I ate my dead rabbit’s oats today. He always enjoyed them as such a treat. He would eat out of my hand and tickle my palm with his whiskers. He was awesome.
Since Peanut died, the big canister of oats has been untouched. Then I had a heart attack.
It’s really hard to figure out what I am allowed to eat now. And I just got home, so we haven’t been able to convert the pantry to accommodate the 1,000 new rules that govern my diet. My husband is being an amazing trooper, taking care of me and making all the sacrifices I have to make, in solidarity,
He’s eating Peanut’s oatmeal, too. No salt. No butter. No sugar. No milk. The only respite from spoon after spoon of warm glutenous blandness is a handful of dried fruit he added. Those bites were tolerable. I have to admit, the balance of it makes me want to cry a little. I can’t finish it. Washing it down with decaf coffee… decaf, mydeargods… is a bit like adding insult to injury.
I’m trying to be a good sport. I really am. I would strongly prefer not to die and I am definitely opposed to the intense pain that was the heart attack and attendant surgery. I just need to adjust.
Perhaps my palate will evolve to not reject saltless, fatless, sugarless fare. Food’s just fuel, right?
I think your job might be to find/develop/assemble recipes for fatfree sugarless foods that are tasty. You can do it.
So, sugar-free means no Equal or that other sugar-substitute stuff either, eh? Wow.
the salt and fat are really the important ones. i had been trying to get refined sugar and chemical sweeteners out of my diet prior to the heart attack (both are really awful for you), but that’s gone out the window. i have to keep something or i’ll go a bit mad. when i am feeling decadent, i use honey or agave or proper maple syrup; otherwise, i am keeping splenda in business.
i’m really surprised at how easy it was to jettison the salt. at first i was all whiney about it, but after a couple weeks, i barely noticed. now if i eat something that isn’t prepared from scratch at home (thank the gods for the buddhist), it tastes noticeably salty – like if we get something at a restaurant or when we occasionally use paul newman pasta sauce because it’s a busy night (mmmsockaroonimmm). i imagine the same thing would happen with sugar and splenda, i just can’t get through that initial phase where everything tastes a bit like paste.
It really should be no sugar + no Equal or Splenda, etc, but I just haven’t been able to do it. With all the other food sacrifices, I’ve been letting myself keep Splenda despite it being fairly toxic all on its own. Instead of refined sugar, I have switched to honey and blue agave nectar, but I try to use them sparingly. Pre-heart attack, I was trying to kick sugar and Splenda by using stevia. It’s just way too expensive to maintain, though. I didn’t care for the stevia in powder form and the liquid was really pricey, even considering you only use a few drops at a time.
Awww…Peanut’s oats….Peanut….if those oats were his key to longevity then you might want to think about eating 7 bowls a day or something comparable 🙂
That opening line evokes Camus…and in a good way.