Curried Chickpeas

It's nearly summer but you would never know by our recent weather.  It's been raining, hailing, thunderstorming and today we had funnel clouds, one touching down a ways north of us.  I wanted something hot, filling, satisfying and of course spicy.  Beans are always the first thing I think of.   Wanting curry flavor, it just took on a life of it's own.  Here is what I ended up with...

Ingredients:

1/2 onion diced
1 orange bell pepper diced
1 15 oz can of salt free garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
1 8oz package of green beans...I like the "haricort vert", the skinny French ones, chopped into bite size pieces
1 24 oz can of Trader Joe's whole Roma Tomatoes with juice.  Chop or cut into more manageable bite size chunks
1 heaping TBS Curry Powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/8 - 1/4 red cayenne pepper
Red wine for sauteeing  Cab or Zin

In a large pan sautee in 1/4 - 1/2 cup of red wine the onion and bell pepper until thoroughly cooked, about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.  Add chopped green beans and garbanzos.  Cook about 10 minutes more stirring.  Now add all the spices and heat through for about 1 minute stirring. Now add the tomatoes and juice.  If getting too dry at any time add more wine to the pan and if you like to your glass:)  This is best if you let it simmer for about 2 hours for the spices to blend and lose that rawness.  Stir about every 15 minutes.

I served this over brown rice with steamed spinach.   We also had little baked Sierra Red potatoes with it.  This was a hit with Bob too.

Potato Spinach Pleaser recipe

This is one of those accidental recipes of mine.  I had a hankering for steamed spinach the other night.  I also had a few heirloom tomatoes and Bob had just baked a few small potatoes.  Well that was a no brainer.  I steamed the spinach and chopped tomatoes in my wonderful West Bend Steamer for 12 minutes.  Layered brown basmati rice, cubed baked potato and the spinach and tomatoes.  It was so good Bob told me to write this down for the blog.  I seasoned mine with Tobasco Sauce as usual.  Balsamic vinegar would be great also.  Bob just likes his as is.  The flavor of the tomato made Bob feel like he was enjoying a very healthy pizza!  Give it a try.

Dr. McDougall on at Lifestyle.org

Lifestyle Magazine is a TV show that airs on TBN.  It is usually on at weird hours, so I always set my recorder to record the show.

Dr. McDougall is often a co-host on the show when medical topics are discussed.  But most of the shows I see are fairly old.  I was excited to see a recent episode concerning the Oregon MS trials, because Dr. McDougall's association with this study is fairly recent, as is his cooperation with Dr. Bourdette, who was a guest on a recent show.  That means that some of his recent work may be on soon (including my own appearance on the show).  I know that Dr. McDougall has hosted many very interesting guests, and that the shows have already been taped.  Hopefully the more modern shows will be airing soon.

For those who don't get TBN, or can't record it, the shows are available for viewing at their website, lifestyle.org.  To view Dr. Bourdette's appearance with Dr. McDougall, see here: http://www.lifestyle.org/article.php?id=99


Dr. Bourdette is supervising the clinical trials concerning MS and diet at the Oregon medical school.  The results should be available soon, and rumors are strong that they will be very positive.

The hosts of this show are a really nice couple, and I also enjoy some of their episodes on topics like marriage.  They approach everything from a Christian point of view, but many of their episodes would be of interest, I think, to everybody.  Check it out.

A great lecture on weight loss

One of the best nutritional websites is that of the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii.  They maintain a library of guest lectures from their regular meetings.  In that library you will find lecture from many brilliant people.  The lectures can be viewed live with a high speed connection or can be downloaded for you to watch whenever on your own computer.

I periodically check the new lectures that are posted.  In doing so, I found a wonderful recent lecture on weight loss.

"Weight Loss without Hunger" by Elaine French

http://vsh.voip-info.org/French.html

The presenter is familiar with Dr. McDougall and Dr. Lisle and is familiar with the concepts of calorie density as taught by Jeff Novick.  She is particularly good explaining why, for weight loss, things like smoothies, rice cakes, tortillas and tortilla chips, bread, crackers, etc. are going to prevent weight loss.  It's a great lecture for anybody concerned about weight loss.  Take a look.

One of Jeff Novick's best posts ever

Many people are invested in the idea that recovering your health is very complex.  It isn't.  Recently, Jeff Novick posted a summary of how to go about it in his McDougall forum.

The advice given by Jeff is virtually verbatim  the same advice he gave me when I hired him as a nutritionist to reverse my own health problems.  It is really simple, and all you need to know.  If you follow these guidelines, you can't help but be trim and restore your health.  Here are Jeff's words:

Here is a quick review:
- Focus your diet on unrefined unprocessed fruits, veggies, starchy veggies, intact whole grains and legumes.

- Start meals with soup, and/or salad, and/or fruit as they will fill you up for less calories and help to reduce your consumption of other more calorie dense foods

- Avoid all liquid calories as they provide little to any satiety for the calories

- Dilute out meals based on intact whole grains, and/or starchy vegetables and/or legumes with fruits and vegetables. Make sure 1/3 to 1/2 of the bulk/volume (by eye) of all your meals are low calorie dense vegetables

- Salt - the less you salt your food, the less people tend to eat

- Variety- the less variety, the less consumption

- Raw Foods - Foods you can eat raw tend to be lower in calorie density and you may not digest as efficiently. Cooking begins the digestion process.

- Make sure you are avoiding all higher fat, calorie dense plant foods, nuts, seeds, oils, avocados, tofu, etc

- Make sure you are avoiding all refined processed grains and starches, (breads, bagels, crackers, cookies, dry cereal, etc and anything made from ground up flour) even if they are whole grain

-Avoid all refined concentrated sugars/sweeteners, even if they are natural and organic.

In regard to sodium, while tracking may be of some value, tracking is nearly impossible as most of the sodium is hidden. However, if you follow the program, the recommended foods are all naturally low in sodium. For any packaged/processed foods, make sure the amount of sodium per serving is no more than the amount of calories per serving.

If you do this, and make adjustments as necessary, you will hit all the numbers automatically and lose weight and lower your cholesterol and BP.

Only one card on the table

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted anything.  In part, I have been busy enjoying life, and in part it often feels like I might not be helping anybody.

The only people (I think) viewing this blog already know about Dr. McDougall, and I have seen few questions here.  When it comes down to it, this is really simple.

Dr. McDougall often says that, concerning his program, that there is only one card on the table.  And that card is whether a person is going to follow his advice.  Everybody who does follow his advice gets better - usually markedly and quickly.

So many people are interested in esoteric nutritional or psychological questions about diet.  But for those who give the program a real try, success in inevitable, and anybody who does try it (with real adherence) does not question that Dr. McDougall is correct because the results are so dramatic and rapid.

What about people who don't experience good results?  Simply, they are, usually knowingly, but sometimes unknowingly, failing to adhere to the recommendations.  Dr. McDougall cites the case of smoking.  When smokers quit, they all get better.  When alcoholics quit, they all get better.  And when those who eat our Western diet follow Dr. M's recommendations faithfully, they all get better.

There truly is only one card on the table.  Are you going to do it?  If you are going to do it, there is plenty of help available, including here, and all you have to do is ask.  For those who don't want to do it, or who want to do their own version of the program, I wish you success but expect failure  I could cite many cases of people who try partial adherence and remain fat and sick.  There is no known benefit to knowing about what Dr. McDougall teaches, or talking to others about it.  You have to play the card.

You might want to view my friend Laura' blog.  http://www.mrsdoodlepunkslaststand.blogspot.com/

Laura thought that she was an obese McDougaller (there is no such thing).  I challenged her to eat nothing but unprocessed whole plant food of low calorie density for a month.  You can see the results in her blog.  She played the McDougall card and won big time.

So there is only one card on the table.  It takes some effort at first to play that card, but it makes all the difference in the world.

A Wonderful Safety Razor

It has been awhile since I posted here - very busy.  One thing I want to do is a review of rice cookers, since we recently bought our third cooker.  We have a Sanyo, a Zojirushi, and a Tiger.  Our favorite is the Tiger, but more to come.

I did want to talk off topic about shaving.  I have the ideal gift idea for the man in your life who is a wet shaver (or wants to be - it really is the best way IMO).  I have a stout beard but a sensitive face.  I long ago abandoned the electric - just too poor of a shave.  For a long while, I used a straight razor, and still do on occasion.  It gives a great shave, but takes a lot of time, and there is always the inevitable nick unless you do it every day.  It is definitely not for everybody, and really not for me when such great double edge safety razors are so inexpensive.

The widely available multi-blade cartridges are to me an abomination.  The cost is ridiculous, they don't last long, they cut the whiskers below the skin, which then irritate the face as they grow back, and the plastic cartridges will contaminate our world for many years to come.  Then there are the aerosol cans of awful shave lotion.  And the teflon strips that are there because the shave cream is so awful.

The old double edge safety razor with a badger brush and shaving soap or creme can't be beat.  You get a smooth shave that feels and looks good.  It is inexpensive over time and is better for the environment.  It is so cheap that you are not tempted to push things with a dull blade.

I have a fairly large collection of razors, and am always willing to try something new.  I was using a (expensive) Merkur Vision Adjustable, which did pretty well.  But I had read glowing reports about the reasonably priced Muhle 89R (non adjustable) in shaving circles.  Since I needed some new shaving cream and more blades, I ordered one.  Wow.  I now see why so many people who could and would buy anything are moving to this shaver.

Here is what it looks like (from Lees Safety Razors, where I got it) http://www.leesrazors.com/products/Muhle-R89-Safety-Razor.html
Lee says that the Jagger for $41 has the same head and shaves just as well.  It is perhaps not as beautifully finished as the Muhle.  The Muhle is just amazing.

It comes with a single Derby blade, which turned out to be excellent.  I will order some more of those blades.  This combo shaved very close with no irritation.  That is what others have noted, and I agree.  With most razors, it is easy to get a close shave if you don't mind ripping your face a bit.  And easy to get a comfy shave if you don't go close.  But the Muhle razor is the best of all worlds and does not need to be adjustable.  I haven't heard of a single person who has not gotten great shaves with this, and I am very enthusiastic, as is Farley.  She noticed how my face was Baby Bottom Smooth for most of the day.

Amazon sells Gillette Mach III blades, 12 for $24.  That is about $2.00 each, and they don't last long.  Lees sells the Derby's 15 for $7.50.  That is $.50 each and a fourth the price of the Gillettes, and they shave better and are more durable.  You will be kinder to the environment, your face, your loved one, and your wallet by going Double Edge.  If you use 120 blades per year, you will spend $60 per year on blades versus $240 for Mach III.

You will also save money and feel (and smell) better with a quality shaving soap or creme over the cheap [in quality] stuff that is sold in aerosol cans.  Lee is a guy who will help you out.  You will also need some type of brush, but the less expensive ones are fine.  In fact, I prefer them because I like a stiff brush.

So I think that this makes a great gift.  It actually saves money and wins in every department.  Marketing is amazing.  It convinces people that they want bad food and bad shaves for more money.