Here's the long-awaited recipe for o-nonnie gluten-free flatbread...

A BIG thanks to Linda P. for sending me her recipe. I changed it a bit, as she usually uses rice flour, and my rice flour had gone rancid (it's been a while since I cooked) I had some fresh amaranth flour in the fridge, so I used it, then had to add eggs because amaranth doesn't hold together as well as rice flour. So here you have it:

Flax Flatbread

1/4 Cup flax seeds

1 1/2 Cup amaranth flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2-3 Cups Water (enough to make it a very thin batter)

1 Tablespoon Olive oil

1/4 teaspoon baking powder (optional)

4 beaten eggs

Just mix it all together, you can vary the recipe quite a bit, Linda has used lentil flour, quinoa+rice flour, and added various spices. With rice flour, you don't need the eggs (I made a few that way before I realized it was bad flour)

Pour 1/4 cup or so of batter onto a hot (about medium high) oiled pan, and tilt pan or spread it around to make it as thin as possible. Wait for the top to become dry and the sides to start curling, wait a little more, and flip it over. I didn't burn any, they don't seem to burn as readily as your regular pancake. When they're done, they'll be browned on both sides and feel a little crisp with now sogginess. As they cool they will soften a bit but still hold together well (if they don't, put them back on the griddle for a bit).

I ate one with almond butter on it. My version gets little holes in them as they cook, so double them up if you're wrapping messy stuff in them, as they will leak a bit. The rice version didn't get the holes. Linda also recommends storing some in the freezer between wax paper, and baking them to make them crispy. I'll keep you posted if I find exciting uses for them.

I did have a couple epiphanies today in the kitchen, regarding getting sick after eating the pizza I made Sunday. The rice crusts do have an avoid in them, potato, and once I bought them from the same store and got them out of the freezer that same day to find that they had somehow gotten moldy, so I have some cause for concern about quality control. This one wasn't moldy, but makes me wonder how fresh they are... one taste of my rancid rice flour made my stomach turn a little, so if the crust was a bit off, that could have also made me sick. For now, I'll just keep avoiding the avoids, and watch out for reactions to food that isn't fresh.

Oh! I'm also excited that we got a new freezer today. It's so big! I plan to fill it up with fresh goodies from the kitchen, as time permits making them. I know some foods shouldn't be frozen...like meat and fish, but I'll keep a little of that in there too, since I can only buy some of them, like wild salmon, if I buy them frozen. Then I'll keep cherry juice and other beneficials that lower polyamines, on hand. Every week I'll make extra energy balls, flatbread, etc. and freeze it, as well as any herbs I grow. (I bought some italian parsley, sage, (I already have thyme), rosemary, lavender, and oregano plants today, and some seeds for basil, chamomile, and curly parsley. My son will enjoy helping me plant them and getting thoroughly dirty.

Enjoy the recipe!

I’m still making good progress, even with my hard times. I’ve lost almost 20 pounds since January, and I’m almost to my pre-pregnancy weight. Then I want to lose another 20 pounds to get to my goal weight. Then…I will continue with the diet of course, and see what other nice surprises lay in store for me.

The question is, once my weight and health are where they should be, will I still find motivation to stay on the BTD way of living? I hope so, and would like to plan ways to stick with it this time. It was a gradual road to low compliance, last time. I figured I could afford to cheat now and then. That became more and more often, and began to include corn and dairy. I think my ‘cheats’ next time will have to be more strict…like a few more neutral carbs here and there, but no avoids. Especially not avoids that are in the top ten or so worst avoids for my type…like corn and dairy surely are. Is there a category of superavoids? Of course, the diet isn’t about what we can ‘safely’ cheat with, an avoid is an avoid, they all have consequences.

Here’s some other motivation I just thought of…Think of the example you can set when you continue on the diet even after you are obviously healthy. That’s bound to get more interest in the diet than before, I would think. To be a person who others ask “what’s your secret?” To have been overweight, lost the weight, then kept if off for years of excellent health is more an accomplishment than just losing it in the first place.

Of course, I haven't met my goals yet, but I'm sure I will, and I'm sure some of you have!

I actually hit the sidewalk again today, 3 miles, walking, up and down hills, pushing a stroller. It was a good workout, but my allergies almost did me in. I took some nettle root when I got home; next time I'll take it before I go. It seems to work as well as allergy medicine, without making me tired.

I've become more aware of my weaknesses and bad habits over the last month or two, and I've been developing a strategy to end them. Especially in times of stress or illness, I crave some of my old comfort foods. For times like those, I'm devising substitutions. I don't think substitutions are always a good long-term strategy, but for those times, they certainly help. For long-term, I often feel more satisfied when I just forget about the comfort foods all together and focus on beneficial foods that may not resemble my old comfort foods whatsoever.

Here are my weaknesses, and some O-nonnie substitutions:

Corn chips, corn shells: I'm going to try a recipe for flat bread that I was given here. I'll let you know how it goes. Since I have gluten intolerance, many of the simple substitutions, like ezekiel tortillas, don't work for me.

Colas: I have a weakness for Coke, mainly, as Pepsi has too much artificial citric acid and thus gives me gooseggs on my head and a headach. Anybody else experience that? Anyway, back to the subject at hand, sparkiling water and neutral or beneficial juice works great. I use more juice to water when I'm really having a hard time with compliance, as this more closely resembles the sweetness of colas. I also occasionally add rice milk for a cream soda, but haven't yet found or made a compliant rice milk to recommend.

Sweets: Mix a little molasses in almond butter, it satisfies the sweet tooth a bit better for times when that's needed, spread on a rice cake. I've heard that frozen grapes taste like candy, but haven't tried them yet. Bananas and fruit are always good too.

Salty, crunchy snacks: If you can find a compliant rice cracker, they taste pretty good with guacamole or other compliant dip. Homemade jerky also works, slice it really thin, or have a butcher slice it for you before you make it, I like to eat it out of the freezer as it's crunchier and easier to chew. I need to find more substitutions in this area...

Any other ideas...feel free to comment them to me and I'll post them on my blog for everyone to enjoy!

Didn't I just say that avoiding corn wasn't a problem for me? Well, yesterday I waited too long to eat lunch/dinner. So I went to a new mexican restaurant, the menu was good, I ordered steak with onions and avocados, it came rice and pinto beans which I shared with my A baby (he loves beans!). I didn't know it was also going to include chips and salsa. On the way home (I got it to go) I was so hungry and the chips were right there, so I thought, "I'll just have one, with lots of salsa" I ended up only having two, but it was two too many. I've never noticed an immediate reaction to corn, I thought it just made me gain weight over time, but this time I noticed that it made my fuzzy-headed and a little confused, and my eyelid twitched a few times. Reminded me of how a felt a few years ago when I was feeling really dumpy in college and had the most annoying and constant twitching eyelid. (Which really acted up during Organic Chemistry exams. I think that may explain my reaction to corn-derived citric acid and a few other food additives.

Wow! I don't need further evidence to know that this Blood Type Diet science is true, but this was further evidence.

I'm also starting to suspect that dairy is what causes my eczema to flare up. Add that to the congestion problems it gives me, and that piece of cheese doesn't look so appetizing anymore.

I found some rice cheese at the health food store, unfortunately it had nonnie avoids in it...bummer. I've got some rice pizza crusts in the freezer and don't know what to do with them. Who needs cheese, some nice beef or turkey sausage, red sauce, and roasted green peppers should be tasty even without it.

I found this recipe online, modified it, and tried it, I had originally substituted almond extract for vanilla 1 to 1...not a good idea, almond extract is much stronger than vanilla, so I reduced it from 2 tsp, to 1/2 tsp. In response to Maya's question about O-nonnie dessert ideas, I thought I'd post this one. It may be an acquired taste, but I acquired it without much problem, and it satisfied my sweet tooth. The energy bars in recipeBase are good too, just use all prunes instead of prunes and dates, then make a bunch ahead of time, and freeze them. They taste best straight out of the freezer.

Teffioca Pudding

Ingredients

2 cups water

½ cup teff (cooks at a 4:1 ratio with water)

2 large rip bananas

2 tablespoons molasses

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

3 Tbs. cocoa.

Construction plan

In small pot bring water and teff to boil, then simmer over very low heat and cover for 15-20 minutes or until water is absorbed. Stir occasionally. Let cool to room temperature. In a blender or food processor blend cooked teff and remaining ingredients until smooth and light. Add additional water if too thick.

Pour into serving bowl, chill and serve. Tastes best good and chilled.

(The above recipe can be found in the cook book, "Vegetarian Tastes of Toronto", pages 13 and 119. Recipes courtesy of Bernie Thimian, submitted in care of the Mississauga Vegetarian Association.)