Vegetarians & Vegans Support Group

Roast some garlic cloves (in the skin) then when they are soft, they make a wonderful spread that is great on potatoes and can be thinned with some water for a tossed salad. Also if you can use tomato sauce, this is a great base for either sauces or dressings. What about fresh salsa? Tomatoes, onions, peppers, and seasoning - great tasting and healthy!

What about nutritional yeast? I like to mix it with vegan butter (obviously on your list of don'ts), garlic salt and cayenne pepper to put on white potatoes. For sweet potatoes, I like a mixture of cinnamon and nutmeg...LOVE the nutmeg!

Salad dressing is a little harder without any oil. Maybe you could do a balsamic reduction (simmer balsamic vinegar until becomes syrupy) if you can have the vinegar. It end up being sweet and tart at the same time. Or lemon juice or maybe apple cider vinegar tossed on a salad with salt and pepper to keep it simple.

What is the goal of the program? I see you say that now you're in the weight loss phase, which I assume means that there's more to come? I could give up soy and avocadoes, but nuts and olive oil would definitely be hard.

Thanks Sapphire and Kanned for your suggestions. I've never tried nutritional yeast, can you buy it at regular grocery store now, or just health food stores?

I do cook sweet potatoes with a little vegi broth and then add fresh ginger, garlic and curry. I'm looking for a gravy type sauce for regular potatoes. There's one with mushrooms that sounds promising. As far as salad dressings, I've used lemon or lime juice mixed with dijon mustard. I use a bit of organic raw apple cider vinegar, as well as balsamic vinegar. I never thought to reduce it.....great idea! It is difficult when you can't use any kind of fat source to bind the flavors. I think I can use small amounts of silken tofu for dressings. That might help.

Kanned, right now the goal is weight loss. McDougall's program, in general, is for better health through nutrition. He seems to target all disease/illnesses that tend to be the result of the typical bad western diet, like heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. I've never had any of these conditions, but after getting a virus (human parvovirus B-19) that triggered a huge inflammatory response that finally resulted in fibromyalgia, I've been battling weight. At the time, I was married to a heavy meat eater and his kids were too. I wasn't a vegetarian at the time. Since my divorce and going veg, I've reduced my pain and other symptoms dramatically without using any meds.

Among other things, fibro puts your body into a permanent fight or flight mode. We tend to produce more cortisol than the average persone. All of this makes it difficult to lose weight. I used to be able to do fairly rigorous exercise but now if I attempt exercise past a swift walk, it can ftatten me for a week with unbearable pain and fatigue. I used to be quite a jock so it's hard for me to pull back the reigns if I start to do resistance training.

So, if I can lose this weight, I'll be able to add back nuts and soy products. In the meantime.....looking for tasty ways to prepare food.

I wanted to say a nice peanut thai sauce, but I know that's not recommended on the preferred diet. I don't think that would be a doctor recommended diet as fats that come from nuts, olives, and avocados are good for you in moderation.