Going Gluten and Chocolate Free in Chengdu

Going corn chip crazy in Chengdu.

I think today is my fourth day going wheat free, unless that licorice I ate had wheat in it. I should probably look up the ingredients in a German dictionary just to make sure…

Fortunately, the diet here is more rice based than in the Northeast. Also, it is easier to get corn products here, yea, yea I know mycotoxins are in the corn. I really need to get over my feeling of corn deprivation already.

D. has been sick for a few days, don’t know if it is a cold or allergies. I have a bit of a sore throat right now. I’m gonna chop up some raw garlic and see if that helps. It did the other day.

Despite everything, my diet has been lousy and D. hasn’t been eating much at all. Just checked with him. Nope, still not hungry.

Oh yea, I have to congratulate myself. No chocolate for 4 days now. How about that? Going chocolate free is probably one of the better ideas I’ve had in a while and let me tell ya, Chocolate is everywhere here. No kidding! Really, every Chinese store sells Dove bars and/or Hershey bars and Ikea sells huge chocolate bars for only 8 quai and they sell this absolutely divine chocolate mousse too. OK. Enough chocolate talk. I sound like a drunk talking about booze already!

So how about that. No wonder I’m such a mess. I’m going through chocolate and wheat withdraws at the same time. Oy Vey!

Edit – OK last night I ate some pasta and today I had  2 coffee chocolate bars and a piece of carrot cake at Peter’s Tex-Mex.  guess I kind of blew it. Oh well, I think I need to be kind to myself and look at what I have accomplished as opposed to beating myself up about how I blew it.

Cat Cora’s Blueberry Pancakes Modified to be Gluten Free

Gluten free blueberry pancakes taste just like regular pancakes!

Click here for the link to the elusive Cat Cora recipe for blueberry pancakes.

Here is how I would modify it to be gluten free.

1. Substitute the wheat flour for Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour.
2. Follow the recipe.

Voila! Blueberry pancakes sans gluten.

The Wildlife is Dwindling in the Gulf

I haven't seen a dolphin in the Gulf since last summer.

Every time I go to FHP, I notice that the wildlife is dwindling. The Cormorants are all skinny and emaciated looking. It has been weeks since I’ve seen a Mullet jump out of the water. Our little slice of the Gulf may not be coated with oil, but the water does have an ominous quicksilver like appearance. I don’t think it is a coincidence.

I did three and a half times around the island today at FHP. That is roughly 2.8 miles. It was hot, hot, hot today! I didn’t get there until about 8:30AM, which is too late especially since all the cloud cover is gone.

I listened to … which was exactly my level today. I spent some time lamenting that fact, especially when Methusala passed me by. I’m so incredibly motivated because my butt is shrinking! I’m setting my alarm for 6:00AM tomorrow. Even if I knock out … I figure I’m still ahead of the game. Maybe it will kick start my metabolism which has been in the doldrums since I quit breast feeding my son about 17 and a half years ago.

I’m deliberately sticking to low calorie, high nutrient food. I can eat more without adding all the calories. I just get squeamish when I cut into one of those GMO tomatoes. It turns my stomach. They don’t even taste like tomatoes anymore. The younger folk have no idea what I’m talking about. I get a glassy eye stare whenever I broach the subject. So sad…

Edit: The tomatoes in China are awesome! No GMO produce here.