I've had a sense that my husband was getting a little bored with meals. He tends to find something he really likes to eat, request it often, get burned out on it, and then declare he never wants to eat it again. I try to keep the foods rotating, so that he doesn't get bored. I don't want him to cross old favorites entirely off the list.

At the store today I saw some natural chicken Italian sausage. I used to buy it on a regular basis because our son really likes it. It's been ages since we've had it. I served it with a packaged rice and lentil dish and broccoli. My husband was very enthusiastic.

No lentils for me, of course. While there were no Type O avoids in the sausage, I've never been a real sausage fan. So I opted for the truly beneficial lamb left from Easter.

The first yearbook deadline of the year is this weekend, so this is a fast paced week for me. I don't have time to be bored! I'm spending hours and hours on the computer, using the mouse to perfect graphic files. I didn't realize how tense my shoulders and neck were until I went to the pool today.

During my warm up laps I noticed that my arms weren't as flexible as normal. The more I swam the looser they got. By the time I was finished my arms and shoulders felt great.

I make sure I don't neglect Type O intense physical exercise when I'm under deadline pressure. I've worked out every day this week. But today's swim was doubly beneficial.

This was a wonderful weekend. Our son was home, so our family was complete. We had good food, with plenty for each blood type. Worship at our church included joyful music and an uplifting message.

We watched lots of basketball together - emotions running quite high at some of the close finishes. Our son did some chores that his Dad can't do right now because of the physical therapy. We laughed a lot around the dinner table. We also grieved together for some we know who are going through troubles right now.

We ate out for lunch on Sunday at a restaurant that serves meat and vegetables. Each of us was able to make choices that were good for our Blood Types. Yesterday afternoon I roasted a leg of lamb for my son and me. It seemed like an appropriate Easter meal. But I didn't forget my As. I baked fresh bread for them, and fixed black-eyed peas as well.

Our church had a communion service on Thursday night. The church that is affiliated with our school did a drama presentation on Friday night. There was an overflow crowd for church on Easter morning. All of the services drew our hearts to thank and worship God.

The activities of the weekend met my needs at all levels: my need for love from family and friends; my need for healthy food, and my need for a relationship with God. Eliminate any one of the three and I am not a healthy, whole person.

This Blood Type Website is about getting the right type of food and the right style of exercise for your Blood Type. As you know if you read my blogs, that is very important to me. I work hard to prepare food that is beneficial for all members of my family. I also discipline myself to get the exercise I need to keep my muscles and bones strong.

But if that was all I did, I would not be a whole person. I was reading this morning Jesus' words, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." It is just as important that I feed the spiritual part of my self with good food.

I have the same concern for people who only go to church once or twice a year that I have for people who only Eat Right for their Type when they need to lose a little weight.

Everyone who follows the BTD would agree that while it is sometimes hard to do, the benefits are well worth the effort in physical well-being. Discipline in your spiritual life, to study the Bible, pray, and fellowship with other believers is sometimes hard as well. But the benefits to your spiritual well-being are equally beneficial.

Eat right for your Type every day this week. But don't neglect to hug your family and to worship the God who created you. That is the only way to be a whole person.

I was up way to late last night watching the 24 hour 'Twilight Zone' marathon on the Sci-Fi channel, which featured the classic episode 'To Serve Man.'

The Kanamits, a race of nine foot tall space aliens, with big light bulb heads and curious little goatees, arrive on Earth, and immediately start helping man. They appear totally trustworthy and full of goodwill. This idea is backed up when they leave a book titled "To Serve Man" at the U.N. Michael Chambers, a decoding expert, along with thousands of other people book passage to the Kanamit's home panet. Meanwhile, Michael's assistant Pat is trying to decode the book left by the Kanamits. As Michael is boarding the Kanamit spacecraft, Pat runs up and tells Michael she has finished translating the book - it's a cookbook!

Besides the fact that it was shot in glorious black and white and gorgeously lit, the show had oddly moralistic endings, which were themselves often quite twisted. Not too scarey to a saucer-eyed kid in 1964 who could still run to his grandparents sitting in the kitchen if things got too intense.

This all-consuming soliloquy reminds me of a classic line from the Simpsons, during the opening credits of the Clown's holiday special:

"It's a Krusty Kinda Kristmas. Brought to you by ILG: selling your body's chemicals after you die. And by Li'l Sweetheart Cupcakes - a subsidiary of ILG."

Which of course reminds me of the famous scream by Charleton Heston that 'Soylet Green is made from humans!' or, even better, the repeated attempts of an Apache-necktied Heston parody on a long-ago Saturday Night Live trying to get the phrase just right.

Back soon with a 'heartier' blog!

I had planned on putting in a long day at the school proofing yearbook pages. I knew both of my kids would sleep late on Saturday morning, and I knew they would be immersed in March Madness in the afternoon, so I didn't think anyone would miss my being away from the house. But I decided to make something special for breakfast. If my son could travel 400 miles to be home for Easter, it seemed like the least I could do.

I decided on the Rye and Apple muffins that Paul once blogged about. While I was baking them last night, my daughter came through the kitchen. "What smells so good?" she asked. I told her that I was making apple muffins - from a recipe posted by the man who gave us the shortbread recipe.

She looked very serious and said, "The last time my brother was home and you fixed something new for breakfast, he ate all of it. Promise me you'll set some aside for me in case he gets up first." I said I didn't think she had anything to worry about, that I was doubling the recipe.

My husband was listening in. "Where are you putting the muffins?" he asked, "In case you leave before we get up." Our daughter said, "Just follow your nose, Dad." Our son piped in, "That's right. Just follow your nose to the empty muffin pans. They'll all be gone by the time you get up." This drew a shriek from our daughter and a lot of laughter from the rest of us.

I got home late this afternoon and looked in the plastic box where I had stored the muffins. More than half of the double recipe was gone. There might be enough for breakfast before church tomorrow - if you get up early.

Here is the link to Paul and Sue's recipe.

http://www.dadamo.com/bloggers/e/archives/00000090.htm

Our son came home for Easter. This year his Spring Break and Easter were just a week apart. When we said good bye last Sunday, we agreed that he wouldn't drive all the way home just five days later. But a friend at school was coming and wanted company for the long drive. So a little after 5:00 our doorbell rang and there he stood. We have been smiling ever since.

I fixed taco salad for dinner. The grocery store had Romaine lettuce at a really low price on Wednesday so I bought a lot. Wednesday night we had salad with tuna. I grated lots of carrots. There were also cucumber and celery sticks for the As.

Tonight I cooked ground turkey in one skillet and ground beef in another. The turkey I mildly seasoned. The beef was quite a bit spicier. In addition to Romaine lettuce we had fresh spinach, grilled onions and grated soy cheese.

Not exactly a traditional Good Friday meal, but everyone had beneficial choices and everyone liked it. I'll keep this blog short - I don't want to miss any of the conversation or the unexpected pleasure of this surprise visit.

This is bicycle week at our school. Elementary and middle school students brought their bikes, skateboards and skates to use during PE. I had a meeting at the school yesterday morning. My plan for the rest of the morning was simple. I would run at a nearby park, then stop by the grocery store on my way home.

However, elementary students riding their bikes looked like a great picture opportunity for the yearbook. It's hard for my photographers to get out of class to take pictures of events like this, and I had not brought my own camera. I borrowed a young man's digital camera and took pictures of 5th graders on bikes and skateboards.

The PE teacher told me that 3rd grade would be next. Between classes I checked the status of some yearbook ads. I was walking down the driveway back to the gym when a 3rd grader rode his bike square into the back of me.

It was one of those slow motion moments. As I was falling I thought, I can't let this camera hit the pavement, and I pulled it into my chest. As I hit the ground I thought, is this what if feels like to get hit by a car? I'm sure a car is worse, but I hope I never find out.

The 3rd grader untangled himself from his bike. He was not hurt. Little boys are built for rough and tumble activities. However 51-year-old women are not, and I got up more slowly. I took some more pictures, but by that time I was starting to feel stiff. I decided to skip the run. My body didn't need any more jarring.

By mid afternoon I was feeling better. I have couple of bruises. Both shoulders and my neck are a little stiff, but because I fell straight back I didn't seem to twist anything. My tailbone is sore. But as I told my husband, there is no indication that beyond being bruised I did any damage. I have no sharp pain, swelling, numbness, or tingling that would indicate a broken bone or damage to my spine.

I went to bed early enough to get 8 hours of sleep. (I really should do that more often) I'm taking anti-inflammatory protocols just to be safe: glucosamine sulphate, ginger juice, cayenne pepper, and bromelain.

I worried that I would be really stiff when I woke up but I was not. Oh, I can still feel the effects of the fall - I'm sure I will for several days. But all of my joints are moving freely. I even worked out with a video tape before breakfast - admittedly at the rehab level - but nonetheless it felt good to do all that stretching.

This could have been much worse. I'm thankful I did not hit my head. I also think the level of fitness I maintain on the BTD protected my body from a much more serious injury.

My husband's knee and back pain are both improving with physical therapy. He is taking the instructions very seriously and doing his exercises at home the way the therapists have asked him to do. He has also had some interesting conversations with them about physical fitness.

One day they put ankle weights on him for some leg lifts. He mentioned that I wore ankle weights and carried hand weights when I walked. The therapists told him to discourage me from walking with ankle weights. The hand weights they said were ok, but the ankle weights, they said, would damage my knees.

I shrugged off the advice. I've never felt any ill effects from walking with ankle weights. I've blogged about mowing the yard wearing them. When one of you wrote that she vacuumed the house with them, I tried that as well.

On his next visit the therapist brought up the subject again. She said that ankle weights were good for exercises like leg lifts, but not for walking. "You have no idea," she said to my husband, "the problems we see. People come in here with damaged knees from those weights, and we have to try to put them back together." She urged me to stop in the strongest terms.

I've decided to follow her advice. I've never had a problem, but if the physical therapists have seen that many patients with damage, I don't want to take a chance.

Sometimes you have to trust the experts. It's like people who write in to this website saying, "I eat oranges all the time and have never felt any ill effects." Or "I just can't give up potatoes, I've eaten them all my life."

Some avoids, like peanuts, wheat, and dairy, cause me immediate problems. Dr. D'Adamo says that other avoids are doing damage to my body on the inside where I can't see it until it becomes a crisis. I've decided to follow his advice. I don't want to take a chance.

I am quite content with my breakfast of nuts, seeds, and fruit. I get enough variety by combining two or three different fruits every morning. Today I had mango/grape/pineapple. Some days I have ground flax seed and ground almonds. Other days I have ground pumpkin seeds and ground pecans. I always include a Tablespoon of nutritional yeast, a Tablespoon of rice bran, and two Tablespoons of lecithin.

My daughter always has a soy protein shake. My husband always has grapefruit juice. My daughter likes muffins, pancakes, waffles and similar breakfast breads. My husband eats with my daughter some days and other days he eats cooked cereal. I try to make the breads and the cereal from grains that are beneficial for As.

This morning I made French toast. My pre BTD recipe called for eggs, salt, milk, vanilla, orange juice concentrate, and bread. That recipe had to go; there were too many avoids and not enough beneficials!

So this morning I used

2 eggs

¼ tsp salt

½ cup soy milk

2 Tbsp pineapple juice concentrate

4 slices of low sodium Ezekiel bread.

While the bread thawed, I mixed all the other ingredients. I dipped the bread in the egg mixture, and then cooked it on an electric griddle. No traditional powdered sugar! I served the French toast with a bowl of cantaloupe and strawberries. My daughter said it was "scrumptious!"

When I first started the Blood Type Diet, I read Heidi's column every day. I was fascinated, and I always learned something new. Not only that, it was as if Heidi was personally holding me accountable day by day. After she stopped writing new columns and went to reruns, I got out of the habit. But over the weekend the title on her column caught my eye. It was one I had never read, and it sparked an interesting conversation with my daughter.

If you want to read the whole column it was called. "Neutral vs. Neutral." The question was about whether all neutrals were equal or whether a neutral meat was better for a Type O than a neutral from another category. I'll paraphrase part of Heidi's answer in third person.

Neutral meat, poultry or fish has advantages over the grain and bean neutrals. Our digestive systems are better suited to the flesh food, nuts and vegetable categories than to the grain or bean groups. All neutrals are not equally useful. This applies within as well as across blood types.

A meal of grilled chicken and red lettuce salad, for instance, is heavy fare for a type A. For a Type O it feels like an appetizer. Yet these foods are neutral for both. And if a Type O had black beans instead of the chicken he would have an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.

My Type A husband eats a fair amount of protein. He almost never eats red meat anymore, but he eats a lot of fish and turkey. Our daughter on the other hand has never eaten much meat of any kind. She likes tuna, chicken and turkey, but she eats very small amounts.

Before the BTD I worried about her a lot. Was she getting enough protein for her brain? (OK, she is an honors student; her brain must be fine.) Even after I began to understand the Type A diet, it didn't seem right that she ate only a half a slice of turkey. That is nothing in comparison to the amount of meat I eat.

I showed her Heidi's column, and she totally identified with it. She said, "If I eat a whole slice of meat, I get full way too fast, and I can't eat anything else. Half a slice of meat is fine, then I have room for salad and veggies."

I needed another gentle reminder that my As are not like me.

From Matthew 25:35-40. Jesus said, "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in"…Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?"…He will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me."

People come to this website looking for food that will give them good health. We share recipes. We share experiences. We study the latest research. We hope that by eating right we will improve our physical well-being.

In my blog I try to encourage people to make the best decisions available to them, even if they can't follow the BTD perfectly. Make a few more beneficial choices. Decline a few avoids that you once would have accepted. Make the best choices you can, even in a difficult situation.

But what if you have no choice? A few months ago I went with one of the middle school classes at our school to volunteer at a food bank. I watched the students pack boxes that will be given to poor families in our community. The food in those boxes will keep them from starving, but in most cases it is not the kind of food that builds health.

Even worse, what about a person who is completely dependent on someone else to feed them? They cannot feed themselves, and rely on their family or a hospital worker to give them food and water. A baby depends in its mom and dad to feed it. Many elderly depend on family or nurses to feed them.

It used to be unthinkable that those helpless ones could be intentionally denied food and water. But today in America a court ordered that a woman in Florida be starved to death. It will take her 10 days to 2 weeks for her to die.

I understand that tragedy sometimes forces disconnecting life support equipment. I understand a "do not resuscitate" order. I can even understand a decision not allow surgery or not to administer any more medication.

I do not understand starving a person to death. You would be arrested for starving a cat.

I have not enjoyed my own food today for grieving not only for one helpless woman, but for a society that would be so calloused and intent on self gratification. I feel helpless because there seems to be nothing I can do for one of the "least of these."

Someone wrote and asked what my favorite meal would be. I had fun planning and cooking in my imagination. Here is what I came up with.

When I think of a favorite meal, it starts with red meat. Thinking about leg of lamb or eye of round roast or prime rib makes my mouth water. I order steak when we eat out, but at home I roast meat in the oven, so I have leftovers for several days.

Melissa another blogger once wrote: "I've heard somewhere that since grains don't digest properly, they cause an expansion in your stomach that gives you a false sense of fullness, or over-fullness. I haven't felt that old uncomfortable feeling for a long time, no matter how much I eat. I don't miss it, as I've traded it for a comfortable, sense of satisfaction."

I do miss that feeling! So the second thing I plan into my meal is what beneficial or neutral foods will make me feel full and satisfied. Root vegetables are good for that: baked sweet potatoes, lightly steamed parsnips, and raw carrots with nut butter for instance. Some squash fill me up - butternut and pumpkin to name two. Black beans and adzuki beans are good. A handful of nuts like walnuts or almonds will make a salad more satisfying.

I use lots of olive oil and ghee on my vegetables. Most meals I probably exceed Dr. D's portions, but we Os can handle beneficial fats. Olive oil and ghee make a lot of difference in how food tastes to me. Collard greens alone, I eat because they are good for me. Collard greens coated with oil are very good. Collard greens coated with oil and mixed with grilled onion are downright delicious.

So to finally answer your original question - a really good meal for me would be a slice of roast, romaine salad with shredded carrots and chopped walnuts, broccoli dipped in olive oil and a sweet potato.

Equally good would be a slice of lamb, spinach & raisins cooked in butter, parsnips with maple syrup, and black beans.

Our son's college roommate is visiting with us for a couple of days during spring break. He is a Type B. If I thought cooking for two blood types was complicated, planning a meal for three blood types is a real challenge.

For dinner tonight I fixed a leg of lamb. For the As, I warmed up some of last night's garlic chicken. We had curried rice, basil green beans, and tossed salad with a variety of raw vegetables. I made a quick stop at the grocery store this afternoon, and saw watermelons on sale. Remembering that watermelon is B Beneficial and O&A neutral, I bought one to go with oatmeal cookies for dessert.

Sue and Ron H. sent me another bread machine recipe. I tried it this afternoon since it was made with all spelt flour so all of us could eat it. After dinner I called my husband and daughter aside and said, "OK on a scale of 1-5, how was the bread." My husband said "five", my daughter held up 6 fingers. Here is the recipe:

Herb Bread

1 cup + 2 Tbsp warm water

2 Tbsp oil

3 Tbsp brown sugar

1 ½ tsp salt

3 ¼ cups spelt flour

2 tsp dry Italian seasoning

1 ¼ tsp Bread Machine yeast (I used 2 tsp active yeast)

Both my son and his roommate lift weights, work out, and drink protein shakes. I cautioned my son about being lured into trying whey protein. "You stick with soy, egg white or rice protein, " I said. But turning to his roommate I said, "You might really benefit from whey protein." They began kidding around, and the conversation ended with his roommate saying to me: Don't worry. If he bothers my protein, I'll say, "Get out of my whey."

We have some wonderful friends who we have known for more than 20 years. We have prayed together, traveled together, and watched each others kids grow up. "Jim" loves to eat. His favorite foods are chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and macaroni & cheese. He is Type A; his wife is Type O. I've been talking to them about the Blood Type Diet, and they are going to give it a try. I got an e-mail from Jim's wife asking how I cooked fish. Here is how I answered.

I am a very simple cook, and I tend to like single ingredient foods. I'm also frequently running late at the end of the day because of school activities. So I usually cook fish with seasoned salt.

A Vogel/Bioforce makes two salts - Herbamare which is really good for As and Trocomare which is really good for Os. Another seasoned salt at the Health Food Store is Spike. There are a few avoids for both As and Os in Spike, but they are in such small amounts that I wouldn't worry about them. Dr. D'Adamo says that if you eat 80% beneficials and neutrals you will see benefits in your health. Because of my stomach problems, I try for about 90%, but it is more important at the beginning to enjoy your food and see success than to agonize about avoids that are way down on the ingredient list.

Our daughter likes Lemon Pepper on her fish, especially trout. Look for a brand without MSG. Pepper is a Type A avoid, but again, if you can get Jim to eating fish instead of chicken fried steak, don't sweat about a little pepper!

Tony Chachere makes a Creole Seasoning that is wonderful for Os. You and your mom will love it on cod. My husband likes it too, though again it is technically too spicy for Type A low acid stomachs. Look in your grocery store for seasoned salts that Jim would like.

When we eat in restaurants, I love fish topped with grilled vegetables. I do this at home sometimes, but our daughter would rather have her vegetables raw and on the side. Onions are highly beneficial for both Os and As. Garlic, celery, and carrots are beneficial for As and neutral for Os. Jim can eat all mushrooms except shiitake. The most common mushrooms are avoid for Os, though we can have portabello. Bok Choy, fennel, and ginger are good toppings that you all could eat on fish.

Since Jim is trying to lose weight, you should move him away from wheat and toward more beneficial grains. Fortunately, most of the Beneficial A grains are Type O neutral. If you buy Ezekiel bread, you can make bread crumbs from the crusts. I bake bread in my bread machine with spelt and rye flours. I freeze the crusts and make bread crumbs from them as well. You can oven fry fish with beneficial bread crumbs and light olive oil.

When we were in Seattle for vacation a few years ago, I fell in love with smoked salmon. I have a smoker, and often smoke salmon in our back yard. Plain salmon is nice, but smoked salmon is outstanding.

My daughter and I were in the store yesterday and passed a display of cascarones. I asked if she thought her brother would have fun at college with a dozen cascarones for Easter. She said yes and that she would like some too. I certainly would enjoy giving cascarones more than giving any kind of Easter candy.

If you are not familiar with cascarones, they are confetti eggs. They are a Hispanic tradition for Fiestas and Easter. It's easy to make them yourself. Instead of cracking your eggs in the middle, you break a hole about the size of a nickel in one end and shake the egg out. The yolk usually breaks, but if you were going to use the eggs for baking or in an omelet that won't matter.

Rinse the empty shell and dye it the way you would dye a hard boiled Easter egg. Fill the shell about ¾ full with paper confetti, then glue a piece of tissue paper over the hole.

Then you walk up to a friend and break the egg over their head, sprinkling confetti in their hair. (Note: do not smash the egg on someone's head. That hurts - I know from experience! You sort of crush the shell in your hand as you rub their head)

Someone started a thread on the Forum looking for healthy Easter ideas. Cascarones are fun for people for all ages. I have another Easter idea for small children.

When my children were little, I tried to keep them away from sugar as much as possible. For my son's second Easter, my Mom bought some of the plastic eggs that you can take apart and put back together. She filled some with raisins and some with bits of cereal. Then she hid them around her house. He had a wonderful time finding the eggs, opening them, and eating the healthy snack inside.

Because I never wanted baskets of bunnies and eggs to distract us on Easter Sunday morning from church and worship, I always gave my children their baskets on Saturday before Easter. They thought it was very cool to get their baskets a day ahead of everyone else. They had their fun on Saturday, and on Sunday we could all celebrate the risen Christ.

Friday was the Folklife Festival at our school. Middle School social studies students choose a country and research the history, economy, customs, and the food. They prepare a display about their country for the Festival. Each display includes a traditional food. The Elementary classes are invited to visit the displays and sample the food.

From a yearbook perspective, we get some of our best Middle School and Elementary pictures at the Folklife Festival. From a BTD perspective, I was curious about what types of ethnic foods I would find.

Not surprisingly there were lots of starchy foods - pasta from Italy, baguettes from France, pastries from Switzerland, and several types of cookies and cakes. The Australia display had chocolate koala bears.

The Puerto Rico display included mango. I had tasted mango only once before I started the Blood Type Diet. Since then it has become one of my favorite fruits. Sometimes I eat it raw. Sometimes I grill it in a little butter or ghee. It was fun to watch the younger kids spear a cube of mango with a toothpick and taste it for the first time. Some liked it; others didn't. I wondered whether the ones who liked it were all Os, since mango is beneficial only for Os.

At Guatemala I tasted the best black beans ever. I later asked the student's mom for the recipe. It included a packaged seasoning that I need to check for MSG or other avoids before I try it. However, I can see that by serving canned black beans I have been depriving myself, and my As, of the rich flavor of dry black beans.

The Kenya display featured avocado papaya salad. Unless I turn out to be a non-secretor, avocado is avoid for me, but the student really wanted me to try some, so I did. The flavor combination was really quite good. When I got home, I checked the food lists, and found that O non-secretors are the only ones who could eat this dish. One ingredient or the other is avoid for everyone else.

It's interesting to speculate whether ethnic foods are more related to the blood types of the people, the availability of food, or the seductive qualities of wheat and sugar.

If you are a regular reader of my blogs, you know that my husband is an engineer. He is skeptical about new and untried ideas. He has not shared the enthusiasm I have had for studying nutrition, though he does acknowledge that our health has improved in many ways. You have to understand that background in order to realize the significance of his conversation yesterday in the break room.

He told this story while he and our daughter were eating breakfast this morning. (They were eating the pumpkin waffles posted on the forum by Jill. My husband does not like pumpkin pie. He does not eat pumpkin as a side dish. But he gobbled up these waffles).

He said: I was in the break room washing out a cup, when I noticed a guy from another department standing there staring into space, not saying a word. Suddenly without warning he said, "Do you take vitamins?" It caught me off guard, but I answered, "Yes, my wife gives me quite a few." The other guy said, "My wife gave me this list and I'm supposed to stop at a health food store on the way home and buy all these vitamins."

(Our daughter was beginning to grin as her dad continued) I looked at the list and said "Oh Yea, I take calcium, it helps you sleep better at night. I take some of this other stuff too. I used to get boils on my back, but I haven't had one in years.

(Our daughter is now laughing hysterically - remembering all too well how many times he has skeptically looked at the vitamins on his own plate and said, "What is this junk?" He continued his story.) I told him - "don't think of vitamins like medicine. They won't cure you in a couple of hours or a couple of days like a drug would. Think of vitamins as working with your body to build health naturally from the inside."

He ended his story by asking if I would write down the address of the Blood Type website. I often read from people on the Forum or in other columns how frustrating it is that the significant people in their lives (spouses, parents, children, friends) won't accept Blood Type principles. Don't give up on the people you love. Keep gently nudging them, keep quietly pointing out areas where their health is improving, and keep offering healthy choices. They may be absorbing more than you think. Someday when confronted by someone looking for answers, they may surprise you by how much of the BTD lifestyle they have appropriated as their own.

Today was not quite as busy as the first two days of the week. At least I got home from school before 5:00.

I ran early this morning and stopped by the grocery store on the way home. Parsnips were on sale for 99 cents a pound - I've never seen parsnips on sale. I bought 4 pounds. Kohlrabi was in stock. Mangos were 50 cents each. They were practically giving away onions. Every which way I turned there were bargains in the produce department.

I came home and cooked vegetables. For lunch I had turnip greens with ghee and parsnips along with some of yesterday's brisket. This is the second time I've combined turnip greens and ghee - they really go well together. Tonight I steamed broccoli, and cooked black-eyed peas to go along with cod fillets. We all had a half grapefruit for our salad. I served cauliflower and avocado to the As. For me I made a new batch of almond butter, which I ate with carrots.

Pardon the short blog, but what I really need now is a full night's sleep.

This is the end of the quarter at school. That means I'm just barely keeping my head above water. My class has a newspaper deadline this week. Their 9-week yearbook projects are also due. Grades have to be in the office by Friday. My daughter has tests in every subject. My son is coming home for spring break, so I should be sprucing up the house and shopping, but instead I'm staying late at school every day.

None of this lends itself to writing a well thought out blog. So tonight I'll just be honest about how I try to fit the Blood Type Diet into my life during frantic days. In a word - I take shortcuts.

Last night we didn't leave school until after 8:00. My daughter and I were both starving, and there was nothing cooking on a timer at home. We drove through a fast food Mexican restaurant and got Taco Salads. Chicken for the As, beef for me. It wasn't optimum food, but the avoids were minimal. It was less stressful to get something quick to eat than to prepare a really good meal that wouldn't be ready until after 9:00

I had unavoidable errands this morning. I was running late, and knew I wouldn't have much time for lunch before I had to change clothes and get to school. I stopped in a barbeque place and bought brisket. At home I steamed some broccoli. I would have rather had a variety of vegetables, but broccoli and brisket was beneficial and good.

Tonight was NHS induction at school. We got home late again, but not quite as late as last night. I fixed quick salads when we got home: chicken teriyaki with lettuce, carrots, and a couple of eggrolls for my daughter; shredded carrots and zucchini with tuna, black beans and olive oil for me. My husband didn't want to wait for us so he had a sandwich in front of the TV.

You could argue that if there was no time to cook, there was no time for exercise. My stress increases exponentially if I don't burn off some of the adrenaline. So, I have made time for exercise, though I've shortened the minutes somewhat. Monday I worked out with a video tape before breakfast. Today I swam - but only 16 laps instead of my usual 24.

I remind myself that this week will end. The pace will get back to normal. I will cook balanced meals again. I will have time for a real workout. In the meantime, shortcuts keep me from throwing up my hands and abandoning the BTD altogether at the moment when I need it the most.

Because none of us in my family are focused on losing weight, I don't watch portions very carefully. I include a variety of beneficials from all categories in a day's meals. I avoid avoids myself, and minimize them for the rest of the family. We finish out our meals with neutrals - often O beneficials being A neutrals and visa versa.

Mike did an interesting blog once where he went through the portion list and evaluated how he was doing. At the time I made a quick survey and realized that I was eating less grain and eggs/dairy than recommended, but quite a bit more oil and nuts. One of these days I intend to do a thorough evaluation.

I give my As quite a bit more grain than the portions recommend. I aim for meat (poultry or fish) once a day and legumes once a day. But grain goes with the meat, grain goes with the legumes, and they like grain for breakfast. Since both of them are content to maintain their weight I'm not going to start worrying about the number of grain portions.

I am however stepping up my efforts to replace wheat and corn. Both are listed as neutral for As on the food lists, but the more I read the text of the books, the more disparaging remarks I read about wheat and corn for As. I've stopped buying or making wheat bread. Ezekiel bread is reasonably priced, and I make beneficial rolls and biscuits. Spelt tortillas are too pricey for my budget, so I still buy wheat tortillas. They love corn, hominy and couscous. I'm serving them less often, but haven't banned them from the house. All the while, I'm increasing beneficial grains.

That is where this blog got its start. My daughter has never liked oatmeal. It was more the look and the texture than the taste, but nonetheless she refused to eat it. A few months ago when she got her braces tightened, I fixed her some oatmeal with soy milk, olive oil, and maple syrup. I said just try it - it will feel good on your teeth. Since then she has eaten oatmeal half-heartedly after orthodontist visits.

A friend of hers spent the night Friday night, so Saturday morning I wanted to fix a good breakfast. I made some of the crumble mix from Cranberry Crisp, but instead of cranberries I used canned pineapple, frozen blueberries, and frozen cherries. The girls liked it, but my husband really, really liked it. He snacked on it all weekend.

Last night there was just a spoonful left. My daughter moaned that she only had one serving, and that there wasn't enough left for Monday breakfast. This morning she got the last of the "berry good breakfast" and a small bowl of oatmeal. She stopped me half way through my apology for the oatmeal, saying, "You know, after you get used to it, oatmeal is good." Yes, I thought silently, and it's also beneficial."

Frequently the Forum includes threads about what to pack for lunches. The traditional idea of sandwiches and chips for lunch doesn't work for either As or Os. Type Os do well with the meat, but not with two slices of bread or with cheese. Type As are ok with more bread (though wheat bread is not good if they are watching their weight), however As are more limited in their meat choices. Plus As don't need meat for both lunch and dinner. Chips, in the traditional sense, are good for nothing and no one.

Yesterday was pretty typical of lunch in our family.

My husband has access to a microwave at his office. So I pack lots of leftovers for him. Yesterday I sent black beans, rice, and a veggie burger for him to warm up. I added a carton of grape juice, dry roasted peanuts, and rye crackers with buttery spread. I included a bag of raw veggies (carrot sticks, radishes, celery sticks and Swiss chard sticks) and a bag of raw fruit (apple slices and dates). That sounds like a lot of food, but he holds back one item from lunch to eat in the afternoon as a snack.

We had eaten salmon the night before, and salmon is one of my daughter's favorites, so I sent salmon in her lunch. She does not have a way to warm her lunches, but room temperature salmon is ok with her. I included a carton of apple juice and a slice of spelt/rye bread with buttery spread. I sent the same raw veggies with her that I sent with my husband. She likes to dip veggies in peanut butter, so I added a little plastic carton of peanut butter to her lunch.

After Monday's field trip, her classmates were more curious than ever about the vegetables in her lunch. She said, "It was sad, Mom, some of them didn't know what a radish was." Then she said, "They wanted to know what the red stuff was, but I wasn't sure so I told them it was red celery." I laughed - red celery is as good a name as any - probably better than saying Swiss Chard.

It's been a long time since I mentioned Swiss chard sticks, so I will explain again. My vegetable cookbook says to strip the leaves from the Swiss chard stems. It says to cook the stems separately or serve them raw. I love the cooked greens and will eat a few of the stems. My husband and daughter won't touch the cooked greens, but love the stems - which do look just like red celery.

My Type O lunch - salmon, cooked Swiss chard, grilled onion, and raw carrot sticks with pumpkin seed butter.