Two baking experiments

You may wonder what these are. The one on the left is flax bread and the other is chocolate cake. I am always experimenting with oddball recipes that fit into my diabetic diet.

The chocolate cake is absolutely delicious and has almost no carbs as it is made with coconut flour and although it does have some sugar the amount of fibre in coconut flour (61%) slows down absorption into the blood stream. It has a lot of eggs (health benefits of eggs) contrary to what you may think whole eggs are a wonder food so don’t worry about them and butter is 40% monounsaturated fat so not that bad, better than marge anyway. I served the chocolate cake to company the other day with raspberries and whipped cream and my blood sugar didn’t do anything it shouldn’t and they didn’t realize it wasn’t made the traditional way.

Here is the recipe from Cooking with Coconut Flour by Bruce Fife ND

3/4 cup butter or coconut oil (coconut oil is now discovered to be very good for you)

1 cup of cocoa powder (not chocolate powder the real stuff)

12 eggs

1/2 cup coconut milk or whole milk

1 cup of sugar plus 3 tspns of liquid or powdered stevia or you could use Splenda

1 tspn salt

1 tspn vanilla

1 cup SIFTED coconut flour (found at most health food stores)

1 tspn baking powder

Melt butter and mix in cocoa powder and set aside, In a bowl mix eggs*, milk, sugar, salt and vanilla. Stir in cocoa mixture. Combine sifted coconut flour with baking powder and whisk into batter until lump free.

*The recipe did not call for this but I separated the eggs and whipped the whites and then put them in with the cocoa mix, I think it made a slightly lighter cake. Pour into a greased pan and bake at 350F or 175C for approximately 35-40 minutes of until knife comes out clean. You could use the recipe to make brownies, just add nuts and bake in a square pan.

The flax bread (on the left of the picture) has no flour either. I made it with virgin olive oil and it is a little strong tasting but a lighter oil would be better. The recipe is very easy and can be found at Low Carb Diets. The recipe is for focaccia bread but I baked it in a small loaf pan and cut it length ways for a sandwich. Since flax is almost all fibre it will not raise your blood sugar either.

I can buy a sprouted wheat bread at Overwaitea called Body Conscious which is only 8 carbs per slice but it is getting too expensive so I have been trying out substitutes. I have not seen this bread anywhere else, but a rule of thumb sprouted wheat breads are generally a little easier on the blood sugar as sprouting uses up the natural sugar in the wheat but they are not as low in carbs as Body Conscious bread.

A couple of new computing apps to look out for in the near future.

Google Wave is an open source communication application that works inside your browser. It will combine email, instant messaging, wikis, web chat, social networking, and project management. Some of the features it offers is the ability to see what someone else is typing, that is those who have agreed to make that available to a select few, friends, business associates etc.

A wave can be embedded on a blog or website, much like you do now with YouTube videos.

Developers can build their own apps within a Wave similar to an iGoogle gadget.

A Wiki written in a Wave can be edited by someone else and can be shared.

It will correct spelling and translate into another language as you type.

You will not need to attach files just drag and drop them into your Wave. Maybe that will eliminate virus problems with attachments.

These are just some of the highlights of Google Wave expected release later this year. I am looking forward to trying Google Wave maybe someone else who reads this blog would like to pal up when it is available. It may be fun.

Secondly there is a  new search engine on the horizon called Bing. On June 3  Bing will replace Windows Live Search and will be Microsoft's default search engine. Previewers are saying it is a better search engine and will give Google a run for its money.

Thrifty sewing

Image via Wikipedia

About a week ago I was browsing in a thrift store and found a broderie anglaise skirt. This picture shows the cut work and white on white embroidery of typical broderie anglaise, although the skirt I bought was all lace not just the edging. The skirt had lots of material but the waist was for Twiggy, but I bought it and have cut it down for a cotton slip. I have been trying to buy a cotton slip for a while because the polyester ones make one perspire when the temperatures get high, as it will in Mexico, but I haven't been able to find one, slips are getting harder to find anyway, it seems. I made it like a skirt with panels and a zip, partly because I needed to fit my paper pattern to my measurements and this skirt only cost me $2 so if I goofed it was no great loss. I don't seem to have standard measurements so buying clothes is a pain and I have to adjust patterns. The slip fits great so now I have to mark my paper pattern so I will know what to do next time I want to make a skirt. I will have to do the same for a top so I will go in search of a blouse fabric I like and then mess about with it until I get the right measurements. I have narrow shoulders and back but all goes before me, so to speak so, if I buy blouses to fit the prow the shoulders are almost to my elbows (slight exagerration, but you get the idea) or if I get something that fits nicely everywhere else I can't do it up. Plus my arms are a bit shorter than average.. Woe is me I am an oddity.

So far I have made this plus three skirts, two blouses and altered a few other items to fit better. I have still got a pair of capri pants and a blouse to make and that is probably it for now. I used to sew a fair bit when the kids were little but I haven't sewn anything in years so I have to relearn some techniques. When I was a teenager, one summer vacation, my father enrolled me in a tailoring course given in French, he figured he could get twice as much bang for his buck. Whatever I learned there has long fallen by the wayside. I don't tailor and I don't speak French.

Spent Saturday morning being friendly

Since I rarely leave my castle up here on the hill to venture down among the common folk of the village (tongue in cheek) today was special.

First I went to the Seniors Bazaar and chatted to different ones about this and that and walked by the bake table without buying anything, not even for hubby he is getting a paunch which I am attacking against his better judgement.

Then I went over to the information centre where my jewelry is on display amongst other crafters offerings and visited with the woman in charge of that. I will have to take my turn next month hopefully on a quiet day.

So I spent two hours being social and since tomorrow is the day we drive into church, we only go every other week, that will be my social life for the next couple of weeks and frankly that is about all I want. I prefer to be alone, maybe I should change my name to Greta, what do you think? Greta Garbo was often associated with her famous line from Grand Hotel: "I want to be alone".

Why did you choose your children's names

I was reading over at Joy in the Burbs and she asked why we chose our children's names. 


We called the first son Stephen James Leslie, first Stephen was for my ex-husband's favourite pop star Stevie Wonder but for me it was after a favourite cousin of mine. James was my maiden name and since my dad's name was Tudor I did not want to use that for my sons middle name, and lastly Leslie for my husband's father.


The second son was called David Alan, David because it was a good biblical name and Alan after my husband


The third son I wanted to call Michael, for no good reason really, but my husband liked Jesse, so we ended up calling him Jesse Michael, 

Twitter is everywhere even on Everest

Image by twiga269 [in Bolivia] ॐ FREE TIBET via Flickr

Gavin Bate, an Irish mountain climber, is climbing Mount Everest and recording his ascent to the world’s highest peak via Twitter.  Bate, who is climbing for his charity Moving Mountains, has been climbing Mount Everest for the past 37 days and has been tweeting updates, his coordinates, and links to his podcast from his climb. He’s also been posting updates to his blog.
It’s pretty amazing that Bate has managed to Tweet up there with the thin air and thick gloves. On his blog Bate writes that he’s had help breathing via bottled oxygen and he’s planning to take his laptop with him to Tweet for the summit. He also has been carrying an assortment of gadgets with him to connect him to the rest of the world, including a solar panel, video camera, telephone, laptop, satellite dish, camera, and a satellite tracking device.

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• Tweeting From The Top Of The World

Good for a laugh - GM response to Bill Gates

GM's response to Bill Gates:

For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on.
At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry by stating...

If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that get 1,000 miles to the gallon.

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating:

If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics (and I just love this part):

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash........
twice a day!

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.

6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single 'This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation' warning light.

7. The airbag system would ask 'Are you sure?' before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

10. You'd have to press the 'Start' button to turn the engine off

PS - I'd like to add that when all else fails, you could call 'customer service' in some foreign country and be instructed in some foreign language how to fix your car yourself!!!!

Vancouver leading the way in openess

Vancouver, BC's city government plan to discuss in next weeks council meeting the possibility of adopting open data, open standards and open source software for all its data and information needs. It is believed that new opportunities will be open to Vancouver with this new policy. Vancouver was recently named "Best City Archive of the World".

What does this mean for Vancouver

1. More data can be distributed quicker than it is now
2. Data will be available on the internet
3. Data can freely be shared with the public at large
4. Copyright will not be necessary
5. Software developed by Vancouver may be used by other municipalities, businesses and the general public

Other cities like Toronto, Portland and Washington, DC, have expressed interest in adopting open policies for their information and data, but so far Vancouver is the only one to seek to implement it.

Hopefully Vancouver can become the world's first truly "open" city.

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• Senator: open source software needed for medical records (arstechnica.com)
• Why Open Data Is More Important than Open Source (iandavis.com)

Winner at dog obedience school

Doctor's Visit today

Had to go for the dreaded PAP today but doctor and I survived it. I think this will be the last time I have to have it, he thinks. Also I had the results back from my last A1C test for diabetes and my numbers were really good 5.7%. My blood pressure was 108/64 so he thinks I will be around for a while yet.

We are fortunate to be able to take advantage of the health care system and we do. I have to go for a mammogram next month. Hubby has to go for his annual PSA check for prostrate. These tests are available and it is up to us to take advantage of them. Most cancers if caught early can be treated now.

Along with exercise and diet taking these tests all contribute to a longer healthful life. Exercise is a bit of a challenge but I generally do walk for at least 1/2 hour a day.

One gripe I do have about the Canadian system is that the health care is provincial not federal so if you travel into another province you have to get additional insurance coverage. It seems to me it should cover the whole country like the UK.

We have been getting all our tests done early so we will be ready to leave at the end of November for Mexico.

I won't shake your hand, thanks anyway

I have been reading how many diseases travel and hand shaking is a major transmitter. After all do you know where the hand has been, what it has touched and when it was last washed. I have been in ladies washrooms and see many women walk out without washing their hands.

I know one can't become paranoid and wear white gloves all the time, that would be ridiculous but there are many small ways one can limit the chance of infection.

My husband and I were talking about that this evening and we decided to not offer our hands for a shake anymore, at least if we remember, just tell a person that we are pleased to meet them but would prefer not to shake hands, if they don't like it too bad. Maybe the Japanese greeting of a respectful little bow would be more fitting these days, what do you think?

The Mayo Clinic says:

 The length of time that cold and flu viruses can survive outside the body on an environmental surface varies greatly. But the suspected range is from a few seconds up to 48 hours, depending on the specific virus and the type of surface.

Flu viruses tend to live longer on surfaces than cold viruses. Also, it is generally believed that cold and flu viruses survive for longer periods on nonporous surfaces — such as plastic, metal or wood — than they do on porous surfaces — such as fabric or paper.

Although cold and flu viruses primarily spread from person-to-person contact, they can also spread from contact with contaminated objects or surfaces. The best way to avoid becoming infected with the cold or flu virus is to wash your hands frequently with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Swine Flu Immunity

I received this email today from one of the organizations I subscribed to a while back.

With all the dire warnings, where is the message about building natural immunity? You are all aware of the dire warnings about swine flu, the outbreak that started in the Mexican village of La Gloria and which local residents blame on infection and/or toxins coming from local confinement hog operations.

The internet is abuzz with warnings bordering on hysteria (conventional media) to a variety of conspiracy theories, and even to allegations that the pandemic is a government fabrication designed to sell stockpiles of anti-viral medications.

Conventional medical advice ranges from wearing face masks to taking the anti-viral drug called tamiflu which can have many serious side effects.

It is interesting to note that not once in all the media broadcasts have we heard any mention of building natural immunity.

NATURAL IMMUNITY

Fortunately, we do not have to sit back and listen to the news about swine flu feeling helpless and anxious. We can be proactive by simply nourishing ourselves and our families.

Vitamins A and D in cod liver oil offer strong protection against infection of all types, as well as against environmental toxins. Vitamin C is important-either from vitamin C-rich foods like sauerkraut, or from a natural vitamin C supplements.

Healthy gut flora provide 85 percent of our protection against disease. Be sure to consume healthy lacto-fermented foods and beverages every day and avoid the foods that disrupt gut flora, especially refined carbohydrates.

Bone broth plays a double role of supporting the immune system and helping the body detoxify.

COCONUT OIL

We are grateful to Beth Beisel, registered dietitian and WAPF member for reminding us about the protective factors in coconut oil. Swine flu is a lipid coated virus and thus is inactivated by sufficient amounts of monolaurin. (Our bodies convert lauric acid, found in coconut oil, to monolaurin).

According to Dr. Mary Enig, two to three tablespoons of coconut oil per day appears to be an adequate dosage to fight infection, even from virulent antibiotic-resistant organisms such as MSRA.

There are lots of ways to get coconut oil into the diet: stir coconut oil in some tea; make macaroons; replace some of the butter in baking with coconut oil.

For more good ideas for cooking with coconut oil go to http://coconut-recipes.com

For information on the Weston A. Price Foundation go to http://www.westonaprice.org