If you're a regular reader, you know that my church is doing a study called "40 Days of Purpose." This week's topic was "You were created to become like Christ." It included a word picture of how people change their habits. It had a wonderful spiritual application, but it also reminded me of how I've adapted to the Blood Type Diet.

Imagine you are in a boat, and the auto pilot is set to go straight east. You, however, want to go west. You take the wheel and force it around. However you have to keep the pressure on to work against the auto pilot. This causes stress and tension. You succeed at first, then you get tired, give up, and go back to heading a direction you didn't want to go. The better way is to reprogram the boat's auto pilot, in other words to change your core thinking. That is how you bring about lasting change.

When I first started the Blood Type Diet, I tried to find substitutes for the foods I was used to. I stopped buying wheat crackers and started buying rye crackers. I switched from safflower mayonnaise to canola mayonnaise. I was trying to force the Type O diet into my old eating habits.

It was a good place to start, and I felt better. But I remember the moment I realized that Type Os just weren't suited for sandwiches. For lunch I needed 2 or 3 vegetables and some meat. At that moment I began to adjust my auto pilot.

I can have Ezekiel bread or a kamut cookie for a snack, but I really don't need the grains. A better snack is a dish of walnuts or some carrots dipped in almond butter. Aerobic exercise isn't something I do to keep in shape; it is the way my body best diffuses stress. It has to be as much a part of my day as eating. Each of these was an adjustment to my auto pilot.

I've been on the Blood Type Diet less than a year, and I realize my core thinking is still a mixture of typical American diet, health nut, and Type O. But when I walk in a restaurant looking for something that is beneficial, rather than sighing over what I can't have, I can see that I am changing.

The 40 Days of Purpose study said that God uses the Bible, the Holy Spirit and our circumstances to change our spiritual thinking. I am using this web site, the "Food Beverage & Supplement Lists," and awareness of how foods make me feel to change my dietary thinking.

Jane wrote to remind me that cabbage is neutral for Os.

I think it was one of those Freudian mistakes. I have eaten cabbage lots of ways, never really liking it. Some cole slaw is ok; most I just can't swallow. I once had a stuffed cabbage dish that I liked, but I think it was the spicy meat that made it good, not the cabbage. So when I read in the first edition Blood Type Diet publications that cabbage was an avoid, I thought "HA! I knew there was a reason I didn't like it." I later read that it was neutral. I even have it marked in my "Food, Beverage, & Supplement List", but I still think of it negatively. My husband loves cabbage, but since it is an avoid for As, I seriously doubt I invest much time looking for cabbage recipes. It might be a better choice at barbeque restaurants than pinto beans.

The blog on kale brought in two recipes, both of which I intend to try.

Carla wrote "chop up a few tablespoons of parsley and steam it with the kale until it is a dark green color, still retaining a bit of crunch."

Michaela says, "I briefly stir fry just the leaves in sesame oil with onion & chicken, then I add a bit of plum jam or pureed plums, chili and wheat free soy sauce."

I love spinach & raisins, so kale & plums sounds like it has potential.

Several of you recommended sweet potato fries. I made them the first day my son was home from college. We both thought they were outstanding!

Cassandra said "Try sweet potato hash browns! Grate the sweet potato and fry up in butter and/or olive oil. I have found that they get mushy in my cast iron skillet, but are fine in other pans. Salt 'em, and serve 'em up. Delish with garlic powder on them, too!"



I just can't keep your comments all to myself, so I think I'll share comments on the weekends. I promise never, ever to give last names or locations. If you don't want me to use your first name, just say so.

I read this verse this morning. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psalm 103:2-5

There is a study by a group in London that says, "a chemical called AITC is released when brassica vegetables are prepared. This chemical can kill colon cancer cells and is able to stop the disease from spreading." I found this in a news story on Google Health News. It attracted my attention because the list of vegetables in the first article I read included lots of Type O avoids, while kale seemed to be the only beneficial.

Kale was my least favorite when I was trying all the beneficial greens. In fairness to kale, the first bunch I bought had a lot of yellow leaves, and the stems were thick and tough. Last week my produce department had some really fresh looking kale. I chopped it in smaller pieces than I did the first time, and it tasted much better.

Further reading on Goggle expanded the list of vegetables containing the cancer fighting chemical to include mustard, broccoli, cabbage, horseradish, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and Swede (rutabaga). Broccoli and horseradish are also Type O beneficials; but cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts are avoids.

The other thing interesting in the study was that they didn't recommend eating the vegetables raw. "AITC is created when brassica vegetables are chopped, chewed, cooked, processed and digested." Another article recommended the vegetables be, "chopped and lightly cooked in a little water…stewing the vegetables would kill the chemical."

I fix broccoli once a week because everyone in the family likes it. My grandmother, and my husband's uncle both had colon cancer, and my mom had a precancerous polyp removed. Because of that I will probably buy kale more often as well.

Another blogger once wrote that she had been on the Blood Type Diet for so long that she knew when she had eaten certain avoids because they made specific parts of her body react. I'm trying to sort out clues I got from the weekend.

Friday night friends were passing through town and stopped to have dinner with my husband and me at a local restaurant. I ordered beef liver & onions, steamed broccoli, and zucchini. I said no to gravy on the liver and no to cheese on the broccoli. It was all very tasty and seemed compliant for a Type O, except for a thin coating on the liver that I suspect was flour.

Saturday I packed a beneficial lunch for our long drive. Saturday night we went to a family style restaurant. I ordered roast with a steamed vegetable medley (carrots, yellow squash, and green peppers). It seemed like a safe choice, but the roast came covered in gravy. I scraped it off, but there was no way to totally avoid whatever wheat or corn thickener they used.

Sunday we stopped at Subway for lunch. Their "make any sub a salad" is wonderful for type Os. I added walnuts and olive oil from my bag. Sunday night we stopped for barbeque. The brisket was delicious. I stayed away from the Cole slaw and potato salad (avoids for all Os), but took a chance on the pinto beans (beneficial for non secretors; avoid for secretors)

Today I'm dealing with an achy knee. It's not all that bad. It didn't stop me from climbing up and down stairs in the parking garage while my son was at an appointment this morning. (That is definitely an intense aerobic workout by the way). I'm just aware that something's not quite right. I should probably create a data base and keep track of clues like this. Perhaps some day they will form a pattern.

Our son is home from college for the summer! He goes to a university that is more than 300 miles from home. That is a 7 hour trip in the car. We drove there on Saturday, loaded up all his worldly possessions, and drove home on Sunday.

Last summer when he and I made the trip alone for freshman orientation we left very early in the morning and made few stops in order to arrive on time for the first afternoon session. I was getting rather stiff from sitting so long in the car. So I started tensing and relaxing different muscle groups. It felt really good.

In road trips since then I have come up with a pattern I call "Five Minute Isometrics." I set the cruise control. I never take my hands off the wheel, and I never take my eyes off the road, but I can get a good workout in the car.

I isolate a muscle group and tense it HARD and then relax it. I stay with the same muscles for five minutes on the car's digital clock, and then I switch to another muscle group. (For instance I start with left quad, right quad, right bicep, left bicep. I repeat that pattern for 5 minutes.) Some of the exercises are isometric exercises our doctors have given us for shoulder and neck injuries over the years. Some come from various exercise tapes. Some I have made up in an effort to cover all my muscles. I use the steering wheel for resistance on several patterns.

We normally switch drivers every two hours. So theoretically I could get in 24 stretches. I never really get that many because when we drive through a town or a construction zone I have to take the cruise control off.

I am amazed at how much better I feel at the end of a long drive. In addition I get some exercise on travel days when there's often not time for a walk or a run.

I inherited a framed picture taken at my grandparent's 50th Anniversary Celebration. It is in my den. Friends look at it and say, "That's you on the back row, and that's your daughter in the front." No - the woman on the back row is my mother and the 4-year old girl in front is me. The three of us look remarkably alike in the face.

The rest of us is quite different. My mom and I are both tall; over 5'6". My daughter doesn't think she will ever reach 5'3". My mom has never exercised, but she has great legs. What can you say when your 88 year old mother has better looking legs than you do? My daughter says, "I have the only grandmother who looks really good in denim shorts."

I learned how to cook from my Mom. She is a natural cook, quite fearless about trying new things. It's hard to get her recipes because while she may start with a printed card, she always adds or changes, tasting as she goes. I was a terribly picky eater as a child, existing mostly on meat and bread. (good Type O instincts on the meat; not so good on the bread) She kept patiently putting good food in front of me, and was delighted when I came home from college eating vegetables.

Another thing I learned from my Mom is how to listen. A favorite memory is coming home from school with my sister and sitting around the kitchen table telling Mom about our day. I was in high school in the late 60s and early 70s when the drug culture was sweeping across the US. I remember telling tales designed to shock at those after school snack times. Rather than lecture, she would say, "Well, what do you think about that?" or "Do you think that's a good idea?" Before long I was telling her how foolish or immature the event at school had been. I learned my best journalistic interviewing techniques not in college classes but around my kitchen table.

I learned about unconditional love from my Mom. That doesn't mean she approved of every thing I did. It means that while she tried to modify my behavior, she wasn't trying to change the real me inside. She is always supportive of my activities, always amiable with my friends, always interested in what I have to say.

The only thing I've ever known her to be afraid of is the computer. Hopefully my Dad will go onto my Blog today so I can say "I love you, Mom."

My students had earned a reward party for making their deadlines. They would have liked a half day shopping at the mall, but this close to finals I didn't think the principal would approve. We compromised on tacos and a movie in our classroom. So yesterday I bought lots of tacos (some beef and some bean and cheese) and we watched "Dumb and Dumber". After the party there were some beef tacos left.

Last night my husband and I had to go to a swim league meeting. I knew we would need to leave immediately for the meeting when he got home from work. What to do for dinner? I scooped out the meat and lettuce from some of the tacos and ate it with left over veggies. My daughter said she would warm up the left over lentils after we were gone (yes!). I thought - my husband does not follow the BTD, I'll just give him tacos and some sliced fruit. He can eat in the car on the way to the meeting, and I'll drive.

He ate the first taco pretty fast; I guess he was hungry. He opened the second taco and said, "This isn't good for me, is it?" before he ate it. He took the meat out of the third taco, and said, "Beef, yuck," and ate the corn shell and lettuce.

I felt so guilty. I cannot tell you how guilty I felt. I've been trying to get him interested following the Type A Diet. I prepare type A lunches for him to take to work, and I try to make the new Type A foods I serve at dinner appetizing. Then not only do I serve him a major avoid for dinner, but he recognizes it and calls it to my attention.

After the meeting he was driving home and took an exit that wasn't for our house. I asked where we were going, and as he pulled into Dairy Queen he said, "I have a craving for a freeze."

Well that ended my guilt! But it is interesting to me that he is recognizing what is good for him, and he expects me to feed him beneficials. However he's not ready to take personal responsibility for his eating yet.

Sometimes experiences that test and aggravate us at the time later turn out to benefit and encourage others. (2 Corinthians 1:4). I had an experience with the pill that might help Jennifer and other young women who are deciding about this issue.

When my husband and I married, my doctor automatically put me on the pill. I don't recall that the doctor even talked about any other birth control method. I remember him saying that unless I wanted to have a baby, I could stay on the pill until I was in my 40s. I had a vague feeling that I didn't like how the pill made me feel, but everyone else I knew was using the pill, so I took it.

One evening when we had been married about a year we invited another couple over for dinner. My friend and I were in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on dinner, when she began complaining about her gynecologist. She said that he didn't completely trust the pill and that he made all his patients get off once a year. I told her about my gynecologist who wouldn't talk to me about anything but the pill. We laughed and said we should switch doctors, but before she left my house that night, I got her doctor's name.

I made an appointment with him, and he said that while he believed the pill was safe for most women, he wanted his patients once a year to get off and have one normal menstrual cycle. Then they could go back to the pill. He had information about lots of other birth control methods and the percentages of effectiveness for each one.

My husband, being an engineer, recognized the statistical principal that combining two methods would increase the effectiveness to equal the pill. So I stopped the pill; just for a few weeks, we thought.

It was a full year before I had a period. It was two years before my cycle was back to normal. Some women, like me, over react to the pill, but there is no way to know ahead of time who will do fine and who will have problems.

Now that I have two children I ask myself, "What if I had stayed on the pill for years until we were ready for a baby? How long then would it have taken for my cycle to return to normal? Could I ever have gotten pregnant?"

Needless to say I never went back on the pill. I don't oppose other women taking it, but I think that gynecologist's idea of giving your body a break once a year is excellent. I also believe that the conversation in the kitchen with my friend was the direct intervention of God in my life and in the lives of my future son and daughter.

My daughter's mouth was really sore after her trip to the orthodontist, so last night I told her I was going to cook lentils. I said that they would be very soft and feel good in her mouth.

I had bought ingredients for a lentil and barley recipe. Half way through cooking, I decided it didn't smell very flavorful, so I added the spices (marjoram, thyme, garlic and celery) from a lentil recipe on RECIbase.

I fixed frozen blueberries for her and a salad with fresh cauliflower for my husband. They came to serve their plates and looked suspiciously at the pot of lentils. "Don't tell me what it is," said my husband. "I don't want to know. I'll just call it gumbo."

They took tentative tastes. "It's not bad," said my husband. "It's not my favorite, but I'd eat it again," said my daughter. Soon they both got up and went back for seconds. It took great self control not to jump up and shout "YES".

Lentils and barley are both avoids for me, so with my salad I had a ground beef patty, yellow squash and grilled onions. A two blood type family sure generates a lot of dirty pots and pans!

Sitting in the orthodontist's office this morning waiting for my daughter to have her braces tightened, I picked up a copy of "Good Housekeeping" that had a weight loss article featured on the cover. I thought I would see if there was anything remotely related to the Blood Type Diet. Unfortunately it was the usual confused mixture of low-fat, low-carb, count calories advice that is doomed to failure.

However I did learn something. They quoted a study that said "women lose muscle mass at a rate of roughly one-third to one-half a pound each year after age 35. I certainly watched that happen to me, and it is one of the things I have had success changing with the Type O diet.

My husband and I are both very active, and have always exercised year round. We ran together until he had back surgery (the same year our 19-year-old son was born). After that we walked briskly or swam 4-6 days a week. Nevertheless, I watched my leg muscles gradually go soft. I wasn't over weight - I was well within the guidelines for my height. But, last spring when I tensed my legs, I could see no visible change. Disgusting!

Before the Blood Type Diet, I always felt a little guilty that I wanted more protein, especially more meat. This year I have enjoyed eating beneficial meats. I have also begun to vary my exercise. I continue to swim and walk, but I also run, bike, and work with weights. When I tense my legs now, there is muscle definition. Delightful!

The article went on to say that, "Women need not fear bulking up. Working out with ‘moderately challenging' weight (a weight that makes you feel fatigued after eight to 10 repetitions) will increase lean muscle mass, which burns calories even when the body is at rest."

I can see that the weights I am using are no longer heavy enough. When I started I could barely do 5 repetitions. Now I do 15 - 20 without fatigue. I've got to look into new weights. Having come this far, I certainly don't want to start losing muscle again.

I have spent the day restoring order to my house after last week's hectic deadlines. I think it is a good day to share ideas from my comment box.

First, my daughter is back from her mission trip to the homeless shelter. She experienced a world far different from her own. The thing that touched her most was working with the children of homeless families. She and her classmates played with them and helped them with homework in an after school program at the shelter. The Type A food she took worked out well. They had apple juice for breakfast, and she mixed her protein shake in that.

Sarah wrote with an idea that I wish we had though of. "The solution I have found works best when traveling is to bring plenty of those little one-drink cartons of soy or rice milk." Sarah had other ideas for travelers, "Cans of sardines are useful emergency rations for As & Os; also rice pasta, the very thin kind that you can just soak in hot water. One still has to think of fruit & veg but at least one won't starve or have to eat avoids." Great ideas for summer vacations!

Judith sent a recipe for roasted vegetables that I plan to try when my son gets home from college for the summer. It sounds delicious. I like it when you all send me recipes. Don't stop, but also post them on the RECIbase. That way other visitors to the website can access them. I am trying to use RECIbase more often when I need a new idea.

Another recipe came from another Suzanne. She grated jicima to make potato pancakes and said her family loved them. (Is it on RECIbase yet?) It made me think of grating jicima to make hash browns. I wasn't happy with the results. I cooked them in a skillet with the lid on and they were too mushy. Next time I'll try with the lid off.

Also on the subject of potatoes, Terry makes sweet potato fries. Another thing to try when my Type O son is home for the summer!

I'm amazed at how many combination Type A/Type O families there are. For those who said I have encouraged them, I can only say you encourage me right back. Terry really made me laugh when she wrote, "Typically, my husband and oldest daughter only follow the diet because it's the only food we have in the house!"

I am also amazed at how many of you have written to say that God led you to the Blood Type Diet during a health crisis. I say "Amen!" The Blood Type Diet was certainly the answer to my prayers.

Our church is joining many other churches in a 6 week Bible study called 40 Days of Purpose. I had never thought about how many times the Bible uses the word purpose or a synonym for purpose until this study. For example, Proverbs 16:4 says, The Lord has made everything for his purpose.

Rick Warren, a California pastor, has identified five things that give meaning and purpose to life. We are to study one of those purposes each week. This week it was "You were planned for God's pleasure." Psalm 149:4 says The Lord takes pleasure in his people.

Of all the illustrations used to explain this, my favorite was that of a father and his children. When my husband and I thought about having children, we wanted to hold them and watch them grow and be with them. Thinking of our children makes me smile. It is fun sometimes just to watch them sleep, and a hug from them is the greatest gift in the world.

In the same way, God created us to love him and be with him. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment," said Jesus quoting Moses.

One of the ways God shows his love for us is the abundance in the world he made for us. He could have arranged for us to get all the nourishment we need from one power packed, blah tasting substance. Instead he gave us an amazing variety of foods that give pleasure to the tongue and strength to the body. When I sit down to a meal and give thanks for the food he has provided, I am worshiping him.

In honor of the Kentucky Derby, my new vegetable of the week is - horseradish. My Mom loves horseradish. But when I was little and she would eat it, she always commented about how hot it was. This did not inspire me to try it!

Last summer (when I had been on the Blood Type Diet for about 6 weeks) we went on vacation and stopped to visit friends in Ohio. Pam had a variety of meats, cheeses, and breads, and she told everyone to make their own sandwich to take on a picnic. When I picked roast beef, Pam said "Oh, I have horseradish to go with that." I knew horseradish was a Type O beneficial, so I tried it. I liked the flavor, and it wasn't nearly as hot as I had feared.

However, when I got back home and tried to buy horseradish, every brand I could find was mixed in a dressing made from soy oil (Type O avoid). I gave up on horseradish, until this week when I found plain horseradish root in a bin in the produce department.

I asked the produce manager, "How do people eat this?" He said that they usually chopped it and mixed it with mayonnaise. We started brain storming, and came up with the idea of chopping it fine and mixing it in olive oil. The produce manager thought that would work.

I've written before that collard greens, turnip greens and kale don't excite me unless they are well seasoned. I had some left over ground beef. I tossed it in with turnip greens and seasoned it all with the horseradish/olive oil mix that had been marinating over night. It was very good: spicy but not too hot.

This has been a stressful week. My journalism class published the April issue of the school newspaper, AND prepared to ship the second third of our yearbook pages to the publisher. That has meant a lot of proofing and a lot of late hours at the computer. It has also meant a lot of extra adrenaline.

There is no doubt that "intense physical exercise" is the best for me as a Type O.

On Monday I rode my bike. To tell the truth there was no time for exercise, so I jumped on the bike and did two errands. I rode hard and felt great. Tuesday I did stretching exercises with a video tape. I'm sure my joints benefit from the stretching, but it didn't work off the tension in my muscles.

Wednesday I ran two miles. I usually run about a mile and a half in a hilly area. Because I ran on a fairly level path near my house, I ran two miles. I was energized! I not only felt great physically, but I had the satisfaction of breaking through a barrier. It was the first time I had run 2 full miles since before my son was born.

Thursday I was a little sore from the 2 mile run, so I gave my muscles a rest. The right decision for my legs I'm sure, but I could feel the build up of stress in my shoulders.

I just got in from a hard swim. I feel wonderful. All the tension was left behind in the water.

I had my annual physical yesterday. It was 14 months ago that, after trying everything I knew to do, I complained to our family doctor about increasingly painful indigestion. He put me on Nex-ium. Two months later, when I wasn't feeling significantly better, he sent me to a specialist. When the specialist could not find a reason for the inflammation in my stomach, providence led me to the Blood Type Diet. Sometime I will write those details, but today's blog is about yesterday's appointment.

My doctor noticed immediately that I had lost 15 pounds. I told him that when the specialist had nothing to offer, I read that Type Os were the most likely to have stomach and digestive system problems. He raised his eyebrows. I said that as I read about the Blood Type Diet, I realized that I was eating the wrong foods first thing every morning. I told him I started following the Type O diet and was off the medication in less than two weeks.

He asked what I ate, and I told him lots of protein and lots of fruits and vegetables, very little grain*, and no dairy. He said, "If you don't eat wheat, do you eat corn?" I said no, that rice, kamut and oats were ok, but that I didn't really eat much of them. He wanted to be sure that if I wasn't eating dairy that I was taking calcium. Other than that, he didn't have a single negative thing to say. He totally approved of the quantity of fresh food I eat. He looked over my cholesterol report and said it looked great

He has been our family doctor since 1979, and he has not always approved of some of the vitamin programs I've tried. However, he did not in any way discourage me from continuing to pursue the Blood Type Diet.

* No longer grain free. click here for more info

A comment from Joan and a line in Catherine's blog got me thinking about how I make practical decisions about living life on the Blood Type Diet.

I've condensed a paragraph from Catherine's blog. "A big chunk of my money has gone on health supplements and foods. I can't help feeling resentful about that sometimes…There are so many different approaches and brands…Practitioners and manufacturers are also trying to make money so how do you know who to trust?"

Joan's comment (after I wrote about my daughter taking protein bars on a mission trip) was: "What soy protein bars did she get?" I could imagine Joan thinking - "Suzanne has found a blood type friendly protein bar!!!"

My store has an entire shelf of protein bars. They cost as little as 75 cents and as much as $3. To be honest, I didn't read the ingredients and I don't remember the brand name. I had my daughter pick soy bars that sounded good to her and were a dollar or less. The way I looked at it - if she chose it herself she would eat it. If the first ingredient was soy protein, it would be infinitely better for her (Type A) than chips, candy bars or other vending machine snacks.

I could have read the labels and picked something expensive that she didn't want. What would be the point of that? I walked a fine line between being strictly on the diet and being practical.

I face the same sort of decisions at the grocery store. Organic carrots cost about the same as regular carrots, so I buy organic. Organic fruit is way too expensive for my budget, so I buy regular. At the meat counter, I can choose between cheap commercial chicken, moderately priced no-hormone chicken or expensive organically fed chicken. I go for the middle. In supplements, I choose capsules over tablets because they are better absorbed, and I buy moderately priced, respected brands at a health food store.

I have to be practical. How long would my family go along with the Blood Type Diet if I spent so much money on rare foods and supplements that we had to disconnect the satellite TV or buy generic tennis shoes? Not Long!!

Some of you are horrified at what I just wrote. Most of you are breathing a sigh of relief. Like Catherine, your budget won't allow you to buy the best all the time. Don't be resentful, and trust your own good judgment. Maximize the beneficials; minimize the avoids. You will feel better, and you will be less stressed.

My daughter left this morning on a mission trip. Her 8th grade class from school will spend 5 days working in a homeless shelter in another city. They will be doing clean up projects in the morning and working with children in after school care in the afternoons.

Sometimes I have told funny stories about her resistance to trying new foods that would be beneficial to her as a type A. But this weekend as she packed and repacked her suitcase, I could see that she really has absorbed a lot about eating right for her type.

She was concerned about breakfast. She starts each day with a shake made with soy milk and a soy protein mix. She likes it smooth, like when she makes it in the blender; not lumpy, like when she shakes or stirs. So she asked to buy a hand blender. It will also be useful on vacation this summer. After much debate she decided to take the protein mix, but not the soy milk. She can keep the mix in her suitcase, and she wasn't sure she would have access to a refrigerator.

They will be eating and sleeping at a nearby youth camp. "You should see the menu, Mom," she said, "hotdogs, hamburgers, chicken nuggets." We decided she could take a jar of peanut butter. Type As can live on peanut butter for weeks. (I enjoy smelling it when I fix her a sandwich, but I choose almond and sesame butter for myself.) The good news about dinner was that there would be a salad bar. There are many good Type A choices in a salad bar.

She bought some soy protein bars to keep in her back pack for snacks when they are at the shelter.

I'm going to miss her a lot this week. I'm pleased that she understood on her own that she will feel better and have more energy if she watches what she eats. Even more, I'm glad she is willing to serve others in the name of the Lord.

I am facing a yearbook deadline at the end of next week. So today is another Saturday at the school, proofing student page submissions. I packed tuna, English peas, and parsnips for lunch; and while I eat I thought I'd blog.

In our family my daughter seems to have the best immune system. She is rarely sick and when she is, she usually fights it off quickly. My husband has the worst immune system. When he catches a cold it goes on and on, turns into a secondary infection, and he winds up on antibiotics. My son and I are in the middle. We occasionally pick up a bug, and it takes us several days to fight it off.

I have long been concerned about my husband so frequently being on antibiotics. I have convinced him to try lots of vitamins, herbs, and potions over the years. Nothing has kept him from being on antibiotics 2 or 3 times each winter.

He went to the doctor for a shoulder spasm last week, and that caused us to review our health. We suddenly realized that he hadn't been on antibiotics a single time all winter. We also realized that our daughter had had one brief cold, I had one brief cold, and our son had called from college once seeking advice about a scratchy throat that quickly disappeared. My husband had two colds, but he got over both within a week.

I speculated that his Type A Diet, particularly less milk and meat but more legumes and soy, might be the cause. As I said in my biography, my husband is skeptical, but he can't come up with anything else that was different about this winter.

I had never tasted fresh pineapple juice until today, and I was not prepared for how delicious it would be.

Everyone in my family loves fresh pineapple. I can buy two kinds in my local stores. Mexican pineapples are very inexpensive, but they are not very juicy and not very sweet. Del Monte Golds, grown in Costa Rica, are very juicy and very sweet. They are also rather expensive. I haven't seen a Hawaiian pineapple locally in ages.

After some bad experiences with Mexican pineapples years ago, I decided never to buy them again. I would wait for a good price on the Golds. We eat them slowly, enjoying every bite.

When I started the Blood Type Diet, I couldn't understand why pineapple was neutral but pineapple juice was beneficial. I've read Dr. D'Adamo's explanation, and it made sense - sort of. I keep little 6 oz. cans of pineapple juice around. They make great snacks and are handy for breakfast when we're traveling. But I was appalled at the idea of juicing one of my expensive, sweet Golds. In addition, I know how important the fiber in fresh fruits is to my intestinal health. I didn't want to discard it.

This week I noticed a really good price on Mexican pineapples, and I wondered what would happen if I juiced them. It couldn't hurt to try. The juice came out of the juicer frothy and thick, nothing like the thin, pale pineapple juice in the cans. Everything about it tasted beneficial and wonderful.

Now, whichever pineapples are on special will be in my shopping cart: the Golds for eating and the cheap Mexican pineapples for juicing.

There are several family favorite meals that I no longer make because they call for avoids like cream of mushroom soup or sour cream. When I read in Paul's blog that silken tofu can be used as a sauce, I was very excited. Tofu is a beneficial for the two As in my family, and as far as I know it is neutral for me. I bought silken tofu as my new food for last week.

I put some in the blender, and it did indeed become wonderfully creamy. Then I started blending in things for taste. My husband and daughter were watching a movie together. Every time I thought I might have a good sauce, I would go into the den with two taste spoons. Every time I left the den with decidedly negative responses. They were relieved when I gave up and tossed the creamy mess into the trash.

Next I went on the internet. There are lots of tofu sauce recipes are out there, but they are either for sweet dessert-like sauces or the first ingredient is vinegar. Since vinegar is an avoid for my Type As, I could forget all those recipes.

We had chef salad over the weekend, so I cut some of the tofu into little cubes and added it to the salads. My husband said, "It's ok, but not as good as soy cheese." My daughter gave hers to the dog, and made sure I noticed that even the dog didn't finish it.

They wanted to know what tofu really was. I said that it was a different form of soy, sort of like sour cream and cream cheese are different forms of milk products. Then my daughter wanted to know why I never bought blueberry cream cheese any more. She already knew the answer - it is an avoid for everyone in the family. I said, "What if I blend blueberries into the tofu, would you try it for breakfast?" She raised her eyebrows and said, "I'd try it - but not tomorrow."

So I have failed my first tofu test. The remnant of my first purchase is now way past the expiration date. I'm not giving up. But I will wait a few weeks before I experiment with tofu again.