LowCarb Eating, and Bread: My Own Experience

This won't be a bunch of recipes; a google search will turn up a bazillion of them. But it's about what works for me.

First, I do buy lowcarb breads of various types for my husband, as he loves his sandwiches and I think they're better than the carby breads. And about once a week I will make a couple of slices of toast with it. But they all contain wheat in some form and I do my best to minimize my wheat intake, which brings us to my second point...

Second, I try to avoid wheat. When I was a child I had an allergy to it. As an adult, I've suffered various problems from heartburn to bloating, from acne to insomnia...and all of them stopped when I did Atkins' induction over 5 years ago. As I added back grains, the symptoms recurred as soon as I added wheat back into my diet. The next few years of experimentation, as well as the experience of countless others, have proven to me that wheat is indeed the culprit. So I try to avoid it.

That said, however, sometimes I weigh the consequences and eat it anyway, usually in the form of Vital Wheat Gluten for my baking, or when I have purchased Carbquik in the past, or when I choose to have lowcarb bread or a tortilla or other premade lowcarb product. (A package of 10 torillas lasts me several months - I freeze them .)

I should note again here that, even though I'm still 100# above my desired weight (which differs from weight charts), I am not wanting to lose any more right now. The reasons for that are irrelevent here, but if I were, I would probably avoid most grains altogether since in the past they have slowed my weight loss incredibly.

So...back to bread. My current favorite way to eat a sandwich, or toast, is using my own version of one-minute microwave bread as inspired by this video . However, I've made a couple of changes to it: for the dry ingredients I use a combination of protein powder, flax meal, and almond flour in approximately equal quantities. I also add a tad less of the dry ingredients, so I don't get as heavy a bread. I whip my egg until really frothy, then I add in my baking powder, cream, and oil while still whipping to keep the volume. Then I stir in my dry ingredients so I don't lose too much volume before I nuke it. The difference between the video and my version isn't huge but I just like it a little better :). I've never followed a recipe in my life without making my own changes, and this is no different!

So, those are my answers to bread :). With the plethora of recipes online there seems to be a bread solution for everyone. If you have a favorite I hope that you'll let me know!

Sadder Than I Thought I'd Be

I'd written before about changing churches recently, and our reasons for that move. We've been attending a tiny little country church for the last few months, and have grown to love it. It's very low-key, and every Sunday we leave saying, "Wow, I never thought of it that way before!" about the pastor's Sermon that week. The old hymns have been soothing to the soul, and the people friendly and welcoming.

But this morning we learned that the board had voted to close the church, and the building had been sold. It didn't really hit me until later this afternoon that I was starting to grieve. The pastor does have another church, and we will attend there...but it's 20-some miles away instead of 4. That wouldn't be a big deal, really, not for once a week. But if God moves in that church and it grows and becomes more active - or if for any reason there would be any more involvement, it would take its toll. Especially since I don't drive, and Pete is working so many hours...

(Interrupting myself here - in my proof-reading I see that I'm trying to second-guess God. And that NEVER works. See below.)

I'm sure we'll meet and enjoy the people in the other church just fine. And we already know David and Trish, at least to a degree given the short time we've been attending...none of that is the point...

Maybe I can explain it a little better: When we first went there, it was nothing that we wanted. No CCM, the preaching was drier than what we were used to, they used canned music for accompaniment...pretty much the opposite of our last 2 churches. And frankly at first we were wondering why we'd been led there. But 2 minutes into the sermon, I was riveted. And a few minutes later I had my first epiphany. And, by the time we left, Pete and I both knew this was it. As the weeks have passed, we've found the old hymns to be soothing to the soul, and the simple nature of the service to be strangely attractive to us. We started thinking of it as home. And there's a different feeling between "the pastor at the church we attend" and "our pastor". David had become our pastor, and his wife someone I looked forward to exhanging a few words with each week.

It struck both Pete and I directly that this is where God wanted us, as clearly as if He'd been standing there in person and talking to us. (His sheep know his voice.)

So now, today, I'm left wondering, why? Why were we led to a short-lived church experience?

That's one thing about living by faith: If you know what's coming, there's no need for faith. So God tends to keep us in the dark about things.

So, we'll go where David and Trish are, and we'll see how things progress. We never know what God will have in store for our future church family or activities...and we'll of course let Him use us as He sees fit.

But I will still miss "our" little country church...