In my opinion -- me, Alfie, speaking only for the personal opinion of myself -- the food rules should be: 1. Bring things you want to eat and use. If you want to eat food (last year, to the delight of my daughters, the sign said something like, "Food on the table, desserts on the counter"), bring food. If you want to eat meat, bring meat. If you want to eat vegetables, bring vegetables. If you want to eat dessert, bring dessert. If you want to eat off plates, using forks and spoons, and drink out of cups, and wipe your fingers on a napkin instead of your hair, bring those (unless enough other people are already bringing them). 2. Take the leftovers home with you, so Gardengranma doesn't get stuck with them (unless she wants to get stuck with them). Gardengranma, would it help you if somebody hauled away the garbage?

Glenda- I generally do an overnight sponge (8-12 hours), but at least 2-1/2 hours if I'm doing a "rush" job. Even a 30-minute sponge will improve the dough, but according to "experts" 2-1/2 hours is better. I mill the flour and start the sponge just after supper in the evening, and wash everything up while I have a sink full of water after meal clean-up and dish washing. Place the remaining flour needed to add the next day in the refrigerator or freezer until I need it (take it out early enough to warm to room temperature before adding it to the sponge). I have a friend who does up to 24 hours, but half the time it's in the refrigerator, and half room temperature. Using a sponge method with freshly-milled flour will help to get a very light loaf. I mix my dough in a Zojirushi bread machine - enough for two regular loaves, or three small loaves. I only use the Zo for mixing and take the dough out of the machine as soon as the kneading is done and place it in a dough-rising bucket so I can control the rise (to just UNDER "double"). A bread machine rise is a timed rise and it's easy to over-proof dough in it. Dough rises not to the clock, but according to the ambient temperature, humidity level (air and hydration of the dough), and the strength of the yeast. Whole wheat dough doesn't have the extensibility that bread made with bleached/unbleached flour does, so that's another reason to keep the rise to just under "double". In a dough-rising bucket, I can see by the graduated lines on the container that there is one quart of dough in it, so when it rises the two quart line, I know the dough has doubled. The lid snapped on tight also keeps the dough from drying out for a perfect little environment. I oil my hands before handling the dough and patting it into the container so it doesn't stick to my hands. I also suggest adding 1/4 t. ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) powder per loaf to the sponge ingredients so you don't get those short, squatty loaves so common with 100% whole wheat bread when made using the direct dough method. There is a substance called glutathione in wheat germ that breaks down the gluten bonds. Adding ascorbic acid to the dough counteracts the effects of glutathione (helps prevent the gluten bonds from breaking down, and repairs gluten bonds that have been broken). The ascorbic acid helps the yeast to work longer and faster because yeast likes a slightly acidic atmosphere. You may also find recipes for whole wheat bread that include lemon juice or vinegar as the acid. I use 1/2 water and 1/2 homemade kefir, buttermilk, or yogurt in the sponge. These cultured milk products also provide lactic acid and lactobacilli that help break down complex starches, irritating tannins and difficult-to-digest proteins in the whole wheat flour. Soaking the flour using a cultured milk product increases vitamin content and makes all the nutrients in grains more available. -Grainlady

A great way to "stretch" is to add textured vegetable protein to your diet. It's really cheap, and you re-constitute it, so you can soak it in stocks. Add it to ground meat or use it instead of meat. I'm vegetarian, and we re-constitute it in a mushroom broth with some Dr. Bronners thrown in. I mix it with spaghtetti sauce for pasta (gives nice texture), or macaroni and cheese...it pumps up the protien in these foods without adding too much of an odd texture like tofu is to some people or the beany taste from beans that some folks don't like. Lentils are another huge staple of our diet. There are tons of different kinds, and they have a very pleasant taste. Of all dry beans they are fastest to cook. My mom makes a great lentil salad with cooked brown lentils, diced celery, tomatoes, black olives and a bit of feta with a clear Italian or vinagrette dressing. You can throw them into a simple broth, with carrots, potatoes and celery and have a great soup.... Nancy mentioned B12 and nutritional yeast is a great source of B vitamins. If you like tofu, here's a cheesy tasting tofu recipe from The Grit, in Athens, GA. Using super firm tofu, (or press it with a book to squeeze some water out), cube it small and fry it in a non-stick skillet (don't use oil, this browns it better). Then turn off your heat. Sprinkle it with some soy sauce (about a teaspoon for a whole box of tofu ) and then throw the nutritional yeast right in on top of it - it will stick. We put this on salad as our "croutons" and it is YUM!!!! Also excellent on stir fried veggies over brown rice (the Grit calls this their "Golden Bowl". GGG

I don't deliberately plan my meals that way. I tend to put things together that seem to go together(beans & rice for example) I eat a lot of ethnic cuisine and it seems to be figured out for me. Been a veggie for 26 years and am very healthy. The only supplement that I take is E. I don't buy into the lack of protein thing that people worry about with a veggie diet. Think we eat way more protein than we need anyway.