Thick Water

To get you started while I get my regular posts going again try this "recipe." Actually, it's an ingredient substitute to use in your own salad and dressing recipes. The only purpose that oil serves in dressings (besides making your lips feel greasy) is to allow the dressing to stick to your veggies; this thick water will do the same. One tablespoon of this "thick water" has 5 calories, while one tablespoon of oil has 120 calories. See any reason not to make the switch? It's not even complicated:

In a small saucepan combine 1 cup of water with 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch (or 1/2 c water with 1T of cornstarch, depending on how much you need today). Stir over medium heat until thick. Let cool. Ta-da!

Thick water -- one step toward a thinner waist! Hee!

Eating Cleaner

I'm not where I want to be in my diet (meaning overall way of eating) but am getting closer. I had two super-good weeks in late May and I so reaped the benefits; more energy, way reduced "female complaints" (really, you don't want the details, do you?), and more. I've slipped a little bit this month (5+ family events, all involving food -- most with cake, in one month did not help), but I'm still feeling pretty good in general.

My goal is to eat by the recommendations at http://www.drmcdougall.com/, with help from recipes from http://www.fatfreevegan.com/. I'll write more about why later, but poke around the McDougall site (especially the medical info area and the newsletter archives) and get an education.

I don't expect you to give a flying fig about what I eat, especially on a daily basis, but I'm going to try to post it here. This is primarily a means to keep me "honest," shame me into cooking more and hopping out for carry-out less, and to show how really simple (and very yummy) eating healthfully can be.

Today was not fabulous. What was good was that I had a high-fiber, partly-whole-grain, no HFCS English muffin spread with apple butter made with nothin' but apples. I also made pizza from scratch (white-whole-wheat crust, oil-free sauce). The less stellar parts: flavored instant coffee; two Diet Rite sodas; half a cookie; two mini-cupcakes; and the cheese on the pizza, though soy based, contained casein, the protein most highly associated with the formation of cancers.

Tomorrow will be better! Minestrone is already on the menu, and I'll share the recipe.

Conversations with a Four Year Old, Part 2

S and K were in the computer room, hanging out, when K told S to get something for her.

We've been trying really hard to instill self-sufficiency and manners, and "Daddy, go get me a drink" doesn't cut it. My usual tac is to say something like "I'm not your maid; you are quite capapble of getting it for yourself, or if you ask very nicely I might help you" so she was confused when S changed up the vocabulary and said:

"I'm not your slave."

"No, it's 'I'm not your maid,' Daddy."

"Slave works, too."

"What is a slave?"

"A slave is someone who does your work for you, like a maid, but they don't get paid for it."

Pause. Very matter of fact, "That's handy."



What am I supposed to do with that?

Conversations with a Four-Year-Old, Part 1

A few months ago K told me, with all the sincerity in the world, "There's a boy in my class that I love. His name is Z. I'm going to marry him when I grow up."

When asked if Z knew about that she considered very carefully before answering "No, I'm going to surprise him with that."