USMB Coffee Shop IV

Just heard the forecast of the nation for the rest of the week. It was not good due to snow up north and flooding everywhere else.

So, please be careful on the streets from now through the weekend. i'm praying tonight that all here will be safe, and Love to all. :hands:
We have wind but no snow. Just cold. Uncomfortable. Did get a brief flurry earlier today but not sure any of it hit the ground. :)
 
I get frustrated with Dr. Gundry's ads/videos though because they go on and and on until you've wasted 20 to 40 minutes to finally see what product he is pushing. I gave up watching those kinds of ads a long time ago.

I don't know if artificial sweeteners like aspartame cause dementia but I do believe the research that they do cause people to overeat and crave more and more sweet things that probably aren't all that good for us. The body does not recognize them as food and that causes a lot of unwanted side effects. And they may be a factor in some health issues.

But refined sugar is terrible too. So now I sweeten most things with raw unrefined honey or stevia or monkfruit and use refined sugar only when absolutely necessary for the chemistry of a recipe. I probably don't buy 10 lbs of sugar a year anymore and throw some of that out when it gets too hard to be usable. :)
I'm trying out Monk Fruit now, tried Stevia many years ago. Stevia for me would be euphemistically an acquired taste........ For some people it's bitter and unfortunately I'm one of those people..........
 
Vigil list? Could be a blessing in disguise but you already seemed to be pretty health conscious and not a sugarholic. But good to take care of it before it does real damage.
My worst enemy appears to be my favorite simpler carbs like white rice, pastas. chips, etc. Right now my ketone levels are high but still under the 300 mg/dl toxicity level.
 
My worst enemy appears to be my favorite simpler carbs like white rice, pastas. chips, etc. Right now my ketone levels are high but still under the 300 mg/dl toxicity level.
I don't have a sugar problem (yet) but I learned to enjoy thinly cut apple slices, citrus fruits, nuts (in moderation) for munchies instead of chips and such. All help keep blood sugar in check. Popcorn--pop it yourself instead of using the microwave stuff--is my go to munchie though. Must be eaten in moderation both for weight loss (my focus) and blood sugar but it is far better than potato chips or other pretty much empty carbs. Maybe try riced cauliflower in lieu of the rice or switch to modest portions of brown rice?

For the popcorn we have a whirly pop stove top popper. Less than a
half cup of kernals makes a very nice big bowl of popcorn.

I pop mine in unrefined coconut oil (believed to have some benefits to improve blood sugar levels and has some other health benefits), toss in a half teaspoon of gold medal flavacol (flavored popcorn salt) with a half cup or less of kernels and heat it all together until the corn starts popping usually in a minute or so. Within 2 or 3 minutes you have a nice hot bowl of healthy whole grain preservative free popcorn to munch on watching your favorite movie or sports team or whatever.

You can order the Whirly Pop popcorn popper, coconut oil, Gold Medal flavacol, and popcorn on Amazon.
 
I don't have a sugar problem (yet) but I learned to enjoy thinly cut apple slices, citrus fruits, nuts (in moderation) for munchies instead of chips and such. All help keep blood sugar in check. Popcorn--pop it yourself instead of using the microwave stuff--is my go to munchie though. Must be eaten in moderation both for weight loss (my focus) and blood sugar but it is far better than potato chips or other pretty much empty carbs. Maybe try riced cauliflower in lieu of the rice or switch to modest portions of brown rice?

For the popcorn we have a whirly pop stove top popper. Less than a
half cup of kernals makes a very nice big bowl of popcorn.

I pop mine in unrefined coconut oil (believed to have some benefits to improve blood sugar levels and has some other health benefits), toss in a half teaspoon of gold medal flavacol (flavored popcorn salt) with a half cup or less of kernels and heat it all together until the corn starts popping usually in a minute or so. Within 2 or 3 minutes you have a nice hot bowl of healthy whole grain preservative free popcorn to munch on watching your favorite movie or sports team or whatever.

You can order the Whirly Pop popcorn popper, coconut oil, Gold Medal flavacol, and popcorn on Amazon.
What??!! I have to give up my 10 party sized bags of potato chips a day??!!!! My 5 dozen boxes of Krispy Kreme Donuts per day!!???? my 20 pounds of white rice drowned in a roux gravy!!?? My 15 pounds of home fries cooked in bacon grease and butter??!!
I'll starve to death!!!!!

:eek: :p
 
What??!! I have to give up my 10 party sized bags of potato chips a day??!!!! My 5 dozen boxes of Krispy Kreme Donuts per day!!???? my 20 pounds of white rice drowned in a roux gravy!!?? My 15 pounds of home fries cooked in bacon grease and butter??!!
I'll starve to death!!!!!

:eek: :p
LOL. If it makes you feel any better, Hombre and I probably use more butter than we should and we still eat bacon in moderation. And we still have a handful of potato chips with our sandwiches. But we do try to keep things mostly healthy. Or I do anyway and he benefits by default. :)
 
LOL. If it makes you feel any better, Hombre and I probably use more butter than we should and we still eat bacon in moderation. And we still have a handful of potato chips with our sandwiches. But we do try to keep things mostly healthy. Or I do anyway and he benefits by default. :)
What I started doing with my popcorn was add a tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of olive oil, garlic & onion powder and (the fake stuff in a can) parmesan/romano blend. It's delicious! That was before the diagnosis so I haven't had it since. I'd do the same with spaghetti noodles plus add some Italian seasoning and more olive oil.
Of course I was using the Extra Butter Walmart brand microwave popcorn........
 
What I started doing with my popcorn was add a tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of olive oil, garlic & onion powder and (the fake stuff in a can) parmesan/romano blend. It's delicious! That was before the diagnosis so I haven't had it since. I'd do the same with spaghetti noodles plus add some Italian seasoning and more olive oil.
Of course I was using the Extra Butter Walmart brand microwave popcorn........
Yeah the microwave popcorn is not good food. The popcorn popped as I described is about as healthy as it gets without air popping it and I just find air popped corn to be really unsatisfying.

Probably a sprinkle of parmesan or other seasoning wouldn't be harmful though. I have a natural aversion to eating anything, especially for pleasure, that I don't enjoy eating. I might choke down an extra bite or two of steamed or roasted veggies that I really don't want just because I should but that's about it.
 
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Yeah the microwave popcorn is not good food. The popcorn popped as I described is about as healthy as it gets without air popping it and I just find air popped corn to be really unsatisfying.

Probably a sprinkle of parmesan or other seasoning wouldn't be harmful though. I have a natural aversion to eating anything, especially for pleasure, that I don't enjoy eating. I might choke down an extra bite or two of steamed or roasted veggies that I really don't want just because I should but that's about it.
I actually like most veggies and I'll make a meal out of just veggies with a little salt and dollop of my home blended canola butter.
 
I actually like most veggies and I'll make a meal out of just veggies with a little salt and dollop of my home blended canola butter.
Me too. One of my favorite entre is well prepared eggplant parmesan. And Hombre and I often make a meal of pinto beans and cornbread (though I usually try to add a salad or slaw and maybe a bit of corn on the side to create a complete protein.)
 
I get frustrated with Dr. Gundry's ads/videos though because they go on and and on until you've wasted 20 to 40 minutes to finally see what product he is pushing. I gave up watching those kinds of ads a long time ago.

I don't know if artificial sweeteners like aspartame cause dementia but I do believe the research that they do cause people to overeat and crave more and more sweet things that probably aren't all that good for us. The body does not recognize them as food and that causes a lot of unwanted side effects. And they may be a factor in some health issues.

But refined sugar is terrible too. So now I sweeten most things with raw unrefined honey or stevia or monkfruit and use refined sugar only when absolutely necessary for the chemistry of a recipe. I probably don't buy 10 lbs of sugar a year anymore and throw some of that out when it gets too hard to be usable. :)
I've been enjoying real maple syrup for sweetening coffee lately. Some nutritionists claim it's good for the brain, because so many people who live in maple syrup country are so bright. One year, my late husband planned our vacation just to see the maple trees turn, so we flew to Boston, rented a car, and swooned at the beauty of the maple tree color show in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. I definitely got hooked on maple syrup as it is served for breakfast everywhere in New England. We also got to visit a couple of world class quilt museums while up there. There is great majesty in the colorful forests of New England in the Fall. My husband's favorite pastime seemed to be making me happy, and he knew I love colors and quilts. 44 years of that spoiled me, I've been told. :heehee: Every memory I have of him is of shared joy. I was hoping we'd be wishing each other Happy birthday as centenarians.

Yes, we both rue Dr. Gundry's long lectures about stuff, and it's a crazymaker when a "which foods are good/bad" for this or that illness comes at the end, once in a while he forgets to tell what he promised in the beginning. It might be his career was earlier in writing, so you could pick up his material at any given time, and get back to it the next day. I often go to youtube and pick out ten minute or less time per video. Some speakers are sensitive to give good information in shorter bites. Thoroughness has its virtues, but thoughtfulness more so. Sometimes I feel like putting the computer on the burn pile if several promises are not honored at one sitting.
 
Me too. I enjoy winter clothing actually but I don't like cold weather anymore and it has not been comfortable here for several days now.
I heard your state was having some chill. Our big chill will be tomorrow and the following day or who knows how long. Some of the more northerly areas of Texas are supposed to get major ice, so y'all pray for Texas because we don't see the kind of cold that is being predicted shortly. My doggies will not be sleeping outside for a few days, as I've been keeping them in a lot. They are full of mischief, and I am ready for sunshine with all that puppy hooliganism going on. If I leave the house for more than half an hour, they dump every trashcan, chew up a piece of furniture or a mattress on a bed. Grrr. Nothing is sacred to my cute little year-old pups. Well, at least until the next chew toy binge rolls around.
 
I heard your state was having some chill. Our big chill will be tomorrow and the following day or who knows how long. Some of the more northerly areas of Texas are supposed to get major ice, so y'all pray for Texas because we don't see the kind of cold that is being predicted shortly. My doggies will not be sleeping outside for a few days, as I've been keeping them in a lot. They are full of mischief, and I am ready for sunshine with all that puppy hooliganism going on. If I leave the house for more than half an hour, they dump every trashcan, chew up a piece of furniture or a mattress on a bed. Grrr. Nothing is sacred to my cute little year-old pups. Well, at least until the next chew toy binge rolls around.
We used to visit Dallas, Fort Worth, Grapevine, Arlington in those parts a lot as we have had a lot of family there and still have some family there. And yes the ice storms can be terrible. But really cold weather isn't so common in your area so keep warm.
 
What I started doing with my popcorn was add a tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of olive oil, garlic & onion powder and (the fake stuff in a can) parmesan/romano blend. It's delicious! That was before the diagnosis so I haven't had it since. I'd do the same with spaghetti noodles plus add some Italian seasoning and more olive oil.
Of course I was using the Extra Butter Walmart brand microwave popcorn........
Oh, noes! Well, maybe the ingredient list had real butter on it, because it's the buttery flavor popcorn that has the #1 worst on the Alzheimer breakdown List. The buttery flavor stuff is supposedly even worse than corn syrup which is 2 or 3 on the Bring on dementia beware list. I haven't eaten popcorn in a raccoon's age. Too many manufacturers use the cheapest stuff that has no nutritional and even anti-health agents in it with not a care nor a thought.

Maybe that would change if we changed state laws to require nutritional education to both boys and girls in our public schools, to encourage the good health of children and grandchildren. Coaches frequently guide their team players on dietary health apps that will stay with them for good health and a long life after school and career days. Nutritional know-how can improve brain, heart, vascular, muscular, and coordination issues.

Tonight's vespers: A long and happy life to all at USMB. :hands:
 
I've been enjoying real maple syrup for sweetening coffee lately. Some nutritionists claim it's good for the brain, because so many people who live in maple syrup country are so bright. One year, my late husband planned our vacation just to see the maple trees turn, so we flew to Boston, rented a car, and swooned at the beauty of the maple tree color show in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. I definitely got hooked on maple syrup as it is served for breakfast everywhere in New England. We also got to visit a couple of world class quilt museums while up there. There is great majesty in the colorful forests of New England in the Fall. My husband's favorite pastime seemed to be making me happy, and he knew I love colors and quilts. 44 years of that spoiled me, I've been told. :heehee: Every memory I have of him is of shared joy. I was hoping we'd be wishing each other Happy birthday as centenarians.

Yes, we both rue Dr. Gundry's long lectures about stuff, and it's a crazymaker when a "which foods are good/bad" for this or that illness comes at the end, once in a while he forgets to tell what he promised in the beginning. It might be his career was earlier in writing, so you could pick up his material at any given time, and get back to it the next day. I often go to youtube and pick out ten minute or less time per video. Some speakers are sensitive to give good information in shorter bites. Thoroughness has its virtues, but thoughtfulness more so. Sometimes I feel like putting the computer on the burn pile if several promises are not honored at one sitting.
Like all other plant based sweeteners, maple syrup is extremely high in sugar content so should be used sparingly. I generally opt for unrefined honey which is not only considerably cheaper, but I don't need nearly as much to get the same satisfaction for my sweet tooth.

Certainly maple syrup is healthier than the store bought pancake syrup though and does have some nutritional value that refined sugar does not. And it is very good. :)
 
We used to visit Dallas, Fort Worth, Grapevine, Arlington in those parts a lot as we have had a lot of family there and still have some family there. And yes the ice storms can be terrible. But really cold weather isn't so common in your area so keep warm.
My best friend in high school now lives in Arlington, and my late husband graduated from Pascal high at Fort Worth. It's a small world. Those north Texas cities are gonna be feeling the ice very soon if not already. Here, we're on the maybe so maybe no list. Houston's always warmer than anywhere else except Brownsville and El Paso. Of course, Ma Nature rearranges the expected from time to time. :dunno:
 
Like all other plant based sweeteners, maple syrup is extremely high in sugar content so should be used sparingly. I generally opt for unrefined honey which is not only considerably cheaper, but I don't need nearly as much to get the same satisfaction for my sweet tooth.

Certainly maple syrup is healthier than the store bought pancake syrup though and does have some nutritional value that refined sugar does not. And it is very good. :)
The Glycemic index for maple syrup is 54, and for refined sugar, it's 68. I read somewhere that it has an antioxidant benefit of cheating diabetes out of another victim and one compound in maple syrup increases longevity. Sorry for being so vague, but I research foods I like for vitamin/mineral content as well as diabetes. I don't have diabetes, but my father had adult-onset diabetes, and my mom's sister got diabetes when she was around 68 years old. I have a couple of symptoms that go with diabetes, but when I go to the doctor, she checks for diabetes every time in blood tests, and so far, so good. Well, I have to clean up the supper floor in the kitchen where my doggies devoured some Gravy Train half an hour ago.

Have a lovely and blessed evening, all. Love ya!


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Like all other plant based sweeteners, maple syrup is extremely high in sugar content so should be used sparingly. I generally opt for unrefined honey which is not only considerably cheaper, but I don't need nearly as much to get the same satisfaction for my sweet tooth.

Certainly maple syrup is healthier than the store bought pancake syrup though and does have some nutritional value that refined sugar does not. And it is very good. :)
Store bought pancake syrup is mostly high fructose and or molasses based. If it's molasses based it's kinda, sorta healthy..........
 

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