Marsha's MWL journal

[deweyswakms]

Saturday, Jan 29, 2022

Well, January is almost in the books. Today I am thankful for sun here in the soggy NW, and that I don't live in the path of the NE blizzard. I'm fully recovered from the allergy/gut attack, but am not eating any wheat products except whole wheat pasta; I like it with the vegetable soup. Soon I will try red lentil pasta (it's glutein free).

Maintaining weight loss too; now I want a couple more pounds off! But mostly I am satisfied with my weight.

Yesterday I made the quinoa Mexican skillet dish; so easy and tasty. I chop some romaine lettuce with it. I was really shocked at the $1.99/lb price for sweet potatoes. One big one cost me $3.62. Yikes. So far, potatoes haven't gone up too much in price.

Hope everybody is staying healthy, Marsha

[deweyswakms]

Sunday, 2/6/22
Thank goodness we have some sunny and mid 50 days coming. Really tired of NW Feb days of low clouds, mist, cold. I do use a 'happy light' for SAD.

I lost another half a pound, and pretty sure it my the yummy and filling red lentil/quinoa pasta. I add it to the vegetable soup; it is so good. My veggie soup is also good! I make my own veggie stock; then add frozen vegs, fresh green beans, maybe 1/3rd cup of edamame, the pasta; at the last few minutes I add some chopped bok choy. Sometimes I pour some soup over mashed potatoes. It would also be good with sweet potatoes, but I'm waiting till they drop in price.

Today I will prep more veggies to go with the last of the 'beans and berries' recipe from the Quick & Easy cookbook.

Hope everybody is healthy.

Marsha

[squealcat]

Marsha, you gave me a good idea ! I always forget about pasta and I have some in the cupboard. It may be red lentil pasta. My husband will not use it and I think today I will use it as part of my dinner.

Question: what is beans and berries? Is it actually berries the fruit or is it a type of grain berry ? I have never seen that recipe.

thanks!
squealcat (Marilyn)

[deweyswakms]

I had to log in 4 times this morning, and answer the quiz twice. So freakin' annoying.

Marilyn, in the Quick & Easy cookbook (a McDougall cookbook), there is a recipe for Beans & Berries. It is white navy beans and wheat berries, with thinly sliced onions and 3-4 red potatoes, cooked in a slow cooker. I LOVE it. So easy and filling. Also inexpensive; I get the ingredients at my store with a large bulk foods section. There may be a link to it in the Recipes section. I hesitate to post the recipe here because of copyright issues.

And YES to red lentil pasta. Filling and lots of protein. I added it to my veggie soup.

Hope you try it.

Marsha

[VegSeekingFit]

Hi Marsha,

You are such an inspiration here!! Glad your diet tweaks are helping your digestion!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Best,
Stephanie

[deweyswakms]

Sunday Feb 27, 2022

I am still here, doing my MWL thing, determined to get to 165, then stay there and 'maintain'.

Had a bit of more tummy trouble when I last had my (usually good!) veggie chili. I always add a can of black beans (rinsed) and maybe 1/2 cup of French lentils. Again with painful gas. Some interaction between the beans & lentils? Anyway, not making that anytime soon, or I will make it without the lentils. I did some reading and found suggestions that too much fiber can lead to painful gas (it expands the walls of the colon). So I have backed off so much fiber, and haven't had any problems since. Maybe my old (70+ years) GI tract needs to be treated more gently now.

I am enjoying a lot of veggie soup to which I add red lentil pasta, a pack of frozen veggies, fresh veggies (green beans now in season), chopped collard greens, potatoes. So good and filling.

Success for me is keeping things simple and easy. Plus, prep ahead of time. I have so many other things I enjoy, and don't want to think about 'food' all the time. Today? time for beans & rice, haven't made that in awhile.

On to March; thoughts for a peaceful world.

Marsha

[deweyswakms]

Sunday, March 6, 2022

Good morning; so glad 'light' and 'sun' are appearing now in the gray soggy NW.

I lost another pound. For weeks and weeks, I thought "if I could just get to 165, I would be happy". Well, now I can see passing 165. I have added a couple of tweeks to MWL, which help me with satiety, but other than that I haven't changed a thing. When I feel 'full', I simply eat less; I have less urges to 'indulge'. My body and GI tract are quiet and happy.

Today is more food prep. I will make a Mexican casserole dish which is simply layers of beans, corn or mixed veggies, spinach, diced tomatoes and rice. It is rather bland, so this time I'm going to add some enchilada sauce to the tomato layers. I don't have frozen brown rice so will try layering cooked instant brown rice. 30 mins in a 350 oven.

And I'll make more veggie soup, always so good. I add (shelled) edamame to it, plus whatever frozen veggies I have on hand, and of course the red lentil pasta. I also discovered I enjoy cooked carrots! just cooked 'al dente', with some ginger, a bit of brown sugar.

I count my blessings that I have shelter, food and no missiles raining down on me. I am sad about the world right now.

Hope everybody is healthy and safe. Marsha

[Trinity]

Hi Marsha! I loved reading your journal. Your food sounds so good and you are the poster child for slow, steady weight loss! I’m sorry you’ve been having gut issues lately. I’ve always wanted to visit the NW, I hear it’s beautiful.

Trinity

[deweyswakms]

Saturday, March 19, 2022

(So annoying to take 4-5 logins to be able to post in my journal.)

I am still here, doing my MWL thing, gained .5 of a pound, but not concerned. I want to lose 2-3 more #s, but that only seems to work with tolerating more hunger than I like. Anyway! Spring is trying to show up here in the soggy NW (we do need more rain to make up drought deficit). More light is great; more time outside.

Time to try some new recipes as I am bored with my usual ones, so going to make the Lentil Soup with Greens and Tiny Pasta from my 'Wild About Greens' cookbook. Later I'll try their sweet potato and corn stew with hardy greens.

But first, my very favorite & so easy potatoes with corn, peas and edamame, light mash.

Hope everybody is healthy and safe. Marsha

[squealcat]

Marsha, I typed in the recipe for the cauliflower soup in my journal if you want to take a peek !

-Marilyn (squealcat)

[deweyswakms]

Friday, April 8, 2022

Spring is springing here in the soggy gray NW. Heavy clouds breaking up to reveal blue sky! windy, showery, may get snow in the mountains tonight (good moisture, badly needed). Walks outside in the 'sun' are so much nicer.

I have gained 1.5# because I have fallen into the snack wagon; pretzels now. The dark forces in the world are too much for me right now. Otherwise, I still do MWL program. This will end sometime; I'm not overly concerned.

Today I'm making ingredients for tacos; beans, rice, tomatoes, enchilada sauce for flavor, and small flour tortillas. I never have luck with corn tortillas. And I have broccoli and cauliflower too.

Hope everybody is staying healthy, Marsha

[Trinity]

Marsha, are you able to find oil-free flour tortillas? I love tacos but get quickly tired of corn tortillas.

I have the same issue signing in. Do you use your cell phone to access the site? If so, when it signs me out, I don’t sign back in. Instead, I touch the web address bar and then touch “Connect with McDougall” from my Favorites that come up on the page after I touch the web address bar. When I do that I get to the drmcdougallforums.com site already signed in. If you’re on a laptop there might be a similar way to get around the sign-in bug.

[deweyswakms]

Marsha, are you able to find oil-free flour tortillas? I love tacos but get quickly tired of corn tortillas.

I have the same issue signing in. Do you use your cell phone to access the site?

Hi, I only use my laptop to sign on to this site. I will make another search for oil-free flour tortillas.

Marsha

[deweyswakms]

Sunday, 4/17/22

I lost the 2# I gained. Now I can focus on losing more. Have to say how much I enjoyed the small flour tortillas for my taco/burrito bowl mixture. I make up the filling (1 can black beans rinsed and drained, 1 small can of medium Rotel tomatoes, some frozen corn, something crunchy like 1 stalk of bok choy, seasonings, and I add some chopped dark greens of some kind.

I put a tortilla shell in a skillet, add some of this mix, then put it all in a 350 oven to warm it up. It crisps up the tortilla so nicely! Satisfying crunchiness.

Today I'll make split pea soup, add carrots, potatoes, celery and probably chopped up collard greens. The dark leafy greens really help my (old) splitting, weak nails.

Hope everybody is staying healthy and sane.
Marsha

[Trinity]

Hey Marsha! I was just curious. I just posted and realized I forgot to comment on your elimination diet recommendation. I have not done an elimination diet per se but taking some bigger doses of B12 took care of my issue and I’m going to continue taking B12 every day for awhile. Thanks!