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No one in my house likes steel-cut oats, so I buy the rolled oats. Most instant oatmeal contains salt, even the plain varieties, so I go with long cooking. Dried fruit is on most forbidden lists, which is a huge bummer. Almond & rice milk have added sea salt, so I can't use them. I should check on coconut milk. Maple syrup, nuts, spices & jam are fine though.

Nancy, low salt is tough. I can have salt as long as it isn't iodized, and since most processed foods don't specify it's safer to avoid them. Plain salt is available at most groceries, & kosher salt is fine for me.

Could you make your own nut/rice milks?

Some of the raw/vegan blogs would probably have good ideas for avoiding egg/dairy.

Good luck!

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It is some pretty boring eating and, if my gallstone attack hadn't been so brutal, no doubt I would have fallen off the wagon by now. Nothing like searing pain to keep you on track. Setting the surgery date also helped -- open-ended boring eating was not working for me. The good news is that life will gradually get back to some semblance of normal. Multi-day high fat revelries will be out but that is probably good for multiple reasons. Plus, I'll be back to eating acidic foods in time for tomato season.

Ugh. Having spent the better part of last year with various gall-bladder-related problems, I sympathize. As far as bland-but-edible, I can also highly recommend turkey, and, if you need something by way of quick-cooking convenience food, the Uncle Ben's ready rice mixed with some kind of vegetable; that was my go-to when I knew I had to eat something and was too miserable to cook.

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Ugh. Having spent the better part of last year with various gall-bladder-related problems, I sympathize. As far as bland-but-edible, I can also highly recommend turkey, and, if you need something by way of quick-cooking convenience food, the Uncle Ben's ready rice mixed with some kind of vegetable; that was my go-to when I knew I had to eat something and was too miserable to cook.

I'm guessing the Uncle Ben's has unspecified-iodine salt. But this gives me the idea ... Heather, is there a way to make up a bunch of "ready" grains on a weekend so they are ready to go -- even for breakfast? If you had time on a weekend to prep this stuff and could literally just throw it in the microwave or oven and have it done, that might help with the stress of making sure you're adhering to the diet.

It can't be that hard to sort of pre-load this stuff, can it? I wonder. Definitely interested in the option...

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You could buy some bulk steel cut oats at WF if you just want to try out some combos. I pre-make steel cut oatmeal and portion it out for the week. Just add a little more water when I re-heat. I like brown sugar and banana for a bananas foster riff. Maple syrup and sliced almonds is another fav. Peanut butter and bananas or strawberries is also good.

Hannah - thanks for the turkey tip. I roasted a turkey breast last night. Much better than the poached soup chicken that went into last weeks lunches even if I did remove the skin.

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A couple of things:

1. Olive oil is delicious. It is also in no way a substitute for butter. Not even the schmancy $25 a bottle stuff.

2. Being able to stop somewhere and grab a meal when you're out running errands & get hungry is wonderful. It's a royal PITA when you are no longer able to do that.

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A couple of things:

1. Olive oil is delicious. It is also in no way a substitute for butter. Not even the schmancy $25 a bottle stuff.

2. Being able to stop somewhere and grab a meal when you're out running errands & get hungry is wonderful. It's a royal PITA when you are no longer able to do that.

1. I agree- 2 totally different tastes and sensations for me. I did splurge on a really nice bottle of evoo, you know, for "drizzling", but use Kirkland's brand for everyday cooking.

2. That IS hard-When I'm out and about running errands and didn't plan ahead and put a little snack in my purse, I know I can at least scrounge around for coins in the car and hit the Mickey D's drive through for the dollar menu.

Question- do you use products such as Mrs. Dash etc? What spices/herbs do you use to impart "saltiness" or enhance flavor in lieu of salt?

Observation- really scrutinizing labels for salt content is eye opening.

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1. Olive oil is delicious. It is also in no way a substitute for butter. Not even the schmancy $25 a bottle stuff.

The schmancy $25 stuff is sometimes Tuscan, which is often herbaceous and grassy - the ones from Southern France (and I even had one from Morocco two nights ago) tend to be rounder and more "butter-like." But I hear you.

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Question- do you use products such as Mrs. Dash etc? What spices/herbs do you use to impart "saltiness" or enhance flavor in lieu of salt?

Observation- really scrutinizing labels for salt content is eye opening.

I can have as much salt as I want - it just has to be uniodized or kosher salt. The restriction on salt in restaurants & processed foods comes from not knowing what kind of salt is used. I have a little baggie of kosher salt with me, & can order a plain green salad with oil & vinegar if necessary.

What's also eye-opening is the amount of soy in our food, even in places you wouldn't think of it.

The schmancy $25 stuff is sometimes Tuscan, which is often herbaceous and grassy - the ones from Southern France (and I even had one from Morocco two nights ago) tend to be rounder and more "butter-like." But I hear you.

I prefer French olive oil. Unfortunately my Whole Foods & Balducci's have stopped carrying anything but Italian, Greek or Spanish oils. If you know of a good source I am all ears. :lol:

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Lunch is curried ground chicken, basmati rice, and cauliflower with ginger, garlic and green chilies. I put together 2 meal-sized containers of the same stuff for quick meals. This is delicious and does not feel like a restricted diet at all.

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Lunch is curried ground chicken, basmati rice, and cauliflower with ginger, garlic and green chilies. I put together 2 meal-sized containers of the same stuff for quick meals. This is delicious and does not feel like a restricted diet at all.

Doesn't sound restricted-more like something on a menu.

Actually, I made something similar recently with ground turkey. It was a larb dish that I served with jasmine rice. The leftovers reheated nicely.

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Doesn't sound restricted-more like something on a menu.

Actually, I made something similar recently with ground turkey. It was a larb dish that I served with jasmine rice. The leftovers reheated nicely.

Larb sounds delicious, but I can't do fish sauce right now. Wonder if I could skip it? Ground chicken, cayenne, lime juice, chicken stock, sliced onions, cilantro, a little ground toasted rice...

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Larb sounds delicious, but I can't do fish sauce right now. Wonder if I could skip it? Ground chicken, cayenne, lime juice, chicken stock, sliced onions, cilantro, a little ground toasted rice...

I thought about the fish sauce as soon as I hit the "submit" button. 1Tbsp-690mg sodium :lol:

You know, to me what made the larb-inspired dish was the heat of the peppers (I used Jamaican...HOT!) and the lime juice. Along with cilantro and mint, it really was a lot of great flavors in the mouth.

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I thought about the fish sauce as soon as I hit the "submit" button. 1Tbsp-690mg sodium :lol:

You know, to me what made the larb-inspired dish was the heat of the peppers (I used Jamaican...HOT!) and the lime juice. Along with cilantro and mint, it really was a lot of great flavors in the mouth.

Salt of unknown iodizedness + fish = low iodine no-no. Which is too bad because I love fish sauce.

I think I'm going to try some version - maybe with sliced cold steak? for me it's the lime and the ground toasted jasmine rice that says "larb."

Whole Foods has a coconut milk "ice cream" that has no forbidden ingredients. I am loving it.

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Larb sounds delicious, but I can't do fish sauce right now. Wonder if I could skip it? Ground chicken, cayenne, lime juice, chicken stock, sliced onions, cilantro, a little ground toasted rice...

It seems like vinegars are OK on your diet as try your larb with a little Bragg's Organic Apple cider vinegar with has some real earthy flavors to it.

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Does it taste like coconut? Or just like ice cream?

Hmmm. It's Pina Colada flavor, so it does taste like coconut. I may have to try another flavor & see if it comes though as much. I love having a creamy, not-sorbet frozen dessert option. No dairy, soy, or salt and the only thickener is guar gum.

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Does it taste like coconut? Or just like ice cream?

The experience I had with Turtle Mountain is that the coconut is slightly in the background, but it also contributes to a slightly less thick texture. The chocolate one I tried is a little on the weaker end since there isn't the milk component to bolster it.

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Lunch today was Swiss steak - that old cafeteria standard - but homemade by moi and therefore delicious:

Pound four portion-sized pieces of bottom round with a meat tenderizer until flat. Dredge steak in flour, kosher salt & pepper then brown on both sides in a small amount of oil. Remove meat from pan and add a medium sliced onion & about 1 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms. Brown. Return steaks to pan, cover with a can of no-salt stewed tomatoes. Sprinkle with kosher salt, pepper, thyme and a pinch of hot red pepper flakes. Cover and cook very slowly over low heat for 45 mins. I had this with pasta & a salad made with sliced golden beets, greens & walnuts.

Tonight's dinner will be:

grilled beef patties with allspice, cumin and minced onion, taratoor sauce

homemade foccacia

chopped salad of cucumber, sweet onion, tomato and fresh oregano from my garden

vegan chocolate cake with strawberry sorbet

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Would you please post foccacia recipe or link?

May I please come over for dinner?

Yes, and anytime. :lol: The focaccia is from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food (which I was on the verge of giving away because it's so lame, but that's another post) and it doesn't seem to exist on the web. It's just OK. Tomorrow I am going to try Peter Reinhardt's version here.

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I'm officially over the "I'm going to do this thing!" portion of the diet and have moved to the "I'm tired, and sick of cooking all the damn time" part. The "I just want to open a can of soup and have a grilled cheese sandwich" part. :lol:

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Breakfast was a handful of Bear Naked granola - no forbidden ingredients! Lunch was the last of the enchiladas topped with minced onion, chopped tomatoes, and a scoop of homemade spicy guacamole.

I dropped by the Takoma Park Co-op today to see if they might have stuff I can eat. I picked up a no-salt apple chutney that I'm going to put on some leftover grilled pork chop tonight, a packaged chicken-apple sausage that uses kosher salt, and a couple of cans of "no salt added" canned soup to have for emergencies. Nice to have a couple of prepared options.

Bread dough is rising on the counter right now that is probably going to turn into rolls. Focaccia is great, but I need a lower-fat option too.

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Made a salad for pre-dinner: cold steamed beet greens, roasted golden beets, cucumber, chopped walnuts, fresh dill dressed with walnut oil, white wine vinegar, salt & pepper. It didn't suck, but would have been better with some goat cheese.

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Made a salad for pre-dinner: cold steamed beet greens, roasted golden beets, cucumber, chopped walnuts, fresh dill dressed with walnut oil, white wine vinegar, salt & pepper. It didn't suck, but would have been better with some goat cheese.

Would have been better with a half-dozen tacos, too. Carry on - you'll be glad you did, and will probably feel a lot better when this is over with.

And if misery loves company, I've been on a liquid-only diet today consisting of black coffee, coconut water, and gin. It's going to be a challenge not to pick up that phone tonight and get the roast pork at X.O. Taste - but I'm not going to.

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And if misery loves company, I've been on a liquid-only diet today consisting of black coffee, coconut water, and gin. It's going to be a challenge not to pick up that phone tonight and get the roast pork at X.O. Taste - but I'm not going to.

That's quite a combination. Thanks for the kind words. Less than two weeks to go...

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We made homemade pizzas last night. I skipped the cheese & baked mine with homemade tomato sauce, sauteed mushrooms, tomato slices, olive oil & lots of fresh oregano. The crust was excellent & I didn't miss the cheese.

I finally got over to Trader Joes and discovered that they make a whole wheat bread that I can eat! I picked up two loaves, and some unsalted crunchy almond butter. This morning's breakfast was an almond butter & homemade ginger jelly sandwich.

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Just out of curiosity how do you know that the salt in a product is not-iodnized? Or do you buy salt free products? Do you trust the packaging? I ask because I bought some Cava prepared eggplant dip which lists garlic as the last product. Um, yeah, right. I am sensitive to garlic, especially raw or dried but really all kinds. I can tolerate it to a degree so I can buy products and eat out with care. I tasted the eggplant dip at WF and it was good, so I bought it. The batch from which I bought must have had a heavy hand of garlic added even though it is listed as the last ingredient.

(BTW, my symptoms for garlic sensitivity are primarily headaches with secondary stomach aches.)

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Just out of curiosity how do you know that the salt in a product is not-iodnized? Or do you buy salt free products?

There's no way of knowing what kind of salt is used unless the manufacturer specifies "kosher" or "uniodized." Most don't bother, so I buy salt-free or "no added salt" products.

This week I need to concentrate on making some meals ahead that can be reheated next week. I get shots of Thyrogen on Monday & Tuesday, which will simulate a hypothyroid state and leave me without the energy to do much, and then the tracer dose of radioactive iodine on Wednesday. Side effects are nausea, vomiting, fatigue, & headache for all of those.

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If you have to follow this diet, do not spend $35 on The Low Iodine Cookbook by Norene Gilletz. Everything I have tried so far tastes like ass. Every other recipe is supposed to be made in the microwave -- even the beef stew -- or calls for the combo of dried basil, oregano, and dill weed. Underseasoned, underflavored, undercooked...seriously, you are better off living on grilled chicken, big salads, and pasta with olive oil & garlic for three weeks. If you aren't already nauseous from hypothyroid, recipe names like "Yum Yum Potato Wedgies" should bring up your breakfast. Stick with thefree online cookbook from THYCA.

What really infuriated me what her comment in the beginning of the book that "many of you will be hypothyroid and will want to...prevent weight gain." The hell? I'd like to give the author a clue as to what I was concerned about after I was diagnosed with cancer:

Should I get a second opinion? How am I going to tell my children I have cancer? Can I face all the phone calls to my family & friends? Who is going to take care of the kids while I am radioactive? Is it really safe for them to be around me so soon afterwards? How will my husband cope? How incapacitated will I be during treatment? What if it doesn't work? Do I have a living will? Is my will up to date?

The very last thing I wasted a precious brain cell on was whether the damned diet was going to make me fat.

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Not much to update. Life has been pretty busy, so I've been subsisting on oatmeal with chopped nuts & maple syrup & leftovers from other meals. One more week to go on the diet.

The thyrogen shots on Mon & Tues are going to wipe me out, so it's important that my meals be premade. Today I'll be making Mexican Pot roast , but making enchiladas with part of the meat and a simple red sauce. The enchiladas will get divided into portions for Monday & Tuesday. Avocados are on sale everywhere right now, so another batch of guacamole is in order too. There's homemade chicken stock in the fridge that will become chicken noodle soup for when my stomach is icky after the 1-131 capsule on Wednesday, & I'll stock up on some Jello cups.

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Just a few more days! Right now I am having breakfast/lunch: pasta salad with chick peas, green pepper, tomato, sweet onion, oil & vinegar topped with some diced griled steak. Also drinking lots of water in prep for my blood draw at 1:30.

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As expected, the Thyrogen shot made me feel headachey & nauseated, so dinner last night was very plain. Grilled pork chop, mashed potatoes with olive oil & homemade chicken broth, and a green salad.

Breakfast is oatmeal again, this time with almonds, dried sour cherries, and a big pinch of ground ginger. The ginger is good for nausea & the combination of flavors works very well. I have more pasta salad & grilled steak for lunch. Today's adventures include a trip back to Shady Grove hospital outpatient lab for another shot, and then to radiology for a neck ultrasound.

ETA: I am really, reallly, REALLY craving eggs, of all things. Breakfast on Saturday is going to be Eggs Benedict.

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No one in my house likes steel-cut oats, so I buy the rolled oats. Most instant oatmeal contains salt, even the plain varieties, so I go with long cooking. Dried fruit is on most forbidden lists, which is a huge bummer. Almond & rice milk have added sea salt, so I can't use them. I should check on coconut milk. Maple syrup, nuts, spices & jam are fine though.

I'm not a fan of oatmeal either, so finding belila at a breakfast buffet in Cairo was a bit of a revelation. It's cooked grain in a warm "soup" of dairy that you can doctor up like oatmeal, but the Egyptian choices are much more interesting--rosewater, orange water, cardamom (all of which would also be good in oatmeal!)--and the grains retain a great texture that isn't at all gloppy or mushy. I found this recipe to be pretty solid. It calls for cracked wheat, which I couldn't find at a quick Safeway run, so I got barley instead, and it worked out well. For your purposes, I think it would be delicious made with coconut milk or, if that's too rich, half coconut milk/half water. Plus, you can cook up the grains one day, drain and refrigerate, then microwave in your chosen liquid in the morning. Worth a try, maybe?

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I'm not a fan of oatmeal either, so finding belila at a breakfast buffet in Cairo was a bit of a revelation. It's cooked grain in a warm "soup" of dairy that you can doctor up like oatmeal, but the Egyptian choices are much more interesting--rosewater, orange water, cardamom (all of which would also be good in oatmeal!)--and the grains retain a great texture that isn't at all gloppy or mushy. I found this recipe to be pretty solid. It calls for cracked wheat, which I couldn't find at a quick Safeway run, so I got barley instead, and it worked out well. For your purposes, I think it would be delicious made with coconut milk or, if that's too rich, half coconut milk/half water. Plus, you can cook up the grains one day, drain and refrigerate, then microwave in your chosen liquid in the morning. Worth a try, maybe?

That sounds delicious - the orange water idea in particular sounds fab. Thank you!

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It's that time again! Docs let me take a year off after a few negative scans, but new irregular lymph nodes in my neck mean back to stricter monitoring and regular scans. A Thyrogen shortage means that I'm waitlisted for the next available not earmarked for someone with active cancer. I could get the call from my radiation doc at any time, and will have to start the low-iodine diet immediately. Job one is cleaning out my fridge/freezer, and looking up all my recipes.

I'll be keeping track here, and on my website, In Good Thyme. The cookbook idea is sounding better and better.

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I'll be keeping track here, and on my website, In Good Thyme. The cookbook idea is sounding better and better.

I think the passion and the niche (a valuable niche) are both there. If I were you, I wouldn't wait for funding; I'd send out emails, write, embark on the project, write more, send out more emails, write even more, and then see where the chips fall - do your book as blog entries if you need mini-goals.

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I'm so sorry you have to go through this again, and hope all turns out well for you. I've never had to adhere to a diet like this, but I've really appreciated reading about your experiences and creative determination to continue to eat well. The community is rooting for you!

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