I'm so glad it went well Eileen and you were very nice to take your guests problems into consideration. For any future southern style meals you may wish to have and from my deep south vantage point, I can tell you Cajun and Creole cooking may be in the deep south geographically, but is another totally different catagory from southern cooking. Southern cooking is also not a diffent ethnic catagory as I've seen suggested in other areas. Fried chicken isn't a special dish here although it does seem to be a southern dish, as is fried pork chops, fried corn, corn on the cob, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens and cornbread (usually without sugar). ; ) Also southern are summer squash casserole, fried green tomatoes, string beans cooked for hours in chicken broth with ham hock and onions, crowder peas, and purple hull peas. Okra, either boiled or fried, lima beans, fried or mashed potatoes and potato salad are a few more. In the winter usually pinto beans and large white lima beans show up quiet often. BBQ pork which is pulled, though not even close the same as the pulled pork recipes you see now all over the place. The staple here is cooked extremely low for twelve or more hours over an open pit, usually over hickory wood. It has no ketchupy or sugary sauce on it at all, mainly a little vinegar, water and cayenne pepper.

Just got the spam...from Sweden. The names were "Lotta" (wife) and "Lars" (husband/researcher). Hmmm...sounds like "lotta liars" to me! Anyway, I am not overweight at all, but do live healthy. The last 13 weeks I was on the "Body for Life" program by EAS...consisting of Myoplex shakes (protein), healthy meals (6 small meals a day), 100+ oz. water a day and exercise. Surprisingly, I lost 10lbs! (went from 112 lbs to 102) I really didn't think I could/needed to lose any weight, but I did. Some people think the 2-3 shakes I had a day was weird, but it provided my body with the nutrients and protein it needed to build/maintain muscle and keep my body from eating the muscle it was trying to build. Before I started this program, I would come in to work and not even eat until 1pm. Some people think that skipping meals will help lose weight...it might not add any extra fat or sugar to your diet, but not eating anything is often worse than eating. Your body will eat away at your muscle and your metabolism will go into starvation mode and hold onto all fat you put into it...thinking it might need it to survive later on. Because of that, I would NOT recommend only eating 3 bananas a day (see some peoples emails above), or 3 of only one anything a day. Perhaps this bread does offer the nutrients your body needs to maintain itself, which is much better than starving it. It would be a great thing to have in the morning rather than skipping breakfast. But I would not make up a diet solely of bread. Also, the person who said "Wheat is very bad for somebody trying to lose weight...even ONE cracker made with wheat can stop weight loss in its tracks" is RIDICULOUS! Maybe if you are sitting on your butt hoping that not eating a few things will be the miracle to help you lose 10 lbs...but in reality, wheat bread, crackers, ect. have more protein, fiber, and nutrients than those without. Your muscles crave protein and nutrients and once you activate and build muscle, you will burn a TON more fat/calories than by just altering your diet a bit. I'm not saying become a musclehead (I am not one at all), I am just saying that wheat is very healthy AND will help you burn fat...lose weight. It's kinda like those people who think if you drink 120 oz. of water in a day you will be retaining a lot of water, but in actuality, if you try this, you will feel much thinner at then end of the day...your shoes won't feel so tight and your wedding ring might even spin around your finger. Try it sometime...ps, the more you do it the less you have to run to the bathroom, your body gets use to it. And finally, why would you think the only recipe that makes sense is the flour, salt & water only one. 2,000 years isn't THAT long ago. Remember the Bible stories and the last supper picture (no, I am NOT a Bible thumper, just making an observation). They had bread back then...and it isn't suprising that they learned to add nuts, dates, raisins, or spices to bread. ...

Hello, Im writing this so others can avoid MY awful experience with this Âjump start 48 Âhour diet, sometimes called the Hollywood Diet. ItÂs Monday now and IÂm almost feeling normal again, but still very weak. Ever have stomach flu? ThatÂs what this was like. Saturday morning, full of determination, I mixed up a batch of the WomanÂs World recipe of the diet. Since it had more protein, it sounded more healthy than the Hollywood version of the Âjump-start recipe. Besides, I donÂt care for papayas or apricots, which may be the source of the bitter tang some users have complained about. It tasted just FINE, and I had my first shake at around 10 am, then went about my usual weekend activity, which was sewing. Not too strenuous. I worked steadily with a big container of water next to me, taking sips off that to keep hydrated as many have recommended. When I got hungry, I drank another fruit shake. Of course I used the toilet a lot more with all this liquid, but IÂd expected that, after all, I was trying to clean out my system. In articles IÂd read about this sort of diet IÂd learned our bowels can hold from 2-7 pounds of wasteÂwhich accounts for most of the Âweight lost in this diet. Of course, once youÂre back on regular food afterwards it all comes back, a little detail the TV infomercials leave out. Around 4pm my dogs came in and began staring at me. Not normal behavior for them. They are very perceptive pooches and their message was clear: ÂAre you feeling bad? They were right. I was feeling woozy, and had a headache, which I attributed to the sudden diet shift. I drank more water and decidedÂafter sewing a long seam up the wrong wayÂthat I needed to compromise on this. My weakness was such that I couldnÂt sit up to sew anymore, so I lay down on the bed and thought things over. As in the Slim Fast diet the idea of having one sensible meal for dinner made sense. So I had one (with some Tylenol) and felt a little better, but not much. I found I was too weak to sit at the sewing machine even then, and my trips to the toilet were becoming more frequent and cramp-ridden. Ditto for my between-runs rests. I dozed the rest of the slow evening, lurching up from bed to deal with bouts of out-and-out diarrhea, cursing myself for being so stupid. I got NO sleep that night, only catching short, shallow dozing between stumbling to the bathroom every 30 to 40 minutes, and groaning with cramp. Throughout all that my little dogs snuggled close, giving what comfort they could. I had chills, then the sweats like a fever victim, terrible cramps, and a thunderous headache that no amount of Tylenol would fix. I kept drinking water, knowing that if I didnÂt keep hydrated IÂd only feel worse. Finally I took a dose of Emetrol for the nausea. Exactly 30 seconds later I was bent over the tub with an uncontrolled case of the heaves, and remained there in abject misery for the next half hour. I crept back to bed, extremely weak, and went back to the chills, cramps, and sweats routine for the rest of the night. In the morning I still had the awful headache, and the shakes kept me from standing upright for more than a couple minutes. The cramps had abated, so I felt certain I was on the down side of the bell curve. I continued drinking water, and in the afternoon managed to keep down a couple finely chewed crackers. I remained bed-ridden the whole of the day. By evening I had dry toast and an egg. So, there it was: the 24-hour give yourself stomach-flu symptoms diet, and, NO, I did NOT lose ANY weight. The only jump-start to my system darn near burned out the battery, leaving me incapacitated for 2 days, weaker but wiser on the third. (And full of gas!) I will mention the one time I did lose weight a couple years back. I reduced my calorie intake to 1000-1200 a day, stopped drinking caffeine and anything fizzy (including diet fizzy drinks) and increased my walking to a mile a day. I lost 30 pounds. ItÂs the same old story, the quick miracle fads just donÂt work. I was able to stick to this one for only 8 hours before my body violently rebelled against the abuse. Had I stuck to it for 48 as the regime calls for IÂd have landed in a hospital with a bunch of health care workers shaking their heads over me, too polite to ask ÂWhat were you THINKING???? So you think about it now. As for meÂIÂm going back to the old routine. ItÂs slower, but more certain and 200% healthier. Pat Elrod

It's entirely possible. For anything that calls for soybeans you can easily substitute other beans (white beans are probably the blandest and would change the flavor of the recipe the least but there's no reason not to use whatever bean you like). You can substitute things like rice milk, water, fruit juices for soy milk, as long as the flavor difference will work with the recipe. You'll be skipping tofu and tempeh and I don't know of good subs for them, but just leave them out or be creative. There's always seitan but personally it just tastes like soggy bread to me. I have many vegetarian cookbooks that have tons of recipes without soy (unfortunately, all are in storage 2500 miles away right now). Take some time at a bookstore or used bookstore and peruse all the veggie cookbooks there -- you should find plenty that fit your bill. There are tons of veg*n websites, too. I'm sure you can find good recipes there and also support for your changes. If you're worried about protein, see the website below, or google something like "protein myth" or "protein needs." It seems to be one of the least understood nutritional components, partly thanks to the pseudo-science of things like the Adkins diet. Here's an additional link: http://exercise.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/protein_2.htm I cook lots of things without soy -- in fact, we only eat it every few weeks at most and then only as tofu or tempeh -- there are so many great veggies, grains, beans, fruits, and a whole world of delicious eating without meat, and if you want, without soy! Have fun! Here is a link that might be useful: veggie protein