Luck of the Pot

Potlucks. What can you do? A potluck is about much more than food. It's a social event. A time for friends to gather and enjoy each other's company. But it is also about the food.

I am a devout Christian. A steady church-goer. As such, potlucks are a staple of my existence. We hold a potluck almost every month. Strangely enough, we did not have one in February, and January's got swallowed up in New Year's Day. So this is my first potluck since beginning the diet. What to do?

I must acknowledge the fact that most people do not want to eat the way I am eating. Even my own husband is not thrilled with my food restrictions and bursts out in ice cream and hot chocolate on a recurring basis. And although I am finding sweetness in the weight loss, most people want to find sweetness in the food, instead. Desserts with lots of creamy sugary richness. Main dish? Well, casseroles require starches, usually in the form of potatoes or pasta, both on my forbidden list. I could make a stew, but stew never quite made my top ten “what other people will eat at the potluck” list. Besides, my crockpot is soaking, trying to become clean enough for use, so stew was out of the question. Fried chicken? Chicken and breading are both out. I don't think anyone wants turkey in March.

At last I hit upon it! Eggs! I can have eggs and cheese and who does not like a good devilled egg at a potluck? Whoo-hoo! Of course, I have to tweak the recipe just a little. But it works well. And these aren't really what you would call devilled. There's no heat. But there is lots of cheese.  I would show pictures, but the eggs got eaten up. Sorry.  They wouldn't have lasted long at home, either.

Creamy Cheesy Eggs

1 dozen hard boiled eggs

½ recipe creamy cheesy spread

Cut eggs in half. Place yolks in a bowl. Combine yolks with creamy cheesy spread and blend until smooth. Refill eggs. Serve. Eat remaining yolk mixture with your choice of carrier (I liked it with celery!)

The creamy cheesy spread is a recipe I learned from my mother. I do not remember where she got it, so I cannot credit the original creator of this recipe. And I don't know how tweaked it was before she gave it to me, or what the original name was. This is what we call it. It makes a great party food. It goes really well with those little baguette slices, equally well with crackers, and I just discovered it makes a great filling for celery stalks. The recipe is made with green onions, but you can substitute chopped olives (green or black) for the green onions, or just add them to taste. Wonderfully good.

This is not a dairy free food, but it is gluten free and sugar free and really, really, good. Like I said, you can serve it as stuffed celery for your gluten free friends (or for you) and it is totally yum.

Creamy Cheesy Spread

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

16 ounces sour cream, softened

8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded

4 green onions, finely chopped

Combine all ingredients. Blend well. Serve. (or use to make creamy cheesy eggs)

Not Corny At All

This voyage of discovery is two-pronged. I am attempting to discover foods to which I have a sensitivity or adverse reaction of an allergic kind. I don't want foods that set off my immune system or damage my body in one way or another.

At the same time, being as near diabetic as you can be without being diagnosed, I want to know what will and what won't cause problems with my blood sugar.

This makes for an interesting trip sometimes. I had milk and it gave me something that nearly resembled a cold. Stuffed up nose, “thick” throat, and so forth. I realized this is common for me with milk. So I have to choose – milk and a “head cold” or no milk, no congestion. I am opting for no milk, no congestion. I will test again, another time, after months of freedom from milk, but for now, and possibly for always, no milk. I will also test butter separately because it is highly possible butter will not create the same reaction. Same with other milk-based products. I know that I do not react that way to cheese.

And two days ago it was corn. I ate corn. I enjoyed the corn. I made corn tortillas from scratch. I did buy the corn flour pre-ground. Hey, I do not have a non-bulk source for dent corn yet. I'll work on it, but I live at the edge of the earth. Some things we have to do without.

Anyway, I ate corn. I had homemade corn chips for lunch with a whole avocado. It was two servings of corn chips. And I had two servings of corn tortillas for dinner as part of fajitas. Beef and onions with a little cheese. One tortilla I ate just filled with cheese. Really delicious. In the morning my blood sugar had spiked. It wasn't a huge spike. I wasn't hospital ready. But my blood sugar was 138 yesterday morning. That's too high.

Last night I did not have the avocado for lunch, but for dinner I had exactly the same meal. Beef and onions (leftovers from the night before) and cheese. This time I wrapped it in lettuce. This morning my blood sugar was 98. That's a big difference. Much healthier, much better.

I will test again, later, but for now corn is going on my list of foods to avoid. Fare-thee-well.

Not exactly corny today

This morning my body definitely told me how it felt about corn. On the plus side, I am having zero gut reaction. So my body digests it well. On the other hand . . . .

I am ravenously hungry this morning. And my blood sugar was up about 20 points. That's not healthy. I don't think corn is going to be a regular addition to my diet.

I ate 4 servings of corn total yesterday, never without another food. I had two servings with one avocado and 2 servings with beef, cheese, and onions. I would have thought that would ease any blood sugar reaction. Guess I was wrong. Hmmmmmmm.

CRUNCH!

Today was monumental. I re-introduced my first grain. Corn!!!!!

I will see how this affects me over the next few days. But whether it stays or not, it is great to have something crisp.

I made my own tortilla chips. From scratch. Really from scratch. Well, okay, I did not buy dent corn and grind it to make my own corn flour, but give me a break, will you? I only have one grain mill and my husband has been using it for his wheat flour. Cross contamination is not a good thing.

So I bought “masa mix” which is really a very finely ground corn flour. Mixed with water it makes really good corn tortillas. No additives, no preservatives, just pure corn goodness.

Of course, I couldn't stop there. I cut up the tortillas into chips and fried them in corn oil. And there I found it. The crispy crunchy texture than only comes from grain. Hooray! I enjoyed my tortilla chips with my Guaca-no-le. Yum. It's fiesta time!

Corn Tortillas

½ cup masa mix

1/3 cup water

Mix ingredients until they form a dough. Divide the dough into quarters. Roll each quarter into a ball. The ball will be slightly larger than a walnut but smaller than a golf ball.

It is best to use a tortilla press to flatten the ball. A tortilla press can be made or it can be purchased (they aren't very expensive). If you do not have a tortilla press, commandeer the strongest person in the house. Place ball of dough between two sheets of sturdy plastic. Place plastic sheets between two sturdy plates. Press hard!

Remember, you want the resulting tortilla to be as thin as you can without breaking apart. When you separate the plates, the tortilla should peel off the plastic easily. Cook the tortilla in a frying pan over medium high heat. NO OIL OR OTHER GREASE IS NEEDED. Corn has natural oils. Cook for a few minutes on each side. Remove to a plate and cover with a towel to keep the tortilla moist and warm.

If you are making tortilla chips, over-cooking just a little is allowed. You want your tortillas to be dry in that case. If not, stick with the recommended time.

Tortillas can be re-cooked depending on the use. For instance, my in-laws always fry their tortillas before making tacos. Or they can be eaten as is.

Enjoy!

How dry I am

Today I worked with dry stuff. Lots and lots of dry stuff.

Once a month I print bills for my company. Then I and my coworkers stuff them and mail them. Working with that much paper is very very drying. My skin has already been too dry, and now it's much worse. So the question is – are my arms itching because they are very dry or because I am eating beef? That is a very good question. Well, I ate beef for dinner last night and for lunch today. I think it's time for me to put beef back away for a few days and see what happens next.

Thoughts on Milk

I want to apologize for my lack of reports last week. In my defense I can only say I was sick. I'd go into more detail, but there is such a thing as TMI.

Last week I tested eggs. I had eggs fried in olive oil for breakfast, boiled eggs for lunch, and scrambled eggs with a little onion and cheese for dinner. I would have made eggs for dessert, but I have never yet made a souffle, and to make a dessert souffle requires a number of ingredients that are on my not yet list.

I confess I was flagging a little when I had the setback over milk. It was a greater blow than I had thought any one food could be, the more so because it was completely unexpected. However, I have a glimmer of hope to which I will cling. I will retest milk at the very end of the experiment and hope that the reaction was either the illness coming on or a corollary reaction. What's that? What do I mean by corollary? Well, let me tell you.

When I am sick I tend to lie around with the television on. I don't like total silence very often. It sets my brain wandering down too familiar roads, ones which are not healthy and not inclined to produce anything positive. So the TV is on for background noise and every so often, usually when something I actively dislike is on, I switch the channel. The channel I lighted upon was showing Dr. Oz. I told you, didn't I, about Dr. Oz's role is my decision to try this experiment in the first place? Again when I was sick and lying around with the TV on. Well, this time he happened to have something about gluten intolerance. Hidden signs. I learned something new.

If you are gluten sensitive you might react to milk! And corn as well. Funny thing, I'm testing corn next week. We'll see what happens.

A sonnet to bread

I could write an ode to bread. Okay, maybe not an ode. Odes are long and I'm not that good, but a sonnet. I could definitely write a sonnet to bread. In fact, I think I shall.

To Bread

O bread, you crusty loaf divine,

With outside brown and inside white,

I wish that I could make you mine,

Devouring all within my sight.

A little heat and you are toast

With butter and a touch of jam

Or honey golden you may boast.

How fond of toasted bread I am.

A stew has need of rolls for sop,

Again with butter on it spread.

Those scrumptious juices you can mop.

The joy of you goes to my head.

So many ways I can employ

A little bread. I must enjoy.

I write this because I more and more am convinced that my gluten test will fail. It isn't for another two weeks. But soon. Soon I will know.

I have been reading a lot about gluten intolerance. And it doesn't look like the wasteland it once was. For one thing, once I find other grains I can enjoy, there are a lot of bready treats that will still be available to me. For instance, I have heard the best scones are made with rice flour. And who said banana bread has to be made with wheat? I'm sure I will be able to find a way to make foods I will love. But right now, as I am going through this testing stage, life is a little difficult. My husband does not want to find himself on the diet. And he eats a lot of toast. Of course, he does. It's an easy food to prepare. So he naturally prepares it. Where I can smell it.

I'm not really complaining. Not much. I'm glad my husband is not getting all sore and resentful that I, who am acknowledged as the cook of the family, am not cooking much in the way of foods he is interested in. He has been thrown onto his own resources and he has stepped up to the plate. But right now, as I am suffering deprivations, it is a little bit hard. Thus my sonnet to bread. I think I need to go concentrate on what I can have.

Happy eating all!