No eggs, tomatoes, potatoes, gluten, bran, oats, sugar, caffeine, nuts, meats (only chicken and fish), citrus (citric acid). I think that's it. I bought some brown rice pasta. I have rice milk, I can try the rice, rice milk and cinnamon (since it's not very good on quinoa). I am going to google some lentil cakes. Thanks so much for the ideas! Wow, this diet also drops the weight off. I had to double how much I was eating to not drop - yay. I think I should make a trip to the health store. They probably will have some suggestions too. I am finding it easier (to follow) than I thought I would. I had to drop a few pounds in the past and I found that a lot more difficult (as in eating what I usually do in smaller portions). Weird.

Thanks for posting this Carol, now I can print out the recipe and get THAT messy instead of my Craig Claiborne cookbook (grin). I used frozen peas and carrots (pre-cut!) or any other veggie I wish as a short cut.

My mother grew up in Arkansas and we visited it every summer for a month. My grandmother was a true "southern cook" - lots of fried chicken, fried pork chops, milk gravy over homemade biscuits, fried okra (SO good!), cakes, pies, jams and jellies. And yes, she was fat and she died of congestive heart failure...at age 89, having lived alone in her house till her final visit to a hospital. Southern food is wonderful but it is fattening, although my grandmother and one uncle-by-marriage were the only fat ones in the family. Of course, my grandfather died of a heart attack at age 72, but he was thin as a rail, even eating his wife's cooking! Go figure. I haven't eaten fried pork chops with milk gravy in years, but OMG it IS good. About once a year, I fry chicken. I just don't eat it every Sunday the way I did growing up. I think the downfall of the south where weight is concerned is soda. Remember, Coca Cola started in Atlanta. Southerners LOVE their soda pop and drink it in huge quantities. Many are Baptists who don't drink and they like the "lift" they get from all that caffeine. Living in KY, I see a LOT of obesity and poor lifestyle choices. When I go to pulmonary rehab at a local hospital, if I go early, I see the healthcare workers arriving for work in the morning...a 32 oz soda in their hand. And yes, they are very heavy.

Rusty's dumplings are pâte à choux. The same dough as profiteroles, eclairs, cream puffs, churros, croque-en-bouche, etc. I've never done them steamed/boiled, but I think they sound fantastic! I'm going to have to try that. It's interesting about the fluff vs. flat debate. My mother would make biscuit topping for shepherd's pie, but it was never called dumpling. Dumplings were dough balls boiled in broth. They could also be spaetzle, which are long and bumpy, rather than balls, but the same kind of dough. I'd never met biscuits as dumplings until this group. I'm guessing the flat noodly ones are more like our dough balls even though they're big and flat.