A locally owned Italian restaurant moved, and to promote their new location distributed buy-one-get-one-free meal coupons. Honorable Husband, Darling Daughter, and I decided to give them a try after church on Sunday. The special of the day, lasagna and salad bar, was HH's choice. DD decided on spaghetti and salad bar. The spaghetti portion was so large that DD brought home enough for two school lunchbox servings.

I went over the menu looking for something Type O. There was a chicken Cesar salad. Romaine would be beneficial and chicken neutral, but there would be multiple avoids in the dressing and Parmesan cheese. Besides, I don't like Cesar salad all that much.

Then I saw a steak sandwich topped with grilled onions, peppers, mushrooms, and mozzarella. That sounded really good. Beneficial steak and onions. Neutral peppers and mozzarella. The mushrooms would be the unknown since some varieties are neutral and some are avoid. I decided to go with the steak sandwich and discard the bread.

A few minutes later the server came back to the table apologizing. They were out of bread, would I pick another lunch? I laughed and told her that I didn't eat bread and that I had ordered it because the inside of the sandwich sounded good. I told her I would be happy if she brought it to me without the bread. She couldn't believe it, and offered me a free trip to the salad bar. I accepted the salad, and assured her that the bread didn't matter.

When she brought our meals, mine was served in an individual casserole dish. The chef had filled it with thin sliced steak and grilled vegetables, then covered it with marinara and mozzarella. Then he heated it until it melted all together. It was incredibly delicious. I loved every bite.

As I finished, the owner came to the table. He told me about how wonderful the bread was that they usually served with the sandwich. He spoke with pride about the fresh vegetables and the veal he used in his food. He apologized and apologized for not serving it the way it was described in the menu.

When I could finally get a word in, I said, "No apologies necessary. What I want to know is, the next time we come, can you serve me exactly what you served today. It was perfect." He beamed and said, Of course we can." We will return to this restaurant with our without a coupon.

When Lloyd-O-Secretor started his pumpkin thread on the Forum on September 21, I began to get hungry for pumpkin. He wrote of waiting for the price to go down. I was waiting for pie pumpkins.

Since my first fall on the BTD I have cooked pie pumpkins and loved them - until last year. Most of the pumpkins I bought last year were dry, stringy, and/or flavorless. I bought them out of a bin that said pie pumpkins, but I think they were mislabeled. The last pumpkin I bought at the end of the season last year came from Colorado, and it was as delicious as the pumpkin I remembered from previous years.

I found Colorado Pie Pumpkins in the store this week, and baked one last night. As soon as I post this blog, I will have delicious pumpkin leftovers for lunch.

There are lots of right ways to prepare pumpkin, as you know if you've been reading the thread on the Forum. I bake mine whole. I wash off the outside skin and set the pumpkin, stem side up, on a baking sheet. I cook it at 325 - 350 degrees until I can mash in the sides. Yesterday's pumpkin took about and hour and 15 minutes to cook.

After it cools, I cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and remove the peeling. I mash the pumpkin in a big bowl and add pumpkin pie spices (cinnamon, cloves, and all spice). I can't give you measurements because pumpkins are different sizes. I stir in some ghee, and sometimes a little pineapple juice.

I put it back in the oven at 350 degrees until it is heated all the way through. This lets the flavor of the spices permeate the pumpkin. I serve it as a vegetable. It's not sweet like a dessert.

Pie pumpkins do not have good seeds. I buy plump green pumpkin seeds year round, and eat them in trail mix and in nut butter. When my Darling Daughter was in elementary school, her teacher saved the seeds from a giant jack-o-lantern. The children roasted them, and DD brought some home. They were delicious.

I have roasted seeds from pie pumpkins and they are nothing but hull. You chew and chew and chew and you might as well be eating straw. If you want delicious pumpkin, buy pie pumpkins and throw away the seeds. If you want delicious seeds, buy the green ones in the health food store or buy a giant decorative pumpkin. Do not expect to get good seeds and tasty vegetables from the same pumpkin.

Sunday our church had a pot luck lunch for a couple who has been transferred to another city. They have taught children's Sunday School for years, indeed they taught both of our children. Our church will miss them, and my husband and I will personally miss their friendship

This did not turn out to be an ordinary pot luck luncheon. The ladies who organized it put out a flyer that asked everyone to bring an entrée and another side dish. There were no breads or desserts - usually the dominant pot luck foods.

There were lots of salads, both green salads and fruit salads. The best one I tasted had mixed greens, carrots, almonds and some kind of fruity dressing. There were a fair variety of vegetables. I took basil green beans, and there was only one spoonful left when I brought the dish home. Because everyone was asked to bring an entrée, there was plenty of protein. Some people brought casseroles, but others brought chicken and chili. I had picked up a two-pack of eye of round roasts at Sams. I cooked both of them on slow heat Saturday night. One went to the pot luck, the other went into my refrigerator.

So often I leave a church dinner either still hungry or feeling guilty for eating stuff that I know isn't good for me. Not this time. I had an abundance of Type O choices, and came home well fed, physically as well as spiritually.

I woke up Wednesday morning feeling great, and ran two miles. I was busy all morning, ate lunch, and went to school. I got home from school and had a full blown urinary tract infection. Incredible! How did it happen so fast, and without warning?

The only avoids I have had in several weeks were the two pieces of cheesecake for my daughter's birthday. I don't think I got a UTI from 2 pieces of cheesecake.

I am still struggling to be more disciplined about sleep. I can believe that vulnerability to the infection was affected by lack of sleep.

What I think is most likely is that this is the result of stress. I have always been fascinated by the "Life Change Events" study that deals with the probability of disease. My score in the past six weeks has been 190. Though the things that are going on in my life are good, change is nonetheless stressful.

Fortunately, the symptoms hit right before the doctor's office closed, so I got antibiotics quickly. (Don't even talk to me about natural remedies when the water in the toilet is pink and the bladder contractions are so painful they bring tears to my eyes.) I felt fine by the next day, though I know I have to finish the full 10 days of antibiotics.

If you aren't familiar with the Life Change Events" study, or if you haven't added your score in a while, here it is.

Stress is a major catalyst in the disease process. Life events such as a wedding, divorce, death, job change, job loss, and moving are all major stressors in life. The well known study on "Life Change Events" (Holmes and Rahe, 1967) ranks stressful events on a point basis. The more of these events a person experienced in a given time, the more likely they were to become ill.

* Death of Spouse - 100 pts.

* Divorce - 73

* Marital Separation - 65

* Jail Term - 63

* Death of Close Family Member - 63

* Personal Injury or Illness - 53

* Marriage - 50

* Fired from Work - 47

* Marital Reconciliation - 45

* Retirement - 45

* Change in Family Member's Health - 44

* Pregnancy - 40

* Sex Difficulties - 39

* Addition to Family - 39

* Business Readjustment - 39

* Change in Financial Status - 38

* Death of a Close Friend - 37

* Change to a Different Line of Work - 36

* Change in the Number of Marital Arguments - 35

* Mortgage or Loan over $10,000 - 31

* Foreclosure of Mortgage or Loan - 30

* Change in Work or Responsibilities - 29

* Son or Daughter Leaving Home - 29

* Trouble with In-Laws - 29

* Outstanding Personal Achievement - 28

* Spouse Begins or Stops Work - 26

* Starting or Finishing School - 26

* Change in Living Conditions - 25

* Revision of Personal Habits - 24

* Trouble with Boss - 23

* Change in Work Hours, Conditions - 20

* Change in Residence - 20

As soon as I got my husband and daughter out the door this morning, I went for a run. The weather was foggy and cool. It seemed to me that I ran faster than usual. It was a really good feeling.

My plan was to start a load of laundry, then eat my breakfast. However, I was out of laundry detergent. How did that happen? It wasn't even on the list. So I went to the store feeling hungry and wearing my sweaty clothes.

Very quickly I realized I should have grabbed at least a bite to eat. Walking down the produce isle was torture. Packaged spinach is back on the shelves. I stood in front of the spinach for a while, deciding whether I was going to be paranoid about e-coli. I decided, no. I have really missed fresh spinach. I bought a bag.

At the deli, I bought sliced roast and sliced turkey. They had a natural roast seasoned with garlic on sale. When the lady at the deli counter opened the package, she said, "Oh this smells so good. Do you want a taste?" That wonderful woman gave me an entire slice of roast. My hunger was satisfied.

I had hoped to buy the natural Black Angus ground beef that I blogged about last summer. But it has been discontinued. I guess there was not enough demand for hormone free meat. What a disappointment.

Another disappointment waited in the canned vegetables. I had been able to buy English peas without sugar added, but these have also vanished off the shelves. They did have organic peas. I read the label. It said, "organic sugar added." I laughed out loud, causing people to stare at me. Why would you add any sugar at all to organic peas? I went to the frozen food isle where the peas are truly natural. While I was looking for peas, I saw a new product - frozen artichoke quarters. The price was reasonable, so I bought a bag. It is worth a try, since fresh artichokes are so expensive most of the year.

My daughter says I am easily amused. I guess so if I can turn a trip to the grocery store into an adventure.

My Darling Daughter's birthday was over the weekend. She and a couple of friends spent the night at our house, went shopping, and watched movies. I fed them garlic chicken, lots of fruit, and Sue H's Italian herb bread.

For a birthday cake, DD wanted cheesecake. My mother makes the best cheesecake in the world. That is not an exaggeration. I reached a point (in my pre-BTD days) that I refused to order cheesecake in a restaurant because I was always disappointed. No matter how famous the restaurant claimed it's cheesecake was, my mother's recipe was the best.

I enjoyed indulging in a couple of small pieces in honor of DD's birthday. Cheesecake may be an avoid, but it is delicious. However it occurred to me that this recipe would be beneficial and neutral for Type Bs. Oh my, how envious I am. To eat my mother's cheese cake and know that it was good for me.

So if you are Type O or A, stop reading now. But if you are Type B, here is Suzanne's Mother's cheesecake. One more thing - she always made it with regular sour cream and cream cheese. For years I have used light. It does not change the texture or the taste.

Pat in pie crust that is neutral for your Type

12 ounces cream cheese

2 eggs

1 ½ cup sugar (divided)

½ tsp vanilla

1 pint sour cream

Pat the pie crust into a baking pan. A spring form pan works best for me.

Beat cream cheese and ¾ cup sugar together until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla. Pour this into the Zweiback lined pan. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cake will rise like a soufflé. Remove from the oven and let it cool about 10 minutes.

Mix the sour cream with ¾ cup sugar. Pour this on top of the cake. Put it back in the oven for 10 minutes. Let it cool 30 minutes, then refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.

I was at the store looking for dinner ideas. I try to build our evening meal around something that the Os and the As can enjoy together. Fish, chicken, turkey and eggs are all good choices. Nothing at the fresh fish counter caught my eye, so I moved on to frozen fish. I like keeping fish in my freezer, because it's fast and easy if I get home from school late. I bought a bag of frozen flounder.

It was not a good choice.

The As did not like it. They couldn't give me a reason why they didn't like it, but neither of them ate much. On a hunch I looked up flounder, and saw that it was avoid for As. My mistake! There is quite a long list of fish that are Type A avoids, and I don't have them all memorized. It was rather interesting, however, that both my husband and daughter somehow knew they shouldn't eat it.

Flounder is neutral for me, but I didn't like it either. There were too many small bones. My rational mind tells me that these bones are probably too small and soft to hurt me, but when I bite down on one of them or it scratches the side of my cheek, I have to spit it out. Though the fish tasted good, finding and discarding all those bones made this flounder too much work to be pleasurable. Despite that, I've been eating lots of flounder. I hate to just throw it away, and I don't want to give it to the As, now that I'm aware that it is an avoid. I had finished all but the last piece.

One night my husband and I had to make a decision before dinner. We were not in agreement at first, so we had to sort through the pros and cons. Suddenly I was hungry. It was probably the stress of the decision, but I was really hungry. I got the flounder out of the refrigerator and ate it (only two bones in that piece). It served its purpose. The protein calmed me down, we reached a good decision, and then I fixed a dinner we could all enjoy.

Flounder is off my grocery list. Cod is a better choice. It beneficial for us all, and no bones!

When I woke this morning I was still a little sluggish from last night's avoids and over eating. I had a very beneficial breakfast and went to school. For lunch I had a steak salad that was mostly beneficial (only two neutrals, no avoids). After lunch I felt completely normal. I thought to myself, "Well, last night was dumb, but I got away with it."

I had planned to run today, but it was way too hot when I got home from school. We had dinner, and I waited until the sun had set and the temperature was cooler. I started off on my usual two mile run. I was a little sluggish at first, but I blamed it on the weather. About a mile and a half into the course, I realized that my joints were achy. Nothing serious; I kept on running; but I was aware of pain that I haven't felt in a long time. Specifically that I haven't felt in three years since I started the BTD.

I finished the run, fully aware that I hadn't gotten away with anything. My body knows what's good for it.

Today was the first day of teacher in service. I was not used to getting up so early or sitting so much. (I'm laying the groundwork to excuse my later behavior).

Tonight was the back to school dinner for faculty and spouses. It was to be at a Mexican restaurant, so I packed a really healthy lunch - a ground beef patty, turnip greens, and parsnips. (My behavior was inexcusable because I had ample warning that temptation was coming.)

When my husband and I arrived at the restaurant, we were given four menu choices. Normally taco salad is one of the choices, but tonight it was not. All of the choices were dinners with rice and pinto beans. I chose a grilled chicken breast (because it had the least grain), but it was covered with queso (avoid cheese sauce).

If I had stopped there, I would have been ok, but one of the teachers had baked a huge, beautiful carrot cake. I was away from the table the first time they brought the cake around, so it would have been really easy to not eat the cake. But I watched everyone else eating, and I grabbed a piece when they walked back through the second time.

I was enjoying my cake, and hadn't started feeling guilty yet, when the teacher next to me said, "Suzanne, I don't know when I've seen you eat a piece of cake." Ouch!!! People are always watching to see if I follow through on what I say I believe. It is true of my Christian walk, and true of the BTD.

By the time I got home I was tired and hungry (wheat does that to Type Os). Instead of drinking lots of water, I ate. Looking back, I didn't eat any more avoids (good grief, cheese pinto beans and carrot cake were enough). I just ate too many neutrals too late at night.

I am writing this feeling too tired, too stuffed, and too foolish to do what I ought to do - go to bed and get a decent night's sleep. I'm going to post this because confession is good for the soul. Then I will put tonight behind me and get a fresh start tomorrow. (Thy mercies are new every morning. Lamentations2:23)

The first time I blogged about making homemade nut butter, several people wrote me about walnut butter. Some were telling me how wonderful it was, but others warned me that it was bitter. I let the warnings deter me from trying it.

With my new machine, I'd like to get away from adding so much oil to my nut butters. I had finished the first batch of almond butter. Today I decided to try 2/3 almonds and 1/3 walnut. It had a very pleasant taste - no bitterness at all. Because the walnuts are a softer nut, they made the nut butter much creamier.

Whether you are using a food processor or a hydraulic machine, don't be afraid to mix walnuts with your nut butter.

Last fall I blogged about a section in my daughter's biology book that said in spite of its name, practically all commercial fructose is made from corn. A study at the German Institute of Human Nutrition just reinforced that fact. The researchers divided mice into four groups and gave them either fructose sweetened water, a soda sweetened with table sugar, diet soda, or water. The mice that drank the fructose water ate less food than the mice in the other groups, but they gained the most weight (21% of their body weight).

Here were the conclusions of the study, "Fructose is converted to fatty acids in the liver at a greater rate than glucose. That may lead to weight gain." BTD food lists agree. Sugar (in moderate amounts) is neutral for Type O secretors. Corn syrup and fructose are both avoids.

As I read labels, I notice that more and more processed foods that used to say sugar, now say high fructose corn syrup. Maybe most consumers don't notice the difference, but I put them back on the shelf.

I was reading Psalm 78 which is a poetic history of God's dealings with Israel. Tucked among the verses were these words, "Men ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat."

The primary connotation is to manna, the bread that God miraculously provided his people as they returned to the Promised Land after being in slavery in Egypt. A secondary meaning is that God is the source of the food that we need, and he is faithful to provide for us. Jesus taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread."

All of the biblical references to bread have been somewhat troubling to me as a Type O. Like when Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." Why would God use the image of bread so often when Type Os, the most numerous of all the types, don't do well eating wheat? There is some evidence that ancient bread was made of grains more like the neutral kamut and amaranth. What we call wheat today is a modern hybrid that people of Bible times wouldn't have recognized.

It is also a consolation that God's recipes, Ezekiel bread that is neutral and Essene bread that is beneficial, are good for Type Os. But still I have been uncomfortable reading such inspiring words about a food that brings me poor health.

The Christian worldview teaches that God created a perfect world (garden of Eden), which has been corrupted by sin. The evil things in today's world are the results of sin. The good things are merely a shadow of the perfection that God intended.

That's what I thought of when I read the words, "bread of angels." Bread, as we know it on earth, is a poor imitation of God's idea of bread. When he fed his people in the wilderness, he did not give them sliced white bread in plastic wrappers. He gave them the bread of angels. One day when all is made anew, and we see how God really intended things to be, even Type Os will be able to eat our fill of bread.

It was good to get back to Texas last night. We spent most of today with my parents. In one sense their house will always be home.

My Dad's leg is much better. His doctor released him on Friday. My Mom still has to change his bandage once a day, but he is no longer using antibiotic creams on the wound. A week ago I took him some flax oil and some bioflavonoids. These seemed to be the two things most likely to help his bruising and fragile skin problems. I told him that the bioflavonoids would work with the vitamin C he already took. This morning he sheepishly showed me a new bottle of vitamin C and admitted that he hadn't been taking any extra C for quite some time. He has taken all three supplements for a week. He didn't have any big bruises on his arms today. I really hope this will help.

I assembled the Norwalk juicer and made almond butter. It is much creamier than the almond butter I make in the food processor, and I didn't have to add nearly as much oil. The machine hasn't been used in more than 20 years, but it leaped to life as if it were brand new. I brought it home and made room for it on my counter. I can't wait to try carrot/celery/beet juice.

My mom made a delicious stir fry for lunch with turkey, broccoli, snow peas, and red peppers. I hope I am still a creative cook when I am 90 years old!

This afternoon my husband and I drove the rest of the way home. The kids have taken good care of the house. I'm really proud of them for handling the responsibility so well. They cooked at home more than they ate out.

It's good to be home, and it will really be good to sleep in my own bed tonight.

My husband has a cousin who lives in New Orleans. We spent yesterday afternoon and this morning visiting with her. At dinner time, she said we were having rice and gravy. I thought, "I'm in BTD trouble, big time" but I was so wrong. Her idea of gravy was a stew loaded with beef and vegetables. It was so delicious that I asked for the recipe.

She asked if I knew how to make a roux. I said I had never been very good at it, so she gave me detailed instructions that made it sound easy. I'm going to play around with the recipe and see if I can make it work with another kind of flour. If so, I'll post the recipe.

It's a good thing I didn't worry about the wheat in the rice and gravy, because there was more to come - peach cobbler and ice cream for dessert. My stomach gurgled a little the rest of the evening, but I'm fine today.

This morning she took us on a tour of the Katrina damage. Did I really write a few days ago that we hadn't seen much hurricane damage? I take back those words. We saw devastation today that was unimaginable. I believed the news reports last August about flooding. What I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen it myself, was how many houses are still uninhabitable a year later.

Debris lines many streets where people are still gutting their houses. It is horrible to see a house with the windows broken out and realize that there was so much damage from the flood that protecting the house from further damage by rain would be futile. Sometimes there was only one house on a block that had been repaired enough to be lived in. Many houses are marked for demolition - they just aren't repairable.

The wonderful seafood restaurants around Lake Pontchartrain are gone. Just the foundations are left. The French Quarter was not flooded and it looks great, but many of the restaurants can't open because they can't find workers.

It was common to see signs posted on houses and businesses. In front of one house was the desperate message, "Where are you Billy?" Some signs expressed anger at the government at the insurance companies. But many expressed hope for the future, like the one on a church that said, "He is risen, and we will too."

We spent yesterday and today doing family history research in Brandon Mississippi. I'm looking for information on one of my great-great grandfathers. I found some interesting tidbits, but not the clear link I was looking for.

We ate dinner at a local restaurant that specialized in home cooking. I had brisket, beef tips, turnip greens, and black eyed peas. All were delicious. I ate so much meat and vegetables that it was easy to pass on the dessert bar.

After dinner my husband and I went to the cemetery. It is in quite a lovely setting, part on the top of a hill and part on the bottom. There was a nice gravel path for him to walk while I wandered with my camera among the tombstones. I found the grave marker for my great-great grandmother. She died at age 24, leaving 3 small children. Her tombstone read in part: Blessed are they that believe in me for they shall have everlasting life.

After taking some pictures I joined my husband and walked briskly until it was dark. The hill made it more an aerobic walk than a stroll.

Today we went to Callaway Gardens in Georgia. There were so many things to do. We saw gorgeous flowering plants at the horticultural center. There is a huge glass building filled with flowers where butterflies fly free. Walking among the butterflies and taking pictures was just beautiful. Callaway Gardens is famous for azaleas, but of course they bloom in the spring. However on one of the trails we found several bushes still blooming. They are called encore azaleas, and their red and purple blossoms were a delightful surprise in the August heat.

We did a lot of walking. There are miles and miles of trails through the various specialty gardens and around the lakes.

We had lunch at a sandwich and salad shop on the grounds. As I approached the order desk, I saw a basket of fruit. I got a hamburger and a huge apple. As we ate we could see children outside feeding ducks. I took my discarded hamburger bun to the bridge, where I realized that they were not only feeding ducks but huge turtles. Hope the turtles were not Type O, because they sure enjoyed all that bread.

For dinner we took a side trip to the Talisi Hotel for a Southern cooking buffet. I had baked chicken, black eyed peas, green beans, butter beans, and yams. Everything was delicious, but the yams were especially good. When they brought around the dessert tray, they had coconut pie. That is usually an avoid that I have trouble avoiding. But tonight I told our friends I was going back for a second serving of yams for dessert. I pretended that it was sweet potato pie.

Yesterday we drove across four states. We were on the road for about 12 hours. After breakfast in Texas, scattered showers obscured our view of the Atchafalaya Swamp in Louisiana. There was less hurricane damage visible from the highway than we had expected in Louisiana and Mississippi. Alabama was beautiful and green. I wish we could share some of their rain, we are so very dry in Texas.

At last we arrived at Jim and Margaret's house. They had a delicious dinner waiting. Jim grilled some of the best chicken I have ever eaten. They had marinated it for 24 hours, then cooked it outside on a grill. The marinade was soy sauce, lemon pepper, Lawry's Seasoned Salt, and garlic powder. They couldn't give me measurements, they say they blend those ingredients until they just feel right.

Margaret showed me how to put fresh mint in my water and mash it with a spoon, Southern style. It was so refreshing. I want to start growing mint when we get home.

I keep assuring them both that I will do fine on the blood type diet at their house. There are a few things I will pass up, but I don't want them to worry about fixing anything special. We are sure having a lot of fun catching up on what's been going on in each others lives.

We got a call from our kids. They were fixing egg and turkey bacon tacos for dinner.

I have been with my parents for two days. My sister and her family are also with us. She lives in Europe, so we only get to see her for a few days each summer. There are 8 of us in the house and 7 of us want computer time. I will have to blog fast.

We had a very international lunch yesterday. My parents' church has both a contemporary and a traditional worship service. In addition they sponsor an Eritrean congregation that meets in their building on another day. Yesterday all three groups met together in one worship service. The choir from the traditional service sang with the band from the contemporary service. A soloist from the Eritrean church sang in both English and Tigrinia. It is amazing to me that I am blessed even when someone is praising God in a language I don't understand. I have experienced that before in Spanish, French, and German. It was equally true yesterday in Tigrinia. The sermon was in English. Either the Eritreans spoke enough English to understand what was said, or they had the same experience with the sermon that I had with the music.

After the service there was a pot luck lunch. "This," I thought to myself, "will be interesting." And indeed it was. There was an abundance of food, both familiar and new. I had some American brisket, green beans, and some cooked greens. The greens were delicious and well seasoned. I wish I knew what was in them. I'll have to look up Eritrean cooking on the internet!

My sister's birthday is in late July and my birthday is early August. So we celebrated both birthdays together. She gave me the most wonderful present. It is a wooden angel from Willow Tree. She gave me one called "good health". The angel is holding an armful of apples. It is not only beautiful, but it represents two of my passions: my faith and my interest in health and nutrition.

My husband and I are off on an adventure. In the 21 1/2 years since our son was born we have never taken a trip without the kids. I seem to remember leaving them with grandparents once when we went to a wedding, but that was just for a short weekend. This summer our daughter is working, and our son is in school. He has lived in apartment for two years, and she is a good cook. They are quite capable of taking care of the house and the dog. So we are going alone to visit several friends and relatives in other states.

Today I had lunch with a friend at a restaurant called Oodles. It is a growing national franchise that specializes in noodles. She suggested the restaurant, and I'll admit that I winced when she told me their specialty. I knew I could be in big Type O trouble.

What a relief when I saw a section of the menu called "Pasta Free Entrees." I chose a lettuce wrap with chicken, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, and broccoli. It was deliciously seasoned with herbs.

Type As would have a field day in this restaurant. Some of the menu items are just noodles and sauce, but most are mixed with generous amounts of fresh vegetables.

My friend and I talked about our children and our jobs. We talked about our churches and our spiritual lives. We talked about remodeling our houses and other plans for the future. We did not talk about the BTD because she does not know her blood type. I was amazed that a smart, resourceful, conscientious adult woman wouldn't know her blood type. She was amazed that blood type, which was so inconsequential to her, was so important to me.

This is a simple blog about how I juggle one family with two blood types. Before the BTD, my daughter did not like beef - except for chicken fried steak. Her Type O brother had introduced her to this food in a restaurant. While I was always pushing her to eat roast or steak, (she didn't get enough protein in my opinion) I never had to urge her to eat chicken fried steak. The week that I discovered the BTD, she stopped eating beef (and I haven't worried about her protein since). The only thing she missed was chicken fried steak.

A while back Deborah the blogger posted a recipe for turkey cutlets. I call them chicken fried turkey, and it has become a favorite recipe at our house.

If you missed the recipe:

Turkey cutlets - we like thick sliced rather than thin sliced

rice flour

salt

turmeric

eggs (I don't think Deborah used eggs, but they are a tradition in Texas)

light olive oil

Lightly beat the eggs in a shallow bowl.

In a plate put a mound of rice flour, a sprinkle of salt and a sprinkle of turmeric. Sorry I can't give measurements - it really depends on your taste and how many cutlets you are making.

Dip the cutlets in the eggs then dredge them in the flour. I pound the flour into the cutlets with a meat hammer, but that isn't necessary. Quickly brown them in a skillet in the oil, then transfer them to a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until done.

Tuesday night I made chicken fried turkey. I served it with rice (instead of potatoes), broccoli, and watermelon. We also had carrot, celery and radish sticks. Everything was beneficial or neutral for both As and Os. There were two cutlets left over.

On Wednesday I packed the leftover turkey in lunches for my Type A husband and daughter. I cooked a roast, which I ate with my Type O son when he got home from school.

Wednesday night we all had chef salads made with romaine, spinach, carrots, celery, cheese (soy cheese for the As, mozzarella for the Os) and deli turkey.

Today I packed lentil soup for my husband and a peanut butter sandwich for my daughter. My son and I will enjoy the leftover roast.

For our evening meal, when we all eat together, I serve food that is beneficial or neutral for all. For lunches I serve food that is more oriented to individual blood types. It works for us.

My husband has been reading articles about Long Term Care Insurance - insurance that pays for nursing homes, assisted living, and home care if people can no longer care for themselves. I was not interested. I am on the blood type diet, after all. I am hoping that by living a healthy lifestyle , I will avoid some of the conditions plague the elderly. A couple of weeks ago he told me that an insurance agent was coming over to talk to us. "OK", I said. "Boring", I thought.

In that first meeting I learned two things.

1. Once you need long term care, you cannot get the insurance. If you have any major health problems you will not be approved for the insurance. If you have ever had cancer, you can't get the insurance. The rate for my husband because he is on blood pressure medication is much higher than mine. Companies write very few policies for people over 70. In other words, you have to buy it when you are still young and healthy.

2. The cost for long term care is phenomenal. I live in Texas, and the average nursing home/assisted living cost is $150 per day. That is almost $55,000 per year. That can wipe out your savings pretty quickly. If you have no savings, there are welfare programs that cover nursing homes - but not the nice ones, and certainly not the ones that offer healthy food choices. Texas, by the way, is on the low end of the scale. The cost in most states is much higher.

We have talked to three agents and looked at three companies. Tonight we will be signing a policy that suits us. Here are some of things you may want to check out.

· Not all policies cover home care. That is important to me, because I am much more likely to get good Type O food if I am at home than if I am in a facility.

· Some companies offer a basic plan and a more expensive top line plan. One agent only showed us the top line plan. We saved a lot of money by going with a basic plan.

· You can mix and match time and amount within a plan. Because my husband is older than me, I will probably be able to care for him. So my policy has more years of coverage than his.

· Costs are going up. You have to pay extra for inflation protection. We thought that feature was worth the expense.

· Not all policies waive the premium if you are collecting benefits (especially for home care). You could still be paying even after you are eligible for benefits.

· My husband, the engineer, calculates it this way. The amount we will spend on this insurance in 30 years would cover long term care for less than two years.

I'm not selling insurance. I don't recommend one company over another. I'm writing this blog, because this information was all new to me. I hope that by eating right and exercising right now, that I will not face the more common diseases of aging. But I live in a fallen world, and unless I am run over by a truck, my body will eventually wear out. I have some strong opinions about how I want to be cared for when I can no longer care for myself. It was something I needed to think about.