planning to try that when the season has progressed enough that the drive is worth it. Another market has a good website where you can order from the list, and for a $5 fee the market puts it all together for you, from the various vendors. We must have a comfortable solution by peach season, according to my husband! One of the unique things here is the Hood River Fruit Loop, which just begs to be explored. Maybe next year.

Lindsey, did you get that fresh corn? Sigh. Corn season in Ohio is long, like where you are. Here it's so short. I used to buy extra each week and freeze some. By the time corn season ended I had enough to last the winter. DH says he'll just buy me a couple of bushels instead, I asked if he was planning on helping!

Okay, enough blathering....
User avatar
Plumerias
 
Posts: 2060
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 8:36 am
Location: Mobile retirement

Re: JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Postby Suey51 » Fri Jul 10, 2020 12:27 am

Hello everyone,

Welcome Plumerias; lovely to have you join the group and pleased to hear you are healing well and staying within your acceptable weight range :-) We grow a few veggies and kale seems to be fairly resistant to slugs once the plants get to about 6 inches tall, although ours does attract some other bugs! Have you considered trying swiss chard? That seems to be resistant to most pests and has a long growing season here.

Lindsey - on the COVID front, I think the infection rate is heading slowly downwards, although I must confess to have switched off from much of the detail. There has been the first local lockdown in a city about 75 miles from here but otherwise the restrictions are gradually loosening. Cafes, bars and restaurants are now open and gyms are allowed to open from 25th July. I went to a cafe for the first time yesterday with a friend which was very exciting! How're things where you are?

Erin - I also read fiction and will have a look at the book you mentioned. Recently joined a local reading group which has gone online for the moment and the first book was Restless by William Boyd which I very much enjoyed. Glad to hear the weight and exercise are holding steady.

7 day average weight has nudged down by 0.9 this week after tightening up my eating in a couple of areas. Last year I set myself a new stretch goal of losing a further 2.5 pounds which has helped motivate me to increase compliance in the past few weeks. Food-wise we've kept it fairly simple again with salads, hummus, coleslaw, baked potatoes (and the baked chips/fries made with them the next day), root veg and pearl barley soup, brown rice with mixed veggies, plus plenty of leafy greens from the garden. I also tested a lentil and mushroom burger recipe which went down very well with my husband. It included flaxseeds and walnuts so I'll review the ingredients to check compliance and adjust if needed.

Exercise is on track and plan to add in some weights and/or resistance band exercises which have been a bit lacking since the start of lockdown.

Best wishes, Sue x
User avatar
Suey51
 
Posts: 433
Joined: Mon May 08, 2017 11:21 am
Location: UK

Re: JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Postby Ejeff » Fri Jul 10, 2020 6:50 am

Welcome Plumerias. I live in Edmonton, Alberta.

Sue, glad you were able to enjoy a visit in a cafe. Thanks for the book recommendation I will add it to my reading list.

Not too much to report this week. Had a quick camping trip with the kids took homemade Carmel corn for a treat. It’s quite good so simple just maple syrup and salt tossed over the popcorn and baked for 20 minutes. Also had fat free pretzels with hummus which is better than potato chips. I’m planning to make a fake baloney with red lentils as my hubby used to quite enjoy baloney. I will let you know how it tastes. This week I will be doing my first ever overnight backcountry hiking trip. Will be an interesting learning experience I’m sure. We are trying to keep it simple and light as far as carrying food goes. Wraps with peanut butter and raisins, cooked potatoes and cooked rice in a package. Mostly we need calorie dense food. Not planning to do the dehydrated foods this time.

I’ve been making the chubby chips , I’m sure I could eat them everyday and not get bored with them. Lately I’ve been first microwaving the potatoes and broiling them once cooked, super fast and I think the end result is the same. Have a great week everyone!
"The more disciplined your environment is, the less disciplined you need to be. Don't swim upstream."
Ejeff
 
Posts: 679
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2015 10:00 pm
Location: Alberta, Canada

Re: JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Postby Suey51 » Sat Jul 18, 2020 3:45 am

Hello everyone.

Thanks Erin! Your camping trip with the kids sounds great! How was the overnight hiking trip? How did the baloney taste? Those chubby chips are so good aren't they? We've been making them a lot but haven't thought of microwaving the potatoes instead of baking them first.

Weight is holding steady and exercise has been on track. Was able to have a private session in a local gym this week so got in some exercise with heavier weights. Could feel it for a couple of days afterwards! We're going to go again this week. Did a couple of socially distanced walks with friends I haven't seen for ages. Think our jaws got as much exercise as our legs :lol: Other big news is that we harvested our first batch of this year's potatoes from the allotment. They tasted so good!

Was excited to see the New 12-Days to Dynamic Health – Online Course on the McDougall website! This was the first McDougall book I read and what a great idea to do an online course :-)

Best wishes to all, Sue xx
User avatar
Suey51
 
Posts: 433
Joined: Mon May 08, 2017 11:21 am
Location: UK

Re: JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Postby Ejeff » Sat Jul 18, 2020 9:13 am

Sue that’s so great you connected with old friends. At the end of the day only family and friends matter, and health of course :-D

Hiking trip was great. We got very lucky with the weather just one short thunderstorm at our camping spot late afternoon and then a thunderstorm during the night. Temperature was very nice also, not super hot. Carrying all our gear was definitely a challenge, but that was part of the fun haha. We learned some valuable lessons about how much food to bring etc. We brought wraps, but I think dry oats would have been a much better choice weight wise. We didn’t want to purchase lots of dehydrated food as it’s pretty costly, but I did take chickpeas I had baked and dehydrated apples from Costco. Trail mix is tasty, but heavy too. My pack was just over 33 pounds, but I was able to handle it. According to what I read you shouldn’t carry more than 20% of your body weight and I was at closer to 30%. The first day we hiked 12km, second day 10 and third day 21. It was very peaceful and nice to be out in nature. We didn’t see too much wildlife just a couple of deer, a muskrat and some weird thing that was like a huge grey gerbil. Not sure what it was lol! I think we will do this again, but need to rest up the feet first.

Weight is closer to the high end of the scale for me, I’ve had enough nuts and dried fruit for awhile. I haven’t made the baloney yet as I didn’t have any red lentils, but once I make it I will report on whether we enjoy it or not. I did make a new gravy recipe with white beans. I quite enjoyed it so will make it more often. The beans give it a nicer creaminess than the potato and carrot gravy I’ve been making. The only spices were pepper and poultry seasoning which I like, but hubby doesn’t as much, so I might try rosemary. Seems every gravy recipe has sage or poultry seasoning. What is your favourite gravy recipe? I will be eating lots of lettuce as it’s really growing in the garden boxes now.

Enjoy the week!
Erin
"The more disciplined your environment is, the less disciplined you need to be. Don't swim upstream."
Ejeff
 
Posts: 679
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2015 10:00 pm
Location: Alberta, Canada

Re: JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Postby Lyndzie » Sun Jul 19, 2020 8:58 pm

Plumerias - Garden woes, I hear you. I just had to look up what to do about caterpillars on kale, it looks like I’m growing pretty green lace at this point. What is burpalicious? I’m not familiar with that word. How have things been going in your new place? Did you get the RV sold?

Sue - Well done on making small but meaningful dietary changes. Fresh harvested potatoes sound so exciting! I planted mine late after I pulled out the spinach, they are just breaking ground now. Thanks for sharing the link, I have not read that book yet, I better put it in the queue.

Erin - I just love how spread out this group is! Edmonton is quite north, I can imagine the winters can be cold. What specialty foods come from that region? I remember you talking about donairs once, I had to google that one. Can you share the recipe for the caramel corn? That would be a fun and simple snack for the kids. Hiking with 33 lbs on your back is hard! Kudos on managing that for such long distances.

Here the coronavirus is dominating everything again. The start of schools have been delayed, testing is inadequate and I’m just feeling a bit frustrated by the invisible danger. I’m grateful for a well-stocked pantry, but man I would really appreciate it if I could haul the kids to grandma’s house for an overnight - I am overdue for a break, and there is none in sight! Food-wise, I have been stellar. Too many nuts and dates, but that is an easy remedy. I need to switch to oatmeal for breakfast instead of grape nuts, but I’m going to wait until it’s not a balmy 70 degrees at dawn.

I mentioned this in my reply to Erin, but what is a local specialty food your area is known for? Here in Indiana, we have the best home grown tomatoes. They are so exceptionally tasty and juicy, you can eat them like apples straight off the vine come August. Also, we are known for our fields of corn and soybeans, so fresh sweetcorn is a given. Northern Indiana has a blueberry festival every year, but I’m guessing there are other places that grow wonderful blueberries as well. In unhealthy options, I’m told that we’re known for pork tenderloin sandwiches, but I’ve never had one so I can’t speak to that. What food is your area known for?

Have a great week, everyone!
Lindsey
My food journal: Adventures in Eating
My pregnancy journal: Maybe a Baby 2017
www.lindseyhead.coach
User avatar
Lyndzie
 
Posts: 2709
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2016 7:24 pm
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana USA

Re: JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Postby Plumerias » Mon Jul 20, 2020 9:57 am

Well, it's not Friday, but here goes....

I so envy those who have been able to go outside for hiking and visiting friends. One must find a balance between being informed and ignoring it all in favor of mental health, so I try not to pay too much attention to all this crap. Here in the metro Portland area we are still not terribly open it seems. There is still no noise coming from local businesses, so they must still be largely closed. I did see an article the other day about a new Turkish restaurant scheduled to open in the fall, just up at the corner. Brave souls in this economy. Things do not go well in Portland with respect to protests, perhaps you've seen that on the news. We just hide.

Sue: Nope, never tried to grow chard. It's been more than a decade since we had a real garden, and our diet has changed since then. I did try beets though. I grew a yellow variety that had lovely greens, very mild. I don't remember the name though, it's been too long. I can't help wondering what different things I'll plant when we do have a real garden again. I did harvest two Yellow Pear cherry tomatoes this morning. Yay!

Lyndzie: LOL, burpalicious is a made up word. Think of burping when you've eating something delicious. Then mash it together with delicious, hence burpalicious. I can be silly sometimes, depending on the mood.

Sighing, how are things here. I injured my leg, so walking is difficult. Damn, I'm sick of sitting. The scale says so. Oregon is not fully open by any means, so whether or not the RV place is actually open for business is unknown. I suppose perhaps they may be taking appointments if someone is interested in a particular unit. So be it, the RV is safely parked inside there and we're okay with that, especially as we're not paying any storage or campsite fees.

What specialty foods here, hmmmm, so far I'd have to say berries, berries, and berries. It seems the climate here favors them. Blackberries grow wild here, free for the taking. In trying to learn about some of the types listed on the farmers market sites, I've looked some things up. It seems a number of different ones were developed at Oregon State University, in nearby Corvallis. I guess that would explain their abundance! As some of the local farms list beans and grains on their websites, I will be able to get some of those items when it's their harvest time, not items available in Ohio, so that's new to us.

We took a drive last week out to the farm that is taking online orders for both the farmers markets and their own physical location. For a city that's still largely closed, Multnomah county is still in stage 1, there was a tremendous amount of traffic. And since I've only been to the doctor's office, it was really freaky to me, yikes, where are they all going? Once we got past that volume, it was nice to get away from the city. It's been a long time. The combines are out bringing in a grain crop of some sort, likely wheat I'd guess. So many fields all coming in at once. Purple flowers, probably the alfalfa crop. We saw a hawk just floating in the thermals, too far away for positive ID, but handsome nonetheless. The farm day is Tuesdays, 1-6 pm. We figured we'd just get there right at 1, grab our stuff and go. Ooops, seems we weren't the only ones with that idea! At 1:10 when we arrived it was quite busy. Good for the farm. It was a mixed bag, some things were really nice, some I definitely wouldn't repeat. But at least now we know. It's the better part of an hour to get there, so we won't do it again until there's enough more variety to be worth that much driving. I know, the irony of that coming from someone who has spent more than a decade on the road! The yellow (wax) beans were especially lovely, anybody have a dish in which to use them that doesn't star butter? That's all you find online, butter, ugh.

Time to go for a walk before it gets too hot. Then I have to decide what picnic type foods are on the menu today. Besides this bowl of berries I just finished. :nod:
User avatar
Plumerias
 
Posts: 2060
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 8:36 am
Location: Mobile retirement

Re: JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Postby Ejeff » Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:11 am

Lindsey, here is the recipe for the Carmel corn. The last batch I made wasn’t as good as the first. I would recommend trying a bit less maple syrup than suggested. Hope the kids enjoy. https://www.goingveganforhealth.com/sin ... -AKA-Crack

As for what grows or is special around here, not too much lol. We do get Taber corn, but that comes from near Lethbridge which is about 6 hours south of us closer to the USA border. There are a lot of farmer markets that sell all the usual things like carrots and peas.

Plumerias, I love the blackberries there! Several years ago I had a relative living in Portland and they had blackberries growing all along their driveway. It was so wonderful getting to pick and eat them fresh. The ones I can pick up from the stores here, seem to have an odd taste, probably pesticides so I don’t buy them much. Sorry you are having to live through these crazy riots. I hope they end soon. It’s hard to believe in some cities they will actually have fewer police, doesn’t seem to make any sense. I hope your leg recovers quickly.
"The more disciplined your environment is, the less disciplined you need to be. Don't swim upstream."
Ejeff
 
Posts: 679
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2015 10:00 pm
Location: Alberta, Canada

Re: JULY 2020 Maintenance Thread

Postby Suey51 » Fri Jul 24, 2020 7:11 am

Erin – your hiking trip sounds wonderful! I’m impressed that you were able to carry 33 pounds and walk all those miles over 3 days! I’m hoping that your pack was a little lighter by day 3 ;-) I like the sound of the gravy recipe with white beans – please would you share it? I haven’t found one that both of us like so be good to try this.

Lindsey – well done on the stellar food last week! Your local specialty food sounds mouth-watering, particularly those tomatoes! good question re local produce. I’m not sure that my area is known for one particular crop. South East England is known I think for fruit like berries, plums, apples, pears, cherries and we can grow vegetables like asparagus, leafy greens, peas, beans, onions, leeks, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, and swedes/turnips outside.

Plumerias – sorry to hear about the recent news from Portland. Hope you’re doing OK and that your leg is on the mend. Yay to harvesting tomatoes! Beet greens are similar to chard I think. We must have a similar climate as also get wild blackberries locally.

Weight-wise I’m holding steady in the middle of my old and new goal weights. I’ve been experimenting with some different grains, partly because there was some quinoa in the cupboard well past its use by date…. I cooked a batch and then used it instead of oats in a variation on my usual banana porridge/oatmeal recipe. I enjoyed it but couldn’t shake off the sense that the taste was slightly different due to being two years out of date. I ditched the rest of the packet but bought another one. I’ve also been cooking a red rice/millet/bulgur mix that my husband kindly bought a few months ago when he couldn’t find millet that I wanted for a cake recipe! It was delicious as an alternative to my usual brown rice with veggies. I finally managed to get some millet last week and used it in this almond poppy seed cake recipe My usual recipe tester (my husband) enjoyed it so that’s good. I'll make it again as a dessert for a special occasion meal and serve with the frosting and some fresh or stewed fruit.

Exercise-wise, have done well on the running experiment, managing 25 minutes non-stop today – yay! I wasn’t sure I could do it and was tempted to put it off till tomorrow. Not so good on the stretching and yoga front, so will re-commit to that this week.

Sad news in the veggie garden this week; our outdoor tomato plants have become infected with what I think is potato blight. There doesn’t seem to be any way of treating it so I’m about to pull up the plants. Other than that we are harvesting plenty of leafy greens, potatoes, last of the cauliflower, courgette/zucchini, cucumber, carrots, dwarf/French beans plus a handful of raspberries.


Best wishes, Sue x
User avatar
Suey51
 
Posts: 433
Joined: Mon May 08, 2017 11:21 am
Location: UK

Next

Return to Testimonials and Success Stories

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests



Welcome!

Sign up to receive our regular articles, recipes, and news about upcoming events.