Long ago I read about a lady from Panama who said that her mother cooked the best meat in the world. Her mother would lay papaya skins on top of the meat and roast it slowly. This was back when cooking with papaya enzymes was popular among health food nuts. I bought papaya enzymes and used them for a while. They actually worked pretty well, but soon another fad replaced them.

Last week my grocery store had papayas on sale, and I bought one. As I was peeling it, I remembered that Panamanian woman. I had chicken out to fix for dinner. I covered the chicken breasts with papaya skin. I put them in the oven, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, then covered them and reduced the heat to 325. Total cooking time was an hour.

The chicken breasts were moist and tender and delicious. We ate them that night with vegetables. The next day for my husband and daughter's lunches I spread refried black beans on tortillas. I topped them with leftover chicken and lettuce.

Though papaya itself is avoid for Type As, I did not feel bad serving this chicken to them for several reasons. First, I did not serve them the fruit (I ate that myself for breakfast). Second, the enzymes from the skins soaked into the chicken to make it tender, but did not give it a fruity or tropical flavor. I saw no evidence that papaya juice infiltrated the chicken.

Third, papaya is a tier two avoid, so, it is not a major problem maker for Type As if they did consume a few drops of papaya juice. I think I will treat this like the phenomenon that Type As can have beef broth - they just can't eat beef.

I am reading a book called "The Imitation of Christ" by a 14th century monk. I did not expect to find anything about the Blood Type Diet in this book, but here is a quote that came pretty close. "It is vanity to desire to live long and not to care to live well." I immediately thought of people who abuse their bodies for 50 years, then survive for the rest of their lives with aches, pains, and prescription drugs. I want to take care of my body so that I can live well.

Here is another, "It is a great folly to neglect the things that are profitable…and to choose to dwell upon that which is curious and hurtful." How many blogs and how many threads on the Forum deal with neglecting beneficial foods and dwelling on hurtful avoids? Truth is truth, no matter where you find it. Even more awesome is what he says about living the Christian life!