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After a long descent into emotional eating and food crazies that started near the end of my mother's battle with cancer and continued until recently, I seem to have gotten my mojo back. Food went back into its corner and seems willing to stay where it belongs in my life -- ie, as food/fuel, and an occasional form of entertainment rather than comfort -- and I got back on what worked to help me lose 187 pounds, whole-foods, sugar-free, grain-free, low-carb eating.
This way of eating never felt like deprivation to me. It does for others; I'm speaking here only for myself. But one of the misconceptions people have about whole foods low-carb is that it cuts you off from some of your favorite foods. It's true, if pasta and pizza and flour-based layer cake is your favorite food, it does. I won't deny it.
But if you're willing to put out just a small amount of effort, you can eat a lot of pretty awesome things and stay away from carby foods as well as low-carb processed junk food.
I made this recipe up myself, if you can call it a recipe since I'm a pretty ramblin' kind of cook. But it hits that sweet spot when you just have to have something full of rich, dark chocolate and a little bit of sweet creaminess.
Low Carb Creamy Chocolate Muffin
Basic cake recipe:
2 sticks butter (softened)
4 oz cream cheese (softened)
1 and a quarter cup Splenda
5 whole eggs
2 cups almond flour
Approx. 4 Tblsp unsweetened dark cocoa powder -- batter should be very dark, if not, add more, along with a little more Splenda if you increase cocoa. If it seems dry, you might want to add another egg. Sorry to be so vague.
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
Cream butter, cream cheese and Splenda, then add eggs and vanilla and mix well. All by hand.
Mix almond flour with baking powder and add to egg mixture. Mix well by hand.
Spoon into greased (I use butter) cupcake/muffin tins.
Bake in pre-heated 350 degree oven for around 20 minutes - check for doneness by tapping the top. If it feels firm, it's probably done.
Each cupcake has around 5 grams of net carbs (which is total carbs minus fiber).
Whipped Cream
Once, on a low carb email list I used to be on, someone asked the list if it was true, as she had heard, that it was possible to make "homemade whipped cream." I wanted to cry.
If it comes in a can or a plastic tub, it shouldn't go in your body.
For those who don't know how to whip cream, it couldn't be easier.
Purchase heavy cream at the market. This was made with heavy cream from grass-fed cows, and while it was pasteurized, it was not ultra-pasteurized. Sadly, most organic and much non-organic heavy cream has been ultra-pasteurized, so if that's all you can find, it will still taste just fine, even if it should be illegal.
Get a mixing bowl. It's bonus points if you put it in the freezer for an hour or so before you begin, but I almost never do.
Pour the heavy cream into the mixing bowl. Add a capful of vanilla extract and two-three packets of stevia powder.
Mix until it forms stiff peaks, and stop just before it turns into butter. How long will depend on many factors, so if you're using a standing rather than hand-held mixer, don't walk away from it. Once it turns into butter, you can never go back.
That's it.
Depending on how much you add, it's around 1-2 more grams of carbs per serving.
Did the Westminster Kennel Club dump longtime sponsor Pedigree because it has a problem with shelter pet adoption, or because Pedigree's ads promoting shelter pet adoption made them want to kill themselves?
The New York Times covered the story, reporting WKC spokesman David Frei as saying, "We want people to think of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show as a celebration of the dogs in our lives. ... Show me an ad with a dog with a smile; don’t try to shame me."
Pedigree responded by saying Westminster was actually against the cause of shelter dog adoption in and of itself, particularly the adoption of mixed breed dogs rather than purebreds.
I have no idea of what's really behind the split, but as I read the Times piece, I was struck again by the great divide in how different people try to "sell" pet adoption. Despite research from the Ad Council that found people are not motivated to adopt pets by sad pictures of pets behind bars or stories of suffering, those types of messages are still constantly being used by groups whose stated goal is to get pets adopted.
What those messages do is two-fold. First, they make people feel miserable and overwhelmed. They also tend to make people break out the checkbook. That's right; they're good for raising money, not finding homes for pets.
And Pedigree knows that. From the Times article:
Last year, nearly three and a half million viewers watched the Westminster Kennel Club show (and the commercials), which was broadcast on the USA Network and CNBC. Ms. Martellotti declined to say how much money Pedigree had paid to sponsor the show, but said the partnership had been a boon to its adoption initiatives. In 2007, Pedigree received $500,000 in pledges after its graphic ads were broadcast over the show’s two days.
“People did not look away,” she said. “They were inspired to pick up the phone and make donations.”
Also interviewed in the article was Sandra DeFeo, the executive director of the Humane Society of New York, who was quoted as saying they chose to focus on uplifting images of shelter pets in their promotions. She added that people "need to know" that animals are suffering and dying, but that they can't handle it.
I think she's mixing up her messages. When you're working on shelter reform, absolutely, you need to spread the word that animals are suffering and dying needlessly, due to antiquated practices that can and must be changed.
But when you're doing adoption, tragedy and misery don't work. Most people outside the rescue community (most of the members of which, by the way, already have all the pets they can adopt) want the adoption of a new family pet to be a happy experience. In both the Ad Council's research and that done by PetSmart Charities, people have demonstrated concern over adopting from shelters as being depressing and upsetting. How on earth does showing these miserable images address that concern?
It doesn't; it reinforces it. It might raise money for the organizations running the ads, but it doesn't get people to adopt shelter pets.
So I, for one, am glad to see someone calling that type of adoption ad into question. And I ask Pedigree, and anyone else who supports (or claims to support) pet adoption, to really consider if their ads are serving that goal, or setting it back.
Note: "Pet Adoption Videos That Don’t Make Me Want To Kill Myself" is a category on the blog of Edie Jarolim, Will My Dog Hate Me?
Look, a vacuum cleaner just shouldn't be this complicated.
A few months ago, I purchased a Panasonic JetSpin Cyclone based on a review I read on the old Pet Connection. I knew the Dyson Animal was supposed to be the pinnacle machine for pet owners, but $500 for a vacuum cleaner? Just no. But the Cyclone had good reviews on Amazon as well as the one on Pet Connection and was a fraction of the price, so I bought it.
The reviews may be accurate, but I have to assume the people who wrote them grew up in a different era than I did. Every vacuum I've ever used has worked just fine in picking up dog hair, cat hair, and whatever else was on my rugs. I haven't experienced all these clogs and suction-failures the TV ads wax dire over, and all I ever had to do was change the bag every few uses and, once or twice in the lifetime of the vacuum (which would run into decades) change a belt.
My new vacuum was so freaking complicated that I had to get out the instruction manual just to emtpy it. It has multiple filters and I can't even figure out how to get half the attachments off the machine or onto the wand. Hell, I don't even understand how the wand works at all. I hate it so much I'm giving it away, and I went to Amazon and ordered an old-fashioned bagged upright Hoover with hundreds of rave reviews that cost even less than the Cyclone (around $125).
Keep your stupid high tech vacuums and their bagless, filtered, super-magical special pet hair sucking technology. I'm going back to the kind of vacuums that had a one-page instruction manual. And if you want the Cyclone, it's yours.
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