Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Scotch Oats

Bought some scotch oats, also known as, Irish oats or steel cut oats, yesterday and had a bowl full for dinner. I moistened them with rice milk and used a bit of maple syrup as a sweetener. Tasted pretty good and went down well. This morning, however, I did have a bout of diarrhea, but just one and and as soon as it was over, all was well again. In fact, I felt really well. Been good all day in fact. So my thoughts are that this might be a solution for when my diet constipates me as it has done a couple of times, although only mildly and no longer than a couple of days.  And there's also the fact that oatmeal is one of the healthiest foods going.
This evening I made a stir fry using leftover chicken breast, and a stir fry veggie mix I bought at the market containing, red, green & yellow peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, and onions, the last item being the only one not on my edible list, but it was a small amount and I knew they'd add to the flavour considerably so decided to risk it. Used about a tsp of ghee to fry up the veggies (surprising how far a little bit of ghee goes), added the cooked rice and meat. Scooped out about half the mixture added a little soy sauce and gobbled it down.  Absolutely delicious.  Now about to enjoy a cup of peppermint tea and settle in for the evening.
By the way, I attended an open house at the arthritis Society this afternoon where there was an abundance of delicious looking treats but I ate nary a one. Wasn't easy but glad I resisted. I did bring a gingerbread cookie home which I may have with my tea. Better idea, save to eat next time I have ginger tea.

Friday, December 14, 2012


The above gadget is a Boa Constrictor strap wrench which I bought yesterday
 at Canadian Tire. In fact, I bought two of them; one goes up the a maximum of 4" and the other up to 10" or so.  The smaller one has already paid for itself by loosening the previously impossible to remove lid of the chopper attachment of my also recently purchased immersion blender (much lighter, smaller and easier to clean than a regular blender).  I also plan to use the smaller one in the shower to adjust the water temperature as I find it extremely difficult to turn the tap.  And since the water temperature never stays constant for more that a few minutes, sometimes seconds, at a time it should make showering a little more of a pleasant experience.

And since I'm on the topic of purchases, I also bought myself my Christmas present to me, a Fender Mustang II amp. Now if my neck and shoulders would jut heal, I could get back to playing guitar again.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

New Recipe

In my research looking for alternatives to pasta with the traditional tomato sauce (not on diet), I discovered that fennel met the criteria for my current diet. The recipe included chile flakes/hot pepper which I didn't include, and a small amount of olive oil  which I also eliminated. Instead I pre-cooked the ingredients in a small amount f chicken broth.

The verdict- delicious. Admittedly I was a bit sceptical as I couldn't imagine anise (liquorice) flavoured spaghetti but the taste was very mild - perhaps because I went easy on the fennel seeds. In fact, if anything, the result was a little flat.  Perhaps  a little more parmesan, or mild spices.  Will definitely try this again but not before I try another recipe I found using carrots and ginger.

Generally speaking then, the diet is going extremely well. My stool is firm, having regular BM's and no longer am in fear of going out lest I have diarrhea. Better than I've been in months if not years. Life is good.

Oh yes, one item missing from my diet is snacks. Crackers are supposed to be okay but haven't had much luck with them.  Bought some pretzels today. Just had a few and they appear to have less salt than most which, I guess, isn't a bad thing.  Time will tell if they work for me.

January 18,2013 Update:
Made the fennell spaghetti again. Used Ghee to sauté ingredients and added some stir fry veggies.  Topped off with Asiago cheese.  Even better than the first time. Today I will finish it off and have added some cut up cooked ham to the mix.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Lesson Learned

This past weekend I thought I would try a little experiment and eat something not on my anti-diarrhea diet. I bought an organic type Kraft dinner.  Shouldn't be too risky I thought because pasta is allowed and cheese has never bothered me, even though my research indicated that all dairy products , with the exception of yogurt, should be avoided. I'll spare you the details and just say it was a big mistake. About two hours after eating my experiment I paid dearly. So back to the diet it was and I've been good all week.
I have also tried a less risky experiment. Had a panini sandwich today made with half a white kaiser roll, lean sliced organic roast beef and cheddar cheese. No butter or oil.  I know, the cheese was a risk, but like I said, I've never had a problem with it.  That was five hours ago and all's well. This morning I had plain yogurt with sliced banana and dried blueberries. Tasty and nutritious.  And I'm still hungry but will resist eating anything else this evening. Don't want to push my luck.

*Update: Thought I'd try another stab at fish baked with olive oil. Big mistake.  No diarrhea but pretty bad reflux. Won't do that again.  I don't believe I spoke about reflux being a consideration in my diet but it s almost as much as a factor as diarrhea.

Update #2:
Fish again, this time brushed with ghee, about a tsp, and baked in oven.  No reaction, so I think ghee might just be the answer to the oil dilemma.