I just discovered agave syrup in my HFS.  It is to die for in green tea!  Dr D uses it in his new Unibars, so you know it's okay for us.  A great sugar substitute.

I'm a newbie here.  Was tested as a B about a month ago and am slowly weeding the 'avoids' out of my cupboards and planting the beneficials.  Love the recipes and stories.  

I live in Kamloops British Columbia, Canada.  I work at a fairly stressful job and am coming off a period of depression following the death of my father and related family matters last December.  

My goal here is to work with suitable foods to improve my lifestyle, particularly replace the minor anit depressants I am taking with foods that will take their place.

Hobbies and leisure activities include genealogy, birding, Tai Chi, travel, digital photography.  

Iroff,
welcome!
you will have great results!

Yay more B's !! welcome to all the newbs!

Thanks for the welcome, folks.

Wondering if there is a thread set aside for newBs to ask questions you probably all have already faced.

Questions like:
1. Why is olive oil a bene and olives themselves an avoid?

2. does anyone know of a commercial potato chip which uses olive oil instead of canola (ick), sunflower or other veggie oil?

3. my usual breakfast usually () consists of a glass of milk, slice of swiss or other white cheese and a graham wafer or fig newton or two.  I know, it's not the heartiest I could eat; however, it gets me going fast in the morning.  Now - question.  Is there a healthy, commercially made (or *easily* home made) wafer, cookie, biscuit I could have instead of the heavily floured ones I have had in the past.  I looked at the Blackstrap molasses one but it makes 6 doz and I could not store that many.  Undoubtedly they'd go off before I finished them.  And if one is substituting raisins for chocolate chips (as I would), would one use 18 oz of them??  Is there a better B cookie you've found as a morning starter?  Or ... what sort of a breakfast do the rest of you usually have?

4. If one is making a lamb stew which calls for olives (which I LOVE the taste of), what have you found is a good substitute - capers maybe?.

If this is not the right place to post those sort of questions, is there another thread I should be using?

Many thanks for your guidance on this as I get used to the online community.

To your first question a quote from the FAQ:

Quoted Text

Why is the status of a whole food one value, and an extract or preparation of the food rated the opposite?

The lectin content or antigenic propensity (allergy potential) of certain foods is modified by processing. In some cases the unhealthier form (i.e processed bread) may be acceptable if heat or milling has removed the lectin from the food. Other times processing enhances the effect of a lectin, so the native form is acceptable, but the processed form is not.

Hi Iroff and a warm welcome to you!

Yes, there is a brand of olive oil potato chip by Hain Celestial Group under the name of Terra Olive Oil Potato Chips. They have several varieties and are available in most health food stores. They aren't too bad... and I won't say they are a healthy alternative to the standard potato chip but more in compliance, at least.  

My standard quickie breakfast is fresh fruit (usually banana) cut up in a bowl and topped with plain organic yogurt and 2 tablespoons freshly ground flax meal, plus a huge mug of herb tea... most often red raspberry leaf or peppermint these days. Other breakfast favorites... eggs with sauteed greens, shitake mushrooms, and goat/sheep feta, steel-cut oats cooked in milk with apples, nutmeg, maple syrup, and a little salt.

Yes I, too, suffer from olive-love, and find myself pining for them... In my mind, there is just no substitute for olives... but capers might make an OK (although second-rate ) substitution. I have never tried them as such, however.

how about doing half the recipe for Blackstrap molasses.

or make the whole batter and separate it into plastic bags, and freeze batches, for later use! )

Quoted from Carol_O.

Just a little tip Brenna -- I found my veg glycerine in the COSMETIC section of my health food store!  The brand I use is NOW.  When I bought 2 big bottles of it, the clerk commented that I must be making a lot of soap with it!  Her eyes got real wide when I told her no, I put it in my tea!  She then mentioned that it is found in a lot of snack/energy bars so I guess tea would be fine too!  There is usually something on the bottle that states "glycerine is even pure enough to be taken internally" when it's food grade.  So don't worry if that's where you find it too.  I've used it for over a year and I'm still alive!!!  

Does it affect you the same way as table sugar?

found this for you Brenna:

''Glycerine can be a carb on occasion, a fat precursor on occasion, a phosphogly
ceride precursor on occasion, and it can simply pass through the body unused.
[In other words, it fills the body's energy need of the moment, without
jarring serum sugar levels or stimulating fat storage.] For non-secretors,
this is perfect. Thus, although it is there [in the food bars] for moisture
retention, it also tends to optimize fat<->carb<->fat conversion which is
genetically a problem with non-secretors. '

Quoted from Brenna

Does it affect you the same way as table sugar?

What Lola said!  

But from personal experience, it does not give me any type of sugar rush or rather, a sugar "down".  I find using it I don't get that "dragging" feeling where I just need something sweet to pick me back up again.  I will say though, that I like to mainly use it in teas, chocolate milk and whipped cream.  (I haven't used it in baking or cooking so I can't comment there.)  On its own, it's got a sort of "hot" (not spicey) but an actual warming sensation and can have a strange aftertaste.  I wouldn't like to take a teaspoon and drink it straight.  

Breakfast for me differs during the year: In summertime: more cheese and fruit, yoghurt based smoothies, in winter: more eggs, potatoes( I am a sec), hot  oatmeal, maybe even warm stewed apples /plums- love the stuff with  greek yoghurt.
I know what you mean about wanting something fast and easy in the morning - but I have given up!
- 1)All readymade things contains weird oils and cornsugar/sirup-
2)I want to have room for some sugar/flour based things later the day- so I only eat pancakes etc on sundays And take my time to prepare real breakfast- it helps if you plan ahead / get up 1/2 hour earlier !

Cookies- well I make my own- using butter, white spelt/ sometimers a bit of oats, good sugar- like honey, maple sirup (loves the real stuff ) brown molasses sugar and sometimes raw cane sugar. Dark chocolate and dried fruits , nuts are great as well.

Quoted from Birgit

To your first question a quote from the FAQ:

Thank you for referring me to the FAQ.  I hadn't located them before.  I now understand about the olives/olive oil

Quoted from Kristin

Yes, there is a brand of olive oil potato chip by Hain Celestial Group under the name of Terra Olive Oil Potato Chips.
[quote]

I found that one of their types, Red Bliss, has olive oil.  The others are canola/sunflower, etc; however, I've asked my local HFS to consider getting this brand and type

Thanks for the guidance

Quoted from lola

how about doing half the recipe for Blackstrap molasses.

Brilliant, thank you.  That worked.

One question about that recipe; however (Rose's Blackstrap Molasses cookies in the recipe section)  It calls for, among other things, ghee or butter, molasses, almond extract, eggs, amaranth flour as well as rice or oat flour, salt, baking soda, hot water, walnuts and I added raisins.  As the guidelines tell me amaranth flour was an avoid, I used whole spelt flour and oat flour as my flours of choice.  

The finished product was delicious however, very crumb-ly.  I think that is because none of those flours have gluten as a binding agent.  So >>> anyone have any ideas what we Bs can use in this recipe so we aren't "crumby"?  

Someone suggested xanthan gum - a pinch; however, is that on the B diet?  I could not find it anywhere.  Someone else (not on the ER4YT program suggested pre-cooked oatmeal; however, I think that would upset the balance of the other ingredients.

Any ideas??

Quoted from Henriette_Bsec

Cookies- well I make my own- using butter, white spelt/ sometimers a bit of oats, good sugar- like honey, maple sirup (loves the real stuff ) brown molasses sugar and sometimes raw cane sugar. Dark chocolate and dried fruits , nuts are great as well.

Any particular recipe you've found helpful??

As a new B I'm always interested in the new possibilities this diet brings

Quoted from lroff

One question about that recipe; however (Rose's Blackstrap Molasses cookies in the recipe section)  It calls for, among other things, ghee or butter, molasses, almond extract, eggs, amaranth flour as well as rice or oat flour, salt, baking soda, hot water, walnuts and I added raisins.  As the guidelines tell me amaranth flour was an avoid, I used whole spelt flour and oat flour as my flours of choice.  

The finished product was delicious however, very crumb-ly.  I think that is because none of those flours have gluten as a binding agent.  So >>> anyone have any ideas what we Bs can use in this recipe so we aren't "crumby"

Spelt flour does have gluten, although less than wheat does. Spelt does not have the capacity to absorb liquids like wheat... it also has a finer crumb texture and I do find that cookies made with spelt tend to be on the dry side. I have the best results with spelt when using a heavy, wet ingredient like applesauce, cooked winter squash, buttermilk, etc. in the recipe.

I find that oat flour has an "extra" tendency to absorb liquids and when using oat flour, need to increase the liquid portion of the recipe substantially.

My two cents...

Quoted from lroff

Any particular recipe you've found helpful??

As a new B I'm always interested in the new possibilities this diet brings

Well I use my old recipies- but like Kristin writes spelt works different. When I bake with spelt or oat- I use a tiny bit less flour- sometimes I add a tiny bit water, or applesauce...
White spelt flour is easier to use than whole meal spelt- I would say a recipy with whole spelt and oat would be crumbly
I like to use rolled oats in bread  it make the bread rather soft and spongy- but I always let the  dough stand a while before adding the rest flour - that way I can control the dryness of dough.
This weekend I made a rather large portion of "To die for -brownies"- with spelt flour ;
6 large eggs
450 grams of cane sugar (fine)
375 grams of butter
375 grams of 70-75 % dark chocolate
300 grams walnuts
225 grams fine white spelt flour
mix like regular brownies
bake at 180 celcius, approx 25 min , should be rather soft - not dry- makes a large portion -a caketin 33 cm x 23 cm.
I put half of it in the freezer - next time I would try to use honey as a sweetener.

howdie!

Here's another B! Nothing much to say here. I switched to BTD 3 years ago. sometimes more sometimes less. Since about half a year I am committed a little more seriously. I am not a very strict dieter, sometimes I eat and avoid, because I am overall pretty healthy and I see no problem in breaking the rules every now and then. But I eliminated chicken and corn from the diet alltogether, which are major no nos for B. No more KFC    

I am eating a diet very high in dairy and meat now, especially lamb, turkey and beef, and sometimes fish. I still haven't found out how much meat is enough, but sometimes I really enjoy no-meat days too. Right now I eat meat on 4 or 5 days a week, which is a lot. I'm not quite sure, if that's too much for B. How much meat is too much for B's? Should they eat less than O or is meat every day also fine with B?

Concerning dairy: I mostly consume lowfat, but not nonfat products, because I read that there are fatsoluble vitamins, which are lost, when you move the fat out of the milk. So I am hesitant on using nonfat dairy!

greetz from Vienna, Austria

And Greetings in return to you, Rapidler!!

Thanks for checking in with us B's  

I don't know how much meat is too much either! I do eat meat every day... sometimes for two of the 17 meals (only kidding!!). I do, most of the time, eat more than 3 meals a day... more like 4-6 small meals. But I don't weigh the meat so I don't know how much I am getting at each meal. I go on how I feel... if I suddenly feel fatigued in the middle of the day, it usually means I need more protein. Every once in awhile, and more often during cold weather, I feel the need for a really big, hearty meal... and then I don't need much meat protein for a day or two after that.

I consume whole milk products for the most part... just recently switched to whole cow's milk. Wish I could find non-homogenized milk but I think I will need to purchase a dairy cow for that option.

Just thought I'd poke my head in and say hello to all the New -Bs out there - how fantastic! Give those As and Os a  run for their money.

After nearly 2 years on the diet still experimenting, still making changes, in fact, now I'm psychologically ready to find out whether I'm a non-secretor (which I suspect I am - have already cut out almost all black tea and coffee, and potatoes - but one of my weaknesses is fish and chips...- and really trying hard on the wheat...). Even so, digestion is so much improved! And I have a B-friend who has been on the diet a few months and she's feeling it's "right" too.(like me, she'd figured out a few things on her own and BTD is spot-on with those feelings we had about certain foods). I still struggle with my chronic fatigue - still not back in the world of work but progress is steady-ish.  

I use semi-skimmed milk and find some times I crave meat more than others - I think this may partly be down to the effects of hormones but have not sat down to analyse it.

Anyway, here's to the eccentric, imaginative world of the B!

I guessed my non status too....it was the oats that made me sleepy,
But on the bright side, I get artichokes, tomatoes and liquor...my favorite things!  Well, almost.

Hello all B's!  I am glad to see there are so many!  I have just been scanning the threads for the past few weeks and thought I'd finally join in.

I have been taking nutrition classes in vain for the last 6 months in an attempt to lose 60 lbs when the BTD was mentioned.  I have been off and on for a month, and finally realized when I'm "on" I feel better and when I'm "off" I'm lethargic and depressed.  So here I am.

I have been a semi-vegetarian for a while now and am now wondering, how do you cook meat?  I haven't done it in so long!  I have a lamb steak in the freezer I'd like to try but I don't know what to do with it.

Also, does anyone shop online for their health food needs?  I'd like some web sites to try.

Hi Anna and a Warm Welcome to another New B!!

Cooking meat... yes, I was a veghead for awhile and it took some time and experimentation to figure out how to cook meat. My husband also wasn't much help as he has been vegetarian since he was 12 (41 now). I tried to remember what meat I liked as a child and would call my mother to find out how she prepared different cuts of meat... many of those recipes were already B friendly so I didn't have to make many substitutions.

Also... a standard cookbook often has cooking basics for different types of meat. I also searched for recipes online and found many great ones that way.

I'm so glad you decided to join us!

annalis,
crockpots are a blessing!
just throw everything in, add spices and water.......
all meats turn out tender and juicy.....
the results are always successfull! )