August 7 - Substitution

  I came across a much loved quotation while tidying my desk on Saturday night:

Photo by Quentin Jones

Some consider carob an adequate substitute for chocolate because it can be made to approximate the colour and consistency of chocolate.  The same arguments can be made in favour of dirt.
 - Sandra Boynton

  Now obviously what she's really saying is that it's no substitute at all and certainly I agree.  I find carob perfectly enjoyable, I can remember happily eating it as a kid, but I never considered it a chocolate substitute, it was simply something else I liked eating.  But it sparked me off thinking about other things people 'helpfully' suggest as substitutions that simply don't work.

1. Steamed vegetables instead of baked potato.  I accept that it's a better choice but it's no substitute!  Neither is creamed cauliflower instead of mashed potato.
2. Veggie burgers instead of a meat burger.  I have never taste a veggie burger that's come close to being a substitute for meat, plus then you miss out on vital iron!
3. Button Squash instead of potato in hash browns.  Without potato, don't even call it a hash brown, it's a pakora at best, and button squash!? Ew ew ew...
4. Cottage Cheese instead of sour cream... No.. just no.
5.  Rice crackers instead of corn chips... On what planet would this be valid!?

  However, here are some substitutions I have made or can make which I would consider useful and sensible even though some of them involve a minor change in flavour.

1. Avocado on a sandwich instead of mayonnaise.  Most of the time when I want mayo it's just to get the creaminess so this works for me.
2. Dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate.  Totally works, no argument from me.
3. Wholemeal flatbread pizza base instead of traditional pizza base.  Increases fibre content, reduces calories and GI factor, plus no waiting for dough to rise!
4. Kangaroo salami instead of regular beef salami.  No appreciable difference in flavour but way less fat.  The only downside is limited availability.
5. Light or Extra Light versions of cheese.  If you are cooking with cheese or putting it on a sandwich there really is no difference.

  So there is my two cents on dietary substitutions.  There are always better choices to be made, but for some things there is simply no substitute.
Now from pontification to my day in brief:

  It was definitely hard to convince myself to wake up this morning.  It's rough knowing the first thing you have to do of a morning is jab yourself in the finger with a lancet!  I am getting better at it though, the last three times have been done on the first jab!  I think I'm learning not to flinch.  Nevertheless, hard to cast off the cuddly warm doona in order to intentionally damage yourself as I'm sure you'd all agree.
  Breakfast was the usual yoghurt, berries and fibre toppers.  Must remember to get a new pot of yoghurt sometime in the next couple of days too.  Morning tea was a nut snack pack and a Panama passionfruit.  I have still been getting hungry before the next mealtime so I'm experimenting with spacing snacks a little more evenly.

  Lunch was a Mission Garden Spinach Herb Wrap with one slice of Bega Extra Tasty cheese, a quarter of a Reed avocado, two slices of Dorsogna triple smoked leg ham (about 65g), some lettuce/baby spinach mix and some Rainbow Salad.  It was chock-full of veggies!  I'm loving this style of Mission wrap!  I also had a navel orange.  I quite enjoy the act of peeling it and eating it a segment at a time.
  My afternoon snack was a large unripeish banana (lots of green but some yellow.
  Work was a hard slog today.  I have some training tomorrow at the Head Office (for which I'm completely unprepared) and as a result I stayed back to finish some invoice entry and figures.  It was one of those days that although you are flat-out busy all day, nothing seems to have got done.  Getting home late I felt flat, tired, hungry, grumpy, sulky and in need of a good hug.  I was seriously considering skipping the cross-trainer so I could eat sooner but then Mr Smart put the question to me, "Would you get on it after eating?".  Since "No" was the answer, I forced myself to get on it.  It was bloody hard today.
  Dinner was a serve of the chile con carne I made the other night on some wholemeal pasta with a little Mainland Light Tasty cheese sprinkle on top then mixed through.  After that I had 20g of Lindt 85% Cocoa dark chocolate.  The Lindt has become a fairly regular occurrence and I'm kind of walking the line between feeling guilty and needing to justify it and bring satisfied that I'm not binging.  I'm satisfied because I can stop at 20g and it does stop me eating, but I feel like I need to justify it or feel guilty when it's every night.

It is possible to be ugly and delicious.

  Now, did eating the chile con carne on wholemeal pasta instead of in sour cream laden burritos help keep the blood sugar a bit lower?  Two hours after eating dinner the reading was 6.8 so I'd have to say yes, but there is always room for improvement.
  The training session tomorrow goes for 3.5 hours (blah) so I will have to remember to take some nuts and things to snack on as they are bound to only supply lollies!  Hopefully it will be valuable in the end but right now I'm just not stoked about it at all.  Maybe I just need a good night's sleep.
  On that note, toodle-pip!
  Jess