Food

We had a fellowship meal last week, and apparently what I ate was being carefully scrutinized.  Those doing the scrutinizing have decided I'm not eating enough.  I'm not sure when they got their medical degrees, but they certainly consider themselves to be experts.  I decided this week it's time to enter the maintenance phase of my diet.  That means I need to figure out a 3 day rotation so I'm not eating the same foods 2 days in a row.  The challenge is going to be finding enough variety and figuring out adequate protein for each day. 

I had scoured the shelves of a health food store on Friday, and found some granola I could eat.  It was very expensive.  Today I pulled out a recipe a friend had given me and made some modifications.  I added extra nuts and sunflower seeds to give it a little more protein.  I replaced the brown sugar (which I can't have) with real maple syrup (which I can have).  Instead of margarine or butter, I used pecan oil and coconut oil.  I have a peer group retreat this week, so I will take some of that for my breakfast.  I also bought some small boxes of non-dairy milk to make it easier to travel. 

I also found some vegan cheese I can tolerate.  If' I'd tried it 3 months ago, I would have thought it was terrible.  After 3 months without any cheese (and I love cheese), it tastes good.  Unfortunately, it does not provide any protein.  It tastes good melted on top of corn tortilla chips and refried beans for some nachos. 

Prepared products, even in the health food store, are a challenge.  I haven't found any bread I can eat.  Sweeteners are a problem.  I'm sensitive to cane sugar.  Some of the things that are sugar free use apple juice for sweetener, and I'm sensitive to apples.

I am going to try some quinoa.  At this point I have pinto beans, garbanzo beans, pecans, and cashews as protein sources.  It would be helpful if I could eat soy.  I need to look at the information again and remember why it is I'm supposed to be staying away from soy.  I purchased a bunch of semi-healthy frozen dinners for Daughter when she's here.  They were on sale.  I've decided I'm not going to try to get her to follow my diet.  Yesterday she had nachos with me, using real cheese on hers. 

There are some things that are out of whack in my blood work, and I'm going to go talk to my Nurse Practitioner about those this week.  I suspect the dietitians at the church may have a point.  I do need to begin eating more....