Like Deanna, I make good use of my crockpot to make a pot of beans or pork carnitas or pulled pork or beef BBQ. I like to make a big half sheet pan of various roasted vegetables, whatever sounds good to me that day. I can warm them up for a meal whenever I need them, I've used potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, turnips, rutabaga, onion, beets, zucchini, asparagus, cauliflower. I try to keep them "sorted out" with things that cook quickly, like asparagus and zucchini on one tray. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and put in the oven at 400F or so until they are as done as you want. Watch asparagus, it gets crispy quickly! I try to have one vegetarian meal per week, minimum. I think most recipes today contain altogether too much cheese, so I'm not guilty of that, but I often make a tub of hummus and eat that with celery sticks so I'm not sure what those carbs would do to your blood sugar. It at least has lots of fiber. As for low carb, how about a nice frittata? I'm a big "breakfast for supper" person because I don't like much food in the morning but I love breakfast foods. I also like "finger food" sometimes, like a steamed spear of asparagus, or some sticks of veggies of your choice, wrapped in a slice of turkey or ham that's been spread with some low fat herbed cream cheese. Lots of protein, no bread. Finally, I make stir fries with whatever sounds good, add a shot of soy sauce and whatever seasonings you like. You can make it with shrimp, chicken, beef, pork, tofu, no meat at all, a couple of different kinds, any vegetables you like. Stirfry is my friend. LOL Here are two of my favorite recipes. The first goes together really quickly but does require that you keep a bottle of fish sauce, whichi I only use for this recipe, LOL. The cut up chunks of chicken cook quickly, it takes longer to make the brown rice that I like with it. Add any veggie you like. I cut the chilies down to one and I use whatever boneless chicken I have on hand. Sometimes it's a mix of dark and light, sometimes not. Compliments of solsthumper... Chicken in Caramel Sauce 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 1/4 cup water 1/4 cup fish sauce 3 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 teaspoon minced garlic 1 teaspoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon slivered ginger 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 2 small dried, red chilies, broken in half 1 tablespoon peanut oil 1 shallot, sliced 1-3/4 lbs. skinless, boneless dark meat chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces 1/4 lb., skinless, boneless white meat chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces Cooked rice Fresh cilantro sprig for garnishing Combine the sugar, water, fish sauce, vinegar, garlic, soy sauce, ginger, pepper, and chilies in a small bowl. Mix well. Set aside. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the shallot and sautfor a few minutes. Add the chicken and sauté until slightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium. Cook until the liquid is reduced by half, about 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place rice in a serving bowl and spoon the chicken over it. Garnish with cilantro. Also from Sol is my go-to-crockpot-recipe, pork carnitas. Unfortuantely I'm at work and don't have it here, anyone else have that recipe handy? Annie

I have a gluten free bakery and jammery and sell at a farmers market. I don't use corn syrup, weird chemicals or artificial anything. Most of my customers have other allergies or intolerance's and I try to accommodate them for things like no sugar, dairy, eggs, nuts, soy, corn, and the like that are easily done and most times have enough of a variety of baked goods to offer each week that they can have something right now. If not they can special order things at no extra cost per item but with a minimum $ amount to cover my extra time and effort, but still a sure sale that will make them happy. And, I do tell my customers, if asked, which products are from organic sources (or naturally grown without the piles of paperwork for gov't approved label of Organic). But, some people are off the wall with their, IMO and perhaps perceived, allergies to things like nutmeg or baking soda and some ask if there are any fish or seafood in my jams, pickles, and baked goods that would never be there normally anyway! All the ingredients for each item are listed on the labels but people do not want to read, just converse. It's like they have to share their aversion to justify them to themselves so I give them "grandma" answers politely and know that sometimes they just want to share, be recognized, to connect. Lonely maybe? Seeking to be unique in a world too full of people? Small price to pay if they go on their way happily and have a positive experience even if I have just an "I'm sorry" answer and offer alternatives. To be rude to those people means I have not respected them and therefore have not been respected, something sorely lacking in this world today, and that affects how they pass that on. On another note - about celiac disease: a new cookbook called "Nosh on This" gluten free Jewish-American baking said that one teaspoon of gluten flour in a bathtub of gluten free flour was enough to cause distress to a celiac (paraphrased). It is a real disease that has probably been around 50 or maybe 1,000 years ago but identification of it for all its widely varied symptoms has occurred only in the last 20 years or so and then only by serologic testing &/or biopsy. It is not as serious or as life-threatening as diabetes, for example, but still as valid as high blood pressure or arthritis and can be controlled by going gluten free. It is real, ask Annie_1992 about her Amanda. I don't think people with the disease are demanding special treatment at a restaurant, they just want something that won't make them sick. They are not asking for ice cream at a burrito truck but they do know that gluten cross contamination, even inadvertently, can make them miserable and have to avoid eating out. I sympathize with them. I can't eat spicy food (I'm old and my digestive system is too) and my friends all want to go to Thai or Mexican restaurants. So, I scan their menus and always find something to eat, even if it means pushing around a salad. It is the company of friends that is enjoyable and memorable, not necessarily what is consumed and forgotten a week later. I also suspect that the person posting the original sign did so from frustration. As one of the other poster's said, in effect, don't go to a steak house and expect the chef to prepare your vegan dinner as if you were the only one that he should personally cater to - there are others who are hungry and want what is on the printed menu that he has used his expertise to create. Respect that! Bottom line is: if you have a problem with certain foods on a menu, go somewhere else - as he said, or hire your own personal chef, or, learn how to cook for yourself, but don't be rude because they feed 99.9% of the other people who come in for that chef's food and you are only .1% and do not spread your rudeness and self importance to make everyone else unhappy. Nancy

I was not a picky eater as a child, but now I am. I don't like certain textures, things like Jello will make me fight to swallow instead of gag. Neither of my kids were very picky, but Ashley liked (and still likes) more sweet stuff and processed food than her sister. She'd do things like sit down with a can of cream of mushroom soup and eat it right out of the can. She still prefers white bread and would be as happy living on fast food as she would be with filet. My granddaughter first ate everything, then became very picky, now she's becoming more adventurous again. I told her to try new things, if she didn't like it she could spit it out, she didn't even have to swallow. That got a lot of new foods into her mouth and she liked some of them. She just wanted to know that she had the option, I guess. She is also funny about texture, even when she was a baby things like pudding and mashed potatoes would make her gag. She still won't eat mashed potatoes. My grandson is an eating machine. He'll eat anything except green beans, he hates those. His problem is that he will eat until he gets sick, if it's one of his favorites. So what to feed picky eaters? I'd start with what they like, and try to branch out. He likes chicken? How about some BBQ sauce? I ground Doritos in the food processor and made chicken nuggets, those Doritos became seasoned bread crumbs. He likes pasta? What does he like on it? If it's plain, could you get away with some cheese? That cheese could eventually include some seasonings, maybe some bacon. I never met a kid who didn't like bacon, for some reason. Many kids like things they can dunk. My granddaughter still won't dunk a french fry in catsup, she hates sauces. My grandson dunks everything in catsup, BBQ sauce or ranch dressing. I think it depends on the child. I wouldn't fight over it, but if you can ease some new things into his diet, he might not even notice. Or, you might get lucky like I did on Halloween. I made some butternut squash bread, which both the grandkids love. There was some squash left over. Amanda came in, added some butter and brown sugar and heated it in the microwave, then ate a bowl of it. Bud suspiciously eyed what was left and asked me what it was. I told him that it was so good that his mother didn't share it, she was being selfish. He took me very seriously and quietly finished off the bowl, then told his mother that he'd eaten the rest of "her" squash. She told him that was OK, she'd make more for HERSELF tomorrow. He promptly announced that he'd eat that too, LOL. Sometimes a kid just wants to be obnoxious. (grin) Annie

Sad isn't it, our digestive systems aren't fully stable yet. A doctor told me humans are born 3 months too soon so our heads will be able to pass through. After the first 3 months, we begin to get our sight right and other things are also easier. Poor babies born too soon into a loud bright world and getting sick of their food sometimes. Why aren't we marsupial mammals so we can be safe in the pouch until it's time to come out? The doctor and parents look in and watch us grow. Don't you think it would be better for mom and child? I hope there will be marsupial humans in the future. It's a great solution for mammals and I feel we missed out.