[Mike Nolan]

Can they be used both ways? Otherwise you've got a pan with limited uses.

[Mike Nolan]

Tonight we had BLT salads, 4 strips of bacon and 2 ounces of chopped tomato on about 6 ounces of iceberg lettuce with a spoonful of mayo or Miracle Whip to give it that 'BLT' taste. I added a sprinkle of romano cheese to mine.

[Mike Nolan]

I have used a very large spatula (King Arthur used to sell it as a 'cookie spatula') to lower boules into a hot Dutch oven. You can also use a parchment sling. I hate getting my fingers burned as much as everyone else does.

[Mike Nolan]

IMHO, the biggest advantage of a cloche would be that it may be a better fit for the shapes of bread you make. A round or oval Dutch oven is going to be as good, IMHO, for boules. Beyond that it comes down to storage space issues. About once a week I run across some kitchen gadget or pan that sounds interesting, but I have to remind myself that even though our kitchen is huge, it's pretty full of stuff.

[Mike Nolan]

I think it's a lot more complicated than that, but I'm not sure how well I can explain it, so I'll start by saying what we're seeing.

My wife is Type II but takes 2 types of insulin daily. Since going on the keto diet her blood sugar readings (she also wears a CGM) have been excellent, especially overnight. Before she would sometimes go too low late in the evening and then skyrocket up about 6AM. Now most of the time her graphs are pretty flat all night. Her endocrinologist is also pleased with them. She's also been able to cut back a little in how much insulin and other meds she's taking. She's not losing a lot of weight like I am but I think there are other factors for her.

I don't know if Type I diabetics would experience similar results.

Now this is probably simplifying matters a bit, but here goes anyway.

Keep in mind that on a keto diet the goal is to have 70% of your daily calories from fat, 20% from protein and only 10% from carbohydrates, so your body has to convert fat back into sugars once it's used up the sugar stored mostly in your liver. Over time, it becomes more adept at doing that.

Of course the reason you lose weight on a diet is because you eat fewer calories than your body burns up. That's true regardless of where those calories come from.

[Mike Nolan]

I need to start tinkering with a low(er) carb apple pie recipe.

[Mike Nolan]

We had fish (cod and salmon) and broccoli for supper tonight.

[Mike Nolan]

The Celiac Disease Foundation says as many as 1 in 100 people worldwide have celiac, but only 30% have been identified as having it.

There are other wheat-related allergies, some people get diagnosed with celiac when they have some other wheat allergy, though I don't know if that makes much difference in how to live with a wheat allergy. But at least these days doctors are more willing to diagnose food allergies.

[Mike Nolan]

We both loved the cartoon!

The challenge I've set for myself is to see if I can come up with a repertoire of keto-friendly dishes that people would actually enjoy eating, regardless of whether they're trying to go keto or not. (Things like steaks and salads are too easy.)

So far the ones that have been the biggest hits are the keto-friendly cheese souffle with mushroom sauce (that could easily be turned into mushroom soup) and the keto-friendly egg custard. I'd feel comfortable serving either of those dishes at a dinner with friends.

[Mike Nolan]

The cauliflower crust pizza was a mixed success, it was edible but I wouldn't say it was delicious. However, I can think of several things I could do to make it better next time.

[Mike Nolan]

Tonight I'm trying a recipe for a cauliflower pizza crust, with assorted toppings.

[Mike Nolan]

Well, they're out and kind of a mixed review. I think they taste too salty and they probably need more butter, vanilla, and maybe blueberries instead of banana extract. Possibly fewer or no nuts.

They're better with some cream cheese, but what isn't!

They've got a good muffin-like texture, though, so I think there's plenty of room for improvement.

[Mike Nolan]

I am testing a low-carb mini muffin recipe today.

[Mike Nolan]

I made more low-carb custard Friday. At Diane's suggestion, I added more vanilla. She thinks it's better that way.

[Mike Nolan]

Ozempic as a weight loss tool is becoming popular for non-diabetics, so much so that it is impacting the supply chain, but the WSJ recently had an article noting that those who use it to lose weight are likely to gain it right back again when they stop using it, unless they change their eating habits.

Years ago, when the liquid protein diets were the in thing, I knew a doctor who lost over 100 pounds using them. When he stopped, his weight ballooned right back up and he wound up being a good 20 pounds heavier than before.

The breath ketone tester seems to be providing useful information, and it is a lot less expensive than a blood tester which requires strips that cost as much as a dollar each. I may get one anyway, though. More information is usually better than less information. What I've learned is that there are three different ways to measure ketones and each one measures a different type of ketone. I think they should be pretty much in lock step with each other, but being an engineer I like to experiment to prove it. So far, neither of us have hit readings indicating we're approaching ketoacidosis, which is dangerous.

I've lost at least 5 pounds in the last two weeks. I switched which scale I use for my daily readings because the digital one has a lot of variance, I can weigh myself several times and get readings as much as 2 pounds apart. So I'm back to using our platform scale, the kind where you slide a weight to get a reading. I just have to remember to reset it for Diane afterwards.

Earlier this week I started using a new app for meal tracking and recipe analysis. I want to use it for a while before I post specifics, but so far it seems pretty good.

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