I have the same problem with bells, though I haven't noticed it with spicy hot peppers. I am just learning about green smoothies and am getting a high quality blender that breaks down vegetables much finer than others. I find that I can have any combination of fruits and veggies together in a smoothie without getting gas. So I am wondering if this might help with bells. When I get the good blender I will experiment with a very tiny piece in a big smoothie with kefir and see how it goes. I also don't understand what the problem is.

These are by far the best peanut butter cookies I have ever made, and I make a lot of cookies. I always get rave reviews when I serve them. They are really over the top. 2.5 cups all purpose flour 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 lb. (2 sticks) salted butter (I use Cabot only) 1 cup brown sugar, packed 1 cup granulated sugar (I use Florida Crystals Natural Sugar) 1 cup crunchy peanut butter (Jif), at room temp 2 large eggs 2 tsps. vanilla extract (suprisingly, CVS imitation vanilla is excellent) 1 cup roasted salted peanuts Preheat oven to 350. Grind peanuts in food processor until they resemble bread crumbs, about 14 pulses; set aside. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl; set aside. Beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down bowl as necessary. Beat in peanut butter until fully incorporated and then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Gently stir dry ingredients into peanut butter mixture. Add ground peanuts; stir gently until just incorporated. Scoop into balls (I use cookie scoop) with about 1.5 Tbsps. dough per scoop and drop onto parchment about 2 inches apart. Press criss-cross design into the top of each ball using a fork dipped in cold water. Bake 10-12 mins until cookies are puffed and slightly brown along edges but not on top. Cookies will not look fully baked! Cool on sheet until set, about 5 minutes; transfer to wire rack to cool completely. The ground peanuts add a lot of flavor and surprisingly, do not add grittiness. I don't like peanuts in cookies as a rule, and I don't like crunchy peanut butter, but I love these cookies. When my mom makes them, she likes to make a glaze of powdered sugar with a little milk and a small amount of creamy peanut butter and drizzle it over the finished cooled cookies. If you make them, let me know how you like them.

In my quest to find some relatively healthy and diabetic friendly stuff that Dad will actually EAT, I found this recipe. I really like it, it's from Hungry Girl: The Apple of Our Eye Attention, Fiber One skeptics! We DARE you to try this recipe and not love it. Okay, if you're absolutely opposed to using F1 for baking, leave it out and double the graham cracker amount instead (each serving will then have 141 calories, 1g fat, 2.25g fiber and a POINTS® value of 2*). BTW, try spooning some of this stuff on top of light vanilla ice cream or yogurt... IT ROCKS!!! Ingredients: 3 cups peeled apple chunks (any sweet, not tart, variety) 1/2 cup Fiber One bran cereal (original) 2 sheets (8 crackers) low-fat honey graham crackers 2 tbsp. fat-free liquid egg substitute 2 tbsp. no-sugar-added applesauce 3 tbsp. Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated), divided 2 tbsp. brown sugar (not packed) 1 tbsp. cornstarch 2 tsp. cinnamon, divided 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1/4 tsp. salt Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine 2/3 cup of cold water with brown sugar, cornstarch, 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon, vanilla extract, salt, and 1 tbsp. of the Splenda. Stir well. In a medium-sized pot, combine apple chunks with this mixture. Heat the apple mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once liquid thickens to a syrupy consistency and begins to bubble, reduce heat to low and cover. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes, and then transfer mixture to a medium-sized round baking dish. Set aside. Next, break graham crackers into small pieces. Place graham pieces and Fiber One in a blender or food processor, and grind to a breadcrumb-like consistency. Transfer crumbs to a microwave-safe dish, and add egg substitute, applesauce, 1 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon, and the remaining 2 tbsp. of Splenda. Stir well. Microwave graham mixture for 1 minute. Use a fork to break up the toughened mixture as much as possible, and then allow it to cool for a few minutes. Transfer graham mixture to a food processor or blender, and pulse until crumbly and uniform. Evenly distribute graham topping over apple mixture. Place the dish in the oven, and bake for 10 minutes. Allow cobbler to cool slightly before serving. MAKES 4 SERVINGS Serving Size: 1/4th of cobbler (about 1 cup) Calories: 126 Fat: 1g Sodium: 236mg Carbs: 33g Fiber: 5.5g Sugars: 16g Protein: 2g POINTS® value 2* And this Banana Bread, also from Hungry Girl: Go Bananas! Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated) 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas) 1/2 cup fat-free egg substitute (like Egg Beaters) 1/2 cup no-sugar-added applesauce 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. salt Optional Toppings: no-calorie spray butter, Cool Whip Free Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine both types of flour, Splenda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon (in other words, all dry ingredients). In a separate bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, egg substitute, applesauce, and vanilla extract (all the wet ingredients). Add this mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients, and stir until just blended. Spoon batter into a large loaf pan (about 9" X 5") sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly, and then cut into 8 slices. If you like, spritz with some spray butter or spread on some Cool Whip Free. MAKES 8 SERVINGS Serving Size: 1 (thick!) slice Calories: 140 Fat: 0.5g Sodium: 267mg Carbs: 31g Fiber: 3.75g Sugars: 7g Protein: 5g POINTS® value 2* These are pretty high in fiber, for a muffin, and I love anything with peaches and pecans so I like these. I'll admit I usually use dried apricots, I usually have some of those: Peach-Oat These muffins are loaded with many of the components of a well-rounded breakfast: fiber and whole grains from oats and bran cereal, good fats from pecans and canola oil, dairy from nonfat buttermilk, and fruit from dried peaches. Ingredients 1/4 cup chopped pecans 1 3/4 cups uncooked regular oats 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup canola oil 2 large eggs 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup peach nectar 1 cup nonfat buttermilk 5 cups wheat bran cereal 1/3 cup chopped dried peaches Preparation 1. Heat pecans in a small nonstick skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often, 2 to 4 minutes or until toasted. 2. Process oats in a food processor or blender, about 45 seconds or until finely ground. 3. Beat sugar and oil at medium speed with an electric mixer 1 minute. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. (Mixture will be light yellow.) 4. Combine ground oats, flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Stir together peach nectar and buttermilk in a small bowl. Add oat mixture to sugar mixture alternately with peach mixture, beginning and ending with oat mixture. Stir until blended after each addition. Gently stir in bran flakes, dried peaches, and toasted pecans. Spoon batter evenly into lightly greased muffin cups, filling three-fourths full. 5. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Note: Muffins may be frozen for up to 1 month. Heat in toaster oven or microwave at HIGH 30 seconds. For testing purposes only, we used Post Premium Bran Flakes cereal. Yield Makes 24 muffins (serving size: 1 muffin) Annie Nutritional Information CALORIES 176(0.0% from fat); FAT 6.6g (sat 0.6g,mono 3.6g,poly 1.8g); PROTEIN 3.5g; CHOLESTEROL 18mg; CALCIUM 21mg; SODIUM 180mg; FIBER 2.5g; IRON 3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 27.5g

rhizo - LOL! Sounds like a winner to me! I like veggies and fruits and eat them frequently but maybe not as much fresh fruit as I should. Love salads, but lettuce causes me to bloat; romaine is more tolerable though. I've often thought of trying Benefiber or something along that line. To tell you the truth I've been eating way too many sweets and then sitting around, not being active enough. Finally got back into doing the walking exercises with Leslie Sansone and did that for 5 days but stopped again. I know that walking and exercising helps me in other ways too, I can feel the difference right away.