The Starch Solution, by John Mcdougall

[Lilith]

Hi everybody! Even though we're not starting this book until later, I thought I'd get a head start on the thread since I have already tried 2 recipes from this book. I'll start reading it on the start date, but in the meantime, I think I'll cook and bake the recipes to get a preliminary feel for it.

So I made the East West Breakfast (on page 231) and the Tortilla Soup (on page 265.) The breakfast was pretty good! Very filling! It was a little weird having rice and potatoes for breakfast...I'm uses to cereal and granola, but I liked how it easily filled me up and I felt energized. The tortilla soup on the other hand, I was not crazy about. I found it quite watery. I DID add the chips and that helped, but I still felt like something was lacking. I just wasn't crazy about this recipe.

I really want to try the mushroom stroganoff and I'm curious about a few of the desserts. But I have so much celery left, I have to find recipes with celery in them!

[Deborah]

I will try to make one eat week. High Carb Hannah eats rice and potatoes for breakfast. It would be an adjustment for me too.

[Lilith]

I made the macaroni salad today (on page 234.) YUM!!! The perfect meal for a perfectly warm and beautiful day! I have lots of leftovers and am excited to be eating it for the next few days!

I made it with vegan mayonnaise, rather than the home-made tofu mayonnaise. First time trying vegan mayonnaise. I have to say, I am impressed. Almost identical to non-vegan mayonnaise...just a bit fluffier and less tangy in taste. I am curious about the home-made tofu mayonnaise...I just thought it might be a bit more grainy in texture, so I went safe.

[Deborah]

Lilith wrote: "I made the macaroni salad today (on page 234.) YUM!!! The perfect meal for a perfectly warm and beautiful day! I have lots of leftovers and am excited to be eating it for the next few days!

I made..."

I also made that last night except I screwed up on the ingredients and used regular onions instead of green onions and two red peppers instead of one green and one red. It is very good. It is really hot here today and hit the spot for dinner. I topped it off with paprika before I ate it. I feel it had a lot of spiciness to it. Will definitely make it again this summer. I used the vegan mayo from the store and whole grain pasta.

[Lilith]

I just made the carrot cake from page 315. It was okay...not great. I liked how the nuts gave it really nice texture and the raisins made it juicy. It certainly had a lot of flavor, but I was disappointed in the texture. It was kind of rubbery. I did not expect that. I really want to try other dessert recipes from the book, but a lot of them call for sunsweet lighter bake, which makes me nervous. Has anyone seen this product in their grocery store?

[Deborah]

Lilith wrote: "I just made the carrot cake from page 315. It was okay...not great. I liked how the nuts gave it really nice texture and the raisins made it juicy. It certainly had a lot of flavor, but I was disap..."

I don't believe we have it here either. I wonder if you can use applesauce for the substitute or something else. Hmmmm. I am going to have to research this.

[Lilith]

I made the golden gravy from page 248 today. I had it over steamed asparagus and spinach. It was okay. I found that it lacked flavor.

[Deborah]

Look at you go! I can't wait to try some more of these recipes.

[Deborah]

Just made the split pea soup page 268. It is good, but I wish it had a bit more of a kick to it. Lots of veggies. I used to much garlic and onions, but it is still bland.

[Deborah]

Deborah wrote: "Just made the split pea soup page 268. It is good, but I wish it had a bit more of a kick to it. Lots of veggies. I used to much garlic and onions, but it is still bland."

Okay it is much better the next day or two when it thickens up and the spices have settled in a bit. I just ate a huge bowl after a workout. Yummy,

[Lilith]

I made the Global Stew from page 278. So good! There were a lot of ingredients and there was a lot of prep involved, but it was completely worth it. I used canned mixed beans instead of cannelli beans. Had a hard time finding cannelli beans at grocery stores. I had most of the stew on brown rice. On a few of the portions, I crumbled rice cakes on top. It made a really nice texture contrast. If anyone makes this recipe, just a heads up...The recipe says it makes about 6 servings. More like 10!!! I didn't mind because I freeze a lot of food, but the recipe can be easily halved.

[Lilith]

I made the Festa Mex Salad from page 237. I was looking for recipes with vegan mayonnaise...still got some leftover from the macaroni salad. Easiest recipe ever! Effortless. A good side dish!

[Deborah]

Lilith wrote: "I made the Festa Mex Salad from page 237. I was looking for recipes with vegan mayonnaise...still got some leftover from the macaroni salad. Easiest recipe ever! Effortless. A good side dish!"

I used up my vegan mayo and made the pasta salad again and I made it correctly. It is going to be hot here for a few days and wanted to have a nice cold dinner.

[Deborah]

Kara wrote: "Hey guys. Sorry to just pop up in the midst of conversation. I'm so lost...I've been sick for weeks and I'm not sure where we are anymore :("

I hope you are feeling better. We were waiting for you to read The Lost Hero. We are actually starting a bonus book tomorrow One Plus One by JoJo Moyes then we will read All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven and then finally The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted by Elizabeth Berg. Feel free to jump in whenever. Lilith and I both wanted to read One Plus One.


Jennifer Niven, All The Bright Places 05/01/2016 to 05/07/2016

Elizabeth Berg, The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted 05/08/2016 to 05/14/2016

JoJo Moyes, Me Before You 05/15/2016 to 05/30/2016

JoJo Moyes, After You 06/01/2016 to 06/18/2016

Break 06/19/2016 to 06/25/2016

John McDougall, The Starch Solution 06/26/2016 to 07/02/2016

Elizabeth Berg, The Pull Of The Moon 07/03/2016 to 07/12/2016

Catherine Ryan Hyde, The Day I Killed James 07/13/2016 to 07/27/2016

[Lilith]

Oh don't be so silly, Kara! You're SUPPOSED to pop up in the midst of conversations! This is a bookclub GROUP!!!

There are a couple of good books coming up. But the most important ones are Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes and After You, by Jojo Moyes. A movie will be coming out this June based on these books!!! So excited! Don't forget to get your copies by May 15!!!

[Lilith]

I just made the Blueberry Muffins from page 225. The batter was so nice and fluffy and the big, juicy, plump blueberries Mmmmm! But after they were baked, the texture was rather doughy! It was a similar texture to a fresh dinner roll. Blah! What a disappointment!

[Deborah]

I am sorry. I have a three day weekend. I need to cook some healthy detoxing foods.

[Lilith]

I made the festive dal soup (on page 269) for lunch today. It was pretty good! I didn't realize it was a soup until after I had already made brown rice to go with it. I thought it was just a stew. For a soup, it's pretty thick and not very soupish! So I'm glad I made the rice! And I sprinkled cilantro on top which was DELISH!!! I didn't add the sambal oelek, but there were already so many flavors in the recipe, I think omitting it probably didn't make much of a difference. I think John McDougall has a very different idea of what entails a serving size than I do! This recipe says it makes 4 servings, but it made 6 meals for me (and they were very generous portions!)

[Lilith]

I made the Quinoa Market Salad from page 239. I followed the recipe exactly as is, except I omitted the zucchini because zucchini is weird. It was a pretty good recipe. Lots of colors and crunch from the bell peppers. I enjoyed it, but I have other quinoa salad recipes that I prefer.

[Lilith]

I made the vegetable tabbouleh from page 233. It was the first time I've ever tried bulgor! I like it actually. It's not bad. The texture was a cross between quinoa and oats. I wasn't crazy about this recipe though...The first bowl was good, but the more I ate it, the more I didn't like it. I ended up throwing it out. The flavor was just very one note. Despite all the herbs and flavors in the recipe, it managed to be quite bland.

[Deborah]

I just made the Rainbow Salad from page 238. It makes a huge portion. I am letting it chill now, but tasted really good. I left out the tabasco and the pimentos (they just looked funny in the jar). I am going to have some tonight. I used an Asian Sesame dressing from the store along with the soy sauce. It said to use 3/4 cup fat free store bought dressing or the homemade one. The dressing complimented the cilantro and red onions.

[Lilith]

Oh, I wanted to try that recipe!

[Deborah]

I have been so busy this week. I plan on reading a good chunk this weekend.

[Lilith]

I'm was really surprised at hearing how potatoes and corn are high in vitamins and nutrients! I had always understood that white potatoes had virtually no nutritional value. As for corn, from my experience, it was always looked at in a negative light because it was just starch and empty calories.

I find it interesting how McDougall talked about how dense in nutrients meat and animal based foods are and how too much protein, fat, etc cannot all be absorbed and excreted by our body. So the overload is harmful to us. I never looked at in that way. Although I've seen the chart before comparing the nutrition of animal foods versus plant food, I did find it interesting to see it again, laid out there for you to really see the pros and cons of one versus the other. Although the amount of protein in animal food drastically supersedes the amount in plant food, I still find it hard to tell whether or not you are getting enough protein in plant foods. It's hard to measure what is not enough, enough or too much.

I find the information in this book so important for our health, whether or not we're carnivores, vegetarians or vegans. It's really making me looking at what I eat in a different light.

[Lilith]

I just made the baked macaroni with creamy cashew sauce on page 295. YUM! I love using cashews to make creamy sauces. I followed the recipe exactly as is, except I omitted the white miso paste because I have had miso before and I really don't like it. When it was ready, I expected it to be creamier and saucier than it was, considering how saucy it was when I put it in the pan! I guess I could add a bit more water next time, but I'm worried about diluting the flavours. The only thing I'd change in this recipe is add a bit more salt than what the recipe calls for. It tasted like it was slightly lacking.

[Deborah]

I will have to try it.

[Lilith]

This is a delayed comment about the macaroni and cheese recipe. I had leftovers for a few days. As I've mentioned, it got quite dry. I had two ideas (if anyone is going to try this recipe and also for next time I make it.) First idea: double the sauce recipe! Second, instead of making it a baked mac and cheese, make it just a regular mac and cheese straight from the pot and omit the bread crumbs.